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Retype: A self-hosted and free alternative to gitbook

retype.com

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Re: Retype: A self-hosted and free alternative to gitbook

#4

Post by hiimshort »

I was initially quite impressed with the quality of the output and the feature set available. Well done! In addition, the github actions seem to make this a very quick drop-in solution which is something I need for several projects now (and have been putting off due to the heft & process of existing tools).

However, after looking through the documentation, I finally stumbled on the mention of a license requirement. The license page is quite buried and does not appear on the navigation which makes it seem like it was intentionally hidden as a "gotcha", though I don't believe that was the intent. The page limits, while high, are somewhat unsettling. As well as the domain limits even with a pro version. I would want to apply this to a handful of my open source projects which would already require ~$200-$300 (yearly should I want updates).

Those arbitrary limitations on otherwise impressive software will likely keep me from using it. Though, I know I'm rather picky when it comes to the tools I use, so my opinions may not be representative.

Re: Retype: A self-hosted and free alternative to gitbook

#5

Post by hiimshort »

mdaniel wrote: post #3

One will want to be aware of the licensing for this: https://github.com/retypeapp/retype/blob/v2.2.0/LICENSE.md "Free" as in beer, it seems

The "pro" page wasn't immediately obvious to me as well and I spent ~30mins perusing the documentation before finally finding a mention of a license key. I do wish that was more upfront.

Re: Retype: A self-hosted and free alternative to gitbook

#6

Post by geoffreymcgill »

hiimshort wrote: post #5
mdaniel wrote: post #3

One will want to be aware of the licensing for this: https://github.com/retypeapp/retype/blob/v2.2.0/LICENSE.md "Free" as in beer, it seems

The "pro" page wasn't immediately obvious to me as well and I spent ~30mins perusing the documentation before finally finding a mention of a license key. I do wish that was more upfront.

Thanks for the excellent feedback. We'll definitely add something to the home page which makes the Pro option more visible.

Re: Retype: A self-hosted and free alternative to gitbook

#7

Post by encryptluks2 »

Doesn't Docusarus provide this already? Mdbook is alternative, but albeit far more limited in extended Markdown features. I wish Hugo would include a default theme that you can just point at a recursive directory of markdown files without needing silly _index.md files. JavaScript tooling is very bloated. Would be nice to have something like this in Go or Rust.

Re: Retype: A self-hosted and free alternative to gitbook

#8

Post by geoffreymcgill »

hiimshort wrote: post #4

I was initially quite impressed with the quality of the output and the feature set available. Well done! In addition, the github actions seem to make this a very quick drop-in solution which is something I need for several projects now (and have been putting off due to the heft & process of existing tools). However, after looking through the documentation, I finally stumbled on the mention of a license requirement. T…

I added a link in the footer to the License. Certainly was not my intention in any way hide the license. Hope this helps.

> The page limits, while high, are somewhat unsettling.

Can you explain this _unsettling_ comment further? Do you find the limits too low? A lot of research was put into the 100 page as I found only about 3% of projects ever went >100 pages.

> I would want to apply this to a handful of my open source projects which would already require ~$200-$300 (yearly should I want updates).

Just so it's clear, that would only be if each of those projects individually were >100 pages.

Re: Retype: A self-hosted and free alternative to gitbook

#9

Post by geoffreymcgill »

hiimshort wrote: post #5
mdaniel wrote: post #3

One will want to be aware of the licensing for this: https://github.com/retypeapp/retype/blob/v2.2.0/LICENSE.md "Free" as in beer, it seems

The "pro" page wasn't immediately obvious to me as well and I spent ~30mins perusing the documentation before finally finding a mention of a license key. I do wish that was more upfront.

Replaced the Pro link in the header with Pricing and added Retype Pro link in the left sidebar main nav. Hope this helps.
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