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My mom digitized many many old family videos, and wanted them online for sharing with family (including elderly & not-super-tech-savvy relatives). She asked me

My mom digitized many many old family videos, and wanted them online for sharing with family (including elderly & not-super-tech-savvy relatives). She asked me “should I just upload them all to a YouTube channel?” Thankfully it was a phone call so my mom didn’t see my aghast expression. I prefer that big tech not index this stuff! Better to keep “in the family” Seriously why does big tech deserve this free & super-private window into me & my ancestors lives? So I wrote something[1] where: * it’s fully free & open source * cloud native * plays on any device, any bandwidth, even if shitty * yes my 90+yo Aunt Loretta (w00t to you Aunt Lo!) can use it on her phone & computer * all data can be always encrypted, both source videos and derived/optimized assets * and there’s more. please have fun Basically point it at a source bucket on S3 or B2, and get your own private YouTube. What I’ve built is very limited in functionality atm, but I believe the foundation is solid and plan to extend media support to photos and audio. This can be a nice alternative to Plex/Google Photos/YT/etc. It’s for when you don’t care about “building an audience” and in fact prefer that big tech can only see encrypted bytes from you. Try it out and lmk! [1] https://github.com/cobbzilla/yuebing https://github.com/cobbzilla/yuebing

adave 3y ago
If it's old pristine video, might be worthwhile for anything without identifiable info on YT. Never know who this helps or brings backs memories.
robertlagrant 3y ago
> Seriously why does big tech deserve this free & super-private window into me & my ancestors lives? I don't think anyone's claiming it deserves anything?
- wendyshu 3y ago
  Yeah it's a bizarre attitude
talhah 3y ago
Wow that's amazing, do you plan to support mobile apps as well?
- cobbzilla 3y ago
  I’m not considering a native app for this, but the mobile web experience should be excellent.
actionfromafar 3y ago
Not saying you shouldn't do this, but by publishing under AGPL plus If you are an individual person or a not-for-profit organization, and your usage of this software is entirely non-commercial, you may use this software under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3, summarized below and reprinted in full thereafter. you have effectively created a new license and it's not completely clear to me what that new license even means exactly, except that obviously a company should stay far away from it. With regular AGPL, there is not a problem for a company to use the AGPL licensed software, it "just" can't offer Tivo-ised experiences or a website running modified AGPL code.
- Strom 3y ago
  AGPL has language to cover such things, e.g. > All other non-permissive additional terms are considered "further restrictions" within the meaning of section 10. If the Program as you received it, or any part of it, contains a notice stating that it is governed by this License along with a term that is a further restriction, you may remove that term. So it seems at best there is a need for a middle man who gets the AGPL licensed version that can then propagate it further under pure AGPL.
  - chrisshroba 3y ago
    This doesn’t make sense to me. If one clause says another clause can be removed, then doesn’t that create a contradiction where legally it’s unclear which of the two clauses “wins” the fight - the one adding additional restrictions or the one removing that clause?
  - actionfromafar 3y ago
    I think that language is meant for the case where someone takes an AGPL programs, slaps another restriction on it, and sends it along. The last person in the chain can disregard the extra "conditions". But this only works if someone distributed it under (only) the AGPL in the first. In the specific case with the software we are talking about now, that is not the case. It was originally distributed under this almost-AGPL. But yes, the wording inside the AGPL makes it extra confusing exactly. It reads like those test where the instruction is "before you do anything, read all the questions".
maxibenner 3y ago
I did a similar thing a while back. https://github.com/maxibenner/cardboard https://github.com/maxibenner/cardboard The goal was to have a platform that ingests the commonly enormous video files from old tapes, automatically cuts them, tags them based on content to make them easily searchable. My focus was on discoverability of scenes hidden in those long video files. The search bar would also randomly suggest tags to search for. At some point I tried to work with a large video digitization provider and the video splitting ended up being too expensive to be viable for the proposed business model. Now it just auto generates thumbnails and lets you tag videos manually. The project includes a business dahsboard that allows digitization businesses to send videos directly to customer accounts (deliveries need to be accepted). Currently, I only use it for my own videos as well as for my MIL.
jwr 3y ago
I wrote something like this, but for photos. I was tired of not being able to share photo albums with my family and friends. And then I realized that there is a certain group of people who really need a private photo-sharing service without any oversight, and that not only do I want nothing to do with that despicable group, I don't ever want to realize that I helped them in any way. So I decided to never release the code and never make it available.
- cobbzilla 3y ago
  If you discovered a new way to make a secure locking cabinet, and then found out that bad people would lock bad things in the cabinet, you’d stop working on the cabinet? OK then, that’s entirely your choice. Just don’t forget you started working on this cabinet for your own legitimate use, and there are many more people who share your same legitimate problem, but who can’t write software, and they will be SOL.
- cvwright 3y ago
  Counterpoint: the bad people are already doing bad things. There is already plenty of secure communication technology, it’s just not super convenient. The highly motivated weirdos don’t mind that though. There is a much larger group of people (parents) who need a secure and convenient way to share photos. They are not as driven as the perverts, so they need all the support and user-friendliness that we can provide. We should build the tools that help the parents protect their kids, and let law enforcement deal with the other group.
wxce 3y ago
nit: The language in the readme is called 'Marathi' instead of 'Maranthi'. It's my native language, and not a ton of people speak it online. Nice to see it here :)
- Paul-Craft 3y ago
  Huh, interesting. Apparently, Marathi is the 13th largest language in the world by population of native speakers, yet I've never heard of it. TIL. Is there anything you know of that's linguistically interesting about it besides what I can learn from Wikipedia? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathi_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathi_language
  - mixmastamyk 3y ago
    Simpson’s quote: Reverend Lovejoy: No, but He was working in the hearts of your friends and neighbors when they came to your aid, be they [points to Ned] Christian, [Krusty] Jew, or [Apu]... miscellaneous. Apu: Hindu! There are 700 million of us.
- cobbzilla 3y ago
  Thank you! My mistake, updated. cheers! :) PS-- I also wanted my docs in any language, but also that anyone else could translate their app/docs easily, so I made this other thing[1], which is why these docs are available in so many languages [1] https://github.com/cobbzilla/hokeylization https://github.com/cobbzilla/hokeylization / https://www.npmjs.com/package/hokeylization-lite https://www.npmjs.com/package/hokeylization-lite
rhizome31 3y ago
Hey, sounds like a very cool project. I'm wondering: have you considered setting up a Peertube instance and what were the reasons for not doing it? Other question about not giving away your private data to big tech: Why is S3 better than a private YouTube channel?
- cobbzilla 3y ago
  I like S3/B2 because the vendor only ever sees encrypted bytes. All decryption/plaintext is on the device. YouTube does not get you there. In fact their entire model is predicated on watching your every move. As far as Peertube, I don't know enough about it. If I put a massive-bitrate video in some weird format on it, and then try playback on a crappy phone, will it work? If I go through a short tunnel, will it buffer or degrade quality gracefully? I don't want to worry about it.
  - rhizome31 3y ago
    > S3/B2 because the vendor only ever sees encrypted bytes Got it, thanks! > questions about Peertube I don't know either. So far my experience with existing instances has been rather good but I didn't consciously test the use cases you mentioned. I've wanted to publish educational videos for a while but the idea of feeding the big nasty beast just breaks my heart.
    - rvense 3y ago
      Have you considered just hosting mp4s in <video> tags on a simple web host? I think it'll work a lot better than you'd think.
      - cobbzilla 3y ago
        This uses video.js which wraps <video> and adds a lot more goodies.
      - rhizome31 3y ago
        You're right, thanks for reminding me of the simple, straightforward way!

adave 3y ago

If it's old pristine video, might be worthwhile for anything without identifiable info on YT. Never know who this helps or brings backs memories.

robertlagrant 3y ago

> Seriously why does big tech deserve this free & super-private window into me & my ancestors lives? I don't think anyone's claiming it deserves anything?

wendyshu 3y ago
Yeah it's a bizarre attitude

talhah 3y ago

Wow that's amazing, do you plan to support mobile apps as well?

cobbzilla 3y ago
I’m not considering a native app for this, but the mobile web experience should be excellent.

actionfromafar 3y ago

Not saying you shouldn't do this, but by publishing under AGPL plus If you are an individual person or a not-for-profit organization, and your usage of this software is entirely non-commercial, you may use this software under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3, summarized below and reprinted in full thereafter. you have effectively created a new license and it's not completely clear to me what that new license even means exactly, except that obviously a company should stay far away from it. With regular AGPL, there is not a problem for a company to use the AGPL licensed software, it "just" can't offer Tivo-ised experiences or a website running modified AGPL code.

Strom 3y ago
AGPL has language to cover such things, e.g. > All other non-permissive additional terms are considered "further restrictions" within the meaning of section 10. If the Program as you received it, or any part of it, contains a notice stating that it is governed by this License along with a term that is a further restriction, you may remove that term. So it seems at best there is a need for a middle man who gets the AGPL licensed version that can then propagate it further under pure AGPL.
- chrisshroba 3y ago
  This doesn’t make sense to me. If one clause says another clause can be removed, then doesn’t that create a contradiction where legally it’s unclear which of the two clauses “wins” the fight - the one adding additional restrictions or the one removing that clause?
- actionfromafar 3y ago
  I think that language is meant for the case where someone takes an AGPL programs, slaps another restriction on it, and sends it along. The last person in the chain can disregard the extra "conditions". But this only works if someone distributed it under (only) the AGPL in the first. In the specific case with the software we are talking about now, that is not the case. It was originally distributed under this almost-AGPL. But yes, the wording inside the AGPL makes it extra confusing exactly. It reads like those test where the instruction is "before you do anything, read all the questions".

maxibenner 3y ago

I did a similar thing a while back. https://github.com/maxibenner/cardboard https://github.com/maxibenner/cardboard The goal was to have a platform that ingests the commonly enormous video files from old tapes, automatically cuts them, tags them based on content to make them easily searchable. My focus was on discoverability of scenes hidden in those long video files. The search bar would also randomly suggest tags to search for. At some point I tried to work with a large video digitization provider and the video splitting ended up being too expensive to be viable for the proposed business model. Now it just auto generates thumbnails and lets you tag videos manually. The project includes a business dahsboard that allows digitization businesses to send videos directly to customer accounts (deliveries need to be accepted). Currently, I only use it for my own videos as well as for my MIL.

jwr 3y ago

I wrote something like this, but for photos. I was tired of not being able to share photo albums with my family and friends. And then I realized that there is a certain group of people who really need a private photo-sharing service without any oversight, and that not only do I want nothing to do with that despicable group, I don't ever want to realize that I helped them in any way. So I decided to never release the code and never make it available.

cobbzilla 3y ago
If you discovered a new way to make a secure locking cabinet, and then found out that bad people would lock bad things in the cabinet, you’d stop working on the cabinet? OK then, that’s entirely your choice. Just don’t forget you started working on this cabinet for your own legitimate use, and there are many more people who share your same legitimate problem, but who can’t write software, and they will be SOL.
cvwright 3y ago
Counterpoint: the bad people are already doing bad things. There is already plenty of secure communication technology, it’s just not super convenient. The highly motivated weirdos don’t mind that though. There is a much larger group of people (parents) who need a secure and convenient way to share photos. They are not as driven as the perverts, so they need all the support and user-friendliness that we can provide. We should build the tools that help the parents protect their kids, and let law enforcement deal with the other group.

wxce 3y ago

nit: The language in the readme is called 'Marathi' instead of 'Maranthi'. It's my native language, and not a ton of people speak it online. Nice to see it here :)

Paul-Craft 3y ago
Huh, interesting. Apparently, Marathi is the 13th largest language in the world by population of native speakers, yet I've never heard of it. TIL. Is there anything you know of that's linguistically interesting about it besides what I can learn from Wikipedia? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathi_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathi_language
- mixmastamyk 3y ago
  Simpson’s quote: Reverend Lovejoy: No, but He was working in the hearts of your friends and neighbors when they came to your aid, be they [points to Ned] Christian, [Krusty] Jew, or [Apu]... miscellaneous. Apu: Hindu! There are 700 million of us.
cobbzilla 3y ago
Thank you! My mistake, updated. cheers! :) PS-- I also wanted my docs in any language, but also that anyone else could translate their app/docs easily, so I made this other thing[1], which is why these docs are available in so many languages [1] https://github.com/cobbzilla/hokeylization https://github.com/cobbzilla/hokeylization / https://www.npmjs.com/package/hokeylization-lite https://www.npmjs.com/package/hokeylization-lite

rhizome31 3y ago

Hey, sounds like a very cool project. I'm wondering: have you considered setting up a Peertube instance and what were the reasons for not doing it? Other question about not giving away your private data to big tech: Why is S3 better than a private YouTube channel?

cobbzilla 3y ago
I like S3/B2 because the vendor only ever sees encrypted bytes. All decryption/plaintext is on the device. YouTube does not get you there. In fact their entire model is predicated on watching your every move. As far as Peertube, I don't know enough about it. If I put a massive-bitrate video in some weird format on it, and then try playback on a crappy phone, will it work? If I go through a short tunnel, will it buffer or degrade quality gracefully? I don't want to worry about it.
- rhizome31 3y ago
  > S3/B2 because the vendor only ever sees encrypted bytes Got it, thanks! > questions about Peertube I don't know either. So far my experience with existing instances has been rather good but I didn't consciously test the use cases you mentioned. I've wanted to publish educational videos for a while but the idea of feeding the big nasty beast just breaks my heart.
  - rvense 3y ago
    Have you considered just hosting mp4s in <video> tags on a simple web host? I think it'll work a lot better than you'd think.
    - cobbzilla 3y ago
      This uses video.js which wraps <video> and adds a lot more goodies.
    - rhizome31 3y ago
      You're right, thanks for reminding me of the simple, straightforward way!