All Changelog : https://github.com/stalwartlabs/stalwart/releases/tag/v0.16.18

https://github.com/LinkPhoenix/stalwart-webui-fork/releases 👀

Update here

A quick message about my Stalwart Web UI fork.

https://github.com/LinkPhoenix/webui

Originally, I built it just for myself. The forms in the original UI were always aligned to the far left, which I found uncomfortable on a wide monitor. So I started by simply centering them to make the interface more pleasant to use.

Then, one improvement led to another. I kept adding features and eventually thought they might also be useful to others, so I decided to publish the project as open source, hoping that some of those ideas might eventually inspire the official project.

Obviously, I could never have developed this many features in such a short time without the AI tools I currently have access to (Claude Pro, ChatGPT Pro and Kimi 3). They allowed me to move much faster. That said, they don’t build software for me: I still have to understand the code they generate, catch their mistakes, redirect them when they go in the wrong direction, make architectural decisions, and ensure everything works correctly together. AI is an incredible accelerator, not a replacement for the developer.

At the time of writing this post, two new versions of the official Stalwart Web UI have already been released, incorporating ideas that I had implemented in my fork. I was genuinely happy to see that happen so quickly because I assumed the Rust server itself would naturally remain the top priority, and I know how much work that represents.

I’d also like to thank the creator of Stalwart. Building and maintaining a modern, high-performance mail server that runs with such low resource requirements is an enormous amount of work. Thank you for everything you do.
However, this first major open-source contribution reminded me of something: an open-source community is still just a community of people. And like everywhere else, there are amazing people… but there are also people who criticize without offering solutions, always find something to complain about, and are never satisfied.

I’m not someone who pretends otherwise. I simply don’t want to spend time around those kinds of people, and I have no problem saying that. Whenever I encounter them in life, I just move on. I’d rather spend my time and energy with people who enjoy constructive discussions.

Let me also clarify one thing: I’m absolutely not looking for recognition. Compliments are nice, but that’s not what motivates me. If you think one of my decisions is wrong, tell me why. Suggest a better approach. Share your experience. That’s how people improve. Criticism without explanation, without alternatives, and without any intention of helping simply doesn’t add anything—to the project or to the community.

On top of that, for the past three weeks I’ve been working almost day and night on several personal projects. I think I’ve slept around fifty hours in total during that time. This fork was simply something I wanted to share with the community. I invested my time, my energy, and my own resources into it. If, in the end, all it brings me are discussions that don’t add any value, I do what I always do in life: I move on.

So my decision is very simple: the repository will remain public for another 72 hours so that anyone who wants to fork it can do so.

After that, I’ll make it private and continue developing it solely for my own use.

This experience has also changed the way I see things. I understand much better why some developers choose to sell their work instead of giving everything away for free. And honestly, I’d say: go for it. Even if it’s just a small project, if you want to sell it, sell it. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being paid for your work.

Finally, thank you to everyone who took the time to provide constructive feedback, suggest ideas, or contribute. People like you are the reason open source keeps moving forward.

And to the few people who will recognize themselves in this post: I’m sending you lots of love, sparkles ✨, unicorns 🦄, and all the positive vibes you could possibly need.

And since I already know that some people will completely miss the point: yes, of course, I’m obviously desperate for attention, deeply emotionally wounded, and I’ll probably spend the next few weeks crying under my blanket.
…Or maybe I simply decided to stop wasting my time on discussions that bring no value. 😉

https://github.com/LinkPhoenix/stalwart-webui-fork/releases/tag/v1.1.3 👀