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Alternatively you host your videos on both your own Peertube site as well as Youtube and direct Youtube-visitors to either Peertube, Invidious [2] or - if they'

Alternatively you host your videos on both your own Peertube site as well as Youtube and direct Youtube-visitors to either Peertube, Invidious [2] or - if they're using Android - NewPipe. If they are command-line savvy they can use youtube-dl or one of the mediaplayers which make use of its functionality (mpv, VLC, smplayer etc). In other words there are many ways to both have your cake and eat it here. Self-hosted Peertube with Youtube as CDN and discovery network gives you the best of both worlds. If Google ever decides your videos don't fit the desired narrative you won't be left out in the cold. By self-hosting you also avoid being branded -ist or -phobe just because you happen to use some alternative video platform (Odysee etc) which also hosts content made by others. [1] https://framagit.org/framasoft/peertube https://framagit.org/framasoft/peertube [2] https://github.com/iv-org/invidious https://github.com/iv-org/invidious [3] https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe

dmos62 5y ago
If only NewPipe had access to Google's recommendation engine (or its dataset). That's the only reason why I'm on youtube.com a lot.
- the_third_wave 5y ago
  Hm, I actually see this as an advantage of these alternative frontends since there is far less incentive to be pulled down some rabbit hole. Without recommendations and autoplay the thing just plays the video you point it at and stops without trying to entice you to stay just a bit longer [1]. [1] ...cue audio from that ancient C64 game: Another visitor, stay a while, stay FOREVER... https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/Impossible_Mission https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/Impossible_Mission
- toastal 5y ago
  In the past I would agree, but anymore all of the recommendations are things I watched a couple of years ago. I'm not getting turned on to new, relevant content but refed stuff I 'liked'.
- crtasm 5y ago
  If you tap a video in Newpipe then swipe left/right on the bottom area of the screen you get comments, description and related videos - is that what you want?
dredmorbius 5y ago
Is Invidious anything other than a YouTube proxy? Is there Invidious-native content? (Mind: the proxy feature is quite usfeul. It's also ... limited and limiting.)
- the_third_wave 5y ago
  No, it is only a proxy. For native content Peertube is a good option, I've been running it for a few years without any real problems, starting out on a machine with a Pentium E2220 and 2GB of RAM (video transcoding was... slow... but once transcoded it worked fine), later moving to less anaemic hardware. Invidious is useful for more than just filtering out ads, it actually makes Youtube content useable on older hardware - like the Thinkpad T42p I'm using right now - where the "official" interface and player are close to useless. When configured correctly - i.e. when videos are proxied through the server - it keeps your video viewing habits out of Google's hands. It makes it possible to follow channels without Google knowing about it. It can not help against censorship, when Google removes content it can no longer be accessed through Invidious. I've used Peertube to mirror Youtube channels which have had videos removed which does help against censorship - run a cron job to monitor a channel for changes and mirror new videos to Peertube. All of this can be done anonymously - I do not even have a Google or Youtube account.
  - dredmorbius 5y ago
    Thanks, that largely reflects my own experience. The now-largely-unusable (thanks to API key limitations) mps-youtube command-line utility still remains the most useful interface to YouTube I've ever used: - Runs without any browser at all. - From a console. - Without video, if you so specify. - Enables full search, can be limited to music, includes both content and account search. That is, you can search for content matching terms, or for a username / account matching a term. Also playlists IIRC. - Can play based on a given account's videos / postings. - Individual items can be saved to a queue. Those may be ephemeral (session-only), or saved to disk. - Content can be downloaded if preferred. - No YouTube account required, no play history on YouTube. YouTube apparently did all they could to kill this, and largely succeeded. I'd used it fairly extensively for my own preferred use of the site: finding lectures (and occasionally book-readings or similar content), and queuing up playlists or downloading archives of those. Works on absolutely minimal hardware.

dmos62 5y ago

If only NewPipe had access to Google's recommendation engine (or its dataset). That's the only reason why I'm on youtube.com a lot.

the_third_wave 5y ago
Hm, I actually see this as an advantage of these alternative frontends since there is far less incentive to be pulled down some rabbit hole. Without recommendations and autoplay the thing just plays the video you point it at and stops without trying to entice you to stay just a bit longer [1]. [1] ...cue audio from that ancient C64 game: Another visitor, stay a while, stay FOREVER... https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/Impossible_Mission https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/Impossible_Mission
toastal 5y ago
In the past I would agree, but anymore all of the recommendations are things I watched a couple of years ago. I'm not getting turned on to new, relevant content but refed stuff I 'liked'.
crtasm 5y ago
If you tap a video in Newpipe then swipe left/right on the bottom area of the screen you get comments, description and related videos - is that what you want?

dredmorbius 5y ago

Is Invidious anything other than a YouTube proxy? Is there Invidious-native content? (Mind: the proxy feature is quite usfeul. It's also ... limited and limiting.)

the_third_wave 5y ago
No, it is only a proxy. For native content Peertube is a good option, I've been running it for a few years without any real problems, starting out on a machine with a Pentium E2220 and 2GB of RAM (video transcoding was... slow... but once transcoded it worked fine), later moving to less anaemic hardware. Invidious is useful for more than just filtering out ads, it actually makes Youtube content useable on older hardware - like the Thinkpad T42p I'm using right now - where the "official" interface and player are close to useless. When configured correctly - i.e. when videos are proxied through the server - it keeps your video viewing habits out of Google's hands. It makes it possible to follow channels without Google knowing about it. It can not help against censorship, when Google removes content it can no longer be accessed through Invidious. I've used Peertube to mirror Youtube channels which have had videos removed which does help against censorship - run a cron job to monitor a channel for changes and mirror new videos to Peertube. All of this can be done anonymously - I do not even have a Google or Youtube account.
- dredmorbius 5y ago
  Thanks, that largely reflects my own experience. The now-largely-unusable (thanks to API key limitations) mps-youtube command-line utility still remains the most useful interface to YouTube I've ever used: - Runs without any browser at all. - From a console. - Without video, if you so specify. - Enables full search, can be limited to music, includes both content and account search. That is, you can search for content matching terms, or for a username / account matching a term. Also playlists IIRC. - Can play based on a given account's videos / postings. - Individual items can be saved to a queue. Those may be ephemeral (session-only), or saved to disk. - Content can be downloaded if preferred. - No YouTube account required, no play history on YouTube. YouTube apparently did all they could to kill this, and largely succeeded. I'd used it fairly extensively for my own preferred use of the site: finding lectures (and occasionally book-readings or similar content), and queuing up playlists or downloading archives of those. Works on absolutely minimal hardware.