2024.09.05

📰 News & Discussions

localfirst.fm #14 - Matthew Weidner: Architectures for Central Server Collaboration

"The guest of this episode is Matthew Weidner, a computer science PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University focussing on distributed systems and local-first software. Matthew has recently published an extensive blog post about architectures for central server collaboration which is explored in depth in this conversation comparing different approaches such as CRDTs and event sourcing."

Ink & Switch: Beehive: Local-first access control

A status update from Ink & Switch (the research lab who originally coined the term 'local-first') on Beehive: a project to create a general-purpose decentralized access control system for local-first software applications.

What Comes After the Web

Article from @spjoleh that explores the balance between local (user control) and global (shared state) systems, noting that Web3 focuses on decentralization and global state, while local-first emphasizes user-device autonomy. The author proposes a new concept, the "glocal web", maintaining local control while enabling interoperability and security through minimal global state, making use of CRDTs.

DXOS - The future of local-first software

"[A] public conversation about the future of local-first software."

Sync Different: Building Local-First Apps (upcoming talk)

Talk by @davegurnell at @SiliconBrighton event scheduled for Thursday September 5th: "In this talk, we’ll explore how apps like [Linear, Figma, and Goodnotes] are built and how you can leverage similar strategies in your own projects. Dave will back this up by walking you through a simple multiplayer editor using the open-source CRDT Automerge"

"I think this is probably the most existential problem for local-first software"

Thread by @getifyX: "can any business survive (and draw investment) while truly embracing the principles of local-first — namely that centralized servers MUST BE OPTIONAL?"

🛠️ Tools & Resources

Automerge Anywhere

"The Automerge team has made some big improvements to the WASM packaging setup for the library, which makes it usable in more contexts, including vanilla JS applications with no bundler, in React-Native applications on mobile devices, within cloud services like Cloudflare Workers or Val.town, and more."

TinyBase v5.2 release

"You can now persist your TinyBase stores to PostgreSQL databases - in both server and browser environments."

sqlite-vec support in op-sqlite

From the maintainer of op-sqlite, a SQLite library for React Native: "sqlite-vec support is out! Just add sqliteVec: true in the package.json and you can start using embeddings in your AI app"

"We just released 15 new videos on http://HighPerformanceSQLite.com! It's almost two hours of new content covering JSON and full text search." - @aarondfrancis

Show HN: Replicate App-Embedded DuckDBs into PostgreSQL with SyncLite OSS

Show HN regarding SyncLite, a "relational data consolidation platform" that syncs data from a variety of embedded databases to backend databases, data warehouses and data lakes.

undb: Open-source Airtable alternative & backend as a service

"undb is a local-first, offline-first no-code platform that empowers you to build and manage your own databases with ease. Start creating your type-safe APIs and manage your data securely. An Airtable alternative."

Local-First software, reinventing the way we interact with systems

Brief beginner's introduction to local-first software — what it's about, its benefits, and brief mention of its complexities.

✨ Apps

Show HN: An open-source, local-first Webflow for your own app

Show HN regarding Onlook, which was featured in a previous edition of Local-First News.

Noteey - visual learning tool

"Noteey is a local-first [Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) app] with an infinite canvas."

Haptic - minimalistic note-takling app

"Haptic is a new local-first & privacy-focused, open-source home for your markdown notes." See also Reddit discussion.

TileDocs: create beautiful, organized documentation sites

"TileDocs stores all your project data (text, images, etc.) directly in your web browser's database. Nothing is uploaded to the server or shared with other hosts."

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