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I've never forgiven them for shutting down Google Reader. Never again. Self-hosted open source software for life.

sharperguy 3y ago
It was the perfect execution of Microsoft's "embrace, extend and destroy" tactic. Another example was ditching XMPP support in google chat / hangouts.
- doublerabbit 3y ago
  As well as disabling Usenet groups readership.
  - medstrom 3y ago
    Ironically, Usenet seems to be growing more popular! For all the same reasons alternative social media are growing. Google Groups shut down for good three days ago, so their fingers are out of the pie, but humans haven't used that for a while, they just sign up on services like https://www.eternal-september.org/ https://www.eternal-september.org/ and hook up a NNTP client.
  - Andrex 3y ago
    I thought Usenet users wanted that due to spam from Groups?
doubled112 3y ago
Google Reader triggered my self-hosting, limited Google usage habits, so I owe them one!
- theturtletalks 3y ago
  Honestly, HN triggered my self-hosting from all the stories of people getting fucked over by proprietary software over the years.
- xk_id 3y ago
  Perhaps google’s long-term contribution to the internet was definitively proving the importance of self-hosted and free, open source software — by epitomising what can go horribly wrong with the alternative. Hopefully in a generation from now this will be just common sense.
ewoijfawoifj 3y ago
What's the self-hosted open source alternative that's actually good? I've been using Inoreader because the UI for any alternative is mediocre. I'd like it to work on web and Android, sync back and forth properly, and look nice (sidebar, keyboard shortcuts, etc) and nothing else appears to provide this. Plus, Inoreader allows you to assign a single feed to multiple folders (tag style) which many other readers don't allow.
- aquova 3y ago
  I've been using FreshRSS for a while and I've been rather pleased with it. It's browser UI is pretty good and a good number of mobile RSS apps support it.
- dade_ 3y ago
  I use Newsblur, it’s open source and you can self host, but for the price of the service, I am happy to pay. There are apps for most every platform. https://github.com/samuelclay/NewsBlur https://github.com/samuelclay/NewsBlur
  - haunter 3y ago
    >you can self host You can but do you? I use the Newsblur too, paying for it too but reading around reddit self-hosting is incredibly complicated and then you also need to build and deploy your own mobile apps too
- ericjmorey 3y ago
  Miniflux has good integrations and third party UIs that look great. But I'm fine with the default UI themes. Selfhost or pay $15/year to use the flagship hosted instance. https://miniflux.app/docs/index.html https://miniflux.app/docs/index.html
- rakoo 3y ago
  FreshRSS, works well directly from the browser, desktop or mobile. What I like about it is that you can gradually work your unread list: if you're in a specific feed and mark it as read it switches to the next feed only with unread items. If you do it from a category it switches to the next category. I find it helps a lot going quickly through a mountain of new unread items. Not saying others don't do it, but this one does, so I'm keeping it.
TaylorAlexander 3y ago
I’ve sort of gone halfway. I self host my blog but when Ghost1 was deprecated I failed to do the maintenance needed to move to Ghost2, and the site has kind of stagnated for me. It doesn’t take much effort but I have so many things, and administering servers is not really how I’d like to spend my time. The mastodon server I signed up to is getting slow and inconsistent. I’ve thought of self hosting, but it’s the same concern. I administer a digital ocean droplet with discourse for a work forum. One day, maybe after a normal apt software upgrade, it disappeared from the web. I could only access it via the web SSH panel. Something went horribly wrong on network config. I spent a long time trying to rectify it, and finally moved to a backup from the week before. Then software upgrade was fine. I believe in open source. I run Linux, use Kdenlive for video editing, Inkscape, Gimp, everything I can that is open. My whole life is committed to my own open source project. But managing servers, even as easy as digital ocean is, is never how I want to spend my time, sadly.
kyrra 3y ago
Googler, opinions are my own. I wasn't at Google during the reader shutdown, but after being here at 8 years, I now understand why things shut down so often. Google has a lot of shared infra and they are always doing forced migrations and various unfunded mandates. Depending on the stack, maintaining a project at Google takes 0.5-3 people (like if a UI toolkit is turned down, you have to migrate). Plus there are infra costs. On top of that, being on maintenance for a project like Reader, it's probably not very good for your career trajectory. The adverse effects of always going for launching/landing destroyed so much at Google. Many engineers would love to just help maintain software like that, it just doesn't tend to work out given the incentive structures. (Plus that headcount and infra has to be attributed to some team. A person maintaining Reader means some other thing that can't be built, so there isn't an incentive for VPs either)
- wojciechpolak 3y ago
  I wonder how many people maintain Gmail...
  - lbhdc 3y ago
    Gmail is a huge data source for their ad business. They use it to fingerprint people all over the web (sign in with google). I imagine they see it as essential to their ad stack.
    - crazygringo 3y ago
      Forget about ads, Gmail is essential to paying Workspace customers. They don't need it to fingerprint people by forcing them to sign in -- Google has enough other priorities like Search, YouTube, Chrome, for that. Making Gmail available for free to consumers, along with Docs and Drive, isn't something to drive ad sales. It's to get everybody used to the products and liking them, so that businesses choose them instead of MS. Google has successfully turned themselves into the main alternative to MS Office with this strategy. When it comes to Gmail, Docs and Drive, Google's making their money "honestly" -- not through ads but through paid corporate subscriptions, and a smattering of consumer ones (like extra storage).
sys_64738 3y ago
A GOOG free existence is good for the soul.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

It was the perfect execution of Microsoft's "embrace, extend and destroy" tactic. Another example was ditching XMPP support in google chat / hangouts.

doublerabbit 3y ago
As well as disabling Usenet groups readership.
- medstrom 3y ago
  Ironically, Usenet seems to be growing more popular! For all the same reasons alternative social media are growing. Google Groups shut down for good three days ago, so their fingers are out of the pie, but humans haven't used that for a while, they just sign up on services like https://www.eternal-september.org/ https://www.eternal-september.org/ and hook up a NNTP client.
- Andrex 3y ago
  I thought Usenet users wanted that due to spam from Groups?

doubled112 3y ago

Google Reader triggered my self-hosting, limited Google usage habits, so I owe them one!

theturtletalks 3y ago
Honestly, HN triggered my self-hosting from all the stories of people getting fucked over by proprietary software over the years.
xk_id 3y ago
Perhaps google’s long-term contribution to the internet was definitively proving the importance of self-hosted and free, open source software — by epitomising what can go horribly wrong with the alternative. Hopefully in a generation from now this will be just common sense.

ewoijfawoifj 3y ago

What's the self-hosted open source alternative that's actually good? I've been using Inoreader because the UI for any alternative is mediocre. I'd like it to work on web and Android, sync back and forth properly, and look nice (sidebar, keyboard shortcuts, etc) and nothing else appears to provide this. Plus, Inoreader allows you to assign a single feed to multiple folders (tag style) which many other readers don't allow.

aquova 3y ago
I've been using FreshRSS for a while and I've been rather pleased with it. It's browser UI is pretty good and a good number of mobile RSS apps support it.
dade_ 3y ago
I use Newsblur, it’s open source and you can self host, but for the price of the service, I am happy to pay. There are apps for most every platform. https://github.com/samuelclay/NewsBlur https://github.com/samuelclay/NewsBlur
- haunter 3y ago
  >you can self host You can but do you? I use the Newsblur too, paying for it too but reading around reddit self-hosting is incredibly complicated and then you also need to build and deploy your own mobile apps too
ericjmorey 3y ago
Miniflux has good integrations and third party UIs that look great. But I'm fine with the default UI themes. Selfhost or pay $15/year to use the flagship hosted instance. https://miniflux.app/docs/index.html https://miniflux.app/docs/index.html
rakoo 3y ago
FreshRSS, works well directly from the browser, desktop or mobile. What I like about it is that you can gradually work your unread list: if you're in a specific feed and mark it as read it switches to the next feed only with unread items. If you do it from a category it switches to the next category. I find it helps a lot going quickly through a mountain of new unread items. Not saying others don't do it, but this one does, so I'm keeping it.

TaylorAlexander 3y ago

I’ve sort of gone halfway. I self host my blog but when Ghost1 was deprecated I failed to do the maintenance needed to move to Ghost2, and the site has kind of stagnated for me. It doesn’t take much effort but I have so many things, and administering servers is not really how I’d like to spend my time. The mastodon server I signed up to is getting slow and inconsistent. I’ve thought of self hosting, but it’s the same concern. I administer a digital ocean droplet with discourse for a work forum. One day, maybe after a normal apt software upgrade, it disappeared from the web. I could only access it via the web SSH panel. Something went horribly wrong on network config. I spent a long time trying to rectify it, and finally moved to a backup from the week before. Then software upgrade was fine. I believe in open source. I run Linux, use Kdenlive for video editing, Inkscape, Gimp, everything I can that is open. My whole life is committed to my own open source project. But managing servers, even as easy as digital ocean is, is never how I want to spend my time, sadly.

kyrra 3y ago

Googler, opinions are my own. I wasn't at Google during the reader shutdown, but after being here at 8 years, I now understand why things shut down so often. Google has a lot of shared infra and they are always doing forced migrations and various unfunded mandates. Depending on the stack, maintaining a project at Google takes 0.5-3 people (like if a UI toolkit is turned down, you have to migrate). Plus there are infra costs. On top of that, being on maintenance for a project like Reader, it's probably not very good for your career trajectory. The adverse effects of always going for launching/landing destroyed so much at Google. Many engineers would love to just help maintain software like that, it just doesn't tend to work out given the incentive structures. (Plus that headcount and infra has to be attributed to some team. A person maintaining Reader means some other thing that can't be built, so there isn't an incentive for VPs either)

wojciechpolak 3y ago
I wonder how many people maintain Gmail...
- lbhdc 3y ago
  Gmail is a huge data source for their ad business. They use it to fingerprint people all over the web (sign in with google). I imagine they see it as essential to their ad stack.
  - crazygringo 3y ago
    Forget about ads, Gmail is essential to paying Workspace customers. They don't need it to fingerprint people by forcing them to sign in -- Google has enough other priorities like Search, YouTube, Chrome, for that. Making Gmail available for free to consumers, along with Docs and Drive, isn't something to drive ad sales. It's to get everybody used to the products and liking them, so that businesses choose them instead of MS. Google has successfully turned themselves into the main alternative to MS Office with this strategy. When it comes to Gmail, Docs and Drive, Google's making their money "honestly" -- not through ads but through paid corporate subscriptions, and a smattering of consumer ones (like extra storage).

sys_64738 3y ago

A GOOG free existence is good for the soul.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]