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Focalboard open source, self-hosted alternative to Trello, Notion, and Asana

82 points| axiomdata316 | 4 years ago |github.com | reply

27 comments

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[+] dang|4 years ago|reply
Focalboard – a self-hosted alternative to Trello, Notion, and Asana - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26499062 - March 2021 (175 comments)
[+] 3np|4 years ago|reply
This is marked as dupe. That's 10 months ago and this is the third time total it's been shared here - I though that the dedupe timeframe for projects has generally been a lot shorter previously?

(From someone who saw this for the first time)

[+] sneak|4 years ago|reply
Focalboard is made by the Mattermost people.

Mattermost embed silent, nonconsensual phone-home spyware from segment.io in their open source server app! I was astounded when I discovered this (nearly totally undocumented) misfeature that, in some ways, defeats the point of selfhosting an open source project.

I don't think I trust software from them without a significant audit for data leaks/spyware/phone-home, as it seems to me that they don't really care about user privacy even in selfhosted versions.

[+] AnonHP|4 years ago|reply
Still no direct downloads for the "standalone" desktop version(without going through app stores), for which someone here kindly raised an issue [1] based on my comment here a year ago [2]. The issue was closed by providing a Windows zip on the GitHub releases page. I don't understand why the same link couldn't be updated on the main website downloads page. There is no direct download for macOS either.

For an open source project, working solely on app stores (for all the conveniences they provide for certain users) seems weird. I would really love to try this, but the app store requirement is a big barrier.

[1]: https://github.com/mattermost/focalboard/issues/99

[2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26499443

[+] sneak|4 years ago|reply
You can't download from the Apple App Store without an Apple ID, which requires a phone number. I refuse to use an Apple ID for anything these days, so App Store apps are right out for me.
[+] 3np|4 years ago|reply
This can be an issue if building it is a hassle.

I just built the desktop app in <5min by checking it out and running:

  make prebuild; make linux-app
Substitute linux with win-wpf or mac. They also provide both linux and windows binaries from their GH releases.

It's only for OS X they do not provide a compiled binary, which you can presumably build easily.

Given that, it's quite entitled to say it's "working solely on app stores".

I'm not Mattermost, but if I made a desktop project in the future I probably wouldn't bother with providing OS X binaries for each release either (I'm a bit out of the loop on what the latest is but doesn't it require Apple hardware and/or a provisioned dev cert even for "sideloaded" apps these days? Is it as straightforward to set up in CI as normal builds?)

[+] corndoge|4 years ago|reply
The UX of everything except the sidebar looks shockingly similar to Notion, like clone similar.
[+] danieloj|4 years ago|reply
Would there be anything wrong with a clone?
[+] codefreakxff|4 years ago|reply
I looked at notion and this app and don’t see clone similarities? Do you have specific concerns?
[+] esseti|4 years ago|reply
Can someone know if exsist a tool that can replicate the sidebar/organization of notion (and this tool) but use google drive files (gdocs)? in the company we use google drive and their docs, but the organization highly depends on who creates the folder. I just want a bookmark tool basically that is a standalone app. nothing fancier. i'm struggling in finding it out.
[+] gfykvfyxgc|4 years ago|reply
With all respect …. Do people care about self hosted for productivity apps?
[+] geraneum|4 years ago|reply
More and more people are beginning to care because of data privacy. There’s even a group of people who cared from the beginning.

The rise of “privacy friendly” or “we don’t share your data” marketing messages IMO is a sign of growing desire towards privacy preserving methods of consuming software.

[+] vitro|4 years ago|reply
What about a startup with more than hundred contributors on a make-the-world-better mission and tight budget?
[+] mackrevinack|4 years ago|reply
i would choose self hosted for almost everything is it was an option. privacy and security are only a small part of it for me. i like how reliable/efficient it is not having to worry about whether someone else's servers are working or not. or the same with the crap ton of infrastructure in between the server and my computer. or whether i have a good internet connection. i only buy data for my phone maybe once or twice a year as well so any apps on my phone that don't work offline are a no go for me