GadgeteerZA

GadgeteerZA, 1 month ago

They say it is less complex than Mastodon as well as lighter weight requirements. A Docker install is usually also easiest. So I’d say it is a better option to try for friends and family.

GadgeteerZA, 29 days ago

Yes, as there is full control over what is exposed or mapped for the app including network ports, and future updates don’t get broken by inconsistent dependencies. I suppose if you run only one service on a machine and stick to standard ports for reverse proxying then maybe a binary install can be simpler. But if you want to install multiple apps ona server containers does become easier to manage and update.

GadgeteerZA, 29 days ago

Yes not “new” per se, but it is still in early Alpha release and mostly unknown to everyone. Nextcloud and most of the others have been around many years and have had iterative stable releases. I was actually on Mastodon since 2016 so GoToSocial is a lot newer at around 3 years. But yes point taken, “new” is not the best description.

GadgeteerZA, 29 days ago

Let’s agree on newer. It is not even in stable release yet, and until this week I’d not even heard about it anywhere else.

GadgeteerZA, 29 days ago

From their site: “It is already deployable and useable, and it federates cleanly with many other Fediverse servers (not yet all). However, many things are not yet implemented, and there are plenty of bugs! We foresee entering beta around the beginning of 2024.”. I would say it should be described more as beta by now from that description.

Gmail was in beta for many years whilst it was in production, and Meshtastic only has alpha and beta releases, with no “stable” release. I think some projects feel if they are still adding features it says in beta and never reall is in stable until they stop adding features. But yes they should actually iterate through alpha, beta, RC, stable. Not everyone does, though.

GadgeteerZA, 28 days ago

Yes I think they’re meaning they’re still adding lots of new features possibly, but it is a bit confusing as I think of Alpha as raw and not production ready. Beta can be ready for testing with brand new features, and stable is usually production ready and all features already passed beta testing. I get it is for home use but still. Maybe they’re covering themselves legally, but then you can just say “use at your own risk”. It’s possible too they don’t have separate branches at all, and just add/update/fix the “alpha” version.

GadgeteerZA, 28 days ago

Yes, but it is a bit unusual for a “beta” to be the stable version, when there is a such a thing as “stable”. Beta is normally taken to be a testing version, between alpha and stable releases. But it shows we can’t just go on our own assumptions about what alpha and beta mean.

GadgeteerZA, 27 days ago

No they don’t have a central managed hosting, and that is the point they are making. It is intended for someone to host for their family and friends. There may be some hosting it at various places but no central list you can find them on. Those sites, of course, will federate with other Fediverse networks, but no-one will necessarily even know they are GoToSocial nodes.

GadgeteerZA, 1 month ago

I’d second that amateur radio is way more than just chatting. There are so many digital modes, SDR, etc that can be explored. May be worth getting a mobile rig that can be pulled out and used in the QTH as well.

As a ham I’m helping right now to establish a backbone of Meshtastic radios across our city. It’s not ham radio, but it is something I can use my ham experience to build out and support others.

Personally I’ve been enjoying VarAc on HF for long range comms on low power, but I see they just standardised on some 2m and 70cm frequencies too, which I still want to try out.

GadgeteerZA, 1 month ago

I’m hosting an OpenWebRx+ receiver using an SDR dongle. Quite a few of our local hams use it when travelling to listen in to our local bulletins. It even now has basic text chatting on it, for them to “call in”.

GadgeteerZA, 4 days ago

I suppose having a short summary with the post would go a long way in helping everyone decide whether to watch it or not. I do wish everyone would put summaries in, as too many just comment on the headline without even following the link. For me, what is always important before following it is, why would it be of interest to be to follow it further.

GadgeteerZA, 4 months ago (edited 4 months ago)

Not sure what you mean by management, or which aspect of management? The issue was more about acceptance of community enhancements through the open source code project. Some contributors felt they could move faster with more diverse enhancements. It may be something like the LibreOffice fork from OpenOffice, where some wanted to just move faster with changes.

GadgeteerZA, 14 hours ago

Good point on OpenPGP. I suppose I already do my mails with OpenPGP in Proton Mail (using my own key that is already uploaded). But something to keep in mind yes.

GadgeteerZA, 23 hours ago

Seems it fits on a lanyard string from what I see of the other photos. A keyring is thicker and would put twisting force on it, yes. So, seems the lanyard type connector may be better for long term use.