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Hello to Reddit folks from /r/selfhosted
I've handed out a bunch of invites, I hope you find your way into here.
Just a heads-up to read the guide, and you'll probably want to post in ~comp for anything self-hosting related.
Enjoy!
Huh, good timing: as mentioned in the weekly programming topic, I'm finishing up the ability to run the Tildes web app locally in Docker (instead of a full virtual machine). I think it's an important step toward getting people to a) more easily develop on the Tildes codebase, and eventually b) host their own Tildes forks.
The current code is at https://gitlab.com/talklittle/tildes/-/tree/vagrant-docker-provider — Has a few bugs I'm still ironing out. But basically run:
$ vagrant up --provider=dockerAlso see official Tildes development docs: https://docs.tildes.net/development
Thank you talklittle! It's been a minute since I've seen anyone tackle this. I'm really encouraged that people are picking up the torch. The site being non-profit and open source allows this, but I've never seen anyone attempt to make it more portable in all these years.
(for anyone just tuning in, @talklittle created the redditisfun app and is currently developing the app threecheers for tildes)
So I don't know if this has changed, or I just completely missed a step, but one barrier I ran into a few years back was the lack of dummy posts/comments/users/etc. It seemed to me like the only way forward was to create a bunch of that stuff myself, which slowly sapped my interest in writing code.
I don't know what help I could be in making this happen (certainly willing to help!), but it would be very nice to have a good boilerplate database (even as a separate command or flag in
vagrant up) so would-be developers could hit the ground running with a nice collection of posts/comments/users to write/test their code against.That would be a good improvement. The dummy data it inserts is minimal: one user and one group.
Ansible task "Insert dev data into database": https://gitlab.com/tildes/tildes/-/blob/2962f0388bd55a459da8a9bd8b0b0565be64e05a/ansible/roles/postgresql_tildes_dbs/tasks/main.yml#L57
Python script that actually creates the dummy data: https://gitlab.com/tildes/tildes/-/blob/2962f0388bd55a459da8a9bd8b0b0565be64e05a/tildes/scripts/initialize_db.py#L81
Last year someone made an attempt at a script to populate the Tildes dev database with randomized dummy data: https://gitlab.com/tildes/tildes/-/merge_requests/147
I was recently thinking about true alternatives to subreddits, and imagined tildes as a good starting point for every-subreddit-is-a-website. Do you think that, with some work, tildes’ code can get to a point where it’s a one click deploy for starry-eyed users who want to start their own communities? It’s the only forum webapp with a robust mobile UI. I think Lobsters and HN are too minimal, and Discourse is.. not good.
Great question. I think Tildes can become a one click deploy. I recently tested out deploying Tildes on a cloud VPS—"bare metal" and not Docker—and while some of it does have manual steps, I believe those can be automated.
Filling out the hypothetical form pre-deploy, the user might have to provide an SSH key, and might have to fill in some info if bringing their own domain and Let's Encrypt certificates. They may also want to fill in API keys for external services that Tildes uses: Embedly, YouTube, Sentry.io, Stripe. (See production.ini.example.)
On the other hand, I could imagine an entity akin to a webhost providing the one-click deploy. The webhost could automatically provision a subdomain so the user wouldn't need to deal with Let's Encrypt. The webhost could also let the sites use shared API keys owned by the webhost, assuming they have a way of dealing with abuse. (I haven't thought this through very far; mostly spitballing.)
Of course initial setup is one thing, but keeping it up to date would be more involved. Ansible helps with a lot of that, but may need a good sysadmin/devops to manage it properly in the long run.
Re: Lobsters, it's a cool site and I've actually contributed to their codebase a little too. It may be appropriate for spinoff sites with a singular subject focus, unlike Tildes which supports multiple non-overlapping groups.
Exciting news if a bit of that community can grow here!
Absolutely agree! Selfhosted was one of the last places I really enjoyed on Reddit before I left during the exodus.
It's the perfect environment for selfhosted.
Long form text, with the occasional diagram. The discussions are usually interesting too.
Has there been a recent shakeup that prompted this spate of invites? It makes perfect sense why Tildes would be a good asylum for /r/selfhosted refugees, but I'm curious if there's been recent drama that impelled you to act now rather than previously.
Not at all. There was a particular post that I just mentioned it on.
https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1gmv76n/is_reddit_going_to_remain_the_primary_space_for/
Then a few people started asking for invites. They are being used up from my account, so people are registering.
I've got 10 to give out if you need me to send some
Ten here as well, not sure when @Deimos last tipped everyone up, but might be a good time to ask them about extending the default for you.
Thanks. I'm down to 2 left.
@Deimos - Can we beg for a new batch please?
Sure, I gave you another 100, and topped everyone else on the site back up to 10. They're available here: https://tildes.net/invite
Thanks for inviting people! (But definitely don't feel obligated to try to use up all of those new codes, that's just so that you hopefully don't run out again)
I feel privileged! Thanking you kindly.
Let me know if you need help handing them out.
I got a bunch of my invites left. Send them my way.
Fellow refugee from self-hosted and still regularly read & catch up on noted.lol
Can you send one to /u/nullSword please, I'm out.
I got you. I've barely used any of mine this year. Still got like 10.
@freedomischaos
Let me know if you want codes :)
Others have beat me to it but I also have invites. :)
If you want invites let me know
I'll take a few more if you wouldn't mind generating some.
Sent a DM
Fyi, Tildes is publicly viewable so this means that some people passing by might use these codes leaving the people they are handed without working codes.
Tildes does have a DM function (I also keep forgetting about) for handing over stuff like this.
I forgot Tildes was public. Edited and sent a DM. Thanks.
If you need more invites contact me as well
I came here from that post myself, so far so good. Excited to see it grow and evolve.
I've been here for some time. Tildes evolves at a snails pace, but that's awesome. Don't expect massive updates to features and functions. Treat Tildes like you would a Debian Stable installation.
That said, the posts and the people, especially the responses you will get from the posts, is brilliant. People take their time, think, and then reply with well thought out information, or arguments or discussion points. Sometimes a combo. Unless I'm replying, then it's likely to be ramble and quips.
Thanks for the invite, g33kphr33k. This place reminds me a bit of slashdot, with a dash of usenet and reddit.