Post AiewMHeN4NHmL2dJzc by jamesmullarkey@w3c.social
(DIR) More posts by jamesmullarkey@w3c.social
(DIR) Post #Aic5khDxxB74ib7OV6 by hrefna@hachyderm.io
2024-06-05T04:32:15Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
If you want small servers you have to make them cheaper to run. If you want them to be cheaper to run then they need to require less maintenance and require less infrastructure. If you want them to require less infrastructure you have to seriously examine the assumptions that underly the current architecture. If you aren't willing to do that, then you don't really believe in making more small servers, do you?
(DIR) Post #Aic5ki30tNwjGv0A4G by hrefna@hachyderm.io
2024-06-05T04:54:03Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
An example of what I mean. Servers today need to be always online. All servers.There is no guidance about how long you can be offline, what being offline means, etc. There's no guidance around when to terminate connections. There's no way to sync state to know what you missed. The push model means that servers where you aren't online are very likely to experience a large amount of unnecessary traffic.But a server needing to be constantly online, or near constantly, is _much_ more costly.
(DIR) Post #Aic5kiy5TBbG7vhk1o by hrefna@hachyderm.io
2024-06-05T05:02:36Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Another example: If your guide for installation involves _installing a database_ you are not facilitating small servers as a replacement for large servers.Not because installing a database isn't a step that should be considered if you are running these systems, but because for your _average person_ they don't have the knowledge to safely administer a database on a box capable of internet access (which looks like, I would guess, most of the consumers who would need to switch for this utopia).
(DIR) Post #Aic5kjy7kXDvEKjHiy by m0xEE@breloma.m0xee.net
2024-06-05T09:37:33.970478Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@hrefna A reasonable approach, but unfortunately most developers understand this not as reducing complexity, but as hiding all that complexity under a few layers of abstraction — taking the complexity further. — How do I deploy your software? — Oh, that's easy — use our Docker container. — How do I do this without Docker? — That… is too complicated, just use our Docker container.I host this instance on an old PowerPC machine — it doesn't have docker, and it never ever will have docker, this architecture doesn't even have Go. Okay, it indeed is old hardware, that's a valid point — and yet here it is, it's on Fedi, it works! Simply because Pleroma developers did not attempt to conceal the complexity adding even more of it.
(DIR) Post #AiewMHeN4NHmL2dJzc by jamesmullarkey@w3c.social
2024-06-05T19:16:01Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@hrefna I like the idea of websites having 'office hours' where they are off at night. Do you think this an absurd idea? Surely it could save a lot of electricity even the days is still kept on the drive. Is this a daft idea?
(DIR) Post #AiewMIhx8XkFcRJhDM by feld@bikeshed.party
2024-06-06T18:36:56.092232Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@jamesmullarkey @hrefna websites used to go offline for planned maintenance and we survived it without problems. Life was better and less complicated than now where everyone thinks you need 100% uptime.Far less than 1% of websites are important enough to need 100% uptime
(DIR) Post #AiewXNpqPjGEhrICOW by vic@seal.cafe
2024-06-06T18:39:35.606329Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@jamesmullarkey @hrefna In the old days before corporations completely ruled the internet, this is how it was.Some sites were only available when the person running them was at home and had the computer turned on.
(DIR) Post #AifTFvavSJf0gTbBOS by feld@bikeshed.party
2024-06-07T00:45:30.397999Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@hrefna do you mean "no roles, permission or networking databases" or "no databases"? Would SQLite or rocksdb be okay?