6 ms·

I don't know why a $5 VPS and a random CMS isn't the default for developers blogs. Dead simple, runs for years without maintenance, minimal cost, no ads.

rwmj 1y ago
If you really run it "for years without maintenance" then your blog will get taken over by attackers and used to distribute malware or worse.
- JdeBP 1y ago
  Indeed, the problem isn't necessarily even the site being taken over. There was an example of what happens to comments over a period of 9 years without anyone dealing with spam on Hacker News just the other day. * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45370971 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45370971
rokkamokka 1y ago
Well, back in the day this lead to thousands upon thousands of vulnerable WordPress sites
- mickeyp 1y ago
  False equivalence. That the creators of various PHP blogging platforms sucked at security does not invalidate the poster's point that a self-hosted CMS with a simple comment system is indeed much simpler and easier to reason about.
  - rokkamokka 1y ago
    I suppose it's rather the "without maintenance" part. Had everyone updated their WordPress sites the problem would've been much less.
    - InMice 1y ago
      The wordpress core can be kept up to date but the vulnerabilities from plugins, relying on fixes and updating plugins i think was more the problem than the core. In the 2010s if you left a wordpress blog unattended even with the official default filter plugin it would fill with spam comments. I dont know if thats still a problem.
      - robinsonb5 1y ago
        My own blog - which gets maybe a couple of posts a year these days, and almost no audience - had 59 spam comments so far today. It really is time I turned off comments.
        InMice 1y ago
        Same here with any blog ive ever hosted
antiloper 1y ago
Once you add comments you have to add a database and anti-spam measures. Not so simple anymore.
edarchis 1y ago
The author is using a random CMS, namely Hugo. You probably mean a PHP that can be hosted for cheap. But then, you end up with a Wordpress nightmare, even more spam and security issues. I had a pretty popular blog and some posts gathered hundreds of useful comments. But I was so tired of fighting spam that I threw it all away and started using Hugo too, without comments.
- kakarot253 1y ago
  Me too, there is no need to have comments I feel you can have a feedback button at most if you want it.
mixedbit 1y ago
Comments are the only functionality of a blog that require write access to a backend, without comments a blog can be a simple collection of static files. Any write access to a backend exposes the blog to potential vulnerabilities, requires the backend to be kept up to date. This is not dead simple and does require maintenance. Updating is not trivial if a version of a backend becomes obsolete, you need to dedicate time to migrate your backend to new versions to stay secure.
undebuggable 1y ago
Without comments it's much simpler and cheaper than a $5 VPS and a random CMS, with comments it's much complicated and expensive than a $5 VPS and a random CMS.
HeckFeck 1y ago
I've been using self-hosted Isso to serve comments on my static sites. It's worked well enough, it's practically the same as Disqus.

rwmj 1y ago

If you really run it "for years without maintenance" then your blog will get taken over by attackers and used to distribute malware or worse.

JdeBP 1y ago
Indeed, the problem isn't necessarily even the site being taken over. There was an example of what happens to comments over a period of 9 years without anyone dealing with spam on Hacker News just the other day. * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45370971 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45370971

rokkamokka 1y ago

Well, back in the day this lead to thousands upon thousands of vulnerable WordPress sites

mickeyp 1y ago
False equivalence. That the creators of various PHP blogging platforms sucked at security does not invalidate the poster's point that a self-hosted CMS with a simple comment system is indeed much simpler and easier to reason about.
- rokkamokka 1y ago
  I suppose it's rather the "without maintenance" part. Had everyone updated their WordPress sites the problem would've been much less.
  - InMice 1y ago
    The wordpress core can be kept up to date but the vulnerabilities from plugins, relying on fixes and updating plugins i think was more the problem than the core. In the 2010s if you left a wordpress blog unattended even with the official default filter plugin it would fill with spam comments. I dont know if thats still a problem.
    - robinsonb5 1y ago
      My own blog - which gets maybe a couple of posts a year these days, and almost no audience - had 59 spam comments so far today. It really is time I turned off comments.
      - InMice 1y ago
        Same here with any blog ive ever hosted

antiloper 1y ago

Once you add comments you have to add a database and anti-spam measures. Not so simple anymore.

edarchis 1y ago

The author is using a random CMS, namely Hugo. You probably mean a PHP that can be hosted for cheap. But then, you end up with a Wordpress nightmare, even more spam and security issues. I had a pretty popular blog and some posts gathered hundreds of useful comments. But I was so tired of fighting spam that I threw it all away and started using Hugo too, without comments.

kakarot253 1y ago
Me too, there is no need to have comments I feel you can have a feedback button at most if you want it.

mixedbit 1y ago

Comments are the only functionality of a blog that require write access to a backend, without comments a blog can be a simple collection of static files. Any write access to a backend exposes the blog to potential vulnerabilities, requires the backend to be kept up to date. This is not dead simple and does require maintenance. Updating is not trivial if a version of a backend becomes obsolete, you need to dedicate time to migrate your backend to new versions to stay secure.

undebuggable 1y ago

Without comments it's much simpler and cheaper than a $5 VPS and a random CMS, with comments it's much complicated and expensive than a $5 VPS and a random CMS.

HeckFeck 1y ago

I've been using self-hosted Isso to serve comments on my static sites. It's worked well enough, it's practically the same as Disqus.