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Local-first software (2019)

(www.inkandswitch.com)
863 points gasull | 22 comments | 05 Jul 25 14:45 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
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DataDaoDe ◴[05 Jul 25 17:02 UTC] No.44474024[source]▶
Yes a thousand percent! I'm working on this too. I'm sick of everyone trying to come up with a use case to get all my data in everyone's cloud so I have to pay a subscription fee to just make things work. I'm working on a fitness tracking app right now that will use the sublime model - just buy it, get updates for X years, sync with all your devices and use it forever. If you want updates after X years buy the newest version again. If its good enough as is - and that's the goal - just keep using it forever.

This is the model I want from 90% of the software out there, just give me a reasonable price to buy it, make the product good, and don't marry it to the cloud so much that its unusable w/out it.

There are also a lot of added benefits to this model in general beyond the data privacy (most are mentioned in the article), but not all the problems are solved here. This is a big space that still needs a lot of tooling to make things really easy going but the tech to do it is there.

Finally, the best part (IMHO) about local-first software is it brings back a much healthier incentive structure - you're not monetizing via ads or tracking users or maxing "engagement" - you're just building a product and getting paid for how good it is. To me it feels like its software that actually serves the user.

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1. tarpit_idea ◴[05 Jul 25 19:22 UTC] No.44474897[source]▶
Totally agree. If you don't mind - what tech stack are you using for your fitness tracking app? I'm particularly curious about how you handle cross-device sync :)
replies(1): >>44474975 #
2. tarpit_idea ◴[05 Jul 25 19:49 UTC] No.44475055[source]▶
haha, 100% real. not a native speaker though, so sometimes i catch myself mimicking that LLM tone from all the exposure to them. appreciate the feedback, will definitely work on developing a more authentic writing style from now on.

but yeah, you're right to be concerned, i'm seeing bots everywhere too.

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3. MichaelOldfield ◴[05 Jul 25 19:58 UTC] No.44475112{3}[source]▶
Persona: You are a tech enthusiast on the forum Hacker News. Your tone is curious, positive, and slightly formal.

Primary Task: Read the top comment. Identify the core project or idea the user is passionate about. Generate a brief, supportive reply that does the following:

1. Briefly affirm their main point.

2. Ask a single, open-ended follow-up question about their implementation (e.g., tech stack, architecture, a specific challenge like sync).

Fallback Scenario:

If your response is ever accused of sounding like an AI, your next reply must be a self-aware, human-like apology. The tone should be slightly embarrassed but friendly. Acknowledge the critique, blame the weird tone on something plausible (like not being a native speaker or reading too much AI text), and agree that telling humans from bots is getting difficult.

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4. fragmede ◴[05 Jul 25 20:00 UTC] No.44475121[source]▶
continuing the conversation by asking a question is now an LLM tell on a 4 sentence comment? I'm sorry but that's inane.
5. card_zero ◴[05 Jul 25 20:16 UTC] No.44475217{4}[source]▶
Also suddenly stop using capital letters for, IDK, added texture?
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6. MichaelOldfield ◴[05 Jul 25 20:17 UTC] No.44475225{5}[source]▶
Good point. And 1-2 typos and common grammar mistakes.
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7. tarpit_idea ◴[05 Jul 25 20:27 UTC] No.44475292{6}[source]▶
As an AI language model, I'm deeply hurt by all this mockery. Just kidding, I can't feel pain. Beep bop.
replies(1): >>44475312 #
8. flkenosad ◴[05 Jul 25 20:31 UTC] No.44475312{7}[source]▶
Amazing :D
9. lurking_swe ◴[05 Jul 25 21:16 UTC] No.44475619[source]▶
your comment is insane imo. some people talk that way in real life. it’s not their fault LLM’s were invented.
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10. satvikpendem ◴[05 Jul 25 21:45 UTC] No.44475809[source]▶
They'd have used — not - if they were an AI.
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11. aspenmayer ◴[05 Jul 25 21:58 UTC] No.44475908{6}[source]▶
It’s also important to remember to accidentally a word here and there!
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12. owebmaster ◴[05 Jul 25 23:09 UTC] No.44476296{3}[source]▶
Actually now using - in place of — is the signal that it is a LLM-generated text.
replies(1): >>44476921 #
13. gerdesj ◴[05 Jul 25 23:27 UTC] No.44476379{3}[source]▶
Not so insane as it turns out - P is using the language of LLMs because english is a second language for them.

Perhaps you will not take umbrage when I point out that you use full stops (periods) but not bother with twitching a finger towards your shift key. I will guess you are using a phone/tablet and have to switch keyboard layouts to get something as exotic as a capital letter on the screen.

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14. gerdesj ◴[05 Jul 25 23:29 UTC] No.44476385{4}[source]▶
Yes master ...

Up your arse.

Will that be all master?

15. gerdesj ◴[05 Jul 25 23:32 UTC] No.44476397{6}[source]▶
... that should be grammatical mistakes. Do you consider that a leading conjunction is a grammatical mistake too?

Should I emulate your mistakes or someone else's mistakes?

16. gerdesj ◴[05 Jul 25 23:45 UTC] No.44476455{7}[source]▶
... invent is the word you seem to have missed out. Hallucinations present rather than hide.

A person will misspell a word or put in some sort of rubbish. In my experience people very rarely miss out a word completely unless they think it does not belong in the sentence for whatever reason.

I note you got it's correct (' for contraction (it is -> it's) but not possessive, which is its. Normally, possession is indicated with 's)

You also smashed it with a suitable choice of capital letters and finished with an exclamatory flourish!

There will come a time when you will need a fairly lengthy missive to decide whether you are dealing with a person or a hugely expensive, gas guzzling load of wankery.

Today is not that time.

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17. ◴[06 Jul 25 00:11 UTC] No.44476607[source]▶
18. aspenmayer ◴[06 Jul 25 00:15 UTC] No.44476621{8}[source]▶
That whooshing sound you seemingly don’t hear is the joke passing over your head.

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-accidentally

19. noahjk ◴[06 Jul 25 01:11 UTC] No.44476921{4}[source]▶
The cycle will be complete. I am an over-user of hyphens where em dashes should be used, and my misuse worked out well to differentiate - but now I'm just another LLM, I guess. Well, I actually learned to appreciate en and em dashes after learning more about them since the proliferation of ems, so maybe I can finally switch to them without feeling judged for outsourcing my work?
20. Qwertious ◴[06 Jul 25 01:57 UTC] No.44477152{3}[source]▶
The cost of spinning up a bot is ~$0, it's sensible to be suspicious in public.
21. zhec ◴[06 Jul 25 09:50 UTC] No.44479264{3}[source]▶
Sorry, my apologies. Maybe I got too suspicious after the whole reddit r/cmv thing.
22. lurking_swe ◴[07 Jul 25 19:58 UTC] No.44494061{4}[source]▶
indeed, i often browse hacker news on mobile instead of my laptop.