halm

halm , 2 months ago

AFAIK Signal are pretty much FLOSS, they're just keeping their cards extremely close, to the point of turning into a data silo.

• Moxie Marlinspike famously nixed the LibreSignal app and demanded they stop using Signal servers.
• And last I heard Signal can but refuses to federate with other servers, so their available server code might as well be closed source. That is, you can setup your own Signal server but you can't connect to the network that others use...

halm , 2 months ago

It's been a while since I looked at Signal but I was aware that Marlinspike stepped down. that can only be an improvement after he effectively shut down LibreSignal. I guess projects like the Matrix bridge have somehow been more acceptable?

halm , 2 months ago

That's really cool! It reminds me a bit of Cactus comments building on Matrix rooms — but different protocol, obviously 🙂

halm , 2 months ago

Just looking at the Utterances site, this sticks out:

No lock-in. All data stored in GitHub issues.

...so you can just migrate those comments somewhere else if you don't want to use Github anymore? If not, I'd call that textbook lock-in.

halm , 2 months ago

I was genuinely wondering if it was that portable. Thanks for the info!

halm , 2 months ago

Do you have good resources, advice or experiences to share for somebody wanting to set their old Androids to work?

halm , 2 months ago

Interesting, the inaccuracy of the MLS was exactly what attracted me to it. I'm not interested in a location service knowing my exact location at any given time. If I'm somehow too drunk to see and realise where I am, I'll ask somebody.

halm , 2 months ago

Seeing the hero image I feared this would be another STEM-only research community, but I'm glad to see it's targeted broadly enough that the humanities can also benefit from it.

halm , 2 months ago

They do at Neocities.

halm , 2 months ago

It's not for me but I hope projects like this will encourage more people to make their own, simple sites.

My impression is, a lot of people outside of the savvy folks here regard web pages like half magic, half scary science they could never make themselves. That's the sort of apprehension that corporate services thrive on, and continue to keep Normie's from maintaining their own sites.

halm , 2 months ago

In terms of Mastodon I guess you could chime in on the github feature request?

halm , 2 months ago

This is a screenshot from the github Repo that shows those exact features 🙂

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sbondCo/Watcharr/dev/screenshot/content-details-page.png

halm , 2 months ago

Me too, the question is if the web UI is "pretty", but I personally only use it to sync between devices; all I see is app UIs. Hardly ever open the web interface.

halm , 2 months ago

Probably exactly like O'Reilly's other instructional books. The post says that the first two chapters are already available on their learning platform.

halm , 2 months ago

SCP?

halm , 2 months ago

Yeah, I had to look it up but the above was the first search result 🙂

halm , 2 months ago (edited 2 months ago)

There are a lot of good points here, I appreciate the time you put into it.

As an end user of both Lemmy and Mastodon, it's always an eye opener to see how developers greet user requests and suggestions with curt or snarky replies. Even "Why don't you open an issue on our source tracker" will often effectively shut down suggestions from less tech savvy newcomers.

My own concerns are more on my own level, though. It resonates with me when you write —

The Fediverse has its own existing cultures that thrive here. And when you enter a space that already exists you need to be mindful of that to prevent issues from occurring.

I've seen a few user migration waves, and I think your description of (some) Lemmy users who just want a drop-in Reddit replacement is on point. Mastodon has had its share of Twitterati who surged in trying to recreate their previous circles and tone. Obviously, it's a generalisation but we do need to face the problem.

The transition from a walled garden environment like Reddit or Twitter — moderated by professionals or enthusiasts, and algorithmically curated — to a federated space with carefully cultivated etiquettes will never be like simply picking up a conversation in another UI.

I'd be interested how a project like Sublinks would/could accommodate the existing fediverse cultures, and hopefully bridge the cognitive gap that seems to exist between threadiverse and fediverse?

halm , 2 months ago

No, that's fair. I meant to illustrate that there is also a technical gap between developers and especially the general users that come on board with mass adoption.

halm , 2 months ago

A bunch of edgelord babies skimmed the selfhosted subs and noticed that "atomic distros" is a common buzzword ATM; they then flood said subs with opinionated posts that atomic subs are the best and everything else sucks 🙄

halm , 2 months ago

Yeah, me too. Nextcloud is way too unwieldy for basic usage like calendar/contact/even file sync. I tried a couple collaboration tools but they only stuttered and crapped out.

I'm actually fine hosting several smaller, dedicated services for the features I need rather than one lumbering point of failure.

halm , 3 months ago

For the past many years I've simply synced my notes across devices (originally from webDAV, currently Syncthing) and open them with my favourite Markdown editor for each platform. On my android phone it's Markor, and Marktext on desktop.

I've tried so many note taking apps but especially Joplin's weird renaming of my files cooled my enthusiasm for One App To Rule Them All. I do understand the attraction of it, I just prefer a simple setup where I'm not bound by any developer (team)’s whims.

halm , 3 months ago

First I heard of it. Thanks!

One question, is it somehow also a remote desktop? I'm confused that it has desktop applications in among the server apps on the demo site.

halm , 3 months ago (edited 3 months ago)

Is Grav still peddling their premium version all over the back end and support site? That turned me off their software ~5-6 years ago but I guess you could just not install the admin plugin...

Edit: "Grav", not "Grab"...

halm , 3 months ago

There is certainly a Venn diagram overlap of larger instances and bored idiots drunk replying over the weekend. Maybe there is a better moderation on smaller instances due to less "noise" (I can't be arsed to look up how small shitjustworks is, relative to lemmyworld)?

halm , 3 months ago

Syncthing or rsync?

halm , 3 months ago

It'll still be 30Gb though...

halm , 3 months ago

Maybe there is more development going on in individual projects? ActivityPods which combines ActivityPub accounts with Solid Pods for identity management — and AFAICT it was last updated two days ago.

I have to say I'm still not clear on exactly what and how Berners-Lee & co intend us to use Solid. Presumably the pod providers are more reliable than Google or Meta, but they're still unknown third parties to me? Should we self host our pods? That's only a power outage away from becoming a real nightmare.

halm , 3 months ago

Oh no wait, am I too late for the drunk version? 🙂

halm , 3 months ago

I think I found a parallel in Bluesky's Personal Data Server concept — here's a nice writeup. I still don't know most of the ActivityPod providers from Adam, so atm I can't tell whether I actually have control of my data using their services, or if they do 🤷

halm , 3 months ago

Hate to break your illusion that Selfhosted is specifically targeted. I've not made notes of the spam accounts I've reported/blocked but there were several in OpenSource and others, too.

halm , 3 months ago

Your encryption seems to be patchy, most of the post came through in plaintext.

halm , 3 months ago

Ugh, I thought there'd be more but when I look up FLOSS alternatives to Dreamweaver most are discontinued or misses the mark. At a glance at the ones remaining, maybe Silex comes closest?

It looks like that has a bunch of git and jamstack features that go beyond making simple, individual HTML pages but hopefully Silex is still "dumb" enough to also make those.

These days it seems you need a static site generator just to make very basic sites, and I'm also looking for a simple and easy way to chuck quick things online without some advanced framework to compile pages. I'm still eyeing PicoCMS as a very basic PHP engine that will simply parse a bunch of Markdown files into a website and update it when a new file is uploaded... I think it's possible to write individual CSS for pages in that.

Otherwise, maybe your collective needs to consider something like neocities or even your own tilde site 🙂

halm , 3 months ago

No thanks

halm , 3 months ago

Oh, it's bleak on so many levels. Consider how few who own their web presence anymore, even small to medium companies like my local pizzaria are only on social media.

And it's not that everything needs to be basic HTML and CSS imo. I honestly think blogs were great, and Wordpress too for at least its first few major versions. It should just be so much more accessible to make and host your own site than it is to ignore Meta's terms and conditions and sign up for f——ng Facebook.

halm , 3 months ago

That lists only "free" alternatives, OP asked for open source software

halm , 3 months ago

From the description:

Make your own open source eink typewriter for as little as fifty bucks. The ZeroWriter is a DIY cyberdeck project for writers frustrated with the price of commercial distraction-free word processors. Beginner friendly!

https://github.com/zerowriter/zerowriter1
r/zerowriter
https://hackaday.io/project/193902-zerowriter

Full Components List:
https://github.com/zerowriter/zerowriter1/blob/main/componentslist

This video demonstrates the software for the ZeroWriter. It's an open source program that can be adapted for whatever you want. Don't know programming? No problem. You can just follow some setup steps and be up and running in no time.

The ZeroWriter is a distraction-free drafting tool, like a Freewrite or Pomera DM250. The difference? ZeroWriter's code is free, open-source, and adaptable. It's still early, but it already has some neat features:

• Distraction-free drafting on an eink screen
• Navigate/review your draft with arrow keys
•  File Management: Save As, Save, Load & Delete.
• Connect to Wifi on-device for file sharing / transferring
• Send a draft via QR Code (scan with your phone)
• Download drafts from a local web browser (for example, chrome on your laptop)
• Send a draft via connected gmail (add an app password via gmail's 2-factor authentication settings)
• Add whatever else you want via python! (or don't!)

Requires: Raspberry Pi Zero 2W and 4.2" Waveshare e-Paper display (400x300) rev2.2

halm , 3 months ago

I have an old Thinkpad, 32 bit and with such meager RAM it's not even tempting to run any modern home server thingamajik on it. Instead I installed Debian without a DE and set it to open Midnight Commander on boot. From there I can open the built-in text editor and start typing. My current documents and notes are synced in with Syncthing.

It's far from pocket sized but whenever one of my other, newer machines inevitably break down, that's what I pull off the shelf to keep working.

halm , 2 months ago (edited 2 months ago)

Projects like Freedom Box were attempting this 10+ years ago, or even simpler, a home server that basically sits on your powerplug. AFAIK it sort of petered out fast, at least in the public mind, and I think it's a shame. It had potential and was even more basic than the Lego approach.

halm , 2 months ago (edited 2 months ago)

Right? Maybe the FreedomBox suite just feels scarce after the Yunohosts and the CasaOSs that have appeared in the meantime with much larger app offerings.

Nowadays people are spoilt for choice — and I'm not complaining! — so maybe there's a market for a FreedomBox-like plug server with a Docker setup out of the box and a GUI to Docker hub?

Edit: It actually looks like CasaOS are trying for something like that with their Zimaboard single board server. I'm a little wary that the company is based in China but I'm also typing this on my Oneplus phone, so who am I to judge.

halm , 2 months ago

I tried yunohost for a few months and wasn't perfectly happy with it either; the file system got too messy for me. The install isn't the most straightforward but I got there in the second attempt 😉

halm , 2 months ago

As far as I understand it, yes. I think Flatpaks are isolated from the wider system but maybe pool dependencies to avoid redundancy, while dockers are fully sandboxed from each other?

I may be wrong, flatpaks were never really my cup of tea.

halm , 2 months ago

Well, CasaOS is also Debian based, supports Docker, and the developers sell what is essentially plug computers with it pre-installed...

halm , 3 months ago (edited 3 months ago)

Yeah, it's that last bit that no amount of apps will do for you. Digging around for exactly the right software is the perfect procrastination against not fucking doing the things already.

Edit: That's not a slight on OP, btw. I've done the same thing so many times, and I'll probably do it again.

I've done physical lists as well as digital ones. I tried different "productivity" systems with each their cult following.

Just use your calendar app to set up events (sync it with your email app/platform if you can), set timers for recurring reminders like medicine you need to take at the same time every day...

halm , 3 months ago

I'd argue that's fundamentally a problem with car drivers, not with the lack of surveillance, but I get your point. People do have a freedom not to crushed by traffic, and it sort of outweighs others' freedom not to be caught on camera while crushing others with their cars.

halm , 3 months ago

Ouch, number one hits hard. Sure, I don't personally use predatory marketing techniques on my kids [edit: or other people's kids either!] but I don't know how to fully protect them from others that do so.

After that hit of existential guilt your other dictums seem easy! 😆

halm , 3 months ago

Yeah, I get the logic and I thank you for the example (shudder!). Again, those techniques are so pervasive, so normalised that no amount of parental guidance and handholding can really safeguard a kid.

I'm not arguing against you at all, it's just a chilling realisation that I can't realistically co-sign and live by a statement that I would hope to be basic decency...

halm , 3 months ago

Desperately searching for /c/techyparentsupportgroup@instance.tld as we speak

halm , 3 months ago

Funny, I used a 2010 netbook like that until last year. Maybe that's not old in your book? But you're right about battery swelling being a risk; just set the battery to never charge past 80-90%, you'll be fine.