Hosting the images directly on the lemmy/kbin instance creates imo unnecessary traffic to the servers. I don't know if admins can disable selfhosting images, but considering the low-powered machines almost every instance is currently hosted on, I would assume it would be in everyones self-interest to outsource image hosting (at least for now).
Postimages already has official plugins for several forum softwares. I am sure one of them could be tweaked for use in Kbin and Lemmy instances. And postimages themselves might help in this, if contacted.
This is a privacy risk because Lemmy doesn't proxy external media (or cache remote media like Mastodon). It's also better for longevity, if an external image host the image is gone.
To offload the storage requirements of the instance you're posting in. If everyone starts uploading images directly in the comment, the server HDD/SDD will be overloaded. Consider using a third party service and posting the link from there instead!
Thats kinda the point of the feature though.. To be used. If its a performance issue, then it should be turned off. In the end, someone has to host the content.
i changed the topic as a general imgur alternatives post, since i could just use the kbin interface to upload images in comments... kbin is miles ahead of reddit with that feature LOL
I run my own file host: kimiga.aishitei.ru. Files get uploaded from clipboard using ShareX. This allows me to have control over my own files, how long they last or if they should last forever, and I'm not dependent on a benevolent developer preventing my links from rotting 8 years from now when they close down their host due to it costing them too much or simply because they got bored of being a sysadmin/dealing with issues (or users) of their site.
I used to donate to pomf.se and used that as the image host because I was a supporter of the sysadmin - but it eventually grew too large and had to shut down. Then a bunch of pomf.se clones popped up and I used one of those - can't remember which one but then that one shut down too after only a year. That's when I decided to set up my own host.
I don't allow other users on the site because I don't feel like having to deal with what users upload, DMCA requests, morally gray areas, etc.
.ru domains are sometimes blocked so my backup is catbox.moe
server {
root /var/www/images;
index index.html index.htm index.nginx-debian.html;
server_name images.nunosempere.com;
location / {
# First attempt to serve request as file, then
# as directory, then fall back to displaying a 404.
try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
}
listen [::]:443 ssl ipv6only=on; # managed by Certbot
listen 443 ssl; # managed by Certbot
ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/images.nunosempere.com/fullchain.pem; # managed by Certbot
ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/images.nunosempere.com/privkey.pem; # managed by Certbot
include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf; # managed by Certbot
ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem; # managed by Certbot
}
server {
if ($host = images.nunosempere.com) {
return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
} # managed by Certbot
listen 80;
listen [::]:80;
server_name images.nunosempere.com;
return 404; # managed by Certbot
}
Discord is the worst option in terms of privacy, and since this is the privacy guides community, I am thinking that should be an important criteria to consider.
Thanks! Imgur doesn't play well with my vpn, and I'm not able to upload photos directly (in the vegetarian magazine, at least). I think PixelFed might be a good workaround for me.
is the social aspect of pixelfed required? meaning, could I just upload screenshots and images for threads like this and not have to deal with comments, likes, and followers? I just want to link to images.
It looks like the Fediverse analog of Instagram. Imgur allows anonymous uploads, so you can upload throwaway junk (e.g., memes) and not care. It doesn't look like you can do that with Pixelfed, anymore than you could have done that with Instagram.
I recommend Lensdump too. It also has an auto-delete feature, which is nice. It doesn't allow for anonymous/guest downloads, but that's not exactly a bad thing.
I use imgbb.com almost exclusively. I really like it. It's fast, easy and works well for bulk uploads. It also has a fast drag and drop on the homepage so I can just type "im" on the url bar, press enter, drag and drop like 20 images or just Ctrl V, press upload and copy the urls. No overhead at all.
It's understandable. Image hosting bloats costs quite a bit. It also introduces new issues with the law as the server admin can't allow illegal pictures on it. Offloading that onto a separate image host removes both issues with only minor downsides.
I'd much rather kbin focus on long-term posting stability than worry about image hosting. If it gets big, then we can think about it. Reddit went without image hosting for years though.
So for my part I don’t have a gigantic issue with Imgur as a service, but I do have an issue with how bloated the website has become and how they’ve completely degraded the experience on mobile. In general I’m not interested in using an image uploading site like Imgur as social media, so everything but image uploading is overhead for me.
On mobile, Imgur is extremely strict about the experience and “optimization”; direct image links will redirect you to the post instead, and the posts themselves are extremely compressed, which makes images with smaller text basically unreadable, on top of everything else just looking like shit.
My usecase for image hosting is to share with friends, and not have to really worry about looking back at previous images, so I personally rent a server for $3/m (and a domain for like $15/y) and use it to host any files I want to upload. That way I don’t have to worry about third parties screwing with the presentation of my images in ways I don’t want them to.
Drew DeVault wrote a blog post back in 2014 that kind of covers it. Imgur seems to have broke the cycle but that doesn't mean they haven't gone to shit. They've just somehow avoided collapsing underneath themselves as they continue the enshittification of Imgur.
I am fundamentally opposed to nearly all forms of advertising at an ideological level and go to great lengths to avoid it in as many of its insidious forms as possible. So that is where Drew and I differ. The only form of advertising I appreciate are extremely dry infomercials (no not the for-TV kind) and authentic word of mouth (not to be confused with "native" advertising or sponsors). Ads are a net negative on humanity and in too many ways to list but because the effects go through a layer of indirection - similar to how secondhand smoke is harmful for non-smokers. People are more OK with ads. It took making the public aware of secondhand smoke and the harm that smoking causes - even for non-smokers - before people took a privileged stance against smoking. That same level of awareness and condemnation will never happen with ads because people are OK with getting things "for free" that they otherwise would have to pay for. So they'll willingly turn a blind eye to the harmful effects of advertisements and "put up with them".
Can't you use the pict-rs that's running behind each Lemmy instance? I don't know how practically feasible that would be and if you can assume that the pictures will remain stored though.