I don’t get the point of this.
Since when did Sync masquerade itself as FOSS?
Just use whatever you want. Isn’t that why we’re all here?
Is the Sync noise getting to you? Just ignore it. It’s natural since the app just opened up and there were a significant amount of Reddit refugees that badly wanted their app back.
I agree. SYNC will bring tons of reddit users to lemmy. I for one welcome that change.
I could use this same logic to talk about your comment. People are free to dunk on other apps, so why not just mute the post?
Seems to me this has spawned a fair bit of discussion… Which is the actual reason we’re all here.
Sync has gotten a lot of buzz (I don’t understand why, even on Reddit, rif was always better anyway) and that’s always going to bring out the people who don’t agree, for one reason or another.
Don’t mistake an opinion you don’t share for anything beyond what it is. I could just as easily parrot your statement back: if you don’t think this discussion is productive, just ignore it. There’s plenty of other discussions to get involved with on Lemmy
Sync gained a big following because it had a core feature many many moons ago, when having constant cell service was much less common, it allowed you download and save hundreds of posts and all the comments while you were on wifi, so you could browse reddit offline, it did this automatically and in the background (based on your settings ) hence the name ‘Sync’. This was a killer feature back in the day, at least for me. As that became less of a need, the app continued to change and add a lot of nice features, like lots of customizations, random NSFW, a very good OLED dark mode, etc, so there was no point in switching to something else.
My .02¢
RiF better? Lmaooo
I am disliking this sentiment. I am on the Fediverse because Sync’s developer and many others were betrayed by Reddit and I wanted to show solidarity and to ‘punish’ Reddit by leaving. The Fediverse’s values are admirable, but I do not share them all. I believe in supporting good projects, even some that are private if they don’t pose a risk of destroying something bigger, and Sync is a good project that can be easily abandoned without consequences if something goes wrong.
People need to remember that Lemmy is for everyone, not just people that live by free and open source software. Oh and sync the best, so there 😜
I think we need to separate the system from the product. With Reddit they’re the same, with a single owner. With Lemmy/ActivityPub, just like with email, there’s an underlying system that nobody owns. It’s an ecosystem of pieces created by lots of different people.
It is a good thing that people are building products on top of that. Some of them are FOSS and some of them not. As long as no-one gets too much control of the underlying system then that’s great! Users retain choice and can choose FOSS apps if they want, or they can choose something like Sync.
I agree it would be sad if the only apps were paid, but I think a mix is a sign of a healthy ecosystem.
It amazes me the how far Reddit users will bend over backwards to suck this dude’s schlong. Must be a mobile-user thing.
It’s amazing how divorced from reality the FOSS obsessed can be whenever anyone mentions non-FOSS apps. Nobody is bending over backwards, and nobody is sucking anyone’s schlong. If Sync were to have been FOSS, you’d be first in line to sing its praises. This trollish behavior doesn’t win anyone over to the “All Software Must Be Foss” camp at all. Must be a PC Master Race thing.
I had a mobile app for Reddit on my phone, you know when I used it last? 9 months ago when I was sitting in a waiting room waiting for an oil change. Every other time when I’m away from the computer I’m doing non-fucking-computer things.
This guy’s whole shtick was to make enough money to quit his day job, so he wrote a wrapper around someone else’s content using their free API. “Oh he did it all by himself, that’s amazing!” It’s really not, especially if you’d rather not share the subscription profits with other employees.
The FOSS alternatives? Done by guys with day jobs. They’re passion projects. I can respect that.
But you lot, who will drop to your knees the minute the guy wants to repeat his shtick now that Reddit kicked him to the curb? Zero respect at all.
“Wrote a wrapper”. Oh, is that all? It’s just that easy, huh?
Then why can none of these FOSS apps deliver the same experience, if Dawson is such an untalented hack?
You either have no clue of what you’re talking about, or you’re a troll. From my perspective, there is no substantive difference. If it’s such an easy shtick, the do it yourself, and do a better job. Put up, or shut up. Nobody asked for your respect, and I’m certain you know precisely where you can shove it.
that’s what you take away from the post you’re replying to? therapy is very much needed.
I say this as someone that uses FOSS day to day for work, I don’t really give a shit if my Lemmy app is FOSS.
For me, Sync was Reddit. It’s where 99% of my interaction with Reddit happened. I don’t really give a shit about Lemmy or the fediverse either. I’m here because Sync is a seamless product that gave me the best interface.
Despite saying that I don’t care about Lemmy or other distributed servers, Sync is basically that sync (lol) for me. Once I map my old subreddits on Lemmy, the experience doesn’t change.
This is me 100% also. Sync = Reddit for me for many years. The one hand quick scroll and swipe user experience, and the ability to favorite subs without subscribing, are all ingrained into my consumption behavior.
I actually used the Reddit app for nearly a year and still find myself swiping left to close. Whoever in the design team at Reddit must have gotten a memo to be more like TikTok… What a blight upon mankind that app is.
The Fediverse is cool though. It provides a nice fail-safe to quarantine certain communities and content. They can still exist but in case something awful happens, the federated space can be insulated.
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Can anyone explain what FOSS stands for?
Free Open Source Software
Free Open Source Software
So any software where the code is public and the license allows for you to use/edit/redistribute (in some cases) for free.
For me, Sync was Reddit. It’s where 99% of my interaction with Reddit happened. I don’t really give a shit about Lemmy or the fediverse either. I’m here because Sync is a seamless product that gave me the best interface.
This is the part I don’t get. I get it when you prefer a familiar interface, but most people are saying what you are saying, that all they care about is using Sync again, regardless of the service or communities behind it.
But that’s weird. It’s a social media site. It’s primarily for the communities and the discussion. Sync doesn’t rebuild the same communities that are still on Reddit. Most of those communities stayed on Reddit. Many of us migrated from Reddit, but the community is entirely different here. You may get a familiar interface, but the experience comes from the community.
That’s kinda true in that most communities on here are much smaller than those on Reddit. With that being said, community isn’t individuals, and in instances where a community of similar size exists, one large group of people likely doesn’t differ in opinion to another.
One benefit people should hopefully see from third-party apps moving to Lemmy/Fediverse is more people willing to contribute to those communities. It’s one of the reasons why I don’t give a fuck who creates an interface.
Similarly, competition in FOSS is never a bad thing. If a paid, closed-source app is doing something better, then it’s on the FOSS alternatives to step up their game and learn from each other.
Practically the same for me but for Infinity. Infinity was reddit for me, and without it, there’s just wasn’t a reddit to me
This is me too. Sync was how I consumed/participated reddit just the backend - I’m happy in the fediverse if I can use Sync. What we touch and interact with IS the important part. Sync for me and yes it’s worth the subscription. Either I’m the product or the consumer. I’ll gladly compensate the artist/author to avoid being the product (free is not always free).
Sync is by far the most polished. Everyone acting this is some major company. It’s literally one dude.
Paid software absolutely has a place in the world. Evil companies producing evil software designed to build a monopoly and lock out FOSS apps do not. I don’t think Sync falls into the latter and I’m happy they’ve made the choice to be able to eat.
The gatekeeping is so fucked up
office_thank_you.jif!
We all ditch reddit because of how they screwed over 3rd party devs, and now one of the devs have worked overtime to create a similar UI* for this place, and now that dev is chopped liver. WTF?
*I’m just guessing on that part, because I didn’t try sync for reddit and I’m using the mobile web interface for lemmy for now, so I can’t really say.
Am I missing something? What gatekeeping?
The fact that people shit on every proprietary software saying FOSS is better.
While FOSS is definitely good for the consumer. Proprietary is sometimes just better in function ¯\(ツ)/¯
All the people you find here fled from a proprietary platform that was abusing its position of power in order to profit off its users. While Sync for Lemmy is not in the same ballpark it nonetheless shares the same proprietary nature of reddit as it is a proprietary client that connects to a platform that is completely FOSS. So I believe it is entirely valid to campaign against the use of Sync for Lemmy and educate everyone about its dangers (loss of freedom, trust can’t be verified, abusive relationship)
I didn’t join Lemmy because of the ideology behind the project I joined it because I didn’t approve of what the owners of reddit were doing.
If the Sync dev starts ruining the app I’ll get a different one for the same reason I made a Lemmy account.
The key detail you are missing is that most people that left reddit did so on the backs of closed source third party apps. That’s what kicked off the entire firestorm of events. The reality was that, of those who used third party apps, most used closed sourced solutions.
FOSS is great. FLOSS is even better. People should support projects they identify with, just like people should support their home Lemmy instance via community funding. But far too many of the argument I’m seeing against Sync and others basically boils down to “we shouldn’t pay for software,” like our [software engineer] labor is just something to be had for free.
Closed source third party apps are no threat to Lemmy. The failings of reddit cannot happen to Lemmy so long as one instance does not come to define Lemmy in such a way that they can self-isolate and essentially turn into a proprietary model itself. Let’s all recall that Reddit was, once upon a time, open source.
Third party apps are about choice. I hardly consider someone using a closed source third party app–in a sea of many, many FOSS versions–a loss of freedom or an abusive relationship. Come on, that’s very hyperbolic. And I’d wager 99% of people can’t verify that trust even if they wanted to since most people don’t understand code, let alone software development practices. They just take the word of random strangers whom they have no right trusting saying “yeah it looks good.”
People like to stick with what they know, and anyone who used Sync on Reddit will now be that much more inclined to give Lemmy a try because they get an interface that feels familiar. I can see this only benefiting the communities on Lemmy over time as the user base increases. Other popular apps like Boost coming to Lemmy would also draw in new users.
It’s great to have a base layer of free, good quality apps to accomplish some goal because it creates a very low barrier to entry. I keep F-Droid installed on my phone because there are times I need a very basic app to do something simple and the risk of malware is inherently lower in an app whose source is public vs private. I can check out the repository and take a look for myself if the permissions it requests are concerning.
That said, there are real advantages to a proprietary app. The developer has a financial incentive to keep the product up to date and add more features to maintain or increase the user base. This benefits not only paid users but also unpaid, ad-supported users.
Like you said, it’s about choice. If FOSS is important to you, go ahead and pick one of those clients. If you like snazzy new features or you want to stick with a client you’re familiar with, go ahead and do that. Nobody should be shamed or criticized for their choice either way.
You’re confusing the platform with the app the platform used, not the same thing
Proprietary software deserves to be shat on since it doesn’t respect your freedom.
And this comment just shows that Foss shits all over our freedom to use whatever software we want.
Yeah not how it works.
Still love sync tho
Deleted the half dozen other apps I had for all my Lemmy accts. Now I have just 1 app to rule them all.
Yep. And if this app turns bad after a while for whatever reason, we can always go back to the FOSS alternatives.
I love sync too, but the price is crazy. In 2014 I bought reddit sync for like $5, and now lemmy sync lifetime price is $135. I’ll stick with Connect.
That’s the price for ultra lifetime. Ad remover one time purchase is $20
I didn’t see that option at first. It’s actually quite reasonable, I think I will use that.
Still madness
I only saw monthly and yearly pricing?
There’s an option to pay for a lifetime ad-free experience or a lifetime license for Sync Ultra. I found it by clicking the profile switcher in the upper left and seeing a “Remove Ads” button. Still haven’t pulled the trigger on purchasing it yet though.
Wow the sync Dev has probably made more money than every single Lemmy server admin combined lmfao.
If apps were girls:
I was always in love with Sync. But life happened and we had to go different ways for non-romantic reasons. Some fucker called Spez, long story…
Eventually I met Voyager and she was great. Any user would be lucky to have her. But Sync was always the one that got away. Everyday I looked at Voyager and thought she was awesome but I was always holding a candle for Sync. But Sync was gone and I had to move on. But I could never really move on.
But life happened again and Sync was coming back. I had committed to Voyager but, as great as she was, I always thought how she came short of Sync. Sync came back and she was as stunning as I remembered. I couldn’t stay with Voyager. I’m sorry Voyager. You’re an awesome girl but I was pretty much just using you since I couldn’t have Sync.
I’m a user Voyager, I make no excuses. There, there…
I ditched Voyager the moment Sync came back.
Also, Sync is high-maintenance and demands you spend money on her to avoid listening to her giving you sales pitches, unlike Voyager.
if apps were girls Sync would be the prostitute.
I honestly don’t see what the problem is. If you prefer FOSS use FOSS apps.
I’ve tried every single Lemmy app for iOS and Android, but I can honestly say nothing comes close to how smooth and native Sync feels.
I wasn’t even a Sync user on Reddit so I didn’t understand the hype, but I get it now. On my Pixel 6 Pro all of the other Lemmy apps had some kind of issues, whether that be random crashes or frame rate issues. But Sync is just so smooth and feature rich.
I’ve also joined the sync discord and the developer is very clear on what type of data he collects (He doesn’t, but Google may).
Also with the pricing, if you don’t agree with the price that’s your opinion, but the amount of complaining is ridiculous. He made the app so whatever he wants to charge is his decision. You can also still freely use the app (with ads) so no one is forcing you to buy.
Oh nooooooo someone made a familiar and easy to use app to help people get used to this new ecosystem that can only thrive if people actually show up and use it. What a real shame.
Are we really being this petty already?
I’m anti mega corporations with consolidated power and platform monopolies. I’m not anti small distributed devs getting paid for high quality hard work.
To be fair, this should be the other way around. All these foss apps are the teletubbies because they’re clunky and have major bugs. Sync is the power ranger.
You’re still stuck in 2002 or something? Most of the web is literally FOSS. Gone are the myths of free software being worse when the whole world literally runs on it.
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Most FOSS apps are equal to or better than proprietary software when it comes to functionality, but look like they were coded in the stone age.
Most casual users value GUI over everything. And while I personally can overlook shitty user interfaces on apps I use once in a blue moon, for a social media app I’m using daily, that’s a no go.
On security concerns FOSS should be the better solution. Its code is readable and auditable by everyone. Closed Source need trust/faith in a company or in just one single person.
infinity seems pretty awesome judging by the short time that I’ve spent with it
Nah
I couldn’t care less if foss app users or developers are butthurt because closed apps are suddenly available and gaining popularity.
Sync for lemmy landed and it has been more stable and has more features than any of the other lemmy apps I’ve tried.
Maybe if the foss apps were stable and feature rich more casual plebs like me would use them, but at the moment they all feel kind of broken.
Also, I would take issue with jerboa here. Jerboa is there but not Connect? Lol…
Yea I’ve tried every app and there’s just nothing as smooth as the sync app. Tossing an independent dev $20 a year for something I’m getting thousands of hours of use out of is a no brainer. I give Netflix more every month and don’t get nearly as much value. Too many people expect to get everything for free.
Connect isn’t open-source, afaik. (Using it to post this comment.)
Wtf, this isn’t about which app is better it’s about variety! The fact sync is part of a list of options is what makes fediverse great - seems everyone in the comments agree 🤷♂️ gtfo with this sync hate. I’m a big Boost fan myself but im stoked sync is finally ready for those that’ve been waiting for it! 🥳
Let’s face it. How many of us have actually contributed enough to any FOSS projects to demand for free and premium services. I personally would rather donate to a FOSS app instead of paying Sync, but it’s unfair to judge Sync for having ads and trackers when the option of removing them is there. There’s nothing wrong with any dev wanting to make a decent living or even more than that, as long as they don’t go overboard and are honest about it.
