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Show HN: Refine – A Local Alternative to Grammarly
161–170 of 220 posts
Re: Show HN: Refine – A Local Alternative to Grammarly
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
Gosh people love complicating things. You don't need docker (a Linux-only piece of tech) to run a java application. Even though I'm on Linux, and docker experience is waaaaay better here than on any other platform, I wouldn't in my life consider using it to run LanguageTool. java -cp languagetool-server.jar org.languagetool.server.HTTPServer
A command without context is not very useful. If anyone wants to run LanguageTool locally, I suggest reading the official documentation page: https://dev.languagetool.org/http-server Their recommended process is : 1. Install fasttext (it's an official Debian package, but you have to compile it on Windows). 2. Download and uncompress the LanguageTool release. 3. Create a config file. 4. Launch the server with the java…
> 2. Download and uncompress the LanguageTool release.
> Running a ready-made docker image replaces steps 1-4
We can go pretty low level in the docker option too.
1. Download a Linux installation image
2. Download a hypervisor
3. Install Linux on the virtual machine
4. Install docker in a virtual Linux machine
5. Launch LanguageTool container
6. Configure networking between the host and the container in the guest
7. Connect to the API, e.g. with the browser extension
Obviously I initially oversimplified by omitting the configuration step. But adding download step to inflate the complexity is not a fair play ;-)
I'd argue that running a platforn-native artifact is both simpler and easier than involving virtualization. Even if steps 1-4 are done by some magical tool like rancher or docker-desktop
Re: Show HN: Refine – A Local Alternative to Grammarly
#163No API to hook into one's favorite tools, such as emacs.
Re: Show HN: Refine – A Local Alternative to Grammarly
#164There is no guarantee that this software will not occasionally start acting as a keylogger. If somehow this happens (let's assume not intentionally), will it be the direct responsibility of the author? Legally, there is no entity behind that responsible for privacy (1), and honestly, I don't see even minimal reason to trust this software from a legal perspective. 1. https://refine.sh/privacy-policy
Isn't that true of all software? How do you know that grammarly is not already doing that your data is transmitted to their servers after all.
Re: Show HN: Refine – A Local Alternative to Grammarly
#165Has anyone tested how this works in comparison to locally-hosted LanguageTool?
Re: Show HN: Refine – A Local Alternative to Grammarly
#166There is no guarantee that this software will not occasionally start acting as a keylogger. If somehow this happens (let's assume not intentionally), will it be the direct responsibility of the author? Legally, there is no entity behind that responsible for privacy (1), and honestly, I don't see even minimal reason to trust this software from a legal perspective. 1. https://refine.sh/privacy-policy
Isn't that true of all software? How do you know that grammarly is not already doing that your data is transmitted to their servers after all.
Not at all. Most commercial software has a publisher (as legal entity) that is responsible for privacy and takes reputational risks if something goes wrong.
Re: Show HN: Refine – A Local Alternative to Grammarly
#167Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't that true of all software? How do you know that grammarly is not already doing that your data is transmitted to their servers after all.
Not at all. Most commercial software has a publisher (as legal entity) that is responsible for privacy and takes reputational risks if something goes wrong.
So does this, it says at the bottom "© 2025 Runju Huang". Mister Huang is publishing this, presumably, he would be responsible for any wrong doing.
Is your objection that he is distributing this by himself, instead of through the app store? Or that it appears that he is doing it as an individual instead of a company?
Sure, it's a little sketchy, it's a guy with a website and a privacy protected domain and that's about it. But if anything were to happen you would be suing the developers of refine.sh.
I guess I do see your point though. For my software I have indeed created a legal entity and can be easily looked up.
Re: Show HN: Refine – A Local Alternative to Grammarly
#168Earlier quoted context omitted.
So apparently the tool is slanted toward American English where the non-word practise is properly treated as a spelling error like colour . If you use these words in writing for Americans and you are not a citizen of the British Commonwealth, you instantly mark yourself as arrogant.
Interesting - I'd heard of American Gen Zs using theatre to mean the art form, to distinguish it from just meaning a building, but I hadn't heard of British English being considered a more prestigious register than American English. Is this a new phenomenon?
I find there are a few specific Britishisms (like theatre) that don't really raise an eyebrow in the US and maybe can seem a bit more upper-class. Grey vs. gray are essentially interchangeable. Toward vs. towards is another.
Re: Show HN: Refine – A Local Alternative to Grammarly
#169Does anyone know of an equivalent for translations, ideally open source though?
Re: Show HN: Refine – A Local Alternative to Grammarly
#170The screenshot shows the (corrected) example sentence: > Sometimes I still make mistakes with articles and prepositions, but my grammar is getting better every day I practice. In American/Simplified English, this is grammatically correct. However, in 'full fat' English, practice is a noun, whereas practise is a verb; e.g. : > I go to my practice to practise medicine. The problem I have with this website is that it's…
Describing American English as “simplified” English is textbook bad linguistics. It’s a different dialect, not an inherently simpler or more complex one.
Simplified English is a thing that exists, for clarity - see for example https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Practice
I don't know if the parent comment was trying to equate American English and Simple English - I can see it as a way to dismiss American English as a "lesser" language (which it isn't, as you say), but I wouldn't start by assuming that.