Show HN: Hacker News desktop app made with Electron and Node • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: Hacker News desktop app made with Electron and Node

#51

Post by sarc » Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 10:12 PM UTC

qyv wrote: post #44

Not particularly directed at OP, I haven't tried or even downloaded the app. But am I the only one that when I see 'Node' and 'Desktop' in a headline immediately think 'this may be really nice but it is just gonna be to big for what it does'? And, as a followup, what is the appeal of using Node for desktop dev?

The advantages would include shared tooling, a cross-platform GUI, and the ability for end-users to modify the code.

Regarding size, it appears to be around 100 MB, so you could have 20971 separate installations of it before filling up a 2 TB drive.

Memory usage could be an issue, but whether that matters will depend on your audience the app. In this case, the aim is toward HN, so it doesn't seem like an issue.

Re: Show HN: Hacker News desktop app made with Electron and Node

#52

Post by danneu » Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 10:13 PM UTC

sarc wrote: post #49

In case it's helpful, hacker-menu$ node install module.js:338 throw err; ^ Error: Cannot find module 'hacker-menu/install' at Function.Module._resolveFilename (module.js:336:15) at Function.Module._load (module.js:278:25) at Function.Module.runMain (module.js:501:10) at startup (node.js:129:16) at node.js:814:3

    > node install

It's `npm install`

Re: Show HN: Hacker News desktop app made with Electron and Node

#53

Post by sarc » Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 10:18 PM UTC

danneu wrote: post #52

sarc wrote: post #49

In case it's helpful, hacker-menu$ node install module.js:338 throw err; ^ Error: Cannot find module 'hacker-menu/install' at Function.Module._resolveFilename (module.js:336:15) at Function.Module._load (module.js:278:25) at Function.Module.runMain (module.js:501:10) at startup (node.js:129:16) at node.js:814:3

> node install It's `npm install`

Ah, the bug was between the ears. Thanks.

The app seems pretty nice. I wonder why people are saying harsh things?

Re: Show HN: Hacker News desktop app made with Electron and Node

#54

Post by danneu » Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 10:21 PM UTC

qyv wrote: post #44

Not particularly directed at OP, I haven't tried or even downloaded the app. But am I the only one that when I see 'Node' and 'Desktop' in a headline immediately think 'this may be really nice but it is just gonna be to big for what it does'? And, as a followup, what is the appeal of using Node for desktop dev?

You get to use a similar kit that you're already using for webdev.

For example, the only time I've maintained a proficiency in both a webdev stack and a native kit was when I was paid to work on both full-time.

Node's main appeal to me is a similar consolidation: using one language. At least until I find out I'm immortal.

Re: Show HN: Hacker News desktop app made with Electron and Node

#55

Post by lokywin » Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 10:39 PM UTC

jedireza wrote: post #14

Thanks! I'd like to dismiss and/or mark as read for stories I'm not interested in.

Thanks for sharing your thought. We talked about this and are going to implement it.

Re: Show HN: Hacker News desktop app made with Electron and Node

#56

Post by danneu » Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 10:45 PM UTC

mrmondo wrote: post #47

Killswitch wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should hit me up sometime. I'd love to party with you. /s

Come on guys, this isn't Reddit so lets keep the commentary constructive. I feel rtz12 has some valid points - although his/her language style contains emotion you can't presume to know why that is without being that person.

Is it really a good, constructive point, though? Boo hoo, too big? Having to make concessions drools?

The cutting edge of building xplat desktop apps with browser tech involves independently bundling Node and Chromium, so it's gonna weigh 100+mb like a single Chrome browser tab. That's life.

Yes, we all have different appetites for different sets of trade-offs.

Re: Show HN: Hacker News desktop app made with Electron and Node

#57

Post by outworlder » Thu, Sep 17, 2015, 1:31 AM UTC

qyv wrote: post #44

Not particularly directed at OP, I haven't tried or even downloaded the app. But am I the only one that when I see 'Node' and 'Desktop' in a headline immediately think 'this may be really nice but it is just gonna be to big for what it does'? And, as a followup, what is the appeal of using Node for desktop dev?

You are not the only one. But not because of Node (which is not that big) but because of Electron.

That said, the big issue is that we don't (yet) get to share Electron installs. If all desktop applications had to bundle all their dependencies, including what the OS already provides to them, they would be just as big.

Electron apps themselves aren't that big. Even Atom.

Re: Show HN: Hacker News desktop app made with Electron and Node

#58

Post by e12e » Thu, Sep 17, 2015, 2:25 AM UTC

sarc wrote: post #51

qyv wrote: post #44

Not particularly directed at OP, I haven't tried or even downloaded the app. But am I the only one that when I see 'Node' and 'Desktop' in a headline immediately think 'this may be really nice but it is just gonna be to big for what it does'? And, as a followup, what is the appeal of using Node for desktop dev?

The advantages would include shared tooling, a cross-platform GUI, and the ability for end-users to modify the code. Regarding size, it appears to be around 100 MB, so you could have 20971 separate installations of it before filling up a 2 TB drive. Memory usage could be an issue, but whether that matters will depend on your audience the app. In this case, the aim is toward HN, so it doesn't seem like an issue.

While I hope flash drives will come down in price, who has a 2TB flash drive right now? My entire desktop OS, with at least three web browsers, multiple sdks/compilers etc take up a grand total of 15GB. Granted, that'd still leave room for 150 "apps" in the same space (note that I actually only have 3GB free, though). Still, 100 MB for what is essentially high-level code? It's absurd.

[ed: Not directed at op, as such, just how silly the general node ecosystem is currently]

Re: Show HN: Hacker News desktop app made with Electron and Node

#59

Post by e12e » Thu, Sep 17, 2015, 2:35 AM UTC

From: https://hackermenu.io/ "Do you have the habit of jumping to comments before reading an article? We got you covered. Comment is just one click away. So is vote."

I did a quick browse and search of the source on github for "comment", "vote" and "login". How do you handle logging in/submitting comments/votes? Just present the regular hn login inside the app, and use the hn site?

I thought there was some TOS/gentlman's agreement that APIs only had read access to stories, and one needed/should use the hn page for comments/votes? Perhaps I'm mistaken?

I suppose there's no rule against making a custom browser though -- while a bit heavy handed, I suppose there's really no difference between wrapping node+electron and enhancing the UI/UX with greasmonkey -- I suppose the main issue is to behave closely enough to a regular web visitor, so as not to put undue strain on the service, not demand that every visitor actually uses a general purpose browser...?

Re: Show HN: Hacker News desktop app made with Electron and Node

#60

Post by e12e » Thu, Sep 17, 2015, 2:41 AM UTC

rtz12 wrote: post #20

I would bet that my newsreader uses booth less RAM and less disk space. This is what feeds were invented for. Why should I install that much bloat just for reading HN?

Well, afaik you'd have to proxy HN somehow in order to get an RSS feed to feed to your rss reader?

I personally think that proxying by installing a 100 mb runtime just to be able to change some styles and change around some of the UX with custom javascript is a bit silly, but others here seem to like it, so who am I to judge?