I too love how simple the infrastructure can get using Go’s tools. At the same time, I prefer Node.js for the libraries & bigger community. So I developed a tool called caxa which brings the best of both worlds, packaging any Node.js into a single binary. Check it out at https://github.com/leafac/caxa
In terms of server costs, it all runs smoothly on a $6/month DigialOcean droplet. Even when I end up on the front-page of HN (it’s the second time this happens). And there’s also the ~$10/year for the domain.
There’s actually a fun story behind this: The biggest constraint is bandwidth (~500GB/month). I was using S3 and at some point that’d amount to $50/month. But DigitalOcean droplets give you 1TB/month, so to save money I rearchitected the whole thing to just use the filesystem. It turned out to be simpler and nicer to maintain, too. Fewer moving parts.
A JavaScript & TypeScript package with collections like JavaScript’s native Maps and Sets, but using value equality (deep-equal) instead of reference equality.
Author of Kill the Newsletter! here. First, thank you ProfDreamer for finding my
service and posting it here. Thanks too to everyone that took interest in Kill
the Newsletter! and commented or wrote me emails. I appreciate the kind words
and testimonials that the tool was useful to some of you. I also appreciate the
suggestions for improvements, I’ll try to implement them in the near future.
Finally, I want to say a word about the name of the service. The copy on the
website starts with “I love newsletters …” This is true, otherwise I wouldn’t
have created the tool. So don’t really mean to extinguish the newsletters. I
understand RSS users are a small niche when compared to email users. I also
understand the business reasons to prefer mailing lists. The comments on this
thread had some very interesting arguments on that topic. I certainly learned a
lot by reading them.
The name Kill the Newsletter! was supposed to be whimsical. But I understand
death and specially killing are sensitive topics to some people and I apologize
if I offended them with my joke.
Still, I hope everyone can enjoy Kill the Newsletter! if they ever need to
convert that mailing list into an RSS feed.
Author of Kill the Newsletter! here. Thank you for your comment. I think it’s
cool that you’re using an email reader that doesn’t require any clicks :)
But, seriously, of course the tool I developed is for a niche. In particular, I
had only my own use case in mind. I know the benefits of newsletters. So much so
that Kill the Newsletter! starts with copy saying “I love newsletters …”.
The name Kill the Newsletter! is only a joke. I’m sorry that you seemed not to
appreciate it. After all, joking with death and killing is not exactly
G-rated. So the joke is actually on me and I apologize if it caused you any
inconvenience.
I hope you can still consider Kill the Newsletter! an option if you ever run in
the inteded use case.
Author of Kill the Newsletter! here. Thank you for your comment. I tried the
tool you mentioned before creating Kill the Newsletter! Of course, I was trying
same work :)
Unfortunately, I ruled it out for two reasons. First, it required a Google
account, thus binding my identity with my reading preferences. Second, I set up
a throwaway Google account just to test the service and it didn’t work. I can’t
remember exactly why, though.
It was definetly an inspiration for Kill the Newsletter! It gave me an
indication that the project was feasible.
Author of Kill the Newsletter! here. Thank you for your comment. Indeed, the
tool generates Atom feeds instead of RSS. It is a better format. But RSS is a
more popular term, so I went it. It’s like the TLS vs. SSL: I only use the term
TLS with highly technical audience.
Author of Kill the Newsletter! here. First, thank you for your interest. Nothing
technically prevents you from using the tool in the way you propose. But I ask
you not to, if you can. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12957555.
Author of Kill the Newsletter! here. That is a valid concern, thanks for
bringing it up. I worry about this myself, being the #1 user of the tool. Do you
have any idea how to fix it, though? I thought of a dead man’s switch kind of
thing, in which I would periodically add an “everything is still working” for
low-volume feeds, but I didn’t do it because I would consider such entries
spam. What do you think?
Author of Kill the Newsletter! here. I’m glad to know that my project inspired
your idea. Feel free to generate NewsMaker RSS feeds using Kill the Newsletter!,
if you’d like :)
Author of Kill the Newsletter! here. First, thank you for interest, I’m glad the
tool was useful to you. While of course Kill the Newsletter! does work as a
throwaway email address, I ask you to please not use it for that. I fear this
might result in @kill-the-newsletter.com email addresses ending up in
blacklists. Or that the service grows in a way that I couldn’t support with my
$0 budget :) Finally, I can’t make strong guarantees of privacy and security for incoming emails. The security is through obscurity of the generated email address and corresponding feed URL, which is not a strong model. This is generally fine for newsletters—whose contents are public anyway—but not so much for signing up for a private Twitter account.
Also, there are other tools like https://www.mailinator.com/ designed
specifically for this use case. You’re much better off with them!
And, when you want to convert that newsletter into an RSS feed, I hope you
consider Kill the Newsletter! an option :)
Author of Kill the Newsletter! here. Thank you for your comments! I didn’t know
of NewsBlur and Feedbin and it’s nice to see that other tools take similar
approaches to the use case. It validates that my solution was appropriate.
It’s unfortunate that NewsBlur and Feedbin bind the feature to their
platform. But I guess it makes sense, Feedbin is even trying to make
money. Anyway, whenever you need a free tool that doesn’t lock you in or ask for
your personal information, I hope you consider Kill the Newsletter! an option :)
Author of Kill the Newsletter! here. First, thank you for your suggestions :)
> - make the UI easier to use on mobile
I don’t own a phone, can you please be more specific on the difficulties you
had? I’d be happy to address them.
> - make feed title and feed URL fields appear together at the same time
To which screen are you referring?
> - send a test post to each newly created feed so I can confirm it's working
That’s a good idea. Of course, the sole fact that the feed exists with the title
you gave is already confirmation that it’s working. Even if there are no
entries. And, right after creating the feed on Kill the Newsletter! the user is
probably going to use the email address the service gives to actually sign up to
a newsletter. Upon doing that, the newsletter provider usually sends a
subscription confirmation email that shows up as a feed entry. Still, I think
one more confirmation wouldn’t hurt and I’ll add it.
> That said, I'm not sure if OP is actually the author based on taking a glance at commit dates in the repo.
You’re correct. I don’t even know ProfDreamer, but I’m glad he liked my work
enough to post it. Otherwise I wouldn’t have received feedback such as yours :)
Author of Kill the Newsletter! here. Thank you for your idea, but my intent is not to make money with this. Let alone get a hold of users’ real email address :)