Proposal: Hosting option for new users #124
Conversation
| This is the way I'd like to build it, but it's not the only approach: | ||
|
|
||
| * A static-site generator could be part of the Foam workspace example (as it sorta is now). People can publish using GitHub pages or Netlify (or Linc & Cloudflare, too). | ||
| * ❌ Needs users to register a separate account with another service (assuming GitHub pages isn't sufficient) |
There was a problem hiding this comment.
I don't think it's fair to count it as a cons. Why would GH pages be less sufficient than the new service?
There was a problem hiding this comment.
Yeah sorry I wrote that before I remembered that GH pages would "just work" then edited and it doesn't really apply any more :)
| * A static-site generator could be part of the Foam workspace example (as it sorta is now). People can publish using GitHub pages or Netlify (or Linc & Cloudflare, too). | ||
| * ❌ Needs users to register a separate account with another service (assuming GitHub pages isn't sufficient) | ||
| * ✅ A user's repo is wholly self-contained | ||
| * ❌ Having the SSG bundled means it will gradually diverge between users, which might make new features harder for people to adopt, and make it less possible for people to share ideas. |
There was a problem hiding this comment.
You can have the SSG bundled and still get some updates: for example in https://github.com/mathieudutour/foam-gatsby-template, it depends on gatsby-theme-garden which can be updated separately using semver. People using it got the graph visualization for free.
But yeah, we need some way to sync with a template (that's true even without the SSG bundled for now because of Foam because a setting file in .vscode 😄 )
There was a problem hiding this comment.
That works for a central maintainer pushing updates, but doesn't let people try out someone else's renderer with their content without pulling/forking/copying etc, so I think it'd be less of an enticement for exploration.
A central authority releasing updates to the .vscode directory does make a fair bit of sense though, since that's kind of what Foam is.
There was a problem hiding this comment.
doesn't let people try out someone else's renderer with their content without pulling/forking/copying etc, so I think it'd be less of an enticement for exploration
Possibly, but getting your renderer on the service would also be a lot more difficult than just pushing a template on GH and so the barrier would be a lot higher?
There was a problem hiding this comment.
Mayyyybe? But the idea that <any-github-username>.my-fork-of-foam-renderer.com could be made to work means that you could try anything out you like?
Forking the renderer code and deploying it would be a little bit more work than using GH pages, sure, but basically the same number as steps as setting up any Netlify site.
There was a problem hiding this comment.
Forking the renderer code and deploying it would be a little bit more work than using GH pages, sure, but basically the same number as steps as setting up any Netlify site
Is it really? I mean I guess it depends how the renderer works but imagine I'm creating a shiny new framework in rust and implement a foam renderer with it. How do I plug it in?
| * ❌ Needs users to register a separate account with another service (assuming GitHub pages isn't sufficient) | ||
| * ✅ A user's repo is wholly self-contained | ||
| * ❌ Having the SSG bundled means it will gradually diverge between users, which might make new features harder for people to adopt, and make it less possible for people to share ideas. | ||
| * ❌ Delay between pushing and publishing isn't great, but isn't bad for simple sites |
There was a problem hiding this comment.
I'm guessing with some "clever caching" it can be as fast as the new service?
There was a problem hiding this comment.
Maybe? I'm only aware of Gatsby's hosted service or Vercel's revalidation stuff that could push content without rebuilding the whole site?
| Both of these processes lend themselves to a "serve stale" approach: | ||
|
|
||
| * The edge renderer _always_ responds with the current version in-cache, so responses are always fast (after the very first requests). | ||
| * Periodically (ideally, once every ~5-10 seconds) GitHub is checked to see if there have been updates. If there have been, the cache is refreshed and new requests will get the updated content. **This means the time between pushing new content and it being visible could be as low as 5 seconds**. |
There was a problem hiding this comment.
There could be an hybrid approach for "advanced" users where you ask them to add a webhook on their repo which ping the service when they push. That way you don't have to poll all of the repos and GH is happier.
There was a problem hiding this comment.
Yep definitely, I have a caching model in mind for the polling that would make it pretty minimal on GH, but you could definitely move to a push model. I still think the idea that there's zero configuration required on the author's part (and you still get sub-10-second caching) is the most interesting thing though.
It also means that it's not just Foam that this would work for, but any crawlable collection of Markdown files...
There was a problem hiding this comment.
I still think the idea that there's zero configuration required on the author's part is the most interesting thing though
Yep agreed. I was more thinking about the next step if someone wants even more real time updates
|
Given the cost involved in this solution, id suggest it's a good strategy to have monitization, otherwise it risks strangling a fledgling open source project. Foam is opensource, but Hosted Foam can be used to sponsor the opensource development. People would be paying for the easy setup process, themeing options, vanity URLs and caching rather than the effort in maintaining build processes and Jekyll (even if it is a couple of lines in a config file) |
TL;DR:
<username>) creates a public Foam repo namefoam-notes(or something standardised)<username>.foam.website(or something similar) is immediately available as a public view of their notes!