Topic: Gatherbrain: A Unix-Inspired Architecture for Personal Knowledge"
Presenter: Patrick McElhaney
When: Thursday, 11 June 2026 - 7:00 to 9:00pm
Where: North Carolina College of Textiles, room 2207 at 1020 Main Campus Drive, Raleigh NC, 27606
Parking: There is an underground parking deck next to the College at the Monteith Engineering Parking Deck. Parking is free after 5 PM. Detailed parking instructions can be found at https://trilug.org/meetings/
Map: Google Maps
Video: To Be Recorded

Summary:

Gatherbrain is an open-source, local-first second brain built around Unix principles: plain text, directories, composable tools, and simple abstractions. Instead of hiding your knowledge in a proprietary database, everything lives as Markdown and JSON on the filesystem, making it easy to inspect, edit, script, version, and integrate with existing Unix tools. The talk explores the architecture behind Gatherbrain: modeling contexts as directories, representing knowledge as small immutable facts, maintaining an in-memory object model synchronized with the filesystem, and exposing a prompt-first interface where LLMs become another tool rather than the center of the system. We’ll discuss why the filesystem remains one of the best databases for many classes of problems, how local-first design enables speed and privacy, and how classic Unix ideas such as “everything is a file,” composition, and separation of concerns can inform the next generation of AI-native applications. The project is still under active development, so the session will include a live demo as well as an architectural deep dive into the design decisions, tradeoffs, and lessons learned.

As usual, pizza and beverages will be provided and the meeting will be held at the North Carolina College of Textiles, room 2207, 1020 Main Campus Drive, Raleigh NC, 27606 at 7:00 PM.

Please sign up using the Meetup link so that an accurate headcount can be gathered for pizza and drinks. That link is: TriLUG Meetup

There is an underground parking deck next to the College at the Monteith Engineering Parking Deck. Parking is free after 5 PM.

Call for speakers and topics

We are always looking for potential speakers! If you or someone you know would like to present on a topic please let us know. Contact the TriLUG Steering Committee by email at mabkar124@gmail.com