leafac

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

The most significant cost has been my time, but that’s my pet project in which I get to experiment with new technologies, so it pays off nicely.

Also, you can support me: Recurring (Patreon): https://patreon.com/leafac / One-time (PayPal): https://paypal.me/LeandroFacchinetti

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.

Fun stuff…

It’s a nice surprise to check HN and have my project featured on the front page.

Thanks polm23 for posting and everyone else for the nice words!

Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll check it out.

Shameless self-promotion: I’ve been in a similar journey of learning DSP and I’ve been sharing my findings as well: https://youtube.com/channel/UC_R-6HcHW5V9_FlZe30tnGA

A JavaScript & TypeScript package with collections like JavaScript’s native Maps and Sets, but using value equality (deep-equal) instead of reference equality.

Hi all,

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.

Kill the Newsletter! ended up on an LifeHacker article: https://lifehacker.com/kill-the-newsletter-converts-newslett... As a long-time reader of the website, I’m flattered.

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.

Hi ommunist,

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.

Hi sincostan,

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.

Hi ourcat,

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.

Hi akamaozu,

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.

Hi norswap,

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?

Hi zizee,

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 :)

Hi bbcbasic,

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 :)

Hi doozler,

Author of Kill the Newsletter! here. Thank you for the kind words and for pointing out the mistake. I fixed it :)

Hi thecabinet, snksnk and Semiapies,

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 :)

Hi tedmiston,

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 :)

Hi iagooar,

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 :)

Hi, Adam (ahewett).

I tried getting in touch via the website's "Contact Us" link. But apparently the form is broken due to your email server verifying DMARC records.

Please, get in touch with me via brain-fm@leafac.com.