4 ms·

I think this is good advice for technical people, but I also think we need to drastically lower the barrier of entry for people who would benefit from owning th

I think this is good advice for technical people, but I also think we need to drastically lower the barrier of entry for people who would benefit from owning their compute and data but don't have the skills or interest necessary.

filmgirlcw 3y ago
I agree we need to do that, but I would argue at this point, the best option for the people without the skills/interest is probably buying a Synology. It would be awesome if there was a free OSS solution that people could just follow instructions and deploy on an inexpensive miniPC and not have to worry about anything and have auto-updates and zero problems, but I don't know if that is realistic. If we do ever see it, I feel confident it won't be free. I see tools like this as a really good middle ground between piecing all the different parts together and managing runbooks and whatnot and buying an off-the-shelf appliance like a Synology or other consumer/prosumer/SMB NAS.
- ocdtrekkie 3y ago
  Sandstorm does this, although we are badly in need of funding, contributors, and all the things needed to meaningfully run an open source project. Our updates are generally evergreen but we are currently blocked on offering that while we establish a new community-run infrastructure and development process. The problem is you do need to reinvent everything to do this right, and reinventing everything is hard and a bit of a slog. Some problems are also just... still hard, there's no secure and good way to help someone open a port on their home router.
  - adr1an 3y ago
    Open ports? Nowadays people just use tailscale.. AFAIK
    - ocdtrekkie 3y ago
      I mean I suppose it depends on how you want to limit your server setup, and what limitations you have (i.e. CGNAT). Considering I regularly share things on my server with others, and I let other people who are less technically inclined use my server, having to use a VPN service to access it would be extremely suboptimal for that. I also don't want to have to host a proxy server out on a public provider.
- adr1an 3y ago
  TrueNAS and Proxmox are easy too, I don't know what Synology runs as OS.
skydhash 3y ago
And that's basically defining protocols and let people build interfaces. But that goes against many companies' objectives. Everyone is trying to move you to their database and cloud computing. And most people prefer convenience over ownership or privacy. Installing Gitea on a VPS is basically a walk in the park. Not as easy as clicking a button in cPanel, but I think some things should be learned and not everything has to be "magic". You don't need to be a mechanic to drive a car, but some knowledge is required when someone is overselling engine oil.

filmgirlcw 3y ago

I agree we need to do that, but I would argue at this point, the best option for the people without the skills/interest is probably buying a Synology. It would be awesome if there was a free OSS solution that people could just follow instructions and deploy on an inexpensive miniPC and not have to worry about anything and have auto-updates and zero problems, but I don't know if that is realistic. If we do ever see it, I feel confident it won't be free. I see tools like this as a really good middle ground between piecing all the different parts together and managing runbooks and whatnot and buying an off-the-shelf appliance like a Synology or other consumer/prosumer/SMB NAS.

ocdtrekkie 3y ago
Sandstorm does this, although we are badly in need of funding, contributors, and all the things needed to meaningfully run an open source project. Our updates are generally evergreen but we are currently blocked on offering that while we establish a new community-run infrastructure and development process. The problem is you do need to reinvent everything to do this right, and reinventing everything is hard and a bit of a slog. Some problems are also just... still hard, there's no secure and good way to help someone open a port on their home router.
- adr1an 3y ago
  Open ports? Nowadays people just use tailscale.. AFAIK
  - ocdtrekkie 3y ago
    I mean I suppose it depends on how you want to limit your server setup, and what limitations you have (i.e. CGNAT). Considering I regularly share things on my server with others, and I let other people who are less technically inclined use my server, having to use a VPN service to access it would be extremely suboptimal for that. I also don't want to have to host a proxy server out on a public provider.
adr1an 3y ago
TrueNAS and Proxmox are easy too, I don't know what Synology runs as OS.

skydhash 3y ago

And that's basically defining protocols and let people build interfaces. But that goes against many companies' objectives. Everyone is trying to move you to their database and cloud computing. And most people prefer convenience over ownership or privacy. Installing Gitea on a VPS is basically a walk in the park. Not as easy as clicking a button in cPanel, but I think some things should be learned and not everything has to be "magic". You don't need to be a mechanic to drive a car, but some knowledge is required when someone is overselling engine oil.