Especially in the early days, NoSQL companies used to market their databases as general-purpose database that scale easily, but that hasn't always been the case obviously.
I usually recommend starting with a relational database like PostgreSQL. If scaling becomes necessary later on, you can invest in sharding the database. Figma's approach seems reasonable given the tools available at the time.
I've helped small companies switch from NoSQL to SQL because the benefits of NoSQL weren't worth the trade-offs at their stage of growth. In case, anyone is in a similar boat: https://mongotosqlmigration.com/
- Email on my own domain - Ideally self host - Make sure you have backups
I wrote an application to help with the last part: https://thehorcrux.com/about/
However, as a developer of small desktop application (which doesn't have recurring costs), I do want to enable subscription to continue to support the application. I still haven't because I'm torn as a user as well as developer. Of course, there is the fear of angering the existing users.
I think people will have to vote with their wallets to the things that they need. If a developer can't pay the bills, the application will be mothballed eventually.
I still use Google Apps at this point as it's pretty convenient compared to standing up my own server. However, I make sure my email address is on my own domain. https://thehorcrux.com/about/
My goal is to make it simple enough for my grandpa to use it. However, I'm still not there yet. Let me know what you guys think.
Disclaimer: I'm the developer.
Things don't work when I most need it. I cannot book an Uber in the middle of the city. The uber drivers struggle to get the navigation right. I sometimes hear "All channels occupied" error when I'm calling. I never knew such an error existed.
I had tried Jio in the initial days. The coverage was spotty at best. No one I know use Jio as a primary connection. Most people use a dual SIM phone, which I don't have.
Even if the access of internet has increased, the overall quality of cell service has decreased at lot, no matter what the carrier.
Edit: Bypass the paywall - http://facebook.com/l.php?u=https://www.wsj.com/articles/two...
At least, I got a small product out of the experience: https://thehorcrux.com/why-i-built-horcrux-app/
That's the reason FastMail is small company. It's our collective responsibility to support the company as best as we could. Of course, not many people would have the mindspace to think about data ownership.
One of the examples I can give is, I can easily pull up a polaroid from the 70s from the attic. I'm not sure we can do that 30 years from now in the digital space, unless we make a conscious effort.
I've built a small email backup app[1] for the Mac a few years ago. I try to make the product as open as possible with open standards. I work with IMAP a lot. I love how they are spearing heading the movement (JMAP) to finally update a 20 year old protocol.
I can either increase the price or go the subscription way. If I do increase the price, I'm afraid, it might put people off.
Maybe I can try a hybrid approach. $60 for lifetime or $20 a year.
To give a developers perspective, I have been contemplating to implement subscription based model into my app to make it more sustainable. Putting in time for development and as well as marketing (to always get more users) is frustrating.
Hi,I'm Suhas. I've been mostly a lurker in here. Few years ago, I had built an app called Horcrux Email Backup. https://thehorcrux.com/ . It's an app that let's you easily backup your emails as well as move your emails between different providers. It got slightly popular when it got on the first page of HN, long time ago.Thanks to that, It was mostly a passive stream of income for me over the...
I always tell people I know to atleast use an email address with their own domain, if they can't set up their own server.
The whole ordeal, in hindsight, was the best thing that could happen to me, it taught me a good lesson on data sovereignty in the internet world and opened up a small passive income stream.
I feel like Linux users are tech savvy enough to use open source scripts like Gmvault etc.
I must think about Windows however.
I started building the app 4 years ago. I put it on Hacker News and it blew up a tiny bit. That was enough to keep it going until now.
There is still a lot of work I can put into it marketing or coding wise. So far, it's been going well ($800ish). I recently rolled out a UI/UX improvement.
Its 4 year anniversary is in 2 days. :)
I'm reading this as Indian (specifically Bangalore) and it brings a smile on my face.