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If you're looking for something to clean up the mess that Google Photos Takeout leaves you and give you a fast, self-hosted UI, you're all welcome to try PhotoS

If you're looking for something to clean up the mess that Google Photos Takeout leaves you and give you a fast, self-hosted UI, you're all welcome to try PhotoStructure: it'll de-dupe the mess into nice (customizable) timestamped subdirectories. https://photostructure.com/faq/why-photostructure/ https://photostructure.com/faq/why-photostructure/

falcolas 6y ago
Wait, wait. "Run it yourself" but it's going to use a subscription plan? Um, no. Not a chance. Charge a price up front, maybe even charge for major upgrades... subscriptions are for services, not software.
- mceachen 6y ago
  ICYMI, I wrote down my thoughts about this topic (both as a fellow consumer and as an author of commercial software): https://photostructure.com/about/v-0-9/#-this-_really-will_-be-our-last-beta-version https://photostructure.com/about/v-0-9/#-this-_really-will_-...
  - falcolas 6y ago
    Subscriptions are rife with dark patterns. Confusing language, hidden unsubscribe buttons, requiring extraordinary actions (such as phone calls), unexpected price increases - you'll see these popping up every day across social media (including HN). And, in my opinion, a subscription is inherently a dark pattern no matter how good the intentions may be, since their very nature encourages people to forget about them and keep paying long past the point of usefulness. Throw in CC auto-update for subscriptions, and there's no natural event that would ever cause the subscription to end (short of death, and even that's questionable). Desktop software is not the place for subscriptions. Such recurring revenue may be great for your business, but that literally comes at the expense of your customers. As an addendum, pinky promises of continued access to your own media aren't worth the bytes they're stored in these days. Feel free to blame your corporate predecessors.
    - mceachen 6y ago
      > Subscriptions are rife with dark patterns. Agreed. As some random internet person to another, there's not much I can do (that I haven't already done on my website) to try to convince you that I'll do my best to avoid grotty/slimy UX patterns: I'll make sure there's a warning email sent a couple days before any charges are applied, and easy cancellation via the website. The fact that much of the functionality remains when subscriptions lapse mean you only need to pay when you feel like you'd glean value. > pinky promises of continued access to your own media Well, that's why it's self-hosted. There's no trust you need to apply to the app: you can even use PhotoStructure with a read-only bind-mount to your assets directory to make sure it isn't doing anything nefarious. No pinkies needed.
      - newscracker 6y ago
        > I'll make sure there's a warning email sent a couple days before any charges are applied, Since you're still figuring the best possible options and seem to be open to feedback, a reminder email two days before the charge is never enough. Ideally, it should be a few emails spread across a longer period, such as one month before, two weeks before and five days before. You could choose when and how many emails to send (bother the user), but it shouldn't be just one, and that too something that could be missed, like just two days before. FWIW, I'm not a fan of subscriptions. Since key features will be disabled unless renewed, I don't think it works as much for the benefit of the user as it does for the developer.
        mceachen 6y ago
        > Ideally, it should be a few emails spread across a longer period, such as one month before, two weeks before and five days before. That's a great suggestion, I'll try to make that happen. > key features will be disabled unless renewed It just disables advanced "curators" which happen during import. Your library is still browseable, and all prior tags exist, it's just that new assets aren't tagged with the "plus" taggers. As soon as the subscription is renewed, it'll automatically reapply the "plus" taggers.

falcolas 6y ago

Wait, wait. "Run it yourself" but it's going to use a subscription plan? Um, no. Not a chance. Charge a price up front, maybe even charge for major upgrades... subscriptions are for services, not software.

mceachen 6y ago
ICYMI, I wrote down my thoughts about this topic (both as a fellow consumer and as an author of commercial software): https://photostructure.com/about/v-0-9/#-this-_really-will_-be-our-last-beta-version https://photostructure.com/about/v-0-9/#-this-_really-will_-...
- falcolas 6y ago
  Subscriptions are rife with dark patterns. Confusing language, hidden unsubscribe buttons, requiring extraordinary actions (such as phone calls), unexpected price increases - you'll see these popping up every day across social media (including HN). And, in my opinion, a subscription is inherently a dark pattern no matter how good the intentions may be, since their very nature encourages people to forget about them and keep paying long past the point of usefulness. Throw in CC auto-update for subscriptions, and there's no natural event that would ever cause the subscription to end (short of death, and even that's questionable). Desktop software is not the place for subscriptions. Such recurring revenue may be great for your business, but that literally comes at the expense of your customers. As an addendum, pinky promises of continued access to your own media aren't worth the bytes they're stored in these days. Feel free to blame your corporate predecessors.
  - mceachen 6y ago
    > Subscriptions are rife with dark patterns. Agreed. As some random internet person to another, there's not much I can do (that I haven't already done on my website) to try to convince you that I'll do my best to avoid grotty/slimy UX patterns: I'll make sure there's a warning email sent a couple days before any charges are applied, and easy cancellation via the website. The fact that much of the functionality remains when subscriptions lapse mean you only need to pay when you feel like you'd glean value. > pinky promises of continued access to your own media Well, that's why it's self-hosted. There's no trust you need to apply to the app: you can even use PhotoStructure with a read-only bind-mount to your assets directory to make sure it isn't doing anything nefarious. No pinkies needed.
    - newscracker 6y ago
      > I'll make sure there's a warning email sent a couple days before any charges are applied, Since you're still figuring the best possible options and seem to be open to feedback, a reminder email two days before the charge is never enough. Ideally, it should be a few emails spread across a longer period, such as one month before, two weeks before and five days before. You could choose when and how many emails to send (bother the user), but it shouldn't be just one, and that too something that could be missed, like just two days before. FWIW, I'm not a fan of subscriptions. Since key features will be disabled unless renewed, I don't think it works as much for the benefit of the user as it does for the developer.
      - mceachen 6y ago
        > Ideally, it should be a few emails spread across a longer period, such as one month before, two weeks before and five days before. That's a great suggestion, I'll try to make that happen. > key features will be disabled unless renewed It just disables advanced "curators" which happen during import. Your library is still browseable, and all prior tags exist, it's just that new assets aren't tagged with the "plus" taggers. As soon as the subscription is renewed, it'll automatically reapply the "plus" taggers.