2 unstable releases

0.2.0 Jun 7, 2021
0.1.0 Jun 6, 2021

#412 in Cargo plugins

MIT/Apache

2MB
4.5K SLoC

cargo-memex

github crates.io docs.rs build status

Besides their size, rust binaries have a significant disadvantage: rust binaries are not memes yet.

cargo-memex is a cargo subcommand that makes it easy to ditch regular rust binaries in favor of memes, which is arguably the far superior container format for rust executables. Rather than to ordinary rust binaries, cargo-memex compiles rust code directly into a meme of your liking.

cargo-memex executeable rust memes thus provide a number of significant improvements over regular rust executables:

Standard rust executables always look the same, which means consistently boring, e.g.: alt text.

With cargo-memex they can look like this:

Also, normal rust executables cannot be easily posted on imageboards like tumbler, or to show off your rust skills on r/rustjerk or on slack or twitter. This also makes it possible to use imagehosting services to distribute your executables.

Another limitation of rust binaries is, that debug and release executables are visually indistinguishable.

cargo-memex fixes this problem by fetching a random meme from r/rustjerk using D3vd/Meme_Api each time.

If no meme could be found it falls back to the corresponding segment of:

You can also request a random meme from any subreddit with the --subreddit "<subreddit>" option.

The same problem exists for different release versions which visually always look completely identical. With cargo-memex you can compile each new release into a different meme to highlight the differences. This makes support much easier since everyone can directly see which version is installed.

Installation

cargo install cargo-memex

Usage

Compile a new cargo project into the built in rust borrow checker meme:

Compile your current project into the meme above, for other built in memes see resources

cargo memex build tradeoffer

Compile your current project in release mode with a random meme from r/rustjerk

cargo memex build --release

Compile with local meme

cargo memex build ./meme.jpg

Use a jpeg meme on the web

cargo memex build "https://meme.jpg"

Use a random jpeg meme from a subreddit

cargo memex build --subreddit dankmemes

To execute a memex executable meme

cargo memex exec meme.jpg

Build then execute in one step

cargo memex run

Roadmap

Once memes are more widely adapted as rust executables, which is expected to happen soon, support for publishing memes will be required.

The recent NFT frenzy has shown that there is a high demand for NFT based solutions, and that especially memes can be very lucrative. Hence, solutions for cargo-memex are currently being investigated in order to tap this growing market. Ideally, the cargo publish subcommand should be extended by an --nft option, so that developers can directly publish a new version of their rust project as a memex NFT.

Known Limitations

  • only works on unix
  • only jpeg supported at this point

Licensed under either of these:

Dependencies

~14–28MB
~392K SLoC