5 ms·

Not all URL shorteners do that. I know because I own and maintain one that doesn't.

by Eriks 6y ago

stretchcat 6y ago
Hopefully yours is only available on a company LAN or other private network. Public link shorteners are a linkrot disaster, particularly the myriad of shorteners being run by random dudes for shits and giggles, since those disappear as soon as they get bored. There is nothing more frustrating than having a dead shortened link for content that is likely still available if only you had the real URL, not the shortened garbage. Link shorteners are a form of pollution; you may as well pour used motor oil down a gutter.
- qwerty456127 6y ago
  There are cases where URL shorteners are useful. E.g. some websites would parse a link you embed within a text you post and replace it with the actual video if that's a link to YouTube. A shortener may be the only way to post a classic hyperlink to a YouTube video there. Shortened URLs may also help when you need to put them on paper/merchandise or on TV or say them in a voice call. That's sad goo.gl has been discontinued - it was what you could rely on. IMHO archive.org should make their own.
- Eriks 6y ago
  No, it's public and has been run for 11 years already and will continue to do so in foreseeable future. I would say it is the most popular one in my home country and it has good reputation among users. From my experience most linkrot issues comes from the fact that sites and documents URL shorteners link to go down before URL shorteners themselves. Many websites from 11 years ago doesn't exist anymore.
  - stretchcat 6y ago
    Will you die, will your heirs continue to operate this service? Or do consequences beyond your life not concern you? (e.g. "Why should I care about climate change, I'll be dead before it gets bad!") To mitigate the harm you've already caused, you should put the service into a read-only mode and contact Archive Team about handing off the database. You should do this today, before you get hit by a bus.
    - Eriks 6y ago
      Thank you for being concerned for my life. I've set it up in a way that someone will take it over after my sudden death, don't worry. And I care about climate change, even after my death.
    - dang 6y ago
      Please don't post in the flamewar style to HN or cross into personal attack. Those things aren't compatible with curious conversation, which is what we're going for here. We're also trying to avoid the online callout/shaming culture [1]. Even if you're right, beating people with a stick will neither improve their behavior nor the quality of conversation for anybody else. The endgame of this is a ghost town inhabited by a few nasty diehards, abandoned by users one would actually want to have a conversation with. That seems to be the default fate of internet forums but the goal of this one has always been to stave it off a little longer [2]. [1] https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&type=comment&dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=online%20shaming%20by%3Adang https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&type=comment&dateRange=a... [2] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=stave%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so...
    - prophesi 6y ago
      What harm have they "already caused"? Is link rot such a damaging phenomenon that it warrants attacking hobbyists and their not-for-profit public service? Will you help financially compensate their time setting up these fail-safes?
      - stretchcat 6y ago
        > What harm have they "already caused"? They have already inserted themselves as a middleman by shortening URLs, creating an additional point of failure which will inevitably break sooner or later. > Will you help financially compensate their time setting up these fail-safes? How about: Blow it out your ass. He made the mess, so if he has any integrity he'll foot the bill for cleaning it up.
        6y ago
  - dejj 6y ago
    Do you have some form of information escrow in place? E.g. could archive.org store a page of all your short-url mappings?
    - Eriks 6y ago
      Not at the moment but Archive.org is an option I'm considering.

Not all URL shorteners do that. I know because I own and maintain one that doesn't.

by Eriks 6y ago

Not all URL shorteners do that. I know because I own and maintain one that doesn't.

Hopefully yours is only available on a company LAN or other private network. Public link shorteners are a linkrot disaster, particularly the myriad of shorteners being run by random dudes for shits and giggles, since those disappear as soon as they get bored. There is nothing more frustrating than having a dead shortened link for content that is likely still available if only you had the real URL, not the shortened garbage. Link shorteners are a form of pollution; you may as well pour used motor oil down a gutter.

qwerty456127 6y ago
There are cases where URL shorteners are useful. E.g. some websites would parse a link you embed within a text you post and replace it with the actual video if that's a link to YouTube. A shortener may be the only way to post a classic hyperlink to a YouTube video there. Shortened URLs may also help when you need to put them on paper/merchandise or on TV or say them in a voice call. That's sad goo.gl has been discontinued - it was what you could rely on. IMHO archive.org should make their own.
Eriks 6y ago
No, it's public and has been run for 11 years already and will continue to do so in foreseeable future. I would say it is the most popular one in my home country and it has good reputation among users. From my experience most linkrot issues comes from the fact that sites and documents URL shorteners link to go down before URL shorteners themselves. Many websites from 11 years ago doesn't exist anymore.
- stretchcat 6y ago
  Will you die, will your heirs continue to operate this service? Or do consequences beyond your life not concern you? (e.g. "Why should I care about climate change, I'll be dead before it gets bad!") To mitigate the harm you've already caused, you should put the service into a read-only mode and contact Archive Team about handing off the database. You should do this today, before you get hit by a bus.
  - Eriks 6y ago
    Thank you for being concerned for my life. I've set it up in a way that someone will take it over after my sudden death, don't worry. And I care about climate change, even after my death.
  - dang 6y ago
    Please don't post in the flamewar style to HN or cross into personal attack. Those things aren't compatible with curious conversation, which is what we're going for here. We're also trying to avoid the online callout/shaming culture [1]. Even if you're right, beating people with a stick will neither improve their behavior nor the quality of conversation for anybody else. The endgame of this is a ghost town inhabited by a few nasty diehards, abandoned by users one would actually want to have a conversation with. That seems to be the default fate of internet forums but the goal of this one has always been to stave it off a little longer [2]. [1] https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&type=comment&dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=online%20shaming%20by%3Adang https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&type=comment&dateRange=a... [2] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=stave%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so...
  - prophesi 6y ago
    What harm have they "already caused"? Is link rot such a damaging phenomenon that it warrants attacking hobbyists and their not-for-profit public service? Will you help financially compensate their time setting up these fail-safes?
    - stretchcat 6y ago
      > What harm have they "already caused"? They have already inserted themselves as a middleman by shortening URLs, creating an additional point of failure which will inevitably break sooner or later. > Will you help financially compensate their time setting up these fail-safes? How about: Blow it out your ass. He made the mess, so if he has any integrity he'll foot the bill for cleaning it up.
      - 6y ago
- dejj 6y ago
  Do you have some form of information escrow in place? E.g. could archive.org store a page of all your short-url mappings?
  - Eriks 6y ago
    Not at the moment but Archive.org is an option I'm considering.