I call myself a programmer ..

.. but I'm really not, I just write number crunching software for my own personal and immediate use.

I feel like I need to validate myself by writing a software that will be useful and used by many. Can you suggest anything?

Disclaimer: All my software is stallmanized, your freedoms will be preserved.

just make a CMS in PHP.  As long as some moron can click-install modules, not only are you a 'programmer', you've just made a bunch of other people 'developers'.

>>2
It's already been done.

>>2

I don't have much of a reputation yet but that suggestions would probably tarnish my reputation forever.

Also I don't condone the use of CMSes and PHP.

Efficient web browser.

Fight the "speed at the expense of everything else" thought that everyone else seems to be pushing.

>>5
related:  make a fork of w3m that can handle javascript

>>6
I haven't examined it in any detail but I doubt that these browsers that didn't have JS support have a DOM implementation amenable to dynamic modification, which is what the bulk of JS on pages does.

Also, it doesn't seem particularly useful to have JS in a text-only browser.

>>7
it would be useful only for the sake of compatibility so that one can use as many internet sites without having to go through a GUI. But flashing button sliding transitions could become difficult to represent.

>>1
Entertain yourself and others by writing demos with directx/opengl.  It's the most fun you'll ever have programming and will validate you as an "actual" programmer.  As for the the "useful and used by many", I believe entertainment to count as useful and if you release your source code, you will also teach others in the process.  Other than that the only way to be a "useful to society" programmer is to actually get a job in a software company that actually does something.