5 ms·

It just looks like a funny slop project if you read the English readme, but reading the Russian PHILOSOPHY.md [1] (auto-translated [2] if you don't read Russian

by ventana 4mo ago

It just looks like a funny slop project if you read the English readme, but reading the Russian PHILOSOPHY.md [1] (auto-translated [2] if you don't read Russian) makes you realize that there's probably something more than "let's implement a messenger using git remote as a storage", knowing how popular messenger apps are getting blocked in Russia. [1]: https://github.com/vanyapr/makaroshki/blob/main/PHILOSOPHY.md https://github.com/vanyapr/makaroshki/blob/main/PHILOSOPHY.m... [2]: https://github-com.translate.goog/vanyapr/makaroshki/blob/main/PHILOSOPHY.md?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp https://github-com.translate.goog/vanyapr/makaroshki/blob/ma... (Google Translate)

snowflaxxx 4mo ago
The paradox is that Macaroni Messenger is absolutely a joke project. But once you reduce everything to Git + JSON, adding things like PGP, age, signatures, encrypted attachments, or end-to-end encryption becomes surprisingly easy. Which makes it even funnier. At first glance it looks like a toy. After a few minutes you start asking: “Wait… why does this actually make sense?” I think the protocol is a bit underestimated. People see the joke before they see the architecture. There are some surprisingly interesting properties hiding behind the absurdity. Maybe it’s a hidden gem. Or maybe I’m just rationalizing a messenger implemented as a single HTML file.
- notpushkin 4mo ago
  It does kinda make sense... until it doesn’t. It is a cool project from a tech standpoint, but it’s not practical when we have, well, email? (This is discussed elsewhere in the comments already, of course.)
  - snowflaxxx 4mo ago
    That’s exactly what I thought after posting — so now it supports end‑to‑end encryption without a handshake. Still a single HTML file. Still no backend.
ivvve 4mo ago
Here's the translated version I got (GH translate didn't work for me for some reason). https://pastebin.com/raw/EPtJM5Dp https://pastebin.com/raw/EPtJM5Dp
- andai 4mo ago
  Slightly better translation: https://markdownpastebin.com/?id=fb9680965f42433fb3a4c6bf7a013414 https://markdownpastebin.com/?id=fb9680965f42433fb3a4c6bf7a0...
Klaster_1 4mo ago
>Macaroni Messenger is not a political statement. >We are not trying to circumvent restrictions. >We are not trying to circumvent restrictions. >We are not trying to fight the laws. This is talking politics without talking politics. The project literally attempts to circumvent russian censorship restrictions and their spirit. This is either a joke the file talks about or naive CYA. Cool project nevertheless, I like idea of an utility SPA distributed as bare HTML file that doesn't even require a web server.
- ventana 4mo ago
  There is a popular view in Russia, including within the software developers communities, that "politics" is something bad and dirty; people often ban "politics" in group chats and forums. As a result, a highly technical person might work on a very complex solution to circumvent the restrictions but will declare (and probably even truly believe) that they are not making a political statement – as opposed to, for example, attending a protest, which is definitely considered a political action, or supporting a politician.
  - Klaster_1 4mo ago
    Thanks for clarifying, that's a pretty good summary. Russian developers experienced the same "HN is not for politics" kinds of reaction on Habr (russian HN, more or less) a decade ago, until politics came for them and Habr died. Before that, "being outside of politics" was a stance some people identified with because back then Putins regime didn't repress as much and the situation was "stable". Seeing a take like that still having its followers after our autocracy matured even more is disheartening and sad.
    - notpushkin 4mo ago
      > Seeing a take like that still having its followers after our autocracy matured even more is disheartening and sad. I suppose it’s more of a CYA nowadays than that. (Well, at least one can hope.)
snowflaxxx 4mo ago
documentation was updated in the last few days. You might want to read the section about the funny legal collision this architecture creates — not sure, but it might apply to other jurisdictions too, not just Russia. Either way, it's an interesting side effect of using generic git hosting as a message transport.

by ventana 4mo ago

snowflaxxx 4mo ago

The paradox is that Macaroni Messenger is absolutely a joke project. But once you reduce everything to Git + JSON, adding things like PGP, age, signatures, encrypted attachments, or end-to-end encryption becomes surprisingly easy. Which makes it even funnier. At first glance it looks like a toy. After a few minutes you start asking: “Wait… why does this actually make sense?” I think the protocol is a bit underestimated. People see the joke before they see the architecture. There are some surprisingly interesting properties hiding behind the absurdity. Maybe it’s a hidden gem. Or maybe I’m just rationalizing a messenger implemented as a single HTML file.

notpushkin 4mo ago
It does kinda make sense... until it doesn’t. It is a cool project from a tech standpoint, but it’s not practical when we have, well, email? (This is discussed elsewhere in the comments already, of course.)
- snowflaxxx 4mo ago
  That’s exactly what I thought after posting — so now it supports end‑to‑end encryption without a handshake. Still a single HTML file. Still no backend.

ivvve 4mo ago

Here's the translated version I got (GH translate didn't work for me for some reason). https://pastebin.com/raw/EPtJM5Dp https://pastebin.com/raw/EPtJM5Dp

andai 4mo ago
Slightly better translation: https://markdownpastebin.com/?id=fb9680965f42433fb3a4c6bf7a013414 https://markdownpastebin.com/?id=fb9680965f42433fb3a4c6bf7a0...

Klaster_1 4mo ago

>Macaroni Messenger is not a political statement. >We are not trying to circumvent restrictions. >We are not trying to circumvent restrictions. >We are not trying to fight the laws. This is talking politics without talking politics. The project literally attempts to circumvent russian censorship restrictions and their spirit. This is either a joke the file talks about or naive CYA. Cool project nevertheless, I like idea of an utility SPA distributed as bare HTML file that doesn't even require a web server.

ventana 4mo ago
There is a popular view in Russia, including within the software developers communities, that "politics" is something bad and dirty; people often ban "politics" in group chats and forums. As a result, a highly technical person might work on a very complex solution to circumvent the restrictions but will declare (and probably even truly believe) that they are not making a political statement – as opposed to, for example, attending a protest, which is definitely considered a political action, or supporting a politician.
- Klaster_1 4mo ago
  Thanks for clarifying, that's a pretty good summary. Russian developers experienced the same "HN is not for politics" kinds of reaction on Habr (russian HN, more or less) a decade ago, until politics came for them and Habr died. Before that, "being outside of politics" was a stance some people identified with because back then Putins regime didn't repress as much and the situation was "stable". Seeing a take like that still having its followers after our autocracy matured even more is disheartening and sad.
  - notpushkin 4mo ago
    > Seeing a take like that still having its followers after our autocracy matured even more is disheartening and sad. I suppose it’s more of a CYA nowadays than that. (Well, at least one can hope.)

snowflaxxx 4mo ago

documentation was updated in the last few days. You might want to read the section about the funny legal collision this architecture creates — not sure, but it might apply to other jurisdictions too, not just Russia. Either way, it's an interesting side effect of using generic git hosting as a message transport.