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Show HN: Dropbase – Build internal web apps with just Python

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Re: Show HN: Dropbase – Build internal web apps with just Python

#21

Post by jimmyechan »

azazel75 wrote: post #12

The license kinda sucks though: ``` 3. USE RESTRICTIONS Licensee is expressly forbidden from: (a) Incorporating, modifying, or using the Software as part of any other product or service; ```

We should probably clarify that although we are pointing our post to our Github repo, it isn’t technically open source. It’s something we’d like to explore in the future with Dropbase though. At the moment, you can self-host our Client and Worker.

We actually started with just releasing the Worker for self-hosting. Then based on feedback from one of our friends and early users, we decided to also distribute the client for self-hosting due to security concerns. Maybe in the future if we also allow self-hosting our backend API it could make sense to distribute Dropbase differently!

Re: Show HN: Dropbase – Build internal web apps with just Python

#23

Post by jimmyechan »

paulddraper wrote: post #15
azazel75 wrote: post #12

The license kinda sucks though: ``` 3. USE RESTRICTIONS Licensee is expressly forbidden from: (a) Incorporating, modifying, or using the Software as part of any other product or service; ```

Wait people read those?

We should have a Chrome extension that just summarizes the license for any Github repo you hang out at!

Re: Show HN: Dropbase – Build internal web apps with just Python

#24

Post by ayazhan »

dfthinkpad wrote: post #10

I am confused on why I need to sign up for an account to try it on my machine?

yes, it's a bit inconvenient, but user management and ui component definitions are managed by the dropbase server. because of this, we need an account, with a token to identify and authenticate a workspace

Re: Show HN: Dropbase – Build internal web apps with just Python

#26

Post by ayazhan »

djangelic wrote: post #13
jstummbillig wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am so confused about this too. retool, tooljet, budibase - why is everyone doing this? Best I can figure out is that no one has found a pricing structure that works otherwise, which would be rather sad if true.

I assumed this was because it’s internal devs that are actively looking for platforms to build on, while external devs might already have stacks they prefer to work on due to how it interacts with their security postures. Pure speculation, but it’s been my anecdotal experience.

i second that. for external-facing tools, you probably want something custom, branded, and more flexible. when it comes to internal tools, you typically want something quick to get the job done.

at dropbase, our focus was on enabling developers to get stuff done efficiently. we noticed that for 90% of internal tool use cases, you only need a table and modal to get user input. so we focused on developing those. while it may not be sufficient for external apps, for internal tools, it should cover most of that you need

Re: Show HN: Dropbase – Build internal web apps with just Python

#28

Post by jimmyechan »

ayazhan wrote: post #14
slig wrote: post #7

Congrats on launching! > a backend API for app/component definitions hosted by us to simplify pushing feature updates Any plans to open-source that part as well?

frankly we're new to open source. and technically we're not really open source. we wanted to take advantage of the self hosted nature of data processing worker, which are safety, extensibility, and developer trust. that's why the worker is under the source-available model. as we grow and learn, if we get interest from the community to contribute, we'll definitely consider opening more of the codebase.

Also fun fact: originally we only intended to enable self-hosting for the Worker, but we ended up enabling self-hosting for the Client too. If we also end up enabling self-hosting for our backend API then we'd probably rethink our distribution approach

Re: Show HN: Dropbase – Build internal web apps with just Python

#29

Post by jimmyechan »

throwaway81523 wrote: post #19

I've done plenty of internal web apps with Python's old cgi module and it's really about the simplest approach. Too bad the cgi module has recently been removed from Python due to some weird neurosis about underused modules. It's still possible to side-load it from someplace though.

What kind of apps were you building and what did you like most about building with the cgi module?
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