- cross-posted to:
- buyeuropean@feddit.uk
- cross-posted to:
- buyeuropean@feddit.uk
Hey folks, We have been working on a project called InlineStyle
A European, open-source, fediverse based alternative to the Google ecosystem.
It’s a single platform with these services:
- 📧 Email address @inlinestyle.it
- 📹 Video sharing via PeerTube
- 🎵 Music streaming with Funkwhale
- 📝 Docs and Drive via Collabora/NextCloud
- 📒 Markdown based notes
- 🎮 Browser-based FOSS games (Celeste Classic, Tyrian, SuperTux, etc.)
- 🌍 Static personal site hosting
All hosted in Europe. No telemetry, no ads, no corporate BS.
It’s not a startup pitch, just something we built because we got tired of being locked in.
The idea is to keep it sustainable with a simple support plan (€1.90/month) that unlocks upload features and personal email/webspace. Free tier available too, no login needed to browse.
🔗 https://mastodon.social/@inlinestyle
Would love your thoughts. What should I improve? What’s missing for you to consider switching?
Our goal is to try to build a real #DeGoogle fediverse based path that doesn’t feel like a downgrade. It will take time, but we are willing to try and stay committed to the mission.
Pretty good catch there!
Other than that while the overall idea sounds good, there are a few concerns, I’d like to have your feedback on these even if it’s not a definitive word - sometimes, “I don’t know” is the correct answer!
that
.it
domain is kinda worrying given their recent stance on blocking or deleting parts of the internet to support the shareholders. Well, at least it’s not Spain, but do keep an eye on that.Are there any considerations towards a one-time life payment on the horizon? It’s what ultimately drew me to SDF compared to the rest of the enshittifying internet, and they do provide similar services to what your roster seems to be so far.
May I recommend also Cryptpad? From my understanding NC+Collabora is a PITA to set up and prone to random failures (tho I would disclose the last time I tried the combo myself was on 2022). Cryptpad, while a lot simpler and less-featured, provides a leaner experience that approaches that of eg.: a pastebin.
Some comments have mentioned chat. A XMPP server, like Prosody or ejabberd, is quite cheap and simple to run compared to “nu-protocols” like Matrix, and without having to go too far back into the 90s with something like IRC. Has good support for clients across the board as well, on Linux, Android, web, etc.
Other than that the only differentiating factor I could think of offering that I have seem almost no one else do, is some sort of “math service”, something like an Octave or Maxima online if such thing exists, or like what Wolfram Alpha has online, where people can run calculations, plot function graphs, perhaps with support for spreadsheets and charts too, which would also function as an alternative to google charts and the like.
Do you have further details on the topic? We’d like to learn more. FYI, We have a
.it
domain simply because the service was born from Italians, and we are proud of the fact we built it in Italy, but the servers are in GermanyWe might consider offering both Cryptad and NextCloud with a shared quota. Cryptpad is something we evaluated but discarded as it had a much smaller feature set compared to NextCloud and for the average user it wouldn’t have been as helpful. Our main goal is still to show that OSS solutions are a valid alternative to proprietary ones, so we need to start with services that are comparable in terms of features.
We will keep brainstorming more on the topic of Chats. But we are only going to provide a Chat service if it has a solid support for bridging with main stream chat services (opt-in obviously, we do recognize the risk they bring), we believe that it would be perceived as an inferior service if people were not able to talk with their usual friends and thus it’s better to not offer it compared to offering something that would damage the image of OSS based solutions.
FYI, in our FAQ we currently suggest communick.com for services we don’t offer like Matrix, Lemmy and Mastodon.
**Do you offer Mastodon, Lemmy, Pixelfed and Matrix Chat services?** At the moment InlineStyle does not plan to offer support for social platforms that already easily available to users. We think it wouldn't add any value to the community offering one more node of those services. For PixelFed we suggest using pixelfed.social itself, while for Lemmy, Mastodon and Matrix you can try **Communick.com** which offers those at great prices.