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Honestly, is it that hard to make that thing from scratch? I mean Facebook started by just one student… and he didn’t had the technology available today.

rpdillon 5y ago
Mastodon (https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/ https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/) is built on Rails and appears to have taken 10k+ commits over several years to build. Comparable products include Pleroma (https://github.com/Hostdon/pleroma/ https://github.com/Hostdon/pleroma/), which has 12k+ commits, and Friendica (https://github.com/friendica/friendica https://github.com/friendica/friendica) is a bit older, and has about 32k+ commits. Based on those projects, I'd say the evidence suggests it's a fair amount of work.
- MichaelRazum 5y ago
  My point is, if you focus on the core features. Lets say something like twitter, it seems to be not THAT hard on the backend side. Sure then you optimize your GUI for different devices that may need a bit more work. But I would say a minimal simple version can be done in few months. How long did it take Zuckerberg to create facebook with php again…?
  - npteljes 5y ago
    If you begin a software project like this, it's wise to consider the existing solutions. In this case, it looks like something off-the-shelf fit the bill. Why not use it? Why not use their expertise that matured over time? Why repeat rookie mistakes with a home-baked solution? These are the things to consider.
    - MichaelRazum 5y ago
      Why not use it? Why not use their expertise that matured over time? Not sure, maybe it is a the right way but maybe you would not be able to move fast forward after the launch. Why repeat rookie mistakes with a home-baked solution? Actually I think in an early stage it would be good for a team to make some mistakes and to learn. If it really has to compete with facebook or twitter I just don't think that using an open source solution is the right way.
- phendrenad2 5y ago
  Wow, this is a new form of the "If you want to bake an apple pie, you must first invent the universe" philosophy. Strictly speaking most of those 10k commits don't make progress toward the current state of the repo, and yet they are philosophically essential nonetheless.

rpdillon 5y ago

Mastodon (https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/ https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/) is built on Rails and appears to have taken 10k+ commits over several years to build. Comparable products include Pleroma (https://github.com/Hostdon/pleroma/ https://github.com/Hostdon/pleroma/), which has 12k+ commits, and Friendica (https://github.com/friendica/friendica https://github.com/friendica/friendica) is a bit older, and has about 32k+ commits. Based on those projects, I'd say the evidence suggests it's a fair amount of work.

MichaelRazum 5y ago
My point is, if you focus on the core features. Lets say something like twitter, it seems to be not THAT hard on the backend side. Sure then you optimize your GUI for different devices that may need a bit more work. But I would say a minimal simple version can be done in few months. How long did it take Zuckerberg to create facebook with php again…?
- npteljes 5y ago
  If you begin a software project like this, it's wise to consider the existing solutions. In this case, it looks like something off-the-shelf fit the bill. Why not use it? Why not use their expertise that matured over time? Why repeat rookie mistakes with a home-baked solution? These are the things to consider.
  - MichaelRazum 5y ago
    Why not use it? Why not use their expertise that matured over time? Not sure, maybe it is a the right way but maybe you would not be able to move fast forward after the launch. Why repeat rookie mistakes with a home-baked solution? Actually I think in an early stage it would be good for a team to make some mistakes and to learn. If it really has to compete with facebook or twitter I just don't think that using an open source solution is the right way.
phendrenad2 5y ago
Wow, this is a new form of the "If you want to bake an apple pie, you must first invent the universe" philosophy. Strictly speaking most of those 10k commits don't make progress toward the current state of the repo, and yet they are philosophically essential nonetheless.