Summary

In this episode of The Acceleration, Avi Burra talks with open-source trailblazer Alex Gleason. Alex recounts his journey from tinkering with early PHP forums to shipping Soapbox, the engine that later powered Truth Social, and why he quit that high-profile gig to double-down on “freedom tech.”

The chat focuses on Get Stacks, his new “AI-first” platform that teams an integrated coding agent with community-shared templates so developers can spin up full apps in minutes. Alex describes how the And Other Stuff collective used Stacks to build Chorus—a Nostr-based group-chat app with e-cash—in just five days, illustrating how AI is compressing dev cycles. They dive into bridging protocols (Mostr, Ditto), open-source LLMs, ethical AI, and how decentralization plus AI might keep the internet open, weird, and wonderfully creative.

Links

Get Stacks: https://getstacks.dev/

MKStack: https://mkstack.xyz/

Soapbox: https://soapbox.pub/

Alex's Personal Site: https://alexgleason.me/

Chapters

00:40 Introduction to Alex Gleason and His Work

05:02 The Experience at Truth Social

08:09 Perceptions of Alternative Platforms

11:55 Understanding Soapbox and Its Impact

16:08 Interoperability in Decentralized Networks

20:22 Introducing Stacks: An AI-First Development Platform

29:39 The Evolution of Software Development

33:01 Distinguishing Between Stacks and MKStack

35:32 The Rise of AI Companies

37:11 Understanding NOSTA and Its Pillars

40:18 Building with MKStack

46:31 Future of Stacks and MKStack

50:43 NOSTER's Unique Position

52:21 Concerns About AI Development

58:41 The State of Open Source LLMs

01:01:21 The Future of AI and Human Creativity

01:04:00 Advice for Developers and Enthusiasts