9 ms·

Show HN: An open-source alternative to Bitly

51 points by ccbikai 2y ago

Sink is A Simple / Speedy / Secure Link Shortener with Analytics run on Cloudflare.

ohadron 2y ago
PSA: Don't shorten URLs if you don't have to because if the shortener ceases working your link is dead.
- martin-adams 2y ago
  Or should this be more specific in that you shouldn't shorten URLs using the provider's domain name, but bring your own domain. So if the provider goes away, you can in some way migrate the links.
  - lbill 2y ago
    I agree! That's why I set up my own thing. I don't care about analytics at all, so I just wrote a simple build system doto generate some very basic HTML redirects. It isn't perfect but it's very cheap to run! https://github.com/lucienbill/lucien.run/ https://github.com/lucienbill/lucien.run/
    - notpushkin 2y ago
      And if you use Netlify, you can just create a _redirects file like this: / https://example.com /cv https://example.net/cv.pdf /git https://github.com/octocat Works good for me on ale.sh so far!
  - ccbikai 2y ago
    Yes, having control of your data is safer. Even if the supplier disappears, it is possible to quickly switch to another platform
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- 1shooner 2y ago
  As a hypertext purist, I used to think this. But working for a large organization, shortlinks can be an invaluable way to actually maintain the integrity of links that have been deployed to unrevisable media (emails, print, pdfs, etc). If a resource has been relocated off of a host/url, often part of that situation is that we don't have immediate access to implement a redirect from that host to the resource's new location. Now I see a shortlink manager as a centralized redirect manager, which is so much more rational and stable than creating a tangle of redirect config across dozens of hosts or hundreds of content applications. The caveat is that you don't need to use a 3rd party domain or service, you should definitely at least use your own domain. You also don't need to make them unreadable hashes, they can actually be more human-friendly.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - conception 2y ago
    https://www.golinks.io https://www.golinks.io Interesting product that does this for internal links.
cpursley 2y ago
Looks great but why dependency and lock in to a specific cloud provider?
- ccbikai 2y ago
  For individual KOLs, cost savings can be achieved.
  - OutOfHere 2y ago
    That's only until CF decides to extort. It's the game they play.
prmoustache 2y ago
There is no real good use case for url shorteners. If the platform doesn't support hyperlinks, that platform is simply not up to the task.
- dewey 2y ago
  The main use case of url shorteners is tracking and being able to block spam urls.
  - arghwhat 2y ago
    Not really. People who track link usage use links to a tracking service which redirects to the target, or embeds tracking metadata in the URL. You could have a tracker which produces shortened links, or try to hide your tracking metadata by putting the already tracked link through a shortener, but that's all without consequence as a shortened URL looks no less suspicious than a URL with kilobytes of metadata. I suppose some trackers might try to (mis)brand themselves more positively as shorteners though. Nothing about a shortener helps you block spam URLs - quite the contrary, they tend to be used to hide spam URLs. The main legitimate use-case I can think of for shortened URLs are those used in advertisements or manuals, where the user might need to type it manually.
    - dewey 2y ago
      > People who track link usage use links to a tracking service which redirects to the target, or embeds tracking metadata in the URL Link analytics is explicitly one of the stated use cases on Bitly, and you can even add UTM parameters automatically: - https://support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/categories/360001889231-Bitly-Analytics https://support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/categories/360001889231-B... - https://support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003371927-How-do-I-add-UTM-parameters-to-my-links-by-using-Campaigns-and-channels https://support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003371927-How... > Nothing about a shortener helps you block spam URLs - quite the contrary, they tend to be used to hide spam URLs. It does, like on Twitter where ever url is behind a t.co shortener. If a spam url is identified you just have to kill the t.co url redirect.
Brajeshwar 2y ago
Cool. Checking it out. For those looking for more options, Dub[1] is a matured open-source[2] link shortener with Analytics. For not-so-large volumes of links, say for friends-family, and the occasional public links, you can run something off Github Pages[3] with their built-in Jekyll + Redirect-From Plugin[4]. If you do not want to, you do not even need to have the code run locally, just edit on Github. I run one to easily share links for the family and relatives (photos, that document link, along with the Rick-Roll Video). Tip: If one wants to run an indie or personal or family/friends shortlink for easy sharing, try to have it on your own domain. This allowed me to moved between tools that powers it. 1. https://dub.co https://dub.co 2. https://github.com/dubinc/dub https://github.com/dubinc/dub 3. https://pages.github.com https://pages.github.com 4. https://github.com/jekyll/jekyll-redirect-from https://github.com/jekyll/jekyll-redirect-from
- ccbikai 2y ago
  Dub is a great URL shortening tool, but its deployment is more complicated and relies on multiple platforms. So I simplified it. Currently only relying on one platform.
  - wongarsu 2y ago
    Yeah, their self hosting guide is ... something https://dub.co/docs/self-hosting https://dub.co/docs/self-hosting At the scale of their SaaS service this makes sense, but for a typical user a Sqlite database (or as you did a Cloudflare Workers KV) is really all you need
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
jen729w 2y ago
[flagged]
- freedomben 2y ago
  > But you control the whole thing. I think we have different ideas of "control," because in your scenario it sounds to me like Netlify controls at least some of it. Should Netlify go away, you still own the domain so there's a path to migration, but at that point I think you'll realize that 99% of the code that was doing the work was Netlify's, so you'll have some major work to do. Of course if it's just a personal link shortener then that's perfectly fine, but if this was a "production" thing I'd be concerned about it
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

51 points by ccbikai 2y ago

Sink is A Simple / Speedy / Secure Link Shortener with Analytics run on Cloudflare.

ohadron 2y ago

PSA: Don't shorten URLs if you don't have to because if the shortener ceases working your link is dead.

martin-adams 2y ago
Or should this be more specific in that you shouldn't shorten URLs using the provider's domain name, but bring your own domain. So if the provider goes away, you can in some way migrate the links.
- lbill 2y ago
  I agree! That's why I set up my own thing. I don't care about analytics at all, so I just wrote a simple build system doto generate some very basic HTML redirects. It isn't perfect but it's very cheap to run! https://github.com/lucienbill/lucien.run/ https://github.com/lucienbill/lucien.run/
  - notpushkin 2y ago
    And if you use Netlify, you can just create a _redirects file like this: / https://example.com /cv https://example.net/cv.pdf /git https://github.com/octocat Works good for me on ale.sh so far!
- ccbikai 2y ago
  Yes, having control of your data is safer. Even if the supplier disappears, it is possible to quickly switch to another platform
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
1shooner 2y ago
As a hypertext purist, I used to think this. But working for a large organization, shortlinks can be an invaluable way to actually maintain the integrity of links that have been deployed to unrevisable media (emails, print, pdfs, etc). If a resource has been relocated off of a host/url, often part of that situation is that we don't have immediate access to implement a redirect from that host to the resource's new location. Now I see a shortlink manager as a centralized redirect manager, which is so much more rational and stable than creating a tangle of redirect config across dozens of hosts or hundreds of content applications. The caveat is that you don't need to use a 3rd party domain or service, you should definitely at least use your own domain. You also don't need to make them unreadable hashes, they can actually be more human-friendly.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- conception 2y ago
  https://www.golinks.io https://www.golinks.io Interesting product that does this for internal links.

cpursley 2y ago

Looks great but why dependency and lock in to a specific cloud provider?

ccbikai 2y ago
For individual KOLs, cost savings can be achieved.
- OutOfHere 2y ago
  That's only until CF decides to extort. It's the game they play.

prmoustache 2y ago

There is no real good use case for url shorteners. If the platform doesn't support hyperlinks, that platform is simply not up to the task.

dewey 2y ago
The main use case of url shorteners is tracking and being able to block spam urls.
- arghwhat 2y ago
  Not really. People who track link usage use links to a tracking service which redirects to the target, or embeds tracking metadata in the URL. You could have a tracker which produces shortened links, or try to hide your tracking metadata by putting the already tracked link through a shortener, but that's all without consequence as a shortened URL looks no less suspicious than a URL with kilobytes of metadata. I suppose some trackers might try to (mis)brand themselves more positively as shorteners though. Nothing about a shortener helps you block spam URLs - quite the contrary, they tend to be used to hide spam URLs. The main legitimate use-case I can think of for shortened URLs are those used in advertisements or manuals, where the user might need to type it manually.
  - dewey 2y ago
    > People who track link usage use links to a tracking service which redirects to the target, or embeds tracking metadata in the URL Link analytics is explicitly one of the stated use cases on Bitly, and you can even add UTM parameters automatically: - https://support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/categories/360001889231-Bitly-Analytics https://support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/categories/360001889231-B... - https://support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003371927-How-do-I-add-UTM-parameters-to-my-links-by-using-Campaigns-and-channels https://support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003371927-How... > Nothing about a shortener helps you block spam URLs - quite the contrary, they tend to be used to hide spam URLs. It does, like on Twitter where ever url is behind a t.co shortener. If a spam url is identified you just have to kill the t.co url redirect.

Brajeshwar 2y ago

Cool. Checking it out. For those looking for more options, Dub[1] is a matured open-source[2] link shortener with Analytics. For not-so-large volumes of links, say for friends-family, and the occasional public links, you can run something off Github Pages[3] with their built-in Jekyll + Redirect-From Plugin[4]. If you do not want to, you do not even need to have the code run locally, just edit on Github. I run one to easily share links for the family and relatives (photos, that document link, along with the Rick-Roll Video). Tip: If one wants to run an indie or personal or family/friends shortlink for easy sharing, try to have it on your own domain. This allowed me to moved between tools that powers it. 1. https://dub.co https://dub.co 2. https://github.com/dubinc/dub https://github.com/dubinc/dub 3. https://pages.github.com https://pages.github.com 4. https://github.com/jekyll/jekyll-redirect-from https://github.com/jekyll/jekyll-redirect-from

ccbikai 2y ago
Dub is a great URL shortening tool, but its deployment is more complicated and relies on multiple platforms. So I simplified it. Currently only relying on one platform.
- wongarsu 2y ago
  Yeah, their self hosting guide is ... something https://dub.co/docs/self-hosting https://dub.co/docs/self-hosting At the scale of their SaaS service this makes sense, but for a typical user a Sqlite database (or as you did a Cloudflare Workers KV) is really all you need
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

jen729w 2y ago

[flagged]

freedomben 2y ago
> But you control the whole thing. I think we have different ideas of "control," because in your scenario it sounds to me like Netlify controls at least some of it. Should Netlify go away, you still own the domain so there's a path to migration, but at that point I think you'll realize that 99% of the code that was doing the work was Netlify's, so you'll have some major work to do. Of course if it's just a personal link shortener then that's perfectly fine, but if this was a "production" thing I'd be concerned about it
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]