5 ms·

Go-based freegeoip.net now supports SSL for its API

82 points by fiorix 13y ago

kyberias 13y ago
Why is it important what programming language was used in implementing a given web service+
- fiorix 13y ago
  Because freegeoip.net is open source and has always been a personal research project. First versions were written in Python, initially running on GAE, then twisted+cyclone, and currently in Go.
- russross2 13y ago
  Because it is open source. If I am going to start using a service, I like to know if can fix bugs myself easily should the need arise.
- jamesaguilar 13y ago
  This is a site for hackers, a lot of whom build things on the web. It's useful to get a sense of what tools are in vogue and/or complete enough to do certain projects.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- Aloisius 13y ago
  Because anything that mentions Go gets more Karma?
  - pstuart 13y ago
    Maybe because Go is exciting as a new and accessible language that appears to be both fast and pleasant to use? I'm looking forward to ditching Python for Go.
    - fiorix 13y ago
      This is exactly what I've been doing for the last months and freegeoip.net is part of the change.
supergrilo 13y ago
Great job! Finally a perfect geoip database with api application. :)
- fiorix 13y ago
  Thanks!
realrocker 13y ago
Well written code except around //Check Quota . Scope for better readability there. Thanks!
- fiorix 13y ago
  There's definitely room for improvement there, thanks for pointing that out.
emptystacks 13y ago
For those unfamiliar, this free usage limit is much more relaxed than Google's Geocoder, which limits you to 2,500 free requests per day. https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/geocoding/#Limits https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/geocoding/#...
- slig 13y ago
  Google's API is for a very different thing: it converts an address to a lat/long and vice-versa.
- moatra 13y ago
  Google offers three geocoders: The first[1] converts ip to location, and allows 100 free queries per day. The second[2] converts physical addresses to location as part of it maps JavaScript api, and is part of its 25,000 free requests/day. The third[3] is its http version of geocoding, which also converts physical addresses to locations or visa-versa. This api has the 2,500 req/day limit. [1]https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/business/geolocation/ https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/business/ge... [2]https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/geocoding https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/... [3]https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/geocoding/ https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/geocoding/
- derfclausen 13y ago
  Also note that Google's geocoder can only be used for results to be displayed on a Google map (mentioned in emptystacks's link, also section 10.1.1 (g): https://developers.google.com/maps/terms https://developers.google.com/maps/terms)
- weakwire 13y ago
  you can fork it and run it on your own servers without the limit..
polvi 13y ago
These guys might consider allowing people to pay for more requests. Even with the source, it would be easier for some people to just pay you, and you can still keep everything open source.
- pieterhg 13y ago
  I don't think they're allowed to charge for it, since they're using the MaxMind database (see https://www.maxmind.com/en/partner https://www.maxmind.com/en/partner)
- fiorix 13y ago
  No plans to see anything there. It's a community supported service (volunteer donations only) and will always be. Also, although it currently uses MaxMind's GeoLite, this system has absolutely no affiliation with any company.
ivanbrussik 13y ago
NICE! I've been looking for something like this to interface with Piwik
- zapt02 13y ago
  Piwik already has GeoIP with the same database (Maxmind) built in.
tlercher 13y ago
No IPv6 support?
- cpeterso 13y ago
  There's an open issue for IPv6 on GitHub: https://github.com/fiorix/freegeoip/issues/21 https://github.com/fiorix/freegeoip/issues/21
- fiorix 13y ago
  Gotta spend some time on that...
hgfischer 13y ago
Nice job!! The source code is very well written!
- fiorix 13y ago
  Thank you!
stock_toaster 13y ago
fiorix, I am curious why you are using sqlite/redis as a store for the geoip data, instead of using cgo in conjunction with libGeoIP. Was it to enable updates to the geoip data if you get corrections (crowdsourced or otherwise)?
- fiorix 13y ago
  Some of the early versions used libgeoip, but the database has changed many times over time; it started with MaxMind data, then switched to ipinfodb.com, then ip2location.com came into the mix, and currently is back to using MaxMind again with a few tweaks. The idea is to be free to change to whatever is more suitable whenever is necessary... Redis was initially used in the Python version (twisted+cyclone) to share usage quotas between multiple instances (one per cpu), and ended up in the Go version just because; actually, it could use a map or something, but I'd have to implement the ttl part... In other words, it's mostly for historical reasons.
manishsharan 13y ago
Is this a REST API over Maxmind db ?
- kintamanimatt 13y ago
  According to the footer, it appears to be so.
- zapt02 13y ago
  This needs more visibility. There should be clear indication on the page that this is just an API for the freely available MaxMind db's.
  - fiorix 13y ago
    It's not. As I explained elsewhere it currently uses MaxMind but there's no affiliation with the company and I might eventually switch to any other db as did many times in the past.
nodesocket 13y ago
GitHub issues as their best. https://github.com/fiorix/freegeoip/issues/22 https://github.com/fiorix/freegeoip/issues/22 Thanks guys for implementing it.
disclosure 13y ago
See also https://dazzlepod.com/ip/8.8.8.8.json https://dazzlepod.com/ip/8.8.8.8.json w/o hard limit; replace 8.8.8.8 with any IP.
karolisd 13y ago
Thanks, I've been looking for a Geo-IP API that supports both JSONP and SSL. Perfect.
- fiorix 13y ago
  ;)

82 points by fiorix 13y ago

kyberias 13y ago

Why is it important what programming language was used in implementing a given web service+

fiorix 13y ago
Because freegeoip.net is open source and has always been a personal research project. First versions were written in Python, initially running on GAE, then twisted+cyclone, and currently in Go.
russross2 13y ago
Because it is open source. If I am going to start using a service, I like to know if can fix bugs myself easily should the need arise.
jamesaguilar 13y ago
This is a site for hackers, a lot of whom build things on the web. It's useful to get a sense of what tools are in vogue and/or complete enough to do certain projects.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
Aloisius 13y ago
Because anything that mentions Go gets more Karma?
- pstuart 13y ago
  Maybe because Go is exciting as a new and accessible language that appears to be both fast and pleasant to use? I'm looking forward to ditching Python for Go.
  - fiorix 13y ago
    This is exactly what I've been doing for the last months and freegeoip.net is part of the change.

supergrilo 13y ago

Great job! Finally a perfect geoip database with api application. :)

fiorix 13y ago
Thanks!

realrocker 13y ago

Well written code except around //Check Quota . Scope for better readability there. Thanks!

fiorix 13y ago
There's definitely room for improvement there, thanks for pointing that out.

emptystacks 13y ago

For those unfamiliar, this free usage limit is much more relaxed than Google's Geocoder, which limits you to 2,500 free requests per day. https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/geocoding/#Limits https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/geocoding/#...

slig 13y ago
Google's API is for a very different thing: it converts an address to a lat/long and vice-versa.
moatra 13y ago
Google offers three geocoders: The first[1] converts ip to location, and allows 100 free queries per day. The second[2] converts physical addresses to location as part of it maps JavaScript api, and is part of its 25,000 free requests/day. The third[3] is its http version of geocoding, which also converts physical addresses to locations or visa-versa. This api has the 2,500 req/day limit. [1]https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/business/geolocation/ https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/business/ge... [2]https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/geocoding https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/... [3]https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/geocoding/ https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/geocoding/
derfclausen 13y ago
Also note that Google's geocoder can only be used for results to be displayed on a Google map (mentioned in emptystacks's link, also section 10.1.1 (g): https://developers.google.com/maps/terms https://developers.google.com/maps/terms)
weakwire 13y ago
you can fork it and run it on your own servers without the limit..

polvi 13y ago

These guys might consider allowing people to pay for more requests. Even with the source, it would be easier for some people to just pay you, and you can still keep everything open source.

pieterhg 13y ago
I don't think they're allowed to charge for it, since they're using the MaxMind database (see https://www.maxmind.com/en/partner https://www.maxmind.com/en/partner)
fiorix 13y ago
No plans to see anything there. It's a community supported service (volunteer donations only) and will always be. Also, although it currently uses MaxMind's GeoLite, this system has absolutely no affiliation with any company.

ivanbrussik 13y ago

NICE! I've been looking for something like this to interface with Piwik

zapt02 13y ago
Piwik already has GeoIP with the same database (Maxmind) built in.

tlercher 13y ago

No IPv6 support?

cpeterso 13y ago
There's an open issue for IPv6 on GitHub: https://github.com/fiorix/freegeoip/issues/21 https://github.com/fiorix/freegeoip/issues/21
fiorix 13y ago
Gotta spend some time on that...

hgfischer 13y ago

Nice job!! The source code is very well written!

fiorix 13y ago
Thank you!

stock_toaster 13y ago

fiorix, I am curious why you are using sqlite/redis as a store for the geoip data, instead of using cgo in conjunction with libGeoIP. Was it to enable updates to the geoip data if you get corrections (crowdsourced or otherwise)?

fiorix 13y ago
Some of the early versions used libgeoip, but the database has changed many times over time; it started with MaxMind data, then switched to ipinfodb.com, then ip2location.com came into the mix, and currently is back to using MaxMind again with a few tweaks. The idea is to be free to change to whatever is more suitable whenever is necessary... Redis was initially used in the Python version (twisted+cyclone) to share usage quotas between multiple instances (one per cpu), and ended up in the Go version just because; actually, it could use a map or something, but I'd have to implement the ttl part... In other words, it's mostly for historical reasons.

manishsharan 13y ago

Is this a REST API over Maxmind db ?

kintamanimatt 13y ago
According to the footer, it appears to be so.
zapt02 13y ago
This needs more visibility. There should be clear indication on the page that this is just an API for the freely available MaxMind db's.
- fiorix 13y ago
  It's not. As I explained elsewhere it currently uses MaxMind but there's no affiliation with the company and I might eventually switch to any other db as did many times in the past.

nodesocket 13y ago

GitHub issues as their best. https://github.com/fiorix/freegeoip/issues/22 https://github.com/fiorix/freegeoip/issues/22 Thanks guys for implementing it.

disclosure 13y ago

See also https://dazzlepod.com/ip/8.8.8.8.json https://dazzlepod.com/ip/8.8.8.8.json w/o hard limit; replace 8.8.8.8 with any IP.

karolisd 13y ago

Thanks, I've been looking for a Geo-IP API that supports both JSONP and SSL. Perfect.

fiorix 13y ago
;)