Episode 6: Stacks on Stacks: Coding at Lightspeed with Alex Gleason

SummaryIn 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.LinksGet Stacks: https://getstacks.dev/MKStack: https://mkstack.xyz/Soapbox: https://soapbox.pub/Alex's Personal Site: https://alexgleason.me/Chapters00:40 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