Neko

Infrastructure

self-hosted remote browser

SHOW HN2021

Neko

Self hosted virtual browser that runs in Docker and uses WebRTC

github.com

#virtual browser#webrtc#remote desktop#watch party#docker

227points
57comments
#183of 2,533 in 2021
Top 8%of 2021 by points

How HN took it

CuriousMostly questions and neutral comments

7 positive, 16 neutral or asking, 0 mixed, 4 critical, out of 27 comments about the project. Thread score +0.13.

Idea: 6 for, 1 againstDesign: 0 for, 3 againstPrivacy: 1 for, 0 against

The thread, comment by comment

Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.

positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker

What HN said

What people liked

  • Good for watch parties and synced video viewing

    From 2 comments
    • Neko is a fantastic project, I love telling people about it. It does so much more then the title says :) Being able to watch videos with someone in perfect sync is a great…
      Sean-Der on HN
    • This is really cool. I used an app called Puffin on iOS in the past and have wanted something similar for the same reasons the author listed.
      alphabettsy on HN
  • Useful for separating personal and work browsing

    From 1 comment
    • This is great for when you have a corporate laptop and you want to separate your personal browsing session from your work browsing session easily. I also like it because I setup…
      matthewaveryusa on HN

Objections

  • Logo is considered tasteless

    From 2 comments
    • It's pretty tasteless tbh and makes me definitely not want to use this app or share it with anyone whose opinion of me I care about
      anaisbetts on HN
    • First logo I've seen that incorporates a butthole, impressive.
      st3ve445678 on HN
  • Self-hosted name is confusing, unclear if it runs on own PC

    From 1 comment
    • Probably not your fault, the title of this post saying "Self hosted" isn't clear, I thought it meant "hosted on my PC" instead of being hosted elsewhere...I had the same question…
      noobermin on HN

Requests

  • Publish core as a package without Docker

    From 2 comments
    • I also find it confusing. Is this just a docker-compose setup, or did you write the code? I see some go code in there, did you write the WebRTC server stuff yourself? If so, how…
      JeremyNT on HN
    • > Although, I think about publishing the core of it as a package, fully fledged alternative to noVNC. Where X server desktop can be shared using WebRTC technology to a browser. I…
      JeremyNT on HN

Questions

  • How does it differ from screen sharing on Zoom or Hangouts?

    From 2 comments
    • sorry if this sounds dismissive, but I'm curious - how is this different than using google hangouts or facetime or zoom and doing screen sharing?
      m0lecules on HN
    • afaik those don’t let both parties control the mouse. I thought that’s what this does.
      rgbrgb on HN
  • How is remote mouse input implemented without an OS-level component?

    From 2 comments
    • What's the bridge for the input? I'm not 100% yet on what this is doing, conceptually I think I got it. Streaming a video broadcast of a browser. But I would think that you need…
      jcun4128 on HN
    • What I'm saying is from the gif (repo README) you see this localhost web thing. I'm aware you can screenshare say from Chrome and show a tab or your whole desktop. In this way…
      jcun4128 on HN

Alternatives named

  • Rabb.it

    From 1 comment
    • Hi all, after glancing at the comments it seems that a few people are confused about Neko and what its purpose is. Neko is a self-hosted shared browser, which was built in…
      ScottyFillups on HN
  • Hyperbeam

    From 1 comment
    • Hi all, after glancing at the comments it seems that a few people are confused about Neko and what its purpose is. Neko is a self-hosted shared browser, which was built in…
      ScottyFillups on HN
  • Metastream

    From 1 comment
    • https://getmetastream.com/ is an also-FLOSS alternative, instead of a server, it syncs site interactions (e.g. opening up the same video on each person's browser, and then…
      okdjnfweonfe on HN
  • noVNC and Apache Guacamole

    From 1 comment
    • Alternative to having browser (or any app) in a container and accessing its gui using noVNC (or Apache Guacamole). Except, this is done using WebRTC, what makes it perfect for…
      m1k1o on HN
  • Mighty

    From 1 comment
    • Great project, thanks for sharing. Also in this space is Mighty (https://mightyapp.com). I believe streaming GUIs is the future of the web. We are already seeing this take off…
      throwaway413 on HN

Category, keywords, summaries and labels on this page were made by AI (Thread Reader v2) and not checked by hand. Each point links to the comments it came from.

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