Mif's Devlog

I'm sure we've all seen this before. It was something I've wanted to make back in 2016, when I was starting to learn how React(.js) works. It was meant to be all frontend, you fill in the info you need and print/save as PDF the result. It won't save what you already have on the page.

This time, I'll probably have it pull the data off a static file somewhere on the site. The goal is to have a way to keep my resume updated, the way I want it to look, without worrying too much about reflowing the whole page in a publishing program like Affinity Publisher. I like that program but the version I have don't really handle external data like InDesign can.

Colgrid is live!

After...a couple months of on-again/off-again development, my grid-based colour mixing webapp is live! It can be found on https://mifuyne.codeberg.page/colgrid/. The main repository is currently in Codeberg, with mirrors on GitLab and GitHub. However, Codeberg's Action feature seems to be on a request basis and I'm new to it. So I'll likely be using the other two repo for that.

If you find any bugs, please be sure to check the issue tracker on Codeberg. If it's not there, feel free to post it, including reproduction steps. Screenshots are welcome too!

Currently, I'm in the process of writing unit tests before I start fixing and adding anything. I want to learn to leverage CI/CD to auto-update the page for me.

Scoop!

It's been a while since I wrote here. Apologies to anyone watching!

A couple weeks back, I was fiddling around with various Linux install. Trying to find one I like enough to install on my netbook. So far, Arch Linux is winning out just for the sheer customizability of it. Of course, it's also way more complex than most Linux distro I've tried but I like the learning opportunity it affords.

After a playing around in the CLI with the various open-source OSes, I started lamenting not having the capability to install multiple packages via the CLI on Windows. In came Scoop. It's a command-line installer, and it's wonderful. Windows take too long to populate the add or remove programs list, both through settings and control panel. Scoop is a lot faster. Not having to rely on individual programs to update themselves or tell me to go to their site to grab an updated version is amazing. I'm looking at you, calibre! 😒

It also encouraged me to learn to use Powershell. I learned to make my own bucket (Scoop's name for repo) and added a few manifests of my own. So far it has red-lang's red-view and red-toolchain in there, as well as a modified version of the openmw-nightly manifest. The one already in games doesn't work. The way the builds are structured in the gitlab repo have changed since the last time they could update.

For anyone interested, you can find my Scoop bucket at https://github.com/mifuyne/mifscoop. Instructions on how to add it to your own Scoop can be found in the README (also, how to make your own bucket).

Update on learning Rust and Lemmy

So, after getting second-hand account of how terrible the upgrade process of Lemmy had been, I'm definitely having strong second thoughts about running a Lemmy instance. Apparently there's been some...inefficient database design choices. I doubt I could do better, but I don't want to lose my mind trying to clean it up in case something goes awry.

That said, I probably will try and build the bot in Rust. Pull from APIs only so it can be customized to work with whatever forum software that supplies an API in the first place. I'll have to dive deeper. However, between writing tests for my Colgrid app and the Narrat game jam, this is likely going to be in the backburner for now.

I've mentioned this here and there through Beehaw. I would like to start a freeform roleplay (collaborative writing)/play-by-post instance. I had considered which software to use. There aren't that many options. It really boiled down to Lemmy and kbin. With regards to backend, one's in Rust, the other's in PHP. There are other aspects for consideration as well, but right now Lemmy is leading. Strictly personal reason, I intended on learning Rust in the near future. Might as well start now so I can start making the modifications a RP/PbP instance would need.

What Does a RP/PbP Instance Need?

To be fair, this is my own opinion. There could be more, maybe one of these aren't actually needed. For now, this is what I'll start with!

• Dice roller
• Linear thread view

Dice Roller

This is more important for the play-by-post side. An RPG play-by-post forum, RPG Crossing, actually has a dice macro where it will add a note of tampering if the user tried to change the roll. I feel this could be useful to keep all the players honest.

Linear Thread View

I honestly don't think the current threaded view lends itself well to a RP or PbP post. Unless the GM wants to run a West-Marches style PbP game, or the organizer for the RP wants the post to represent a specific location where each top comment is a start of a story.

But for the other kinds of posts, I would like to have the option to sort them as Chat, Old to New. Maybe call the sorting type “Novel” instead?

Other Considerations

There's definitely other things to consider, like how will the community be divided? Should the site be set to what Lemmy's docs called “blog mode,” so only the mods of those community (GMs?) can start a new post and players can join? Is there a way to prevent people from commenting in posts or communities that they're not a part of?

Would it be easier to just write my own federated forum software that caters to the tighter control required?

I guess I will have to try and see!

Lately, I've been really into the whole concept of federated networks. Really into it. I know it's not a perfect design, but it feels like a natural progression from one type of online community to another. One where we're all interconnected but we're not reliant on one single entity to host all of us. Kind of like when forum sites were the norm, but with the advantage of that interconnectedness.

I say all this on a federated blogging instance, writefreely. If anyone wants to follow this blog with their federated account on a calckey or a mastodon instance, then that option is already there! Just search for this blog through your instance 🙂

Perhaps one of these days, I'll be inclined to host everything myself. Until that day comes, I'm scattered throughout the networks!