hometown 4.6.8+hometown-1.3.0I design and develop systems with a focus on ethics, simplicity and sustainability.
Software projects:
https://faircamp.org (static site generator for audio producers)
https://hyper8.org (static site generator for video publishing)
https://simonrepp.com/feber (simple group calendar)
https://simonrepp.com/sicuit (minimal password store)
https://simonrepp.com/zeroform (static/dynamic form generator)
Co-organizing:
https://vienna.permacomputing.net
https://libregraphicsmeeting.org (2027/Linz)
My incubating antidote to Google Forms, Zeroform («a static and dynamic online form generator») is now available for Windows (in addition to the existing macOS and Linux packages)!
https://simonrepp.com/zeroform/
Go and liberate your forms from big tech! \o/
First look at Faircamp 2.0 (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)
https://simonrepp.com/video/faircamp/first-look-2-0/
(note that the project is still work in progress and currently at about 50% of completion, i.e. you're looking at a prototype still :))
I completely missed that someone forked zed, taking out all the videoconferencing, telemetry, AI service integrations, etc. https://codeberg.org/GramEditor/gram didn't try it yet, but ... hell yeah! ＼ʕ◕ᴥ◕＼ʔ
Random #faircamp 2.0 development updates:
Over the last days I implemented adaptive theming in css/js on the generated sites themselves - i.e. if enabled the site is automatically shown in dark/light according to the visitor's system preferences, but the theme can also be manually toggled in the footer (button shown in the screenshot). For maximum compatibility across browsers I decided not to use light-dark() for this, instead opting for a little bit of css self-torment ... let's just say I'm glad that's over ^^ ("space toggles" to the rescue!).
Furthermore, today I started working on an implementation for automated site migration from faircamp 1.x to 2.x, built into both the cli and desktop applications. I'm more than a little anxious about this escalating in terms of complexity and effort, but it's kinda important, so I put on my sunglasses and venture bravely into the unknown. Let's see what waits ahead. ( ◡‿◡ *)
Ideal conditions: "Move slow and fix things" ＼ʕ◕ᴥ◕＼ʔ
Faircamp 2.0, more realistically speaking: "Move slow and break everything and put everything back together before the release" (ノ*°▽°*)
But! I'm happy to report that this week I even managed to fix two issues in #faircamp that already existed in 1.x \o/
1. Tag reading from Ogg/Vorbis files will work against a much greater spectrum of possible input files in 2.0 (tag names were previously matched case-sensitively, which now surfaced as an issue) – thanks a lot to @Baggypants@mstdn.social and @dheadshot@mastodon.social for the reports and test file!
Fixed in https://codeberg.org/simonrepp/faircamp/commit/0bebc71f47556bb7b0e14b914e8ee77c508d5eff
2. Some servers apparently don't do HEAD requests (beats me why), which interferes with faircamp's preferred method of checking download code validity. So in 2.0 there will now be a fallback routine that uses GET if HEAD fails. \o/ This issue was reported to me by https://guesst.net/ – thanks so much to them as well!
Fixed in https://codeberg.org/simonrepp/faircamp/commit/70d3ea1075c45f99c06ff7bcc84e49287cf8043a
I know I said I'm adding no more new features for #faircamp 2.0 due to time constraints, but '^^ ... I know this is going to make a few people very happy, plus the resulting overtime from this will be acceptable, and the new data model - which introduces a differentiation between a "catalog" (of which there can be multiple in faircamp 2.0!) and the "site" (singleton, the catalog in 1.7 terms) - just begged for this to be implemented, so without further ado:
Footer links¹ ! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°
¹ On any other occasion I will pedantically insist these are "semantically modelled global links that just happen to appear in the footer (but might appear elsewhere just the same)", but for the occasion I'm making an exception. :D
https://codeberg.org/simonrepp/faircamp/commit/1f298023473c2351db9c8349614fbf22826c9510
Mini #faircamp 2.0 graphical user interface teaser for some core aspects that are finally coming together after maaany weeks of toil: '^^
1. Every form field in faircamp 2.0's graphical interface features a documentation badge (-> what is the underlying (manifest) option, link to online documentation (also tied to the respective, correct version of the docs from 2.0 onwards))
2. Every form field is aware of the value and exact origin of all inherited defaults. For instance, you can set a default "more_label" for all tracks throughout the site, but on the release level you can override this default for all tracks within the release. And in the track settings itself, the form field will tell you what its default value is and where that comes from (and also where it does not come from because it was overridden again). These default origin badges are also clickable and take you to the respective source settings!
3. As of just now, form fields also trace their default value back to the tags in the audio files. \o/
I'm tentatively planning to record a little "first look at faircamp 2.0" video in the next days that will showcase the interface in action, let's see how it goes! ( ◡‿◡ *)
Vienna calling all folks interested in computing within planetary and human limits:
Coming tuesday, April 14th, between 19:00-22:00 we're meeting for the sixth edition of #permacomputing vienna!
Edit: Unfortunately Bjorna Kalaja will have to pass for her talk this time due to just having gotten ill, but Björn Ganslandt (@Ansimorph@front-end.social) is kindly jumping in tomorrow with a talk on »Fighting hardware obsolescence with greener frontend code«!
This time we're also meeting at a new place: Stadtraum Mitte 15 (https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/176338490#map=19/48.194603/16.325461)
All details: https://vienna.permacomputing.net/
Much looking forward to this! ( ◕◡◕)っ
(Location image by GB*/Daniel Dutkowski)
«I’m not really sure how to deal with this part of my life appropriately. I have apologized to a few people individually, but it’s not a scalable solution and with many people I have no business re-opening wounds to salve my own conscience. I can offer a general apology, and I will. I’ve never found the right moment to say it, but now will do: I apologise, sincerely, to everyone who I have harmed with verbal abuse and with hateful and problematic rhetoric. If you have had a bad experience or experiences with me, and there’s anything you want from me that can help you heal from that experience – a personal apology, for example – please reach out to me and ask.»
https://drewdevault.com/blog/Addressing-harassment/
I only ever witnessed Drew from a distance online, so it's ultimately not my call to validate him. I will say though that the picture he paints - both in the best and the worst - is true to what I've seen and read from him over the years. I like to believe that people can change, and as such, I have a ton of respect for what he has written in this post. Being an asshole is cheap and easy (and in my own ways I've not always been my best self either), but writing something like that ... really takes a different kind of person. I wish him all the best.
I'm now some 68 hours into rewriting faircamp's internal architecture for handling manifests, to accomodate (a) continuous reading and writing of settings at runtime, simultaneously from the outside (e.g. in a text editor) and in the desktop application (with live updates in the interface!), and (b) an entirely new settings inheritance system (actually a bit like the one that existed pre-1.0, just without the footguns [fingers crossed :D], and streamlined and redesigned for the new data model in 2.0).
Truthfully this hasn't been my favorite part of the project so far '^^ - constantly too many things to trip over that can instantly turn into a productivity sink if you're not 100% on guard, fighting between uncomfortable levels of boilerplate/repetition and uncomfortable levels of abstraction (on the upside I've collaterally picked up a mad amount of new rust generics skills these last days).
But ... I'm beginning to see the light at the end of this tunnel, and if the end result of this is roughly what I imagine it to be, faircamp 2.0 will be standing on one hell of a solid foundation for the coming months and years. (˶′◡‵˶)
Pssst did you already know that @incognitothief@tldr.nettime.org has just recently joined us here on the fediverse?
He's not only a splendid musician (tune in: https://thief.whereditgo.diamonds/) but also investigating and experimenting with tooling for artists (including some closely adjacent to faircamp), such as the Whereditgo Public Library (https://docs.whereditgo.diamonds/). In that endeavour he's also published some *fantastic* documentation (both written and video-based) on how to host faircamp - or anything static-ish really - on (e.g.) Neocities (and other options): https://docs.whereditgo.diamonds/category/hosting-your-archive
Welcome to the fediverse @incognitothief@tldr.nettime.org, great to have you here! o/
Smol release news:
I just released 1.4.2 for Feber («a simple, self-hostable group calendar»), which fixes a (recoverable but unhelpful :)) crash that occurs when deleting the last remaining event(s) in the calendar.
Many thanks to rh for reporting, diagnosing and fixing this in one go. ⸜(˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝
Linz! Morgen (Sonntag 3. Mai) 14:00-17:30 gibt's die Gelegenheit gemeinsam wieder ein paar Schritte weg von Big Tech zu machen! Werde auch dort sein und wo ich kann Support geben! ฅʕ•ᴥ•`ʔ
«Wo möchtest du anfangen? Von Whatsapp auf Signal, von Gmail zu einem ethischen Emailprovider wechseln? Linux installieren? Willst du erfahren, was das Fediverse ist und wie du mitmachen kannst? Suchst du alternative Software für bestimmte Bereiche?
Am Sonntag, 3. Mai 2026, sind wir ab 14:00 im Willy*Fred Gassenlokal, Graben 3 um den Wechsel von Big Tech in Richtung demokratiefreundlicher digitaler Alternativen gemeinsam, Schritt fur Schritt anzufangen. Kommt mit, bring Freund*innen mit, und wir gehen gemeinsam die ersten Schritte!»
https://events.diday.org/events/2c763e07-4134-4bb3-aa34-69935ac1a943
Möglich gemacht dank @aderieg@post.lurk.org, @WillyFredHaus@social.servus.at, @servus@social.servus.at, et al und natürlich wegen des https://diday.org <3
Very neat feature in KDE's Dolphin file manager that I didn't know about (until just now): In the properties dialog for a file you can generate standard checksums, or check against one you got. Nice! \o/
Linz folks: Tomorrow, Sunday, 15:00-18:00 there is a chance to begin (or continue) your personal transition from Big Tech to democracy-aligned digital alternatives, together with the helpful people from servus.at (tomorrow: @aderieg@post.lurk.org, @joak@post.lurk.org et al):
"Where would you like to start? By switching from Whatsapp to Signal or from Gmail to an ethical email provider? By installing Linux? Do you want to find out what the Fediverse is and how you can join? Are you looking for alternative software for certain tasks?
Come by and join us, bring your friends, and we will start taking the first steps together."
https://termine.di.day/events/a040cde5-0dea-4fff-b213-29c3a244c0ae
(This is part of the monthly Digital Independence Day organizing – see https://di.day for the larger context)
I can now tentatively say that there will be speed-ups - and possibly quite significant ones - in #faircamp 2.0.
For one, if you're using the graphical interface, faircamp will¹ "pre-preprocess" (= analyze audio and generate waveforms for) your entire catalog in the background while you're just still exploring the interface and fiddling with texts and settings. I'm planning to also expose this as a `faircamp --warmup` (or so) option in the CLI, so that you can let this pre-preprocessing run while you're still editing things in the manifests (way before building). So in both cases, when you finally request a build, a considerable portion of the required processing might already be ready and waiting in the cache.
Then, because of the graphical user interface, I needed to make all internal data shareable across threads (that's pretty much done by now), and in turn we can reap the benefits in the form of concurrent processing.
I just now naively parallelized decoding, peak generation and encoding, testing with a single album with 17 tracks, and I'm seeing a ~5.5 times faster completion, or in other words, on my machine², a build that took one hour could be done in roughly 12 minutes now, if these figures hold in the larger picture.
(¹) implementation pending but I see zero blockers to that
(²) 16 cores, average i7
Windows Media Player Skins (2020), by Zach Barth:
https://www.trashworldnews.com/wmp-skins/
"(...) I captured videos of a bunch of Windows Media Player skins in a Windows XP virtual machine. You can see them all in this somewhat horrifying gallery."
:think_starry_eyes:
TIL that in #rust you can do ...
my_vec
.iter()
.map(|x| something_returning_result(x))
.collect::>()?;
(also works with Option>!)
How could I have missed this omg. (;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`) Now I finally also understand why type inference is so funky around .collect() :)
https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/iter/trait.Iterator.html#method.collect
Just another perfectly normal day working on faircamp 2.0. This is fine. '^^
Hey Wien o/ Our next vienna permacomputing meetup is coming up in one month:
April 14th 2026, 19:00-22:00
Our previous venue is now undergoing reconstruction, so we're meeting at a new lovely location (yes the cute colorful house in the picture! :)):
Stadtraum Mitte 15, Felberstraße 78 (https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/176338490)
And there's more: Thanks to Björn's diligent work (and being kindly hosted by the international team permacomputing, thanks! <3) we now have a ~\* website */~ yayy!
https://vienna.permacomputing.net/
Also we already have a great topic and speaker to announce (credit for the organizing again goes to this meeting's hero @Ansimorph@front-end.social \o/):
Bjorna Kalaja (https://www.speakerinnen.org/en/profiles/15182) – Measuring the carbon footprint of microservice architectures
Teaser: "In this session I would like to provide insights on state of the art solutions on how to measure carbon footprint of a software solution. (...) This session will also contain a live demo how to measure and visualize the carbon footprint using two different tools." – for the full description see the ~\* website */~ ;)
Looking forward to seeing y'all again there!
On a related note: I had "Arbitrary pages" (which relates to the whole imprint/contact page topic) in my optional goals list - and this unfortunately will not make it into the release - however :) .. 2.0 introduces a modular, fine-grained differentiation between artist and label pages, meaning that label or not, if you're willing to add some new artists to your roster (Johnny Imprint, DJ Contact Page, Jane AI Policy ;D) you should probably be able to work around this limitation. ;) (tbc as I still need to try this myself)
@lminiero@fosstodon.org Good news re. a feature suggestion of yours (possibility for multiple external download links as native functionality – https://codeberg.org/simonrepp/faircamp/issues/90#issuecomment-2920256):
Although I'm (currently) out of time for adding additional features to 2.0, I managed to add this one to the pipeline today because it fits in perfectly with some necessary changes that are still up ahead (as in: it will probably be easier to integrate this highly useful change than trying to adapt the status quo of the feature for the graphical interface architecture).
Now I still don't know how the frontend representation is going to look like (right now all work is driven by the backend), but it's coming! ^^
Is there some trick for the official mastodon web client for how I can browse my own posts (and replies) from oldest to newest, rather than the default newest to oldest ordering?
(Scrolling to the beginning is do-able, but tedious. :))
In about one hour (22:00 CET) the third "Music from the Faircamp's" radio special on @fadimat@social.servus.at is going live!
We selected some fine tracks from the faircamp universe (which gets harder every year - so many good things out there! <3), and I'll again be talking a bit about what's going on with faircamp these days. :)
Live on the air the talking parts will be german (it's local radio from around where I live!), but later on there will be a chance to re-listen to the recorded Q&A in english as well!
Tune in at: https://www.fro.at/fadimat105-march26/
@hachem@infosec.exchange For this we need to consider the origin story of the vienna permacomputing meetup! Let's rewind the clock ~15 months:
@praxeology@post.lurk.org announces another edition of the Berlin permacomputing meetup
I am swooning over it in a comment on mastodon, also noting that it's unfortunately out of reach for me
@praxeology@post.lurk.org suggests we start our own in Vienna
@Ansimorph@front-end.social writes that he'd be game to organize it with me
The Vienna permacomputing meetup is born.
So hereby I formally declare "You could start one in Paris", and with this you're now just one more person and reply away from permacomputing Paris becoming reality! :)
Another #faircamp 2.0 feature update: "Publishing source audio as-is (without transcoding)" is definitely coming! \(^ヮ^)/
I already expected this to get tricky, but the final ~20 hours tally (plus probably some 5-10 more hours coming in the longer aftermath) still caught me off guard. 8) Either way I think this is well invested, super useful option and I'm happy to have it in.
The final implementation even allows for two variants: Using the source files verbatim (without any processing at all) or using the original audio stream while rewriting the tags (which is a processing step, but finishes pretty much instantly, it only copies the audio stream payload).
And with this I think I'm finally moving on to get all of this architectural work commited, and then move on to sketching out the first graphical user interface bits. ʕ◜0ᴥ0ʔ (ok the launcher is actually already sketched out hehe)
TIL (Mastodon/Hometown): When someone privately mentions you in a post by accident, then edits/removes your mention from the post, that post still stays visible for you (at least in v4.5.7+hometown-1.2.0). Consequently I guess in these cases it's better to "Delete & re-draft" rather than edit the post.
(NB: I'm aware that "what's federated is federated and can't be un-federated", this is merely about what "forthcoming behavior" Mastodon/Hometown offers/doesn't offer (just as deleted posts are only "deleted" remotely based on the good will of the federated-to server software))
For everyone who manually builds and uses #faircamp from the git repository (main branch), an important notice regarding 2.0 development:
"Heads-up: From late february to late summer 2026 (tbd) there will be heavy work and restructuring happening on the main branch. Please expect bugs and undefined behavior when building and using faircamp from main in that period. Until announcement of the first 2.0 release candidates it is also not recommended to report bugs observed on main alone - breakage is likely intentional and/or known for the time being."
