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Cyclotron: A web application for constructing dashboards

cyclotron.io

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Re: Cyclotron: A web application for constructing dashboards

#51
post #20
post #2

I never understand why people choose MIT when they create something valuable and don't go for AGPL or GPL. Looks good though :D

Because people these days want to use open source codes freely, without bothering with License. And people who open projects wants their project more widely used. GPL is too restrictive for new projects.

All the GPL says, at it's basic core, is that if you incorporate the source code of the software into your source code, you must provide a means for others to get a copy of that extended source code, and they must adhere by the GPL license as well.

In other words, if you GPL license your code, and someone else uses it, they need to "pass it on" - in other words, their payment to you (and the community) for using your code is for their changes to be passed back to you (and the community).

Code paid for with more code - imagine that.

The only restriction is against those who seek to profit (almost) exclusively off the source code, in perpetuity. They want their cake, and to eat as well. The MIT and other similar licenses allow this - they get to take the code, extend it, profit off of it, and never give back the changes that made the system better (and arguably forked it).

And if you're lucky, you get mentioned down at the bottom of a copyright/license agreement in 4pt font that's barely readable.

Re: Cyclotron: A web application for constructing dashboards

#52
post #49

Forgive my ignorance... what makes a dashboard different that a regular webapp?

A dashboard is a web app displaying aggregate data - usually on something like a digital signage display at a company's office - often includes 'vanity metrics' like web traffic data, Git commits, social media feeds, CI builds, etc.

Re: Cyclotron: A web application for constructing dashboards

#53

There seems to be a plethora of these open source dashboard builder systems. I just want to pay for a hosted version that isn't going to be $1k monthly and require me to build "plugins" to do something that is akin to an API call.

InfluxDB + Grafana is a super easy combo to set up (two binaries, no dependencies) and it's very low maintenance once it's up. If you are looking for something that's both affordable and hassle free it's a pretty good alternative, even if self-hosted.

Re: Cyclotron: A web application for constructing dashboards

#54
post #40

I would like to share some thoughts on this based on experience of being a crusty old enterprise developer. The dashboard problem keeps coming back. I think the time might be finally coming for some dashboard framework to actually succeed. A dashboard framework has been tried many many times. Here are some old ones just on the top of my head: * Shindig aka OpenSocial aka Google Gadgets * J2EE portlets * OpenUSS I'm n…

Jenkins: the duct tape and WD40 of software automation.

Re: Cyclotron: A web application for constructing dashboards

#55
post #19

There seems to be a plethora of these open source dashboard builder systems. I just want to pay for a hosted version that isn't going to be $1k monthly and require me to build "plugins" to do something that is akin to an API call.

I want it to be a $1K/m so they can stay in business and build a sustainable thing I won't have to replace. That's still way cheaper than spending 1/4th of an engineers time per year on an open source dashboard.

In a business/enterprise context, why not use Power BI?

Re: Cyclotron: A web application for constructing dashboards

#58
Looks like a hosted equivalent of GeckoBoard[0], which I have used successfully for uptime and key metric boards that are displayed in common room dedicated TV screens etc.

One key is getting decent render performance on low-spec hardware (i.e. a Rasberry Pi). Not something you usually think about when building/evaluating a web app, but those low-spec "boxes" crawl on most modern web-sites.

Yet there shouldn't be any reason why a dashboard couldn't be rendered on them!

I wonder how Cyclotron performs with it's JS heavy front-end on those types of dedicated dashboard devices?

[0] https://www.geckoboard.com/

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