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Offbase: Static site generator in a browser

offbase.org

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Re: Offbase: Static site generator in a browser

#91

Post by masukomi »

pembrook wrote: post #28
JKCalhoun wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you list a few? I have been wanting to play with an SSG. (Googling sends me down a rabbit hole.)

Every single one doesn't require a server. 11ty deployed to Netfliy is probably the most simple way get started. Because everybody is clamoring to label themselves a react dev, Gatsby is also en vogue. Jekyll is the OG. But while they don't require a database/server/etc, static sites do require a spaghetti mess of fragile dependencies on build, so have fun troubleshooting that. TBH I don't build static sites anymore.…

> Every single one doesn't require a server... Netfliy is probably the most simple way get started.

Netlify is... A SERVER (actually many servers).

The only ones that DON'T require a server are distributed. The only ones I'm aware of use IPFS or Hypercore protocols (formerly DAT). Hypercore's probably the easiest as it is built into the Beaker browser and has been around in an easy browser accessible form for a while now, but Brave has just added support for IPFS.

Pipette and Orkl are static blog apps for Hypercore. There are probably others. I don't know the IPFS world well, so I dunno what's there.

Practically speaking though, the limited number of people hosting Hypercore / IPFS nodes means that the content you want is likely not available on the network at the moment _unless_, you guessed it, you put some of it on a server that's always on.

Re: Offbase: Static site generator in a browser

#92

Post by tweetle_beetle »

anderspitman wrote: post #78

So much complexity to get an HTML page on the internet. IMO the future of data ownership is self hosting from devices like raspberry pi's and upcycled Android phones. What works now: * Tunnel proxies[0] like ngrok. You can get an HTML page on the internet in 2 minutes with ngrok. * Software like Caddy which simplifies certificate management. What's needed: * IPv6 and ISPs to drop NAT so we don't need proxies. Good lu…

On the domain/DNS side, how do you see things being simplified? Services like GoDaddy already try to do this, but in hiding functionality or renaming key terms to dumb them down, they confuse things further for anyone using mainstream materials to reference or learn from. TTL is often dumbed down to an "auto" setting - fair enough, but beyond that how much more can you simplify within the existing technology frameworks? (Admittedly all the verification and security records are getting a bit out of hand, but they aren't compulsory.)

Anecdata: I had a colleague think they were helping with something because they saw "domain forwarding" turned off for a domain that was used as a secondary domain for an existing site. It was all working absolutely fine, using server config and DNS. They turned it on and behind the scenes the "friendly", "easy to use" provider removed the custom nameservers and cleared the DNS records. When I initially turned the forwarding off again, it added some records to forward to its domain parking service. All of this was obscured and presumably done in the name of helping users.

Re: Offbase: Static site generator in a browser

#93

Post by anderspitman »

tweetle_beetle wrote: post #92
anderspitman wrote: post #78

So much complexity to get an HTML page on the internet. IMO the future of data ownership is self hosting from devices like raspberry pi's and upcycled Android phones. What works now: * Tunnel proxies[0] like ngrok. You can get an HTML page on the internet in 2 minutes with ngrok. * Software like Caddy which simplifies certificate management. What's needed: * IPv6 and ISPs to drop NAT so we don't need proxies. Good lu…

On the domain/DNS side, how do you see things being simplified? Services like GoDaddy already try to do this, but in hiding functionality or renaming key terms to dumb them down, they confuse things further for anyone using mainstream materials to reference or learn from. TTL is often dumbed down to an "auto" setting - fair enough, but beyond that how much more can you simplify within the existing technology framewor…

I see it being simplified the same way phones and cars have been simplified. These are very complex systems with simple interfaces and well understood failure modes.

If your call doesn't go through you check how many "bars" you have. If you have enough reboot. If it still doesn't work take it to a store.

If your car fails it displays a light. Check the manual or take it/have it towed to a shop.

There are annoyances but we know what to do.

The problem is that DNS was designed for developers. That's fine but we need an interface for the average Joe to own a domain name. Yes there will be challenges and tradeoffs, but we can sure do a lot better than where we are.

Re: Offbase: Static site generator in a browser

#94

Post by Fractal_HQ »

skogard wrote: post #64
warkdarrior wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can think of Offbase as something like Electron, but in a browser. Uhh, the messaging is now even more confused. Electron is a framework for creating native applications with web technologies like JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. The browser is a framework for creating web-based applications with web technologies like JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. So what does it mean "Electron in a browser"?

It lets you write to files. Except that these are files that exist in a self contained virtual file system in the browser. You can do things like fs.writeFile() or fs.readFile() (like electron, but without needing a desktop app, but directly inside the browser), and push that entire file system to a remote git repository, or pull from one.

Where can I go to learn how to do this? It's an awesome concept. Are there any resources you can point me to?
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