5 ms·

Is it possible to make it run out of the browser like an electron app? Sorry for suggesting electron but it could be the ultimate multi-platform winamp clone.

ultimoo 6y ago
I'm not a desktop or a ui engineer by trade so I don't understand the contention with Electron. I know slack uses it and _seems_ to work fine but I have heard similar phrasing around "sorry for suggesting electron" and I'm curious to learn more about the cons of electron.
- flatiron 6y ago
  Pros: you run your web app as a local app without reprogramming your app. Cons: you are literally running a web app in a browser and not a native app.
- marcodiego 6y ago
  Simple: you're running an entire web browser and all its requirements like network support, image decoding and other support features to interpret a javascript program for the task of playing an mp3 that should be way lighter than running a browser.
  - Phrodo_00 6y ago
    Also, there's a lot of overhead compared to running a new tab in a browser. It's basically an entire browser for a single tab.
- theandrewbailey 6y ago
  Many Electron apps are sluggish and use more resources than necessary for the problem they're trying to solve. For example, IRC was doing most of the things Slack (desktop client in Electron) does, but 20+ years ago when computers were a thousandth (or less) as powerful. IRC clients were snappy to load and interact with, didn't use a gigabyte of RAM, and didn't eat a CPU core. From https://tonsky.me/blog/disenchantment/ https://tonsky.me/blog/disenchantment/: > Your desktop todo app is probably written in Electron and thus has a userland driver for the Xbox 360 controller in it, can render 3D graphics and play audio and take photos with your web camera.
  - anthk 6y ago
    Also, before Slack there was Jabber and MSN/AIM, and with Kopete you could do the same you can do today in slack but by using 1/10 of resources.
- dec0dedab0de 6y ago
  The reason a lot of people groan when we hear Electron is that it requires modern-ish hardware to do the same exact things that worked fine on hardware from 25 years ago. The reason a bunch of people use it anyway is because they have to be cross platform, and target the web.
  - denysvitali 6y ago
    And because UI toolkits are generally not that good. Especially the cross platform ones
    - selfhoster11 6y ago
      That accusation is quite the stone to be throwing around in the glasshouse that is the web technology stack. A portable version of Win32 would be infinitely better and more accessible than anything the web can come up with.
- happyweasel 6y ago
  Multiple executables ALL running their own version of the chrome browser - absolutely no resource/code sharing ? Teams, Slack, VsCode, Adobe products, Vscode, Signal, The normal chrome browser, Microsoft edge browser Providing a better user experience than "normal" desktop apps ? Really?
brian_herman 6y ago
No but you can try this it works great on my machine! https://getwacup.com/ https://getwacup.com/
crumpled 6y ago
You could just download and install Winamp, couldn't you? I know for a fact that it runs in Wine.
- dec0dedab0de 6y ago
  winamp 2 had at least one exploit that I got burned by a few times. Which is why I finally upgraded to 3, back whenever that was.
  - pixl97 6y ago
    Yep, MP3's contain a lot potential places to launch exploits from. No reason to use a vulnerable player.
tomc1985 6y ago
Ewwwwww
tomc1985 6y ago
Unless this includes Winamp's modularity and plugin architecture then it would not be a Winamp clone
jakearmitage 6y ago
You can use XMMS, it supports old Winamp skins.
squarefoot 6y ago
> Sorry for suggesting electron but it could be the ultimate multi-platform winamp clone. That however would defeat best Winamp's feature: being light and fast, which is the number one reason why I kept using the classic one ignoring all following versions until my last day on Windows. Today I use qmmp under Linux, which is close enough (has been ported to Windows too). https://qmmp.ylsoftware.com/ https://qmmp.ylsoftware.com/
- fractalf 6y ago
  Thanks for the tip, will try this out as it seems to have waveform support (a must for me). I've been using Nulloy for a while, also pretty nice and minimal https://github.com/nulloy/nulloy/ https://github.com/nulloy/nulloy/
ugh123 6y ago
There's a related project that forks and wraps it as an electron app. The source code shows it's pretty much just a react app, but slick!
Phrodo_00 6y ago
You can use Audacious https://audacious-media-player.org https://audacious-media-player.org
evan_ 6y ago
Have you tried re:AMP? https://re-amp.ru/ https://re-amp.ru/
captbaritone 6y ago
As a novelty, we actually already tried that: https://desktop.webamp.org/ https://desktop.webamp.org/ Note: Nobody thinks this is actually a good idea, but it's kidna fun.
- cheschire 6y ago
  Chromium Edge reports this download as unsafe with the message: This app might harm your device Microsoft Defender SmartScreen reported that this app is not commonly downloaded; you should only open files you trust. Name: webamp-desktop-web-setup-0.3.0.exe Publisher: Unknown
  - captbaritone 6y ago
    Probably good advice
    - cheschire 6y ago
      It's fine, that's what Windows Sandbox is for!

ultimoo 6y ago

I'm not a desktop or a ui engineer by trade so I don't understand the contention with Electron. I know slack uses it and _seems_ to work fine but I have heard similar phrasing around "sorry for suggesting electron" and I'm curious to learn more about the cons of electron.

flatiron 6y ago
Pros: you run your web app as a local app without reprogramming your app. Cons: you are literally running a web app in a browser and not a native app.
marcodiego 6y ago
Simple: you're running an entire web browser and all its requirements like network support, image decoding and other support features to interpret a javascript program for the task of playing an mp3 that should be way lighter than running a browser.
- Phrodo_00 6y ago
  Also, there's a lot of overhead compared to running a new tab in a browser. It's basically an entire browser for a single tab.
theandrewbailey 6y ago
Many Electron apps are sluggish and use more resources than necessary for the problem they're trying to solve. For example, IRC was doing most of the things Slack (desktop client in Electron) does, but 20+ years ago when computers were a thousandth (or less) as powerful. IRC clients were snappy to load and interact with, didn't use a gigabyte of RAM, and didn't eat a CPU core. From https://tonsky.me/blog/disenchantment/ https://tonsky.me/blog/disenchantment/: > Your desktop todo app is probably written in Electron and thus has a userland driver for the Xbox 360 controller in it, can render 3D graphics and play audio and take photos with your web camera.
- anthk 6y ago
  Also, before Slack there was Jabber and MSN/AIM, and with Kopete you could do the same you can do today in slack but by using 1/10 of resources.
dec0dedab0de 6y ago
The reason a lot of people groan when we hear Electron is that it requires modern-ish hardware to do the same exact things that worked fine on hardware from 25 years ago. The reason a bunch of people use it anyway is because they have to be cross platform, and target the web.
- denysvitali 6y ago
  And because UI toolkits are generally not that good. Especially the cross platform ones
  - selfhoster11 6y ago
    That accusation is quite the stone to be throwing around in the glasshouse that is the web technology stack. A portable version of Win32 would be infinitely better and more accessible than anything the web can come up with.
happyweasel 6y ago
Multiple executables ALL running their own version of the chrome browser - absolutely no resource/code sharing ? Teams, Slack, VsCode, Adobe products, Vscode, Signal, The normal chrome browser, Microsoft edge browser Providing a better user experience than "normal" desktop apps ? Really?

brian_herman 6y ago

No but you can try this it works great on my machine! https://getwacup.com/ https://getwacup.com/

crumpled 6y ago

You could just download and install Winamp, couldn't you? I know for a fact that it runs in Wine.

dec0dedab0de 6y ago
winamp 2 had at least one exploit that I got burned by a few times. Which is why I finally upgraded to 3, back whenever that was.
- pixl97 6y ago
  Yep, MP3's contain a lot potential places to launch exploits from. No reason to use a vulnerable player.

tomc1985 6y ago

Ewwwwww

tomc1985 6y ago

Unless this includes Winamp's modularity and plugin architecture then it would not be a Winamp clone

jakearmitage 6y ago

You can use XMMS, it supports old Winamp skins.

squarefoot 6y ago

> Sorry for suggesting electron but it could be the ultimate multi-platform winamp clone. That however would defeat best Winamp's feature: being light and fast, which is the number one reason why I kept using the classic one ignoring all following versions until my last day on Windows. Today I use qmmp under Linux, which is close enough (has been ported to Windows too). https://qmmp.ylsoftware.com/ https://qmmp.ylsoftware.com/

fractalf 6y ago
Thanks for the tip, will try this out as it seems to have waveform support (a must for me). I've been using Nulloy for a while, also pretty nice and minimal https://github.com/nulloy/nulloy/ https://github.com/nulloy/nulloy/

ugh123 6y ago

There's a related project that forks and wraps it as an electron app. The source code shows it's pretty much just a react app, but slick!

Phrodo_00 6y ago

You can use Audacious https://audacious-media-player.org https://audacious-media-player.org

evan_ 6y ago

Have you tried re:AMP? https://re-amp.ru/ https://re-amp.ru/

captbaritone 6y ago

As a novelty, we actually already tried that: https://desktop.webamp.org/ https://desktop.webamp.org/ Note: Nobody thinks this is actually a good idea, but it's kidna fun.

cheschire 6y ago
Chromium Edge reports this download as unsafe with the message: This app might harm your device Microsoft Defender SmartScreen reported that this app is not commonly downloaded; you should only open files you trust. Name: webamp-desktop-web-setup-0.3.0.exe Publisher: Unknown
- captbaritone 6y ago
  Probably good advice
  - cheschire 6y ago
    It's fine, that's what Windows Sandbox is for!