the.com/plugin
a tiny accomplice that teaches old software brand-new tricks it never agreed to learn
means A plugin is a small add-on piece of software that slots into a larger program to extend its abilities without changing the core program itself.
from A child of the verb 'plug in,' which is literally what you do with a cord and a wall socket — itself from the 17th-century 'plug,' a wooden peg or stopper jammed into a hole, probably borrowed from Dutch 'plugge.' As computing grew, the metaphor was irresistible: software you 'plug in' to expand a system, just as you plug a lamp into the mains. The noun 'plugin' (also written 'plug-in') hardened into one word as the things became everyday companions to web browsers and editors in the late 20th century.
- origin
- Term popularized by early web browsers in the 1990s
- flash death
- Adobe killed Flash plugin support end of 2020
- security risk
- Outdated plugins are a top hacker entry point
- ecosystem
- WordPress hosts over 60,000 free plugins
- hidden cost
- Too many plugins quietly bloat and slow systems
photoshop — adobe's image editing software with 30+ years of plugin ecosystem, used by millions
wordpress plugins — over 58,000 plugins extend wordpress, powering 43% of all websites
chrome extensions — google chrome's plugin system with over 188,000 extensions in the web store
vst plugins — virtual studio technology plugins for music production, industry standard since 1996