I am a dev as well, and to build a website you traditionally need a dev. Well, nowadays, you can build a website with a “no code” website builder. That’s the most common “no-code” use.

Not that it’s relevant to this conversation, but that doesn’t stop people from hiring me to build their website, because “no code” also means “limited customization” and/or “low quality”.

1. The OS isn’t the software building anything for you.
2. You didn’t build a media center, you installed software that makes a media center. A “no-code” software that would build a media center would not make much sense, as there isn’t a need for any sort of customisation that would not fit into “configuration”.
3. Your point with Minecraft does make sense, but as it does not have any use outside of Minecraft, I wouldn’t call Minecraft a no-code system. However, the system itself that you used inside Minecraft to build your automatic sorter would fit the definition, imo. Redstone is a no-code system, for sure.
4. Firefox didn’t build it, you did.
5. A parametric font isn’t something that would require any code to make, so it doesn’t fit the definition. What makes a parametric font useful is its support, which requires dev work, and is not no-code.
6. A 3D print isn’t something that would require a dev to do. Of course you can always model something with lines of code, but that’s not how you’d sensibly do it.

“Building something” and “Building something that traditionally requires dev work” are not the same thing.

The software you use always needed code to make, but it doesn’t aim to skip the “hire a dev” phase of your project. If it does, it is “no code”.

And for the sake of argument, let’s say that Blender doesn’t exist and no other software fulfilling the same purpose exists. Then you’d have to commission a dev (team) to create that software so that you can train people to create 3D models. But the dev building your 3D modeling software doesn’t typically have the skills to use the software afterwards, so it does not fit the “no-code” definition.

TL;DR: It is a “no-code” software when you can skip the “hire a dev” phase of your project and use said software instead.

No, it definitely does not cover almost all software. Most software does not aim to allow a random user to build something that usually requires a dev.

When you use an OS, you build nothing. When you use a browser, you build nothing. When you use a game, you build nothing. When you use a graphics editor, you build something, but it’s not something that a dev could do.

I could go on with a list of almost all software like this, but that’s not a good use of my time, and I hope it is not necessary.

“no-code” software is a very specific category of software that aims to enable users to build something that usually is built by a dev, without needing one.

And while “no-code” can be a weird name, it makes sense when you read the definition I just gave. Just like “serverless” does not mean there is no server involved (obviously), but simply means you don’t even need to think about the server part.

If something should work, but it doesn’t, nuke all the caches before diving in the rabbit hole of debugging weird issues