Somewhat tangentially related.
Pocket seems like a dead product. I have been using it since it can out but it feels old, slow and quite behind.
I use it extensively to capture a reading list and then trim it occasionally.
Any recommendations for alternatives?
Offline web-rendered article views are a must - something pocket can’t do. And their text mode misses quite a few important details when there are equations or illustrations in the content.
I heard Wallabag is a nice Pocket alternative. And you can host it yourself. I'll try putting it on my odroid one of this day.
I'm now using the nextcloud bookmarks extension, but it's rather slow, seems unmaintained, most android apps & browser extensions don't work anymore (way worse than pocket, but at least there is no adds)
Using a selfhosted version behind a subdomain of one of my TLDs. Something to be aware of - it can't be hosted behind a specific URI if you plan to have other stuff hosted on the same web root path (like example.com/wallabag), it always needs it's own (sub)domain (wallabag.example.com).
Other than that, it works pretty well with most text-based content. I'm using it through the Android app occasionally, and while the app won't win any design awards, it serves it's purpose.
I recently tried wallabag on my home server. The web version is fine. Functional even.
But the state of the iOS app is, well, not great. Clunky design, with odd syncing. Which is unfortunate as 99% of my use case is reading it on my phone whenever I’m waiting for something.
On the scale of years, products fail, get bought, are unmaintained, become too expensive, etc... An export of your database is always a hassle to manage, and you must hope there will be an importer for the next product that will also fail a few years down the road.
On the other hand, files have always been there and will always be there. Epub is a standard-enough format that will live. The highest piece of complexity is syncthing, which can be easily replaced the day it doesn't work anymore. Bonus: I have all my data offline so I don't need connectivity, and I lower my environmental impact.
Too often products feel like a reinvention of the whole stack because it's easier to sell, rather than reusing proven tools and using them the way they were supposed to be used.
I recently heard about Alfread on HN. [1] If you're just looking to replace the front end, you can use it to pull from Instapaper/Pocket feeds.
Not sure if it currently does all you'd want, but the founders are responsive on email so perhaps worth asking for any features that you'd like them to add!
I've used instapaper for a long time, and it's a better product than Pocket, but it, too, has the problem of missing images sometimes.
If you want to save the entire snapshot of the web page for archival and references purpose, I think zotero is a good choice. But it's not a good read-it-later product.
Another vote for Instapaper vs Pocket. Basic Instapaper allows you to make folders and select to which folder to save, while basic Pocket only gives you a blank, suggestionless space to write tags.
I used Raindrop.io for a while after moving off Pocket, it’s much better. Now I’m trying out mymind but it’s costly so I may revert back if I don’t find it overly better.
Same. I miss pocket's chrome app. Worked great when offline too.
I don't really care about web service. Any desktop tool that can capture websites like pocket? As in download the stripped-down article. They call it "reader view" sometimes.
There's some extensions/scripts like Markdownload that uses Mozilla's Readibility.js to download stripped-down articles. But it's a bit manual for my taste.
I've noticed similar issues lately. In fact, I have resorted to keeping my my Pocket browser extension in Brave disabled because for whatever reason, Pocket seems to cause the browser to fully utilize ~1.5 cores. I only discovered this after disabling all extensions and using them one at a time. Pocket was the only one that seemed to have a consistent signal. I haven't had weird Brave CPU spikes since I disabled Pocket.
I've wondered about how to exfiltrate all of my accumulated links I've put into Pocket over the past ~7 years or so.
> I've wondered about how to exfiltrate all of my accumulated links I've put into Pocket over the past ~7 years or so.
Yeah, this is what has prevented me from moving away. I was a premium user and used to use their search. I’m not anymore but I still want to keep the list around. I still go back and find references that Google doesn’t show anymore.
There are some apps that move data from pocket to kindle or such, but having an import from pocket in a new product would be really nice.
As a beta user, I can say that while it's super promising and I use it daily, it does still have some rough edges to it hence the closed aspect of it. The onboardings are starting to scale up a bit I believe though. Being able to highlight and take notes on RSS items or emails is very nice.
This is exactly what I started using in my new open source project (not announced yet) and the experience has been amazing. I was wary about it in the beginning but it quickly became clear that this is the easiest and probably the fastest way to get this job done. The community and tooling has come far ahead.
I've adopted the doc of docs method and it has made my life incredibly easy! I was in a position where I'm a bottleneck of information because no one else in the company new about the product other than me. I wrote a ton of documentation for employees and users but I still was spending upwards of 20 hours every week just answering questions. I built the doc of docs in 2 hours and that has helped significantly. Combine this with always replying with a link instead of a dedicated explanation has been extremely fruitful!
https://repocounters.com
This is a tool to track download history for Github releases over time. I'm working on adding support for Github packages. And Docker is next on the list as well.
The other project is Stilton. Not available yet. It is a centralized certificate issuance server for ACME protocol, primarily targeted for organizations running large number of domains and need TLS certs for them.
I have a list for each date in a Logbook list and keep dumping all my completed TODOs at work there. It has come in useful a few times already to recall when did I do thing X.
I also have an Inbox list to keep all my thoughts in there, which get groomed once a couple of weeks. The mobile app is a little slower than I'd like but it is the best tools I've found to organize my thoughts.
I also get daily emails from Workflowy which provides a nice timeline of everything I've done or recorded at any point.
My number 1 rule when it comes to side projects is to never create something closely related to my employer's business.
As an employee, if you put a lot of your business and technical knowledge (that was acquired while on the job) on a large side project effort without your employer's consent, you're playing with fire, because you may be transferring business advantage from your employer to the outside world, including the competition. You put yourself in a position where you could even get sued if things go badly (specially if your project is a potential money maker)... See the case of the Nginx author, who just got himself into similar trouble...
In conclusion, I think your safest bet is to, as everyone is saying, talk to a lawyer... not to threaten the company, but to protect yourself and hopefully come to a friendly agreement at the end!
They could surely fork it and take it from there. They would rather want that they own the code-base so that their enterprise customers can be assured that it is a product that they control and own.
My product, unintentionally, solves a lot of problems for the enterprise product that my company sells.
Still, in all the discussions here I don't understand what is meant that they "want to own the codebase". This is open source, so everyone who has a copy of the code can do freely within the limits of the license.
So what exactly do they want when they control the codebase? Do they want to make it closed source, or just more input on the development.
Unless they want to close the source, it sounds to me just like a question of negotiation of aligning your and their interestes and it sounds like you could at least partially support your own product on work time.
And of course, you need to balance any theoretical gains by winning a legal argument with your company with your long-term employment interests.
Ah, this is the landmine you've trod on; you can't make a side project that fixes some other product of your company without really annoying the people making the other product.
Thank you for the comment!
I totally get what you and other threads are trying to say and I don't disagree with what you are saying.
I probably should have cleared this out in my original post (my bad) that I do not wish to pursue the legal route. I personally feel that in my case, it will just drain everyone's energy for not much gain at the end. Also, personal relationships matter to me as well.
I'm trying to find ways to get compensated for the time and effort I've put into it.
If not financially, then in some other forms. But I don't have any ideas.
You don't go to the lawyer to sue your employer. You go there to understand your legal position. This gives you leverage in negotiations.
The way you use that leverage is then explain why you feel something is not fair. In a professional context, you can explain your position in legal terms when you take a compassionate, kind stance, smile and analytically explain the situation from both sides.
It's no more different than handling a code review.
Now, two things can happen: Either your employer is amazed that you both created a new product AND can navigate business negotiations. This is good for your career (unless your employer is an idiot).
Note that creating a new product that people love increases your market worth tremendously (unless you are already at a fairly well compensated level).
Traditionally the simplest way to compensate employees has been to give them a raise. Hint - you could ask this :)
The funny thing a higher pay grade does is that suddenly management will respect you more (we pay him x dollars so he must be awesome).
Or, the second case: you find out your employers 'mr. Niceguy' culture is actually a charade to fool people working at below market rates. At which point the fate of your sideproject totally depends on the legal feedback you received. And it would be better for you to find a better employer.
There are really good books on negotiation and influence. I suggest you read them when you have the time. Examples: Cialdini, 'Influence'. Voss, 'Never split the difference'.
I wholeheartedly agree with your comment. The core is that OP created something of value, in his own time. So there should be a value exchange of some sort.
Which, depending on case law in a particular jurisdiction, may or may not actually be enforceable. This is exactly why you would want to talk to a lawyer: they can tell you if you have a leg to stand on.
The employer might be under the impression that all the terms in the employment contract they pulled off FreeLegalTemplates.net are enforceable when they aren't. Going to a lawyer first gives you the ammunition to politely point out that you are in fact the one in the right here.
Unless he’s a salary employee. In that case, he’s technically always on the clock or could be argued to be so. If you want your time to yourself then stay an hourly employee.
IANAL, but it's definitely not that simple. I've worked in salaried positions and still retained ownership of my side projects. There was also one instance where I refused to sign a NCA that threatened my IP, so YMMV.
A salaried position is usually for X hours per month though. An employer that can make you work 24/7 each day of the month is not an employer, they're an owner.
In that case, have you considered getting a lawyer just for the advice and not telling anyone about it? A lawyer you hire won't go around making threats without your permission, and they can at a minimum tell you if your plan has a massive flaw you've overlooked.
The best way to not "go the legal route" is to find out what is legally open to you and what is not, and then negotiate from confidence rather than ignorance. Failing to do legal homework up front is actually an easy way to accidentally end up in court.
You are not understanding. You do not only talk to lawyers to sue people. Lawyers are the only people here who know the law and are on your side. You should not be asking HN what your options are: you should be asking your lawyer what your options are. And your lawyer, not the company's lawyer.
If you really want a to have a part of the product that you created you need to know your options/rights.
If you don't want to spend money on lawyers, at least read all relevant laws (which is important even if you have lawyer around you).
It's also better if your company doesn't know about your preparation, as it can be used as defence weapon in the negotiations only if you would get a worse position than what you have rights for anyways. Preparing in secret also helps you get more evidence for your case.
It's worth noting that your employer will probably have already spoken to a lawyer about this, or will be prepared to if you don't comply with their request.
A 30 minute session with a lawyer will give you much more insight in to how to deal with this situation more than what you can learn from an internet forum.
You will have to reset all of your expectations, regardless of their combinations. OP has made some strategical errors already and it now depends on the exact writing of his employment contract and the jurisdiction they are in what options are still on the table.
Unless your employer is foolish (unlikely) they have definitely talked to a lawyer about this already.
You should do so as well, to be on the same footing. This lets you negotiate with confidence, you'll understand your BATNA and the terms of your contract with the business.
> I'm really bad when it comes to negotiations and figuring out a good barter.
> I absolutely don't want to take the legal route and want to work something out mutually.
You know, a good lawyer is both good at listening to his client’s goals and good at negotiating. Such a lawyer would avoid a “scorched earth” outcome, if that’s what you want, and also negotiate a better deal than you could on your own. Lawyers who specialize in business transactions are sometimes called transactional lawyers (as opposed to litigators, who specialize in asserting claims in court).
Many lawyers are very good at negotiating. It is part of the job, in many corporate deals idea is not to fuck the counter party but come up with everyone is sort of happy solution.
If you are in Canada I can recommend someone who is good, former software engineer and does IP law.
And both of you will be better off if that thing you work out is sound and in both your interest. Perhaps you’re both happy now, but what about next year? What about when you move to another company? Take the advice: consult with a lawyer.
I use it extensively to capture a reading list and then trim it occasionally. Any recommendations for alternatives?
Offline web-rendered article views are a must - something pocket can’t do. And their text mode misses quite a few important details when there are equations or illustrations in the content.