From 60ac23acd2781a48ba442a1d043d87e80ed79c22 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: realaravinth Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2022 01:55:37 +0530 Subject: [PATCH 1/6] feat: blog templates --- config.toml | 9 +++++++++ templates/blog/_meta.html | 4 ++++ templates/blog/index.html | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ templates/blog/post.html | 25 +++++++++++++++++++++++++ templates/macros.html | 8 ++++++++ 5 files changed, 77 insertions(+) create mode 100644 templates/blog/_meta.html create mode 100644 templates/blog/index.html create mode 100644 templates/blog/post.html diff --git a/config.toml b/config.toml index b6e4a7c..5a4f9f1 100644 --- a/config.toml +++ b/config.toml @@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ compile_sass = true # Whether to build a search index to be used later on by a JavaScript library build_search_index = true +taxonomies = [ + {name = "tags", feed = true}, # each tag will have its own feed + {name = "categories", paginate_by = 5}, # 5 items per page for a term + ] + [markdown] # Whether to do syntax highlighting # Theme can be customised by setting the `highlight_theme` variable to a theme supported by Zola @@ -14,3 +19,7 @@ highlight_code = true [extra] # Put all your custom variables here +authors = [ + { "nick"="dachary", name="Loïc Dachary", "website"="https://dachary.org" }, + { "nick"="realaravinth", name="Aravinth Manivannan", "website"="https://batsense.net" } +] diff --git a/templates/blog/_meta.html b/templates/blog/_meta.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a91eb76 --- /dev/null +++ b/templates/blog/_meta.html @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +

+ {{ macros::get_author(nick=page.extra.author) }} · {{ page.day }} {{ macros::get_month(month=page.month) }}, + {{ page.year }} · {{ page.reading_time }} min read +

diff --git a/templates/blog/index.html b/templates/blog/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..41a007a --- /dev/null +++ b/templates/blog/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +{% extends "base.html" %} {% block meta %} + +{% set title = "Posts" %} +{% set description = title %} +{{ macros::get_meta_tags(title=title, description=description) }} + +{% endblock meta %} {% block content %} +
+

{{ section.title }}

+ +
+ {% block rss %} + + {% endblock %} +{% endblock content %} diff --git a/templates/blog/post.html b/templates/blog/post.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8bff152 --- /dev/null +++ b/templates/blog/post.html @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +{% extends "base.html" %} {% block meta %} + +{% set description = page.title %} +{{ macros::get_meta_tags(title=page.title, description=description) }} + +{% endblock meta %} {% block content %} + +
+

{{ page.title }}

+ {% include "blog/_meta.html" %} + +
+ {{ page.content | safe }} +
+
+
+
+ {% for t in page.taxonomies.tags %} + #{{ t }} + {% endfor %} +
+ +
+ +{% endblock content %} diff --git a/templates/macros.html b/templates/macros.html index 48520a3..ce35da9 100644 --- a/templates/macros.html +++ b/templates/macros.html @@ -168,3 +168,11 @@ {{ name }} {% endmacro nav_link %} + +{% macro get_author(nick) %} + {% for author in config.extra.authors %} + {% if author.nick == nick %} + {{ author.name }} + {% endif %} + {% endfor %} +{% endmacro get_author %} From aa3cf8702d90ba76467b62679cf9489b9bc00edc Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: realaravinth Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2022 01:56:22 +0530 Subject: [PATCH 2/6] =?UTF-8?q?feat:=20add=20Lo=C3=AFc's=20blog=20post?= MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit --- ...t-plans-for-hosted-gitea-online-service.md | 245 ++++++++++++++++++ content/blog/_index.md | 8 + 2 files changed, 253 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/blog/2022-04-17-project-plans-for-hosted-gitea-online-service.md create mode 100644 content/blog/_index.md diff --git a/content/blog/2022-04-17-project-plans-for-hosted-gitea-online-service.md b/content/blog/2022-04-17-project-plans-for-hosted-gitea-online-service.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d08a185 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2022-04-17-project-plans-for-hosted-gitea-online-service.md @@ -0,0 +1,245 @@ ++++ +title = "Project plans for a hosted Gitea online service" +date = "2022-02-16" +description = "When an organization asks me about Gitea, I would like to direct them to a provider where they can rent an instance and just use it" +[taxonomies] +tags = ['hostea', 'gitea', 'free-software', 'free-software-sustainability'] + +[extra] +author = 'dachary' ++++ + +_This post was originally published on [Loïc Dachary's +blog](https://blog.dachary.org/2022/02/16/project-plans-for-a-hosted-gitea-online-service/)._ + +--- + +When an organization asks me about Gitea, I would like to direct them to +a provider where they can rent an instance and just use it, in the same +way they can go to https://discourse.org for a forum, or +https://nextcloud.com for storage. Instead of waiting for that to +happen, [Aravinth](https://batsense.net/about/) and +[myself](https://dachary.org/) decided to do something about it, in a +way that is in line with our shared values: transparency and Free +Software. + +After doing some research we found counter examples that showed the +pitfalls to avoid. GitLab because its business model heavily relies on +selling proprietary licenses. CiviCRM because setting it up is complex +and requires training: users can't figure it out on their own. Gitea +images provided by Digital Ocean because they do not include security +upgrades. MySQL configured and run by AWS because of the vendor lock-in +that makes it impossible to self-host. + +We concluded that an online service such as Gitea can be hosted in a +sustainable way as long as: + +- It is well maintained and upgrades itself +- It can be self-hosted +- The service can automatically be restored from backups when the + underlying resources fail + +GitHub and GitLab make it look like there is a market around software +forges. It is however impossible to figure out if this market exists +only because it is based on proprietary software. How many of these +customers would pay for a Free Software hosted Gitea instance? + +Even if these customers do exist, a new service provider would have to +figure out how to convince them to subscribe. The technical development +of the service can be done within weeks but building a sustainable +business takes much longer. Again, there were examples of what can go +wrong, for instance ElasticSearch. After years of work developing a +successful online service and a customer base, AWS entered the +competition and started to take it away from them. + +The sustainability of the Free Software ecosystem is a new and very +difficult problem to solve. It is discussed more than it ever was in the +wake of security breaches originating from widely used and yet abandoned +library or disillusioned Free Software authors self-sabotaging their +next release, and everyone has diverging opinions. It falls on each Free +Software author to spend time to think about their own projects because +there are no handbook or good examples to follow. That is what Aravinth +and myself did to find a semblance of clarity and decide how to go about +this hosted Gitea service idea. + +# Sustaining Free Software online services + +## More mature online services mean less opportunities to sell services + +Ideally the software running an online service is rock solid and bugs +are so rare that it can run unattended. This is true of +https://wordpress.org and it is not uncommon for an instance to run for +years while upgrading themselves to get security patches. The cost of +maintaining such a service is negligible and hosting companies can offer +it for free to their customers. They make their profit by renting the +machines on which the service runs. + +When the software is not as mature, it is more expensive to run. Bugs +need fixing, upgrades require manual intervention, users must be trained +to overcome the complexity of the user experience, etc. Well known +examples are Discourse or CiviCRM for which companies sell services to +overcome these issues. + +But when an organization is both the author of the software and the +provider of paid services to compensate for its lack of maturity, it +creates a conflict of interest. Should they focus their effort on making +the software more mature, they would harm a business model that is based +on this very lack of maturity. For instance, if the author of a software +also sells training courses, they are not motivated to solve user +experience issues. If they did, it would lower the need for training +courses and reduce their income. + +## Free Software online services in the wake of the sustainability + +crisis + +Nowadays all Free Software authors struggle to get enough resources to +produce a steady stream of releases, even when the project is very +popular. This sustainability problem is getting more and more attention +as the number of Free Software projects in use world wide keeps growing. +Even the simplest online service relies on thousands of Free Software +projects, each of which needs work to keep going. Accidents caused by +poorly maintained Free Software projects become more frequent. + +This Free Software sustainability crisis is barely emerging and very +much resembles ecological problems such as climate change. In both cases +it is very difficult to figure out how to properly care for the +resources that are consumed. After decades of advocacy, it is generally +accepted that fossil energy won't last forever but there still is a long +way to go. It will also take a long time for the Free Software community +to answer this simple question: how to sustain an ever growing library +of Free Software? + +Luckily, it is relatively simpler to solve that problem for an online +service because it has users. They can be reminded that their assistance +is needed to keep the project afloat, for instance by a donation. A +proposition that would be much more difficult to make for the author of +a cryptographic library. Convincing users to pay for an online service +has the best chance of success when the author of the software is also +the service provider. This is the business model of Discourse and +Weblate, but it is relatively fragile because nothing stands in the way +of the competition. + +A few years ago ElasticSearch successfully developed an online service +offering. But when AWS entered the competition and was better at +marketing it, ElasticSearch quickly realized they would likely go out of +business. They tried to fight back by [changing their +license](https://www.elastic.co/blog/licensing-change), which was the +wrong answer to a real problem. Discourse or Weblate are also likely to +face competition from hosting companies in the future and they may not +survive it. + +In the end, the durable source of income for a Free Software online +service is to rent the resources (CPU/RAM/network/disk) it needs to run. +In other words only hosting companies can make a profit when running +such an online service. And for that reason they also need to share part +of the profits to ensure the sustainability of the Free Software service +their customers need. + +# Online services vendor lock-in is cured by Free Software + +When hosting companies offer online services they also provide upgrades +and transparent recovery when the hardware fails. But none of them allow +the service to be self-hosted. When their price policy change, or when +the term of services ban users from a given country, migrating the +service elsewhere it costly and difficult. For instance when AWS runs +MySQL for their customers, they allow to download the data but not the +software that runs the proprietary AWS interface used to configure and +control the server. Another example is GitHub where the content of the +git repository can be downloaded but the code that runs GitHub itself is +not Free Software. + +If a customer cannot run the same software as their service provider, +they are locked-in, even if they can download their data. It is a common +misconception to think that there is no vendor lock-in as long as it is +possible to download the data in an standard format. Migrating the data +from one software to another is, more often than not, time consuming and +costly to a point that it is effectively a blocker. A GitHub salesperson +would argue that it is possible for people to run GitHub Enterprise on +their own hardware. But the vendor lock-in is still present via the +proprietary license contract. The user experience, maintenance and +upgrades are still exclusively controlled by GitHub. + +To guarantee their independence, the customers of an online service need +to be able to: + +- Download their data +- Run the exact same Free Software as their service provider +- Run the exact same Free Software infrastructure as code as their + service provider + +The requirement regarding Free Software infrastructure as code refers +to, for instance, the AWS control panel and all that is behind it when +creating a new MySQL service. It includes whatever a competitor would +need to run the same online service. An example would be +https://enough.community, an infrastructure as code dedicated to +creating the services needed by whistleblowers and human rights +defenders. It consumes resources rented by hosting providers, assembles +disks and machines, setup monitoring and intrusion detection, installs +various online services and upgrades them. + +The availability of the software that creates the infrastructure is not +only useful to the competitors of a service provider. It also benefits a +non-profit that wants to provide (for instance) Wordpress instances to +its members. Without it they would need to create something from scratch +using building blocks such as CiviCRM. Even though such building blocks +exist, this is a significant undertaking and effectively a blocker. + +# Federated online services and durability + +All self-hosted services are in danger of loosing the data they contain. +When a Wordpress service is hosted in a home and the machine dies, it +must be restored from backups... when there are backups. Hosting +companies ensure the durability of the data with their own backup +system. It creates a dilemma for people who are looking into self +hosting: independence is desirable, but is it worth taking the risk of +data loss? + +Federated online services do not suffer from this problem, because they +can mirror each other. A Gitea instance that is federated with another +will mirror copies of software projects found on its peers. Should one +instance be destroyed, mirrored projects can be resurrected from the +federated instance. Not only is it a practical way to ensure the (rare) +failure of an entire datacenter, it also helps with the (more frequent) +destruction of self-hosted machines. Contrary to backups that require +special attention, the replication involved in federated online service +is built in and works continuously. There is no need for an extra backup +service that is very rarely used and therefore likely to fail when +needed. + +Federated services are not yet mainstream and Gitea is one of the rare +services that started to implement the concept. In the interim, +customers of an online hosting service will need to worry about backups +to ensure the durability of their data. But the ultimate solution for +them won't be the emergence of an ideal backup infrastructure, it will +be replication (via federated services) that will continuously ensure +the durability of their data. + +# Paths forward + +The Gitea project itself, following the footsteps of Discourse or +Weblate, could provide a hosting service. Part of its current user base +may become customers and there does not seem to be any blocker to make +that happen. As with most successful Free Software project, people +working on Gitea daily are already very busy and cannot engage in such a +long term project. But Aravinth and myself can, if they will have us. + +Another path forward would be to wrap Gitea into a bundle that existing +hosting companies could easily use to provide such a service to their +customers. The biggest hosting companies are unlikely to be interested: +if Digital Ocean was to provide upgrades on top of their existing Gitea +image, they are more likely to rely on their internal staff to implement +that from scratch, as proprietary software integrated into their +existing infrastructure. But smaller hosting companies such as +https://Octopuce.fr or https://Easter-Eggs.com, who already deploy Gitea +instances for their customers, would use it if, for instance, it helped +with the upgrades. They would then kindly be reminded to give back a +share of their profits in order to sustain the development of the +service they deploy. + +Finally it would also be possible to follow the example of GitLab in the +early days (before it turned to proprietary software) or Codeberg and +offer a free shared forge hosting service to build a user base. After a +few years, a percentage of the user base would convert to being paid +customers or donors to sustain the activity and part of the income would +be used to sustain the development of the service. diff --git a/content/blog/_index.md b/content/blog/_index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3db0507 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/_index.md @@ -0,0 +1,8 @@ ++++ +title = "Posts" +sort_by = "date" +template = "blog/index.html" +page_template = "blog/post.html" +generate_feed = true +insert_anchor_links = "right" ++++ From 5ffbb71006ffa5b8d9b7c862bdd4a3fd63303e56 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: realaravinth Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2022 01:56:35 +0530 Subject: [PATCH 3/6] feat: tags templates --- sass/mobile.scss | 3 ++- sass/tag/main.scss | 33 +++++++++++++++++++++++++---- sass/tag/mobile.scss | 8 +++++++ templates/tags/list.html | 37 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ templates/tags/single.html | 43 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 5 files changed, 119 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-) create mode 100644 sass/tag/mobile.scss create mode 100644 templates/tags/list.html create mode 100644 templates/tags/single.html diff --git a/sass/mobile.scss b/sass/mobile.scss index b53d1fb..555c47d 100644 --- a/sass/mobile.scss +++ b/sass/mobile.scss @@ -3,7 +3,8 @@ @import "./footer/mobile"; @import "./page/mobile"; @import "./blog/mobile"; +@import "./tag/mobile"; header { - height: auto; + height: auto; } diff --git a/sass/tag/main.scss b/sass/tag/main.scss index 157917f..2fb2d8f 100644 --- a/sass/tag/main.scss +++ b/sass/tag/main.scss @@ -9,17 +9,42 @@ $std-trans: 0.3s; .tag__item-link { display: flex; - align-items: center; + align-items: start; + flex-direction: column; + flex: 2; } - .tag__item { border-bottom: 1px dashed #333; margin: 10px; - padding: 10px; + display: flex; + justify-content: space-between; + padding: 5px; } + .tag__item-title { font-size: 1.4rem; - font-weight: 550; +} + +.tag__meta { + font-size: 0.7rem; +} + +.tag__rss-link { + margin: auto 20px; +} + +.tag__title { + display: inline; flex: 2; } + +.tag__title-container { + margin: 35px 0; + display: flex; +} + + +.tag__rss-link--single { + margin: auto; +} diff --git a/sass/tag/mobile.scss b/sass/tag/mobile.scss new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1693272 --- /dev/null +++ b/sass/tag/mobile.scss @@ -0,0 +1,8 @@ +.tag__title-container { + flex-direction: column; +} + + +.tag__rss-link--icon { + margin: auto 0px; +} diff --git a/templates/tags/list.html b/templates/tags/list.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..79cb167 --- /dev/null +++ b/templates/tags/list.html @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +{% extends "base.html" %} {% block meta %} + +{% set title = taxonomy.name %} +{% set description = title %} +{{ macros::get_meta_tags(title=title, description=description) }} + + + +{% endblock meta %} {% block content %} + + +
+ +
+{% endblock content %} diff --git a/templates/tags/single.html b/templates/tags/single.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..23ddc84 --- /dev/null +++ b/templates/tags/single.html @@ -0,0 +1,43 @@ +{% extends "base.html" %} {% block meta %} + +{% set description = term.name %} +{{ macros::get_meta_tags(title=description, description=description) }} + +{% endblock meta %} {% block content %} + +
+ +
+

#{{ term.name }}

+ + RSS icon +
+ +
+ {% block rss %} + + {% endblock %} +{% endblock content %} From c2fd28370a08e5bfda8e924cfe2a3ce5f951c3df Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: realaravinth Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2022 02:14:46 +0530 Subject: [PATCH 4/6] fix: blog post date --- .../2022-04-17-project-plans-for-hosted-gitea-online-service.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/content/blog/2022-04-17-project-plans-for-hosted-gitea-online-service.md b/content/blog/2022-04-17-project-plans-for-hosted-gitea-online-service.md index d08a185..5b53ab0 100644 --- a/content/blog/2022-04-17-project-plans-for-hosted-gitea-online-service.md +++ b/content/blog/2022-04-17-project-plans-for-hosted-gitea-online-service.md @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ +++ title = "Project plans for a hosted Gitea online service" -date = "2022-02-16" +date = 2022-04-18 description = "When an organization asks me about Gitea, I would like to direct them to a provider where they can rent an instance and just use it" [taxonomies] tags = ['hostea', 'gitea', 'free-software', 'free-software-sustainability'] From cd9edd0755389d73f30722e343b90dfc913fd67b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: realaravinth Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2022 02:19:04 +0530 Subject: [PATCH 5/6] fix: typos --- templates/home/components/_features.html | 4 ++-- templates/home/components/_vision.html | 4 ++-- 2 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/templates/home/components/_features.html b/templates/home/components/_features.html index 5413b21..2cf8a16 100644 --- a/templates/home/components/_features.html +++ b/templates/home/components/_features.html @@ -3,10 +3,10 @@
{{ card_macro::home_card(title="Radically Transparent", description="Hostea is radically transparent, we hold discussions in the open and publish all expenses down to the last penny") }} {{ card_macro::home_card(title="100% Free Software", description="All Hostea components are Free, you are welcome to download and even sell Hostea!") }} - {{ card_macro::home_card(title="Todards Forge Federation 🚀", description="Hostea developers are also leading the charge in implementing ecosystem-wide federation, we really care about software development :)") }} + {{ card_macro::home_card(title="Towards Forge Federation 🚀", description="Hostea developers are also leading the charge in implementing ecosystem-wide federation, we really care about software development :)") }}
- {{ card_macro::home_card(title="Observable and Reliabile", description="All Hostea software come with monitoring and backups configured for high, observable reliability") }} + {{ card_macro::home_card(title="Observable and Reliable", description="All Hostea software come with monitoring and backups configured for high, observable reliability") }} {{ card_macro::home_card(title="Fully Self-Hostable ", description="Like to get your hands dirty? We got you covered! Hostea comes with infrastructure as code and documentation to make self-hostable a first class experience") }} {{ card_macro::home_card(title="Horizontal Community", description="Hostea development is lead by a horizontal community minded individuals and organisations with a common goal to advance Free Software.") }}
diff --git a/templates/home/components/_vision.html b/templates/home/components/_vision.html index d17e1c2..6296642 100644 --- a/templates/home/components/_vision.html +++ b/templates/home/components/_vision.html @@ -16,11 +16,11 @@ - ...where freedom doens't come at the cost of comfort and reliability.
+ ...where freedom doesn't come at the cost of comfort and reliability.
 - ...where Free Software is not only comparable to properiatary software in + ...where Free Software is not only comparable to proprietary software in features but leads the charge in the ecosystem.

From 5545afbd4aabc3e4a35d17db8045b452bef19be4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: realaravinth Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2022 02:19:32 +0530 Subject: [PATCH 6/6] feat: docs to publish new bog post --- docs/new-blog.md | 37 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 37 insertions(+) create mode 100644 docs/new-blog.md diff --git a/docs/new-blog.md b/docs/new-blog.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4627db8 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/new-blog.md @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +# Add new blog post + +1. Create new file at `/content/blog/yyyy-mm-dd-blog-post-title.md` and + populate with the following metadata: + +```toml ++++ +title = "title of your blog post" +date = "yyyy-mm-dd" +description = "description of your blog post, will be displayed in blog listing" + +[taxonomies] +tags = ['tags', 'docs', 'rant'] + +[extra] +# **Only use author nicks in blog post Markdown files, it is used to lookup author details.** +author = 'imbatman' # author nickname ++++ +``` + +2. Add author details in [`config.toml`](../config.toml) in `authors` + under `extra` section: + + ```toml + [extra] + # Put all your custom variables here + authors = [ + { "nick"="imbatman", name="Batman", "website"="https://batman.example.org" }, + { "nick"="superman", name="Superman", "website" ="https://superman.example.org" } + ] + ``` + +This information is used to render author information in blog posts. +**Only use author nicks in blog post Markdown files, it is used to +lookup author details.** + +3. Add content to your blog post file, save and commit! 🎉