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Local-first software (2019)

(www.inkandswitch.com)
863 points gasull | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.211s | source
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hkt ◴[] No.44473776[source]
Self hosting (which is often adjacent to local-first software) is fine. I've done it for years.

But it is a nightmare when it goes wrong: the conclusion I've reached is that it is out of reach to regular people who don't want the Byzantine support load that could accompany something going wrong. They want turnkey. They want simple. They aren't interested in operating services, they're interested in using them.

The FLOSS model of self hosting doesn't really offer a reliable way of getting this: most businesses operating this way are undercapitalised and have little hope of ever being any other way. Many are just hobbies. There are a few exceptions, but they're rare and fundamentally the possibility of needing support still exists.

What is needed, imo, is to leverage the power of centralised, professional operations and development, but to govern it democratically. This means cooperatives where users are active participants in governance alongside employees.

I've done a little work towards this myself, in the form of a not-yet-seen-the-light-of-day project.

What I'd love to see is a set of developers and operators actually getting paid for their work and users getting a better deal in terms of cost, service, and privacy, on their own (aggregate) terms. Honestly, I'd love to be one of them.

Does anyone think this has legs to the same extent as local-first or self hosting? Curious to know people's responses.

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1. ibizaman ◴[] No.44475166[source]
This is the business model I want to have: I work on a stack of fully open source software and package them in a turn-key server that you own. You can use it on your own for free if you’re knowledgeable and I offer a subscription where I’m the sysadmin of the box you own and that I built for you. I do the maintenance, the updates, etc. There’s no lock-in because you can stop the subscription anytime or even just pick another sysadmin that would know the stack. The only reason you’d keep me around would be that the service I offer is pretty damn good. Would something like that appeal to you?