TLDR: bare Synapse was fine on 1CPU 1GB RAM VPS, but uses lots of disk space (from large rooms). Current/future ESS requires Kubernetes and several services to be functional.

More info in my blog post

Thank you for the queries. The rhetorical question is why isn’t the server handling this.

This always gets brought up, and is the chicken-and-egg problem, but only sort of.

Supporting software designed for different platforms is not the phone’s responsibility. It should be the government and bank developers’ responsibility to build software for platforms their citizens and customers use.

Android and Apple do not jump through hoops to run Windows desktop software, for example, and the notion is kind of absurd to begin with. Yet this argument is used for Linux smartphones all the time.

Some of this also applies to people without phone / with dumbphone.

I have ran Synapse natively on 1 CPU 1GB RAM VPS for years. But it fills up a lot of disk space, eapecially with larger rooms, so get at least 100GB? (I had 20GB on my VPS, and with 4 regular users, was using up 15GB)

If you are looking at (new) official ESS Community, they recommend 2 CPU, 2GB RAM minimum for Kubernetes.

This reads as vaguely anti-intellectualist.

I can’t imaging writing code by myself again

I don’t want to bother with readability, quality, or efficiency. Taking time to think is pointless.

The less polished and coherent something is, the more value I assign to it.

Taking time to organize and write my thoughts is pointless. There are plenty of unpolished, incoherent ramblings on the internet, many with ill intent, that should not be given any value. (Yes, I understand that was not the intended meaning, but author should proofread)

They have been heading in government-corporate direction for a while now. Good for them, yet from a perspective of a small server hoster, everything is more complicated now for no good reason.

(Official ESS requires Kubernetes and a dozen subdomains, third-party auth service is required to even register a plain username+password account, calls are all over the place between Element, Element X and web client)

Any FOSS / third party Spotify client I used already requires a premium account (I am fairly certain it’s about playing ads), so I was under assumption developer API was the same.

Anyway, I just stopped using Spotify altogether. I’ll support my local indie radio station instead.

For me it was the opposite: Every “made for you” mix and playlist is fairly popular songs from artists that I like… But they are always the same few dozen songs, just shuffled in different order.

Video suggestions seem to appear if/after you listen to podcasts or audiobooks. I had them, my partner did not.

Metro 2033 (and at least one of the sequels) had a (post-apocalyptic russian) nazi faction as enemies.

Matrix clients aren’t great

IMO the main advantage that Matrix-Element has for normal users is the branding: Element is Element on the web, Android and iOS. (Snikket is trying to do the same for XMPP though)

Matrix is too difficult for “normal” people

Agreed. Simple user+password login to a hosted (non-matrixdotorg) server takes 5-6 pages to click through.

Matrix public rooms have a CP problem

I was spammed with racist copypasta on XMPP once too. But being in large Matrix chats guarantees being invited/messaged.

…Matrix also pisses metadata to any server it federates with, including matrix [.] org

Replication+sync is a strange decision for chats. It sort of makes sense for slower fediverse posts, but creates a lot of strange scenarios and privacy issues with chats. Also, matrixdotorg is used for key backups and vectordotim is used for integrations IIRC.

I hosted Matrix for several years. It mostly works fine, apps look consistent, bridges are nice, but is a pain in the ass in some aspects. Onboarding sucks. Data needs constant cleanup (or gigabytes of storage, even for a dozen users). Sometimes notifications are delayed hours. Sometimes images don’t load.

New Element Server Suite is more corporate-oriented, requires Kubernetes (!) to run, includes defacto mandatory services. Element X has no feature parity with Element Classic, especially calls.

I ran Snikket many years ago for a few months. But now they have smooth invites/onboarding, admin panel, and always had reliable notifications. Even bridges through Slidge. I plan to switch back to Snikket soon.

More details

Are you trying to run everything as sudo / admin? I do not recall having to type in the password that much, even a decade ago when Linux experience was less polished.

The thing is also that there was no server available for Ubuntu

Debian 12 (and looks like Ubuntu, too) has molly-brown. I also chose it for being a Debian package instead of additional install.

Started doing the same a few months ago too, mainly prompted by streaming services removing and shuffling movies around constantly (particularly noticeable for series and classic Christmas movies).

At a repair cafe, just saw someone with a chunky Dell Inspiron laptop that had a built-in modem and phone jack (!), which dates it to late 2000s (I believe), and I was impressed how fast Windows 10 was on it compared to newer cheap laptops.

When Steam first appeared (and was required to play Half-Life 2 IIRC), I thought that was a ridiculous idea to have a middle man to play a game. Well, what do I know, everyone loves Steam now (yet hates on other launchers).

IIRC that entire plane was a DIY plane from a popular kit, not a commercial vehicle.

(not clicking on a Google shortlink)

TBF, specifically for games, enemy behavior has been called “AI” for decades.

Absolutely. Somehow, Apple and Google convinced people (even more tech savvy ones) to want constant app and security updates as if the world would end otherwise. I’ve seen complaints about gemini (the protocol not Google’s AI) browser not being updated (protocol has not been updated since 2022), and someone asking if it’s safe to boot up an old Android 7 phone.

And Apple dev license consting money does not help the situation.

Now up the challenge: In App Store, find a simple app that is not a “solution”, “ecosystem” nor a “lifestyle”, does not have ads, and does not require a subscription for basic functionality.

(Years ago, I tried about 10 RSS readers, News Reader was what I finally found, way down the list)