For years, Oh My Zsh has been the default rite of passage for developers moving to macOS or Linux. It promises power, themes, and a massive ecosystem of plugins. However, a growing contingent of tech enthusiasts is arguing that this framework has become bloatware, unnecessarily complicating what should be a simple tool.
The core argument against Oh My Zsh isn’t that it lacks features—it’s that it has too many. Most users only utilize a tiny fraction of the 300+ plugins available, yet they pay the performance price of loading the heavy framework every time they open a terminal window. Modern alternatives like Zinit, Antidote, or even a minimal .zshrc configuration offer significantly faster load times and lower latency.
Ultimately, a shell is meant to be a utility, not a lifestyle. While Oh My Zsh remains excellent for beginners discovering the power of Zsh, seasoned users might find that stripping it away results in a snappier, more personalized development environment. Sometimes, less really is more.
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