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I'm going all in on Local First, it addresses so many issues with the current "app" web. Better responsiveness from UI, working offline, privet data, lower serv

I'm going all in on Local First, it addresses so many issues with the current "app" web. Better responsiveness from UI, working offline, privet data, lower server costs, just as a start. Somewhat counter to the article, I would argue that local first isn't about having "no cloud", it's "low cloud". So you could go P2P for sync, but you can also have a much more lightweight sync service on a central server. Both are valid "local first", it comes down to use case. The way to think of the term is like when we all moved to designing web UI "mobile first". It's a kind of shift from operating one way and adding on support for the other, to the other way around. Start local and layer on server and cloud support. One of the most exciting things about local first though is that once you have solved all the sync, and conflicting edit resolution problems (CRDTs are key here) you are 90% of the way to solving "multiplayer real-time". The only missing bit presence. The community around local first is also really buzzy, it's got that great feeling of being part of something new, something that's going to be bigger than the sum of its parts. To learn more about local first this is a great starting point https://localfirstweb.dev/ https://localfirstweb.dev/

korpsey 3y ago
Is this a webdev only community? I see this being an issue in other development environments..
- samwillis 3y ago
  Not at all, it's open to all. There are many ways to build local first, both with web technologies and with "native" app toolkits. Many of the CRDT tools have started as JS/TS libs but have been rebuilt in Rust to be cross platform, WASM or native. The appeal of using web tech is its accessibility and ease of distribution. Local first and PWAs with the new origin privet file system api kind of go hand in hand, but it's not an exclusive relationship.
  - jasfi 3y ago
    The cloud offloads a lot of maintenance worries, especially hardware related. E.g. no need to worry about replacing failed hard drives. Can local first really compete?
Nezteb 3y ago
I 100% agree. At least in the Elixir space, Phoenix has some excellent lightweight methods to solve the presence piece! https://hexdocs.pm/phoenix/Phoenix.Presence.html https://hexdocs.pm/phoenix/Phoenix.Presence.html
shafyy 3y ago
CleanShot X for Mac is a great example of this. It's basically a screenshotting and screen recording tool that you install. But you can also tell it to upload your images and videos to their cloud and get a link to share them with your friends or coworkers (especially helpful for screencasts for example).
- akho 3y ago
  Why not dropbox or whatever place you use to share files normally? a screenshot program does not need a cloud.
  - shafyy 3y ago
    It's completely optional. And it's very convenient to record a screencast and have it uploaded to the cloud with one click which also copies the share URL to your clipboard at the same time. I don't use Dropbox or a similar service, so this is a real value added for me.
    - akho 3y ago
      You add yet another account you need to manage, and it's very easy for your private information to be visible in screenshots/casts, in a cloud managed by the makers of a screenshot app.
  - robertlagrant 3y ago
    Dropbox would do well to make a decent screenshot tool and make it share dropbox links.
    - NikkiA 3y ago
      Once-upon-a-time dropbox had a built in screenshot tool that could upload to your public directory. It was always a pain because I was forever having to determine which of onedrive or dropbox had taken print screen handling away from my preferred screenshot tool (at the time, greenshot, now ShareX)
this_user 3y ago
> Local First > "Join our Discord"
- samwillis 3y ago
  Quite true there is some irony to that. There has been a little talk of building a local first community platform, sadly doesn't exist yet.
  - Znafon 3y ago
    Isn't that what email and mailing lists are for?
    - samwillis 3y ago
      They are hosting monthly meet-ups - mini conferences - with video chat and presentations. Not local first solution to that yet.
      - fsflover 3y ago
        https://matrix.org/blog/2023/02/09/finally-a-hybrid-conference-that-worked/ https://matrix.org/blog/2023/02/09/finally-a-hybrid-conferen...
        yonz 3y ago
        This is interesting, been putting off setting up a discord <> Matrix bridge but will have to tackle this.
      - rolandog 3y ago
        For the uploaded videos, perhaps PeerTube? For live presentations... could Jitsi suffice?
  - jedahan 3y ago
    Discord's UX is miles ahead of Element, and I setup and maintain communities on that use both. For something like local-first, like a local principled makerspace, we are happy to deal with the friction and try and contribute back on Matrix/Element. That said, infrastructure churn can be disruptive. Don't envy your position.

korpsey 3y ago

Is this a webdev only community? I see this being an issue in other development environments..

samwillis 3y ago
Not at all, it's open to all. There are many ways to build local first, both with web technologies and with "native" app toolkits. Many of the CRDT tools have started as JS/TS libs but have been rebuilt in Rust to be cross platform, WASM or native. The appeal of using web tech is its accessibility and ease of distribution. Local first and PWAs with the new origin privet file system api kind of go hand in hand, but it's not an exclusive relationship.
- jasfi 3y ago
  The cloud offloads a lot of maintenance worries, especially hardware related. E.g. no need to worry about replacing failed hard drives. Can local first really compete?

Nezteb 3y ago

I 100% agree. At least in the Elixir space, Phoenix has some excellent lightweight methods to solve the presence piece! https://hexdocs.pm/phoenix/Phoenix.Presence.html https://hexdocs.pm/phoenix/Phoenix.Presence.html

shafyy 3y ago

CleanShot X for Mac is a great example of this. It's basically a screenshotting and screen recording tool that you install. But you can also tell it to upload your images and videos to their cloud and get a link to share them with your friends or coworkers (especially helpful for screencasts for example).

akho 3y ago
Why not dropbox or whatever place you use to share files normally? a screenshot program does not need a cloud.
- shafyy 3y ago
  It's completely optional. And it's very convenient to record a screencast and have it uploaded to the cloud with one click which also copies the share URL to your clipboard at the same time. I don't use Dropbox or a similar service, so this is a real value added for me.
  - akho 3y ago
    You add yet another account you need to manage, and it's very easy for your private information to be visible in screenshots/casts, in a cloud managed by the makers of a screenshot app.
- robertlagrant 3y ago
  Dropbox would do well to make a decent screenshot tool and make it share dropbox links.
  - NikkiA 3y ago
    Once-upon-a-time dropbox had a built in screenshot tool that could upload to your public directory. It was always a pain because I was forever having to determine which of onedrive or dropbox had taken print screen handling away from my preferred screenshot tool (at the time, greenshot, now ShareX)

this_user 3y ago

> Local First > "Join our Discord"

samwillis 3y ago
Quite true there is some irony to that. There has been a little talk of building a local first community platform, sadly doesn't exist yet.
- Znafon 3y ago
  Isn't that what email and mailing lists are for?
  - samwillis 3y ago
    They are hosting monthly meet-ups - mini conferences - with video chat and presentations. Not local first solution to that yet.
    - fsflover 3y ago
      https://matrix.org/blog/2023/02/09/finally-a-hybrid-conference-that-worked/ https://matrix.org/blog/2023/02/09/finally-a-hybrid-conferen...
      - yonz 3y ago
        This is interesting, been putting off setting up a discord <> Matrix bridge but will have to tackle this.
    - rolandog 3y ago
      For the uploaded videos, perhaps PeerTube? For live presentations... could Jitsi suffice?
- jedahan 3y ago
  Discord's UX is miles ahead of Element, and I setup and maintain communities on that use both. For something like local-first, like a local principled makerspace, we are happy to deal with the friction and try and contribute back on Matrix/Element. That said, infrastructure churn can be disruptive. Don't envy your position.