Patryk Żurek

About

Hi, I'm Patryk Żurek, known online as smartfrigde. I'm a 19-year-old self-taught developer from Poland who likes making software that feels polished, useful and opinionated.

I'm still a high school student, but I've been programming for over a decade. I started with web development, then moved to desktop software, and today I mostly build cross-platform applications and open source tools.

I spend most of my time building desktop apps, websites, open source projects, and small experiments around old computers. I like software that might not have the flashiest interface, but is functional, dependable, and well-structured. There's something satisfying about creating software that's rock solid even if it doesn't look particularly exciting. Good software to me is software that quietly gets out of your way and lets you be productive.

Computers have been my biggest interest for as long as I can remember. As a child I spent countless hours in front of them, fascinated by how everything worked. Long before I knew how to program, my dream was to build my own operating system. During middle school I'd often spend afternoons sketching imaginary desktop environments, system interfaces, and application ideas instead of paying much attention to anything else.

Eventually curiosity turned into me trying to write code. I still remember trying to learn C++ when I was around seven or eight years old, understanding almost none of it but being determined to figure it out anyway. My parents were incredibly supportive throughout those early years. They bought me programming magazines aimed at beginners, remember those?, and patiently listened to me talk about whatever project had captured my attention that week.

Around 2013 I developed what can only be described as an Apple obsession after the cylindrical Mac Pro was announced. For well over a year I begged my parents for one, convinced it was the coolest computer ever made. I never actually got that Mac Pro (I'm still hoping to own one someday), but the fascination with Apple's hardware and software never really went away. Over the years I eventually built my own collection through freelance work and personal projects, and today my home lab is almost entirely made up of Apple hardware. If you're curious, there's a whole page dedicated to it on this website.

I genuinely enjoy developing on macOS. I think it's one of the best platforms for software development, although I'm fully aware that's a somewhat biased opinion. I also spend plenty of time working on Windows and Linux, especially when testing the cross-platform software I write, so I try not to get too carried away.

This website is my small corner of the web. It holds my projects, writing, downloads, hardware notes, and whatever else I feel is worth preserving. I care a lot about keeping it readable on older browsers, not because it's practical every day, but because I think the web is better when it remembers where it came from. I'm not particularly fond of every website shipping hundreds of megabytes of JavaScript or requiring the latest framework just to display a few paragraphs of text. Sometimes simple HTML is all you really need.

I'm generally excited about the things I build, and I hope this website becomes a place where I can share more than just finished software. I want to write about ideas, development, technical challenges, old hardware, and the countless experiments that never quite made it to release. Some of those abandoned projects still have interesting stories behind them, and if publishing those write-ups helps someone else build something better, then they were worth making in the first place.

The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the ones who do. - Steve Jobs

Favorite Areas

• Operating systems, networking, system programming, and developer tools.
• Apple development across macOS, iOS, watchOS, SwiftUI, and App Store publishing.
• Open source maintenance, documentation, bug fixing, and modular architecture.
• Classic Macs, early iPhones, abandoned software, lost media, and preservation.

Technical Stack

Swift SwiftUI TypeScript JavaScript Electron Bun Node.js C Nim Java PHP SQL HTML/CSS React Express Docker SQLite MySQL

Fun Facts

• I have two cats, Figa and Coco.
• I collect old technology such as vintage computers and retro consoles. See more in the Home Lab section.
• I collect physical media like vinyl records and CDs.
• I enjoy reading, especially about technology, history of computing, and science.
• I like to play video games, especially simulation, strategy, and management games.
• I do crossword puzzles and logic games in my free time.
• I have a pollen allergy. Every Spring I have a runny nose 24/7.

Favorite Music & Games

Music changes with the season, so this section is generated from my Last.fm listening history over the past six months.

Last.fm range: 2026-04-16 to 2026-10-16 / 9580 scrobbles

Last.fm profile

Games

• The Sims series, especially the second and third entry to the series
• Minecraft
• Cities Skylines / SimCity 4
• Dragon Quest Builders
• Grand Theft Auto series (especially San Andreas Multiplayer)
• Far Cry series (especially the second and third entry.)
• 7 days to die / Project Zomboid
• Fortnite once in a while
• All business and tycoon games, which probably explains why I made Big Tech Tycoon. I just love micro-management.

About This Site

The site is served by a small Bun HTTP server and hand-written HTML. There is no JavaScript on the pages, CSS stays conservative to the old web standards. New machines should load it quickly, but the real test is whether or not it renders correctly on ancient browsers.