diff --git a/homepage/content/articles/0010-milestone-1.md b/homepage/content/articles/0010-milestone-1.md index 595667e..6191e8e 100644 --- a/homepage/content/articles/0010-milestone-1.md +++ b/homepage/content/articles/0010-milestone-1.md @@ -15,14 +15,14 @@ Milestone 1 is completed. This is what we've achieved in the last six weeks. --- #### Extension through middleware -We have further refined the existing application architecture to make it more robust and accessible to both contributors and people who want to build upon Offen. As a developer, you can transparently control additional behavior by adding or removing middleware. +We have further refined the existing application architecture to make it more robust and accessible to both contributors and people who want to build upon Offen Fair Web Analytics. As a developer, you can transparently control additional behavior by adding or removing middleware. #### Easy to test drive -Download a single binary file and run it on your local computer to get an Offen instance up and running immediately. At the moment this setup only supports Linux. Windows and MacOS will follow soon. +Download a single binary file and run it on your local computer to get an Offen Fair Web Analytics instance up and running immediately. At the moment this setup only supports Linux. Windows and MacOS will follow soon. [Download binary](https://8342-180605180-gh.circle-artifacts.com/0/tmp/artifacts/offen-stable.tar.gz){: data-button="outline"} #### Develop without complex setup -Docker and Docker-Compose are the only hard requirement for you to develop Offen. We have successfully tested this setup under Linux, Windows and MacOS. Head over to our wiki for instructions how to get the setup up and running. +Docker and Docker-Compose are the only hard requirement for you to develop Offen Fair Web Analytics. We have successfully tested this setup under Linux, Windows and MacOS. Head over to our wiki for instructions how to get the setup up and running. [Open wiki](https://github.com/offen/offen/wiki/Developing-offen#setup){: data-button="outline"} #### Lightweight and accessible interfaces @@ -33,10 +33,10 @@ You can now localize all user-related content in server- and client-side applica [Get in touch](mailto:hioffen@posteo.de){: data-button="outline"} #### Read the docs -The work on our wiki has started. Including documentation for [developers](https://github.com/offen/offen/wiki/Developing-offen){: target="_blank"} as well as for [website operators](https://github.com/offen/offen/wiki/Running-offen) who want to deploy and run Offen. +The work on our wiki has started. Including documentation for [developers](https://github.com/offen/offen/wiki/Developing-offen){: target="_blank"} as well as for [website operators](https://github.com/offen/offen/wiki/Running-offen) who want to deploy and run Offen Fair Web Analytics. #### No reverse proxy required -We have further hardened and improved the HTTP server that Offen exposes. If you want to, you can already expose this server to the Internet without having to run a reverse proxy in front of it. +We have further hardened and improved the HTTP server that Offen Fair Web Analytics exposes. If you want to, you can already expose this server to the Internet without having to run a reverse proxy in front of it. ### Up next *Episode Two — Collecting data securely* will feature user opt-in, userland cryptography, meaningful statistics and much more. We'll be right back. diff --git a/homepage/content/articles/0020-untold-roads.md b/homepage/content/articles/0020-untold-roads.md index e2730c7..56fc8d3 100644 --- a/homepage/content/articles/0020-untold-roads.md +++ b/homepage/content/articles/0020-untold-roads.md @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@ title: Untold roads to v1.0 -description: Onboarding users onto a product that is still in development needs a thorough plan. These are our conclusions as we work our way to a v1.0 release of Offen. +description: Onboarding users onto a product that is still in development needs a thorough plan. These are our conclusions as we work our way to a v1.0 release of Offen Fair Web Analytics. date: 2020-01-19 slug: untold-roads-versioning-early-stage-software url: /blog/untold-roads-versioning-early-stage-software/ @@ -10,11 +10,11 @@ bottom_cta: blog # Untold roads to v1.0 -After a lot of experimenting, taking detours and having unanticipated revelations while building the foundation for Offen over the last months, the state of the project is starting to settle, and we are eager to get ready for users to install our software, and use it for transparently collecting usage statistics for their websites and applications. +After a lot of experimenting, taking detours and having unanticipated revelations while building the foundation for Offen Fair Web Analytics over the last months, the state of the project is starting to settle, and we are eager to get ready for users to install our software, and use it for transparently collecting usage statistics for their websites and applications. Yet, onboarding users onto a product that is still being developed and that will stay pretty volatile in the near future needs a thorough plan so you do not burn and churn your early adopters by locking them into buggy software without an upgrade path. At the same time, you do not want to lose the velocity and flexibility of an early stage product, enabling you to iterate fast and add well architected features of real value. -While there is lots of theory and writing about how to version and release software that is already established, the way to get there is mostly uncharted territory and has developers figure this journey out for themselves over and over again. In this post we try to collect our considerations, options and conclusions when trying to define *how we want to handle the versioning of Offen on its way from an alpha stage product to a stable v1.0*. +While there is lots of theory and writing about how to version and release software that is already established, the way to get there is mostly uncharted territory and has developers figure this journey out for themselves over and over again. In this post we try to collect our considerations, options and conclusions when trying to define *how we want to handle the versioning of Offen Fair Web Analytics on its way from an alpha stage product to a stable v1.0*. --- @@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ The only decision that affects the outside world at this point is the following: ### Lots of ways to break your software -Another thing you will need to think about before you can even start versioning your software are the interfaces you expect your users to use, and those that your users will actually use. Just because you do not document a method of your library, it doesn't necessarily mean it will not be used in the wild. And just because your database migration script assumes a well defined set of tables in the application database, it doesn't mean some user might have started storing other data in there. Applications like Offen will have different constraints than libraries or developer tools do. It's important to know if *you need to interface with data, code or humans* as all of these interfaces come with their own set of constraints. +Another thing you will need to think about before you can even start versioning your software are the interfaces you expect your users to use, and those that your users will actually use. Just because you do not document a method of your library, it doesn't necessarily mean it will not be used in the wild. And just because your database migration script assumes a well defined set of tables in the application database, it doesn't mean some user might have started storing other data in there. Applications like Offen Fair Web Analytics will have different constraints than libraries or developer tools do. It's important to know if *you need to interface with data, code or humans* as all of these interfaces come with their own set of constraints. Steering the code being written and the interfaces exposed into a direction where its usage is as unambiguous as possible will pay off when it comes to knowing what you can actually break with a release. If you explicitly consider something to be unstable and internal, communicating this clearly will be of great help to anyone who's trying to use your product or build upon it. @@ -110,26 +110,26 @@ If you can embrace v1.0 and all the new requirements it brings, they will allow --- -### How we are going to version Offen +### How we are going to version Offen Fair Web Analytics -Offen's main channel of distribution will be via packaged binary files. Users can run them supervised or unsupervised against a supported set of OSes and database solutions. While we are indeed planning to enable the use Offen's code as the building blocks for other developers to create tailor made, privacy friendly analytics solutions, versioning the code-level interfaces is a non-goal for us at the moment. +Offen Fair Web Analytics's main channel of distribution will be via packaged binary files. Users can run them supervised or unsupervised against a supported set of OSes and database solutions. While we are indeed planning to enable the use Offen Fair Web Analytics's code as the building blocks for other developers to create tailor made, privacy friendly analytics solutions, versioning the code-level interfaces is a non-goal for us at the moment. Upgrade paths for our users will mostly be bound to the event and key data that is stored in the database, and the way this data is being encrypted and decrypted in the browser, as well as application configuration. Our key considerations here are: - Can the changes to the database schema included in the changeset be covered by a migration script? Does encrypted data need to be changed as well? Once subject to a versioning scheme, we will aim for only making changes a database migration script can handle. - Can a compatibility layer be introduced that handles both old and new data at runtime and possibly even upgrades old data when it is decrypted in the browser? For a multitude of reasons, we are planning to use such techniques sparingly and may err on the side of introducing breaking changes instead. -- Does the user need to change or augment runtime configuration in order for Offen to continue functioning? Can these changes be performed automatically or can we supply users with a script that does it for them? +- Does the user need to change or augment runtime configuration in order for Offen Fair Web Analytics to continue functioning? Can these changes be performed automatically or can we supply users with a script that does it for them? - The user interface is not something we are planning to keep stable from a programmatic perspective. We are working hard to create a consistent and accessible user experience for everyone, but the underlying implementation will be considered private. This means we do not plan to guarantee any stability for things like scraping and headless automation. - The `/script.js` URI exposed by the web server is locked so that pages that embed the script can always expect a sensible response. We will try to keep the rest of the exposed routes stable, yet if it helps us improving the product in some way, we will change these too. - The development setup is kept subject to change at any time. Renaming a `make` target may be annoying to contributors once, but we prefer to keep things lean in this regard, and we hope our contributors will do the same. #### Initial development -Right now, Offen is still in the stages of initial development. During this period we will *release an alpha version on each milestone* we hit. We invite users to start using Offen by deploying these releases (or by building any revision themselves), but we also need to make sure that while we are still in initial development, we will possibly *introduce breaking changes* or changes that are *hard to upgrade*. +Right now, Offen Fair Web Analytics is still in the stages of initial development. During this period we will *release an alpha version on each milestone* we hit. We invite users to start using Offen Fair Web Analytics by deploying these releases (or by building any revision themselves), but we also need to make sure that while we are still in initial development, we will possibly *introduce breaking changes* or changes that are *hard to upgrade*. #### From v0.1 to v1.0 -Once all features we deem necessary for Offen to be used in the wild are included, we are planning to continue as following: kicking off, we will release an officially supported *v0.1.0*. +Once all features we deem necessary for Offen Fair Web Analytics to be used in the wild are included, we are planning to continue as following: kicking off, we will release an officially supported *v0.1.0*. Working our way from there to a v1.0 we will follow these principles: @@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ Working our way from there to a v1.0 we will follow these principles: When releasing a *v1.0* we will have worked hard to have a good upgrade story for users of early versions, but we'll also spare you the fortune telling we'd have to do to predict when and how this is going to happen. -We definitely do invite you to start experimenting with Offen right now and also to start using it in user-facing scenarios once we are at *v0.1.0*. Get in touch if you have feedback or need help with configuring, running or upgrading Offen. +We definitely do invite you to start experimenting with Offen Fair Web Analytics right now and also to start using it in user-facing scenarios once we are at *v0.1.0*. Get in touch if you have feedback or need help with configuring, running or upgrading Offen Fair Web Analytics. --- diff --git a/homepage/content/articles/0030-milestone-2.md b/homepage/content/articles/0030-milestone-2.md index 2e17f46..de1316d 100644 --- a/homepage/content/articles/0030-milestone-2.md +++ b/homepage/content/articles/0030-milestone-2.md @@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ We finished milestone 2. Here is what we' ve been doing for the last 8 weeks. --- #### Collecting data only with consent -A first approach to one of our major features is implemented. Websites that embed the Offen script now display a user consent banner. In case of user's deny, no other requests than loading the script are made from then on. +A first approach to one of our major features is implemented. Websites that embed the Offen Fair Web Analytics script now display a user consent banner. In case of user's deny, no other requests than loading the script are made from then on. [Learn more](https://offen.offen.dev/){: data-button="outline"} #### Accidental leaks don't expose data @@ -25,17 +25,17 @@ We encrypt all event data before it leaves the browser. [Two types](https://gith The insight into user behavior has been improved. Still, no sensitive user information is collected. We have added seven additional statistics like Average Page Depth as well as Landing and Exit Pages. Here you find an [overview of all added stats.](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/270) #### We are live -The current state of *Offen runs on this domain.* You should have noticed our conset banner by now. Opted in? Head to the [Auditorium](https://offen.offen.dev/auditorium/) to manage your data. If not, please have a look at our [Explainer.](https://offen.offen.dev/) +The current state of *Offen Fair Web Analytics runs on this domain.* You should have noticed our conset banner by now. Opted in? Head to the [Auditorium](https://offen.offen.dev/auditorium/) to manage your data. If not, please have a look at our [Explainer.](https://offen.offen.dev/) *We welcome any feedback* on this key subject. Did our banner text inform you sufficiently? Which issues have been left open? How can we do better? Thanks in advance. [Send feedback](mailto:hioffen@posteo.de){: data-button="outline"} #### Testdrive on your system -Whether you are a developer that want to contribute or a website operator that wants to test Offen. Have a demo up and running in no time on your local machine. Download and install a single binary file on Linux, Windows or MacOS. +Whether you are a developer that want to contribute or a website operator that wants to test Offen Fair Web Analytics. Have a demo up and running in no time on your local machine. Download and install a single binary file on Linux, Windows or MacOS. [Download demo](https://github.com/offen/offen/releases/download/v0.1.0-alpha.2/offen-v0.1.0-alpha.2.tar.gz){: data-button="outline"} #### Feeling adventurous? -Offen is under active development but with the introduction of the user consent banner has become usable for the general public. If you are brave enough you can use our [latest alpha release](https://github.com/offen/offen/releases/latest/) in a production environment. +Offen Fair Web Analytics is under active development but with the introduction of the user consent banner has become usable for the general public. If you are brave enough you can use our [latest alpha release](https://github.com/offen/offen/releases/latest/) in a production environment. #### We need to talk about Safari Currently, the way we store encryption keys securely on the client side does not work in Apple's Safari browser. Fortunately, our improved opt-in flow will allow us to resume Safari support in milestone 3. Please bear with us until then. diff --git a/homepage/content/articles/0040-test-offen-today.md b/homepage/content/articles/0040-test-offen-today.md index a811231..62d16b1 100644 --- a/homepage/content/articles/0040-test-offen-today.md +++ b/homepage/content/articles/0040-test-offen-today.md @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@ title: Test our alpha release today -description: Help us take a step forward. Download or deploy Offen today and give it a spin. Any feedback is appreciated. +description: Help us take a step forward. Download or deploy Offen Fair Web Analytics today and give it a spin. Any feedback is appreciated. date: 2020-03-04 slug: test-offen-today url: /blog/test-offen-today/ @@ -8,29 +8,29 @@ image_url: /theme/images/offen-blog-0040-test-offen-today.jpg author: Hendrik Niefeld bottom_cta: blog -# Test Offen today +# Test Offen Fair Web Analytics today We’re excited to present our first version that is officially ready for testing. --- -After we released our initial Offen v0.1.0-alpha.1 in January this year, we've been busy working on a successor version for the last six weeks. Based on the initial feedback, we have made major adjustments in the front and backend area. +After we released our initial Offen Fair Web Analytics v0.1.0-alpha.1 in January this year, we've been busy working on a successor version for the last six weeks. Based on the initial feedback, we have made major adjustments in the front and backend area. -We believe with these updates Offen has reached a level of functionality and stability that is ready for public testing. Your feedback is helping us take a step forward on our way to developing *a viable alternative to established web analytics tools.* +We believe with these updates Offen Fair Web Analytics has reached a level of functionality and stability that is ready for public testing. Your feedback is helping us take a step forward on our way to developing *a viable alternative to established web analytics tools.* -Although we have dug very deep, things may still contain issues. Therefore, we recommend using Offen in a production environment only for the brave. Also be aware that the upgrade path may be broken with upcoming releases. +Although we have dug very deep, things may still contain issues. Therefore, we recommend using Offen Fair Web Analytics in a production environment only for the brave. Also be aware that the upgrade path may be broken with upcoming releases. --- -### Offen v0.1.0-alpha.3 +### Offen Fair Web Analytics v0.1.0-alpha.3 ##### Single binary file for Linux, Windows or MacOS [Download](https://get.offen.dev/){: data-button="full"} -##### Your own Offen instance +##### Your own Offen Fair Web Analytics instance [Deploy to Heroku](https://heroku.com/deploy?template=https://github.com/offen/heroku/tree/master){: data-button-mb5="full"} -Download or deploy Offen today and give it a spin. *[Check our Docs](https://docs.offen.dev/) for detailed instructions.* +Download or deploy Offen Fair Web Analytics today and give it a spin. *[Check our Docs](https://docs.offen.dev/) for detailed instructions.* We appreciate any feedback. No matter if you have difficulties with the installation, find our UI hard to understand or catch anything unexpected. Please get in touch via [Twitter,](https://twitter.com/hioffen) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/hioffen/) or [email.](mailto:hioffen@posteo.de) diff --git a/homepage/content/articles/0050-milestone-3.md b/homepage/content/articles/0050-milestone-3.md index d97e2e2..42a2003 100644 --- a/homepage/content/articles/0050-milestone-3.md +++ b/homepage/content/articles/0050-milestone-3.md @@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ bottom_cta: matomo # Episode Three — Displaying data -In the middle of strange times Milestone 3 - "Displaying Data" - is done. This means we focused on how we aggregate and display the data Offen collects in a way that operators can use it to improve their services and users can understand what is being collected and what it means for their privacy. +In the middle of strange times Milestone 3 - "Displaying Data" - is done. This means we focused on how we aggregate and display the data Offen Fair Web Analytics Fair Web Analytics collects in a way that operators can use it to improve their services and users can understand what is being collected and what it means for their privacy. As we are now cutting official alpha releases already, we have also changed the format of our project updates. Instead of one pull request per milestone, we now have an update that spans across multiple releases. During Milestone 3 we have released the following versions: @@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ As always, you can download the latest release from [https://get.offen.dev](http #### Improved and annotated Auditorium -The Auditorium is where both users and operators access and manage usage data. Operators want to gain insights in how their services are being used, users want to understand what data Offen is collecting and manage this data. +The Auditorium is where both users and operators access and manage usage data. Operators want to gain insights in how their services are being used, users want to understand what data Offen Fair Web Analytics Fair Web Analytics is collecting and manage this data. The user facing Auditorium is now annotated with explanations for each metric and also explains analytics-specific terms and answers frequently asked questions. This has been implemented in [PR 339](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/339). @@ -37,23 +37,23 @@ In addition to that we added new metrics and improved the overall user experienc #### Account Management fundamentals -Operators that are using Offen to improve their services are likely to work in teams. This is why the application needs tools for managing user logins and accounts for segmenting usage data. In a first draft we added basic versions of these features so that the absence of such capabilities doesn't further prevent the adoption of Offen. This initiative has been started in [PR 288](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/288) and will be refined further during Milestone 4. +Operators that are using Offen Fair Web Analytics Fair Web Analytics to improve their services are likely to work in teams. This is why the application needs tools for managing user logins and accounts for segmenting usage data. In a first draft we added basic versions of these features so that the absence of such capabilities doesn't further prevent the adoption of Offen Fair Web Analytics Fair Web Analytics. This initiative has been started in [PR 288](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/288) and will be refined further during Milestone 4. #### In-Browser setup -The command line can seem daunting when you don't use it regularly. This is why we added an in-browser setup screen for Offen. Instead of performing the initial setup using the `offen setup` command from the CLI, operators who prefer to do so can now use their browser to navigate to the `/setup` URL of their installation and perform the initial setup there. We hope this helps us gaining further traction with semi-technical users that want to use privacy friendly tools. This has been implemented in [PR 299](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/299). +The command line can seem daunting when you don't use it regularly. This is why we added an in-browser setup screen for Offen Fair Web Analytics Fair Web Analytics. Instead of performing the initial setup using the `offen setup` command from the CLI, operators who prefer to do so can now use their browser to navigate to the `/setup` URL of their installation and perform the initial setup there. We hope this helps us gaining further traction with semi-technical users that want to use privacy friendly tools. This has been implemented in [PR 299](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/299). #### Goodbye, Choo -We started out with using Choo as our frontend framework and it was a great choice as it allowed us to build dynamic UIs very rapidly. But as Offen's Auditorium was growing over the last few months we noticed its lack of mechanisms for breaking interfaces into components was starting to slow us down significantly and made simple changes cumbersome to implement. +We started out with using Choo as our frontend framework and it was a great choice as it allowed us to build dynamic UIs very rapidly. But as Offen Fair Web Analytics's Auditorium was growing over the last few months we noticed its lack of mechanisms for breaking interfaces into components was starting to slow us down significantly and made simple changes cumbersome to implement. This is why - before starting work on the annotated Auditorium - we migrated the application to use Preact in [PR 289](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/289). Preact is a great choice as it allows us to use modern paradigms for programming interfaces without having to buy into a Facebook-dominated ecosystem. The library is distributed under a MIT license. #### Signed binary downloads -As we start to target more and more distribution channels, ensuring the integrity of what people actually download is very important for an application like Offen. With [PR 338](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/338) we started signing our binaries with a GPG key. Downloaders can now verify that a binary they are planning to use is the one we intend to distribute: +As we start to target more and more distribution channels, ensuring the integrity of what people actually download is very important for an application like Offen Fair Web Analytics. With [PR 338](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/338) we started signing our binaries with a GPG key. Downloaders can now verify that a binary they are planning to use is the one we intend to distribute: ```bash gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv F20D4074068C636D58B53F46FD60FBEDC90B8DA1 @@ -62,11 +62,11 @@ gpg --verify offen-linux-amd64.asc offen-linux-amd64 #### Safari Support -Offen generates client side keys for encrypting data for each user. At the end of Milestone 2 we noticed issues where the Safari browser would not store these keys properly which means users would lose access to their user data. We fixed this in [PR 282](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/282) by adding a fallback mechanism that Safari can use. Keys are guaranteed to be safe from third party access in both implementations. +Offen Fair Web Analytics generates client side keys for encrypting data for each user. At the end of Milestone 2 we noticed issues where the Safari browser would not store these keys properly which means users would lose access to their user data. We fixed this in [PR 282](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/282) by adding a fallback mechanism that Safari can use. Keys are guaranteed to be safe from third party access in both implementations. #### 1-Click Deploy -Self hosted software is a great fit for privacy focused software like Offen. Yet, it can seem daunting to non-technical users and make them stick to established SaaS solutions longer than needed. This is why we put a lot of effort into finding easy "1-click" options to deploy an Offen instance. In Milestone 3 we have created a 1-click solution for deploying Offen to Heroku: [https://github.com/offen/heroku](https://github.com/offen/heroku). Using free resources only, people interested in running Offen can now deploy a production ready instance to Heroku in less than 1 minute. We hope this encourages website operator to consider self hosted software and Offen as a real option. Required changes for this were implemented in [PR 287](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/287). +Self hosted software is a great fit for privacy focused software like Offen Fair Web Analytics. Yet, it can seem daunting to non-technical users and make them stick to established SaaS solutions longer than needed. This is why we put a lot of effort into finding easy "1-click" options to deploy an Offen Fair Web Analytics instance. In Milestone 3 we have created a 1-click solution for deploying Offen Fair Web Analytics to Heroku: [https://github.com/offen/heroku](https://github.com/offen/heroku). Using free resources only, people interested in running Offen Fair Web Analytics can now deploy a production ready instance to Heroku in less than 1 minute. We hope this encourages website operator to consider self hosted software and Offen Fair Web Analytics as a real option. Required changes for this were implemented in [PR 287](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/287). @@ -76,27 +76,27 @@ To offer even more options we are also looking into building a 1-click option fo ### Next up -Milestone 4 is up next and is called "Managing Data". This means we will focus on features that allow operators and users to manage their usage data and Offen instances. +Milestone 4 is up next and is called "Managing Data". This means we will focus on features that allow operators and users to manage their usage data and Offen Fair Web Analytics instances. This is also *where we will have a slight deviation from the original product plan*: We originally had an item called "Selective Data deletion for users", yet as we have moved to focus on self-hosting more and more, this feature does not make too much sense anymore. Instead we will allow users to delete their data tied to an instance entirely and *will make it easy to follow how deletion works and what the implications are*. #### Account management -In addition to the basic account management features Offen already offers, we'll work on implementing more fine grained access control mechanisms so that teams that are using Offen can easily and safely share access to an instance. In addition to that we will also revisit existing features and try to make them easier to use and more accessible. +In addition to the basic account management features Offen Fair Web Analytics already offers, we'll work on implementing more fine grained access control mechanisms so that teams that are using Offen Fair Web Analytics can easily and safely share access to an instance. In addition to that we will also revisit existing features and try to make them easier to use and more accessible. #### Collecting and implementing real world user feedback -We are still labeling Offen as `alpha` right now, but we think the next weeks could be the right time to slough that potentially scary label off and attract more users by going `beta`. +We are still labeling Offen Fair Web Analytics as `alpha` right now, but we think the next weeks could be the right time to slough that potentially scary label off and attract more users by going `beta`. -Before we do so though, we would like to collect feedback from people that are brave enough to deploy the existing alpha version and use it for a while. Luckily there are some, so that's a good start, but in case you do know of people who might be interested in deploying and testing Offen, we'd be happy if you could spread the word. Documentation for running Offen is readily available at [https://docs.offen.dev/running-offen/](https://docs.offen.dev/running-offen/) +Before we do so though, we would like to collect feedback from people that are brave enough to deploy the existing alpha version and use it for a while. Luckily there are some, so that's a good start, but in case you do know of people who might be interested in deploying and testing Offen Fair Web Analytics, we'd be happy if you could spread the word. Documentation for running Offen Fair Web Analytics is readily available at [https://docs.offen.dev/running-offen/](https://docs.offen.dev/running-offen/) --- ### Getting your hands dirty -#### Installing Offen as a systemd service +#### Installing Offen Fair Web Analytics as a systemd service -We're eager to get people to install Offen and send us their feedback and tell us about their experience, so instead of adding features to the software itself, we will today look at how Offen can be installed on a Linux system that supports `systemd`. +We're eager to get people to install Offen Fair Web Analytics and send us their feedback and tell us about their experience, so instead of adding features to the software itself, we will today look at how Offen Fair Web Analytics can be installed on a Linux system that supports `systemd`. #### Download the binary @@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ INFO[0000] Current build created using revision=v0.1.0-alpha.5 #### Scaffold the required directories -Offen follows the Linux Filesystem Hierarchy Standard, so next, we need to create the directories for storing data, configuration and certificates: +Offen Fair Web Analytics follows the Linux Filesystem Hierarchy Standard, so next, we need to create the directories for storing data, configuration and certificates: ```bash sudo mkdir -p /etc/offen && sudo touch /etc/offen/offen.env @@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ sudo mkdir -p /var/www/.cache #### Creating the service -The Offen server needs to be run in a supervised manner so we can be sure it is always responding. `systemd` can do this for us. First we create the service definition: +The Offen Fair Web Analytics server needs to be run in a supervised manner so we can be sure it is always responding. `systemd` can do this for us. First we create the service definition: ```bash sudo touch /etc/systemd/system/offen.service @@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ $ sudo systemctl status offen #### Running the in-browser setup -To create the initial account for your Offen install, head to `[localhost:3000/setup](http://localhost:3000/setup)` and fill out the form. After doing so, your Offen instance is ready for local use! If you want to expose this instance to the public internet, [refer to our docs site](https://docs.offen.dev/running-offen/tutorials/configuring-deploying-offen-ubuntu/) for instructions on how to get free automated SSL up and running. +To create the initial account for your Offen Fair Web Analytics install, head to `[localhost:3000/setup](http://localhost:3000/setup)` and fill out the form. After doing so, your Offen Fair Web Analytics instance is ready for local use! If you want to expose this instance to the public internet, [refer to our docs site](https://docs.offen.dev/running-offen/tutorials/configuring-deploying-offen-ubuntu/) for instructions on how to get free automated SSL up and running. --- diff --git a/homepage/content/articles/0060-milestone-4.md b/homepage/content/articles/0060-milestone-4.md index aac3a8c..a9ebb6a 100644 --- a/homepage/content/articles/0060-milestone-4.md +++ b/homepage/content/articles/0060-milestone-4.md @@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ bottom_cta: blog # Episode Four — Managing data -Milestone 4 - "Managing data" - has been an important one for us. Finishing it means Offen is now close to being feature complete in the scope of our initial plans, and we can start transitioning into a Beta state, meaning we can finally offer a stable product for users to use in production environments. +Milestone 4 - "Managing data" - has been an important one for us. Finishing it means Offen Fair Web Analytics is now close to being feature complete in the scope of our initial plans, and we can start transitioning into a Beta state, meaning we can finally offer a stable product for users to use in production environments. Before removing the Alpha label, we'd still like to have external audits in Milestone 5, but we are already in touch with potential users and are starting to see installations in the wild. Exciting times ahead! @@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ As always, you can download the latest release from [https://get.offen.dev](http #### Full fledged account management -Account management for users has been a part of Offen for a while, but in this Milestone we took the time to bring it to a level that it satisfies the needs of real world teams. There are now read-only users, fine-grained controls for sharing access and other management options. We are now looking for feedback in how this works out for setups like smaller dev shops or agencies. +Account management for users has been a part of Offen Fair Web Analytics for a while, but in this Milestone we took the time to bring it to a level that it satisfies the needs of real world teams. There are now read-only users, fine-grained controls for sharing access and other management options. We are now looking for feedback in how this works out for setups like smaller dev shops or agencies. Relevant PRs are: [349](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/349), [355](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/355) @@ -45,9 +45,9 @@ This has been implemented in PRs [362](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/362), #### Improved demo -For self hosted software like Offen, giving potential users an idea of what the software looks like without having to do a proper install. Many softwares do this by sharing the credentials for a demo account on their website, but in the case of Offen we do not want to do this as it would expose the usage data of our real world users - which is what we are trying to protect with Offen. +For self hosted software like Offen Fair Web Analytics, giving potential users an idea of what the software looks like without having to do a proper install. Many softwares do this by sharing the credentials for a demo account on their website, but in the case of Offen Fair Web Analytics we do not want to do this as it would expose the usage data of our real world users - which is what we are trying to protect with Offen Fair Web Analytics. -This is why we built a downloadable demo of Offen that you can run on your local machine. This demo exists for a while now, but with Milestone 4 we made major improvements to this feature: +This is why we built a downloadable demo of Offen Fair Web Analytics that you can run on your local machine. This demo exists for a while now, but with Milestone 4 we made major improvements to this feature: - A demo is now populated with randomly generated usage data at start, so that users will get an idea of how an install that is already in use will look like, instead of having to generate usage data themselves beforehand. - We added a dedicated landing page for demo users that explains them how to use the demo from both a user's and an operator's perspective. @@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ Relevant PRs are: [367](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/367), [346](https:// #### UX and stats improvements -An ongoing part of our work on Offen is implementing features and fixes that come from our own experience with running our own Offen instance. This is why Milestone 4 contains a few UX improvements and fixes regarding the operator facing Auditorium. Among others, we improved the referrer stats, improved the mobile UX for tabular data and fixed issues with the user flow for resetting your password. +An ongoing part of our work on Offen Fair Web Analytics is implementing features and fixes that come from our own experience with running our own Offen Fair Web Analytics instance. This is why Milestone 4 contains a few UX improvements and fixes regarding the operator facing Auditorium. Among others, we improved the referrer stats, improved the mobile UX for tabular data and fixed issues with the user flow for resetting your password. Relevant PRs are [361](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/361), [363](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/363), [364](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/361https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/364), @@ -74,21 +74,21 @@ Relevant PRs are [361](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/361), [363](https://g #### Accessibility Audit -This week already we will have an Accessibility Audit by Stichting Accessibility. We look forward to implementing the feedback we receive and making Offen accessible for all users. +This week already we will have an Accessibility Audit by Stichting Accessibility. We look forward to implementing the feedback we receive and making Offen Fair Web Analytics accessible for all users. Where possible we will also combine these changes with the backlog of UX improvements we are planning to implement in any case. #### Security Audit -Securing user data is a key aspect of Offen, so it's important to make sure we did not accidentally leave any unwanted loopholes in our system architecture. This is why Milestone 5 also includes a Security Audit by "Radically Open Security". We'll look for proper use of cryptography and a hardened HTTP interface for the server specifically, but if we can pick up other improvements along the way we won't hesitate to implement these. +Securing user data is a key aspect of Offen Fair Web Analytics, so it's important to make sure we did not accidentally leave any unwanted loopholes in our system architecture. This is why Milestone 5 also includes a Security Audit by "Radically Open Security". We'll look for proper use of cryptography and a hardened HTTP interface for the server specifically, but if we can pick up other improvements along the way we won't hesitate to implement these. #### Integration Test coverage -Now that we have built a solid foundation for Offen, we want the public to be able to hack on and participate in the development of Offen. To make sure this is a safe and enjoyable journey, we'll add comprehensive integration test coverage for all major user stories there are so that we can always be sure the software keeps working as intended when we review and merge patches and features by others (and ourselves of course). +Now that we have built a solid foundation for Offen Fair Web Analytics, we want the public to be able to hack on and participate in the development of Offen Fair Web Analytics. To make sure this is a safe and enjoyable journey, we'll add comprehensive integration test coverage for all major user stories there are so that we can always be sure the software keeps working as intended when we review and merge patches and features by others (and ourselves of course). #### Getting ready for external contributions -Closely related to the above, we will also do a thorough check to make sure Offen is ready for external contributions. Is documentation up to date? Does our development setup work reliably across different OSes and hardware? Is it easy to open an issue and get in touch with us? We're definitely looking forward to having the community become a part of our efforts. +Closely related to the above, we will also do a thorough check to make sure Offen Fair Web Analytics is ready for external contributions. Is documentation up to date? Does our development setup work reliably across different OSes and hardware? Is it easy to open an issue and get in touch with us? We're definitely looking forward to having the community become a part of our efforts. --- @@ -96,11 +96,11 @@ Closely related to the above, we will also do a thorough check to make sure Offe #### Adding an integration test -Offen tries to be a slim and lightweight solution but nevertheless, crucial user flows can break unexpectedly and cause frustration for users, operators and developers alike. To prevent such breakages we'll focus on adding integration tests in the next milestone. In case you're curious, why not have a peek at what this looks like right now? +Offen Fair Web Analytics tries to be a slim and lightweight solution but nevertheless, crucial user flows can break unexpectedly and cause frustration for users, operators and developers alike. To prevent such breakages we'll focus on adding integration tests in the next milestone. In case you're curious, why not have a peek at what this looks like right now? #### Testing Opt-In and Opt-Out in the context of the Auditorium -Offen collects data only after opt-in. In addition to the consent banner that is shown on websites that embed Offen, the Auditorium itself allows users to manage their consent status. As an exercise, let's write a test where a user first grants consent, reviews the Auditorium and then opts out again, seeing that data has been deleted. +Offen Fair Web Analytics collects data only after opt-in. In addition to the consent banner that is shown on websites that embed Offen Fair Web Analytics, the Auditorium itself allows users to manage their consent status. As an exercise, let's write a test where a user first grants consent, reviews the Auditorium and then opts out again, seeing that data has been deleted. As noted above integration tests are written using [Cypress](https://www.cypress.io/) which has a `mocha`-esque DSL for writing tests. In the `offen/offen` repository, create a new file called `integration/cypress/integration/consent.spec.js`. We're ready to write a basic test now. diff --git a/homepage/content/articles/0070-budget.md b/homepage/content/articles/0070-budget.md index 5a234a4..64ac19a 100644 --- a/homepage/content/articles/0070-budget.md +++ b/homepage/content/articles/0070-budget.md @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@ -title: Hosting Offen on a budget -description: Here are some real world options for hosting Offen on a budget. Let's compare how they relate in terms of ease of deployment, performance and pricing. +title: Hosting Offen Fair Web Analytics on a budget +description: Here are some real world options for hosting Offen Fair Web Analytics on a budget. Let's compare how they relate in terms of ease of deployment, performance and pricing. date: 2020-06-30 slug: hosting-offen-on-budget url: /blig/hosting-offen-on-budget/ @@ -9,62 +9,62 @@ author: Frederik Ring must_read: True bottom_cta: blog -# Hosting Offen on a budget +# Hosting Offen Fair Web Analytics on a budget -Using self hosted software like Offen when you're on a budget can seem daunting as you usually don't know too much about the performance requirements of the software you are planning to use beforehand. Once you do know, you might have locked in yourself already. +Using self hosted software like Offen Fair Web Analytics when you're on a budget can seem daunting as you usually don't know too much about the performance requirements of the software you are planning to use beforehand. Once you do know, you might have locked in yourself already. -In this article we collect a few real world options and scenarios for hosting Offen on a budget and compare how they relate in terms of ease of deployment, performance and pricing. +In this article we collect a few real world options and scenarios for hosting Offen Fair Web Analytics on a budget and compare how they relate in terms of ease of deployment, performance and pricing. --- *Prerequisite:* All of the below assumes you have registered one or multiple domains on which you run your applications and websites, and can set [A](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_DNS_record_types#A) or [CNAME records](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNAME_record) for these. If you do not know what this means exactly: it is a default feature in almost all packages that let you register a domain. Your provider or registrar surely can help you with further support if you need any. Read more about it in our [dedicated subdomain tutorial.](https://docs.offen.dev/running-offen/setting-up-using-subdomains/) -### Scenarios where Offen is a good fit +### Scenarios where Offen Fair Web Analytics is a good fit -Offen is designed to be lightweight and easy to install. It's probably not a good fit if you need advanced features like interaction heatmaps or tracking the funneling of users across multiple sites, but if you want a lean way of knowing how people use your website without invading your user's privacy, Offen is a solid choice. +Offen Fair Web Analytics is designed to be lightweight and easy to install. It's probably not a good fit if you need advanced features like interaction heatmaps or tracking the funneling of users across multiple sites, but if you want a lean way of knowing how people use your website without invading your user's privacy, Offen Fair Web Analytics is a solid choice. #### *Handling multiple low-ish traffic sites on a single instance* -One scenario we are targeting is deploying an Offen instance and using it for analyzing multiple low traffic sites (like for example blogs or side projects). Offen allows you to create as many accounts as you like, so you can have one bucket per each of these projects that you want to run analytics on. +One scenario we are targeting is deploying an Offen Fair Web Analytics instance and using it for analyzing multiple low traffic sites (like for example blogs or side projects). Offen Fair Web Analytics allows you to create as many accounts as you like, so you can have one bucket per each of these projects that you want to run analytics on. -It is also important to understand that even if these projects are run on different domains, you can still setup distinct CNAME records for each of these sites so that Offen can run on the same domain as your target. When you log in, you can always view and analyze usage data across all of the accounts, even if they are served from different hostnames. Offen is also able to automatically acquire free and auto-renewing SSL certificates from Let's Encrypt for each of these domains. +It is also important to understand that even if these projects are run on different domains, you can still setup distinct CNAME records for each of these sites so that Offen Fair Web Analytics can run on the same domain as your target. When you log in, you can always view and analyze usage data across all of the accounts, even if they are served from different hostnames. Offen Fair Web Analytics is also able to automatically acquire free and auto-renewing SSL certificates from Let's Encrypt for each of these domains. As for data storage, you will likely want to use the default SQLite option in this scenario which stores data in a file on the host system. #### *Handling a single high traffic site* -If you are working on a bigger project with a lot of traffic, you might consider deploying a single instance for that project only. Also, this is a scenario where we would recommend using a dedicated database server instead of using a local SQLite file, as it would allow you to scale Offen further while your traffic grows. +If you are working on a bigger project with a lot of traffic, you might consider deploying a single instance for that project only. Also, this is a scenario where we would recommend using a dedicated database server instead of using a local SQLite file, as it would allow you to scale Offen Fair Web Analytics further while your traffic grows. --- ### Some available hosting providers -This list is a non-exhaustive collection of hosting providers that we happen to know and have used ourselves. We are in no way affiliated with any of these, don't earn any money when you install Offen there, and definitely don't want to push you anywhere. We do want you to use Offen though, of course, but it's always your choice where to run it. If you know of any other good option, tweet them our way [@hioffen](https://twitter.com/hioffen). +This list is a non-exhaustive collection of hosting providers that we happen to know and have used ourselves. We are in no way affiliated with any of these, don't earn any money when you install Offen Fair Web Analytics there, and definitely don't want to push you anywhere. We do want you to use Offen Fair Web Analytics though, of course, but it's always your choice where to run it. If you know of any other good option, tweet them our way [@hioffen](https://twitter.com/hioffen). #### [AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/) -The obvious choice for hosting your Offen instance in the AWS ecosystem is probably using EC2 (which is a virtual server). For handling Offen in any of the above scenarios a `t3.nano` instance is sufficient, which - at the time of writing - bills at *USD 3.90 per month*. In case you have just recently signed up for AWS, you could also run Offen using the *free tier usage plan* that gives you one free `t2.micro` (this, by the way, is also how we are currently running our own instance). +The obvious choice for hosting your Offen Fair Web Analytics instance in the AWS ecosystem is probably using EC2 (which is a virtual server). For handling Offen Fair Web Analytics in any of the above scenarios a `t3.nano` instance is sufficient, which - at the time of writing - bills at *USD 3.90 per month*. In case you have just recently signed up for AWS, you could also run Offen Fair Web Analytics using the *free tier usage plan* that gives you one free `t2.micro` (this, by the way, is also how we are currently running our own instance). If you decide to use a dedicated database server, AWS offers managed databases as a service called RDS, but this service is relatively expensive (pricing maps to the cost of the underlying EC2 instance and instances are big). A cheaper option would be using a Lightsail VM (which currently costs USD 5.00) and configuring it to use the PostgreSQL or MySQL presets that give you a running database server out of the box. -As Offen will provide free SSL certificates for you, so this will not incur any additional costs. +As Offen Fair Web Analytics will provide free SSL certificates for you, so this will not incur any additional costs. The lowdown on AWS: - USD 3.90 per month (plus USD 5.00 if you need a database) or maybe even free for 12 months if you just signed up -- Offen needs to be installed manually from the command line +- Offen Fair Web Analytics needs to be installed manually from the command line --- #### [Heroku](https://www.heroku.com/) -Heroku is famous for making deployment of web based software as easy as possible, and it indeed lets you deploy Offen from within your browser using our Heroku preset. +Heroku is famous for making deployment of web based software as easy as possible, and it indeed lets you deploy Offen Fair Web Analytics from within your browser using our Heroku preset. [Open Heroku preset](https://github.com/offen/heroku){: data-button-mb3="outline"} -Heroku has a free tier that theoretically lets you deploy Offen and a database for free. The only caveat with this is that you will need to provide your own SSL certificate in this scenario, which makes it relatively complicated to get going. In addition to that Dynos (this is Heroku's name for a virtual server) on the free plan fall asleep when they are not used, so applications tend to be relatively sluggish when going down that route. +Heroku has a free tier that theoretically lets you deploy Offen Fair Web Analytics and a database for free. The only caveat with this is that you will need to provide your own SSL certificate in this scenario, which makes it relatively complicated to get going. In addition to that Dynos (this is Heroku's name for a virtual server) on the free plan fall asleep when they are not used, so applications tend to be relatively sluggish when going down that route. -If you would upgrade your plan to a "Hobby" plan which clocks in at *USD 7.00 per month* you get an always-awake Dyno, a Postgres Database under the free plan and free SSL provided by Heroku (Offen cannot acquire certificates itself when it is deployed behind the Heroku Routing Mesh). +If you would upgrade your plan to a "Hobby" plan which clocks in at *USD 7.00 per month* you get an always-awake Dyno, a Postgres Database under the free plan and free SSL provided by Heroku (Offen Fair Web Analytics cannot acquire certificates itself when it is deployed behind the Heroku Routing Mesh). This option is probably on the more expensive side of things, but it's definitely easy to manage, especially for a non-technical audience. @@ -78,13 +78,13 @@ The lowdown on Heroku: #### [DigitalOcean](https://www.digitalocean.com/) -DigitalOcean provides virtual servers in a product they call Droplets. The cheapest variant - which is enough to host Offen for one of the above scenarios - costs *USD 5.00 per month*. On this droplet you can install Offen yourself in whatever fashion you prefer (Docker, systemd, something else) or use our prebuilt image. +DigitalOcean provides virtual servers in a product they call Droplets. The cheapest variant - which is enough to host Offen Fair Web Analytics for one of the above scenarios - costs *USD 5.00 per month*. On this droplet you can install Offen yourself in whatever fashion you prefer (Docker, systemd, something else) or use our prebuilt image. [Open prebuilt DigitalOcean image](https://github.com/offen/digitalocean){: data-button-mb3="outline"} If you need a dedicated database server, you can either use the managed Postgres offering (which is relatively expensive) or add another Droplet, installing a prebuilt PostgreSQL or MySQL image. -SSL certificates can be acquired by Offen in this scenario without any additional cost. +SSL certificates can be acquired by Offen Fair Web Analytics in this scenario without any additional cost. The lowdown on DigitalOcean: @@ -95,17 +95,17 @@ The lowdown on DigitalOcean: #### [Linode](https://www.linode.com/) -Feeling "close to the metal" in a good way, Linode offers virtual servers on shared instances. At *USD 5.00 per month* you get a Linux server that you can use to install and serve your Offen instance. There is no dedicated database offering, so if you wanted to use a dedicated database you would need to install MySQL or PostgreSQL on another shared instance. Presets are available for these. +Feeling "close to the metal" in a good way, Linode offers virtual servers on shared instances. At *USD 5.00 per month* you get a Linux server that you can use to install and serve your Offen Fair Web Analytics instance. There is no dedicated database offering, so if you wanted to use a dedicated database you would need to install MySQL or PostgreSQL on another shared instance. Presets are available for these. -Offen can handle SSL certificates for you in this scenario as well, so this does not incur additional costs. +Offen Fair Web Analytics can handle SSL certificates for you in this scenario as well, so this does not incur additional costs. The lowdown on Linode: - USD 5.00 per month (plus another USD 5.00 if you need a dedicated database) -- Offen needs to be installed manually from the command line +- Offen Fair Web Analytics needs to be installed manually from the command line --- ### Where to head next -If you made a choice and want to deploy your own Offen instance, head over to our [Installation tutorials](https://docs.offen.dev/running-offen/tutorials/) where you will get further guidance on what to do next and how to get your instance up and running. And in case you get stuck or need help, file an [issue](https://github.com/offen/offen/issues), [tweet](https://twitter.com/hioffen) or [email](mailto:hioffen@posteo.de). +If you made a choice and want to deploy your own Offen Fair Web Analytics instance, head over to our [Installation tutorials](https://docs.offen.dev/running-offen/tutorials/) where you will get further guidance on what to do next and how to get your instance up and running. And in case you get stuck or need help, file an [issue](https://github.com/offen/offen/issues), [tweet](https://twitter.com/hioffen) or [email](mailto:hioffen@posteo.de). diff --git a/homepage/content/articles/0080-beta.md b/homepage/content/articles/0080-beta.md index d80580c..747a916 100644 --- a/homepage/content/articles/0080-beta.md +++ b/homepage/content/articles/0080-beta.md @@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ It often seems that developers of analytics tools only really want to communicat However, operators are given the impression that installing the respective software does something really great for their users. Whether it is that annoying banners are waived or that data will not be disclosed to third parties. And by the way, the 'GDPR problem' is also solved and there is no need to worry about legal action. What more could you want? -We as Offen are convinced that all these 'privacy friendly' approaches are an improvement, but they are still not enough to create a web that is significantly better. For this, most of these solutions simply *lack the necessary degree of fairness.* +We as Offen Fair Web Analytics are convinced that all these 'privacy friendly' approaches are an improvement, but they are still not enough to create a web that is significantly better. For this, most of these solutions simply *lack the necessary degree of fairness.* Users continue to be unaware what kind of data is collected and how it is being used. They still cannot access or delete it. This leaves them in the dark about their situation and does not help to reduce the latent distrust against web operators. A problem that GDPR also addresses explicitly under the headline 'Rights of the data subject'. @@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ This is why we develop a fair and open web analytics tool that finally treats *o Usage data is only collected after opt-in. If users choose to opt in, they have full access to their data and can also delete it. The collected data is presented to the user with explanations that describe why a particular metric is relevant and what the privacy implications are. At the same time essential metrics give operators the chance to gain valuable insights. They can improve their services without violating the privacy of their users. -By the way, Offen is in beta phase now. [Please take a look and give it a try.](/try-demo/) +By the way, Offen Fair Web Analytics is in beta phase now. [Please take a look and give it a try.](/try-demo/) We believe it is time to go one step further. This is how we want to support a web that is *privacy friendly and fair at last.* Are you as enthusiastic about it as we are? Drop us a [tweet](https://twitter.com/hioffen) or [email](mailto:hioffen@posteo.de) and feel invited to work together to drive this idea forward. diff --git a/homepage/content/articles/0090-milestone-5.md b/homepage/content/articles/0090-milestone-5.md index 96704b4..5948321 100644 --- a/homepage/content/articles/0090-milestone-5.md +++ b/homepage/content/articles/0090-milestone-5.md @@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ bottom_cta: blog # Episode Five — Resilience and documentation -Maybe the most exciting milestone in our current journey, Milestone 5 ends with Offen finally stripping off that `alpha` label we have been carrying around for quite a while now, and which admittedly might have scared away some potential users. The good thing about keeping it this long though is that we can feel pretty confident to release working software. We'll still defer the 1.0 for a while and start with `v0.1.0`, but from now on we really mean it: Install Offen in production, we are confident it'll be a good choice. +Maybe the most exciting milestone in our current journey, Milestone 5 ends with Offen Fair Web Analytics finally stripping off that `alpha` label we have been carrying around for quite a while now, and which admittedly might have scared away some potential users. The good thing about keeping it this long though is that we can feel pretty confident to release working software. We'll still defer the 1.0 for a while and start with `v0.1.0`, but from now on we really mean it: Install Offen Fair Web Analytics in production, we are confident it'll be a good choice. This means that during Milestone 5 we have released the following versions: @@ -27,21 +27,21 @@ As always, you can download the latest release from [get.offen.dev](https://get. #### Accessibility Audit -As an NGI Zero project we are lucky enough to have great people in our network by default. This time Stichting Accessibility helped us with an A11y audit of Offen. This audit resulted in helpful feedback and action points for us to improve upon the A11y aspects of the Offen Auditorium and make Offen an analytics tool for everyone. +As an NGI Zero project we are lucky enough to have great people in our network by default. This time Stichting Accessibility helped us with an A11y audit of Offen Fair Web Analytics. This audit resulted in helpful feedback and action points for us to improve upon the A11y aspects of the Auditorium and make Offen Fair Web Analytics an analytics tool for everyone. Relevant PRs are: [386](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/386), [387](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/387), [389](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/389), [393](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/393) #### Security Audit -Another really helpful experience was having Offen audited from a security perspective by the wonderful people from Radically Open Security. We had a great time looking at Offen together, checking for exploits, leaky crypto, security issues and discussing general design questions that came up while working on Offen. We did not find major flaws, but instead came up with a couple of very good ideas about how to make Offen more secure and harden the server even further. These have been implemented by now and are included in the latest release, so make sure to update. +Another really helpful experience was having Offen Fair Web Analytics audited from a security perspective by the wonderful people from Radically Open Security. We had a great time looking at Offen Fair Web Analytics together, checking for exploits, leaky crypto, security issues and discussing general design questions that came up while working on Offen Fair Web Analytics. We did not find major flaws, but instead came up with a couple of very good ideas about how to make Offen Fair Web Analytics more secure and harden the server even further. These have been implemented by now and are included in the latest release, so make sure to update. Relevant PRs are: [399](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/399), [400](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/400), [401](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/401), [405](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/405), [406](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/406) #### Community approved handling of licensing -With help from the FSFE, we adopted [REUSE](https://reuse.software/), a standard and tooling around the handling of licensing in non-small repositories. Having integrated a dedicated check for REUSE compliance into our CI pipeline allows us to stop worrying we have forgotten something, and will give everyone access to all licensing information needed to use or reuse Offen in all scenarios. +With help from the FSFE, we adopted [REUSE](https://reuse.software/), a standard and tooling around the handling of licensing in non-small repositories. Having integrated a dedicated check for REUSE compliance into our CI pipeline allows us to stop worrying we have forgotten something, and will give everyone access to all licensing information needed to use or reuse Offen Fair Web Analytics in all scenarios. -In addition to that we now also automatically generate a NOTICE file from our dependency tree that we can include in our binary distributions, making sure every dependency is properly attributed when others download and use Offen. You can see it in action being served from our own Offen instance here: [offen.offen.dev/NOTICE.txt](https://offen.offen.dev/NOTICE.txt) +In addition to that we now also automatically generate a NOTICE file from our dependency tree that we can include in our binary distributions, making sure every dependency is properly attributed when others download and use Offen Fair Web Analytics. You can see it in action being served from our own Offen Fair Web Analytics instance here: [offen.offen.dev/NOTICE.txt](https://offen.offen.dev/NOTICE.txt) Relevant PRs are: [383](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/388), [414](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/414), [415](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/415) @@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ Relevant PRs are: [395](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/395), [413](https:// #### Improved documentation -Improving our documentation has been an important part of this milestone as it means our move to a non-alpha version is supported by making Offen even more accessible to developers and operator that want to install Offen or hack on it. +Improving our documentation has been an important part of this milestone as it means our move to a non-alpha version is supported by making Offen Fair Web Analytics even more accessible to developers and operator that want to install Offen Fair Web Analytics or hack on it. To keep the docs in sync with our ongoing development efforts, we merged our existing `offen/docs` repository into `offen/offen`. This allows us to document new features and changes while they are being developed and also makes versioned documentation available on [docs.offen.dev](https://docs.offen.dev). It also moves the docs closer to the code so that developers do not need to do any more context switching during development. @@ -65,27 +65,27 @@ Relevant PRs are: [392](https://github.com/offen/offen/pull/392), [396](https:// #### More deployment targets and tests -Offen's deployment story as a single binary file and no external database required is relatively easy, yet there is always room to improve, especially for a non-technical audience. While we already have tested installing Offen successfully on a multitude of providers, ranging from industry leaders like AWS to offbeat offerings like Uberspace, we want to look into more options. While doing so we will share our findings with the public so they can use our experience when installing Offen themselves. We will also look into how we can make running Offen even easier. Maybe this one configuration value isn't even needed. Maybe creating your first account can be even easier. Let's find out. +Offen Fair Web Analytics's deployment story as a single binary file and no external database required is relatively easy, yet there is always room to improve, especially for a non-technical audience. While we already have tested installing Offen Fair Web Analytics successfully on a multitude of providers, ranging from industry leaders like AWS to offbeat offerings like Uberspace, we want to look into more options. While doing so we will share our findings with the public so they can use our experience when installing Offen Fair Web Analytics themselves. We will also look into how we can make running Offen Fair Web Analytics even easier. Maybe this one configuration value isn't even needed. Maybe creating your first account can be even easier. Let's find out. #### Reaching out to the community -When the last months it has been the two of us working on Offen exclusively, moving into Beta is a good time to get the community involved. We want to know where our users would like to see us heading, and when want to know how we can make Offen more accessible for external contributors. Now that we have defined the foundation, Offen can serve the community better the more that it's a community effort. +When the last months it has been the two of us working on Offen Fair Web Analytics exclusively, moving into Beta is a good time to get the community involved. We want to know where our users would like to see us heading, and when want to know how we can make Offen Fair Web Analytics more accessible for external contributors. Now that we have defined the foundation, Offen Fair Web Analytics can serve the community better the more that it's a community effort. #### Defining where we want to head next -Upcoming Milestone 6 will be the last one in our current funding round by NGI Zero PET. It's been an incredibly supportive and inspiring journey which taught us a lot, one thing being that we are onto something with Offen. +Upcoming Milestone 6 will be the last one in our current funding round by NGI Zero PET. It's been an incredibly supportive and inspiring journey which taught us a lot, one thing being that we are onto something with Offen Fair Web Analytics. -To allow us to sustain development further, we are going to flesh out ideas on where we want to take Offen (come have a look at our [roadmap](https://github.com/offen/offen/projects/1)), but also on how we can make the ideas behind Offen accessible to the public in a way that people can build software and tools that follow the same set of guiding principles. +To allow us to sustain development further, we are going to flesh out ideas on where we want to take Offen Fair Web Analytics (come have a look at our [roadmap](https://github.com/offen/offen/projects/1)), but also on how we can make the ideas behind Offen Fair Web Analytics accessible to the public in a way that people can build software and tools that follow the same set of guiding principles. -Once this is defined, we will apply for new funds. Let us know if you know of any good opportunities for a project like Offen. +Once this is defined, we will apply for new funds. Let us know if you know of any good opportunities for a project like Offen Fair Web Analytics. --- ### Getting your hands dirty -#### Load testing the hardened Offen server +#### Load testing the hardened Offen Fair Web Analytics server -An important part of Milestone 5 was hardening the HTTP interface of Offen, which in most cases will be exposed to the internet directly, without any reverse proxy or similar in front. So why not do a load test and see how far we can take it? +An important part of Milestone 5 was hardening the HTTP interface of Offen Fair Web Analytics, which in most cases will be exposed to the internet directly, without any reverse proxy or similar in front. So why not do a load test and see how far we can take it? The tools we'll be using to perform the load test is called [vegeta](https://github.com/tsenart/vegeta), which you can install using `go get` (or you download the binaries from GitHub): @@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ The tools we'll be using to perform the load test is called [vegeta](https://git go get -u github.com/tsenart/vegeta ``` -Then, fire up a demo instance of Offen on your machine. This is really easy using our script: +Then, fire up a demo instance of Offen Fair Web Analytics on your machine. This is really easy using our script: ``` curl -sSL https://demo.offen.dev | bash diff --git a/homepage/content/articles/0100-matomo.md b/homepage/content/articles/0100-matomo.md index 800c419..ec61289 100644 --- a/homepage/content/articles/0100-matomo.md +++ b/homepage/content/articles/0100-matomo.md @@ -1,4 +1,4 @@ -title: Why Offen is a valid Matomo alternative +title: Why Offen Fair Web Analytics is a valid Matomo alternative description: This brief comparison of both tools gives you a first insight into the field of fair and lightweight web analytics. date: 2020-08-28 modified: 20.4.2021 @@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ image_url: /theme/images/offen-blog-0100-Matomo.jpg author: Hendrik Niefeld bottom_cta: budget -# Why Offen is a valid Matomo alternative +# Why Offen Fair Web Analytics is a valid Matomo alternative #### Matomo at a glance @@ -27,15 +27,15 @@ On the technical side, the following issues are particularly apparent. Installin ### Operators and users as equal parties -To address the above mentioned issues we develop a fair, self hosted and lightweigt web analytics tool that treats operators and users as equal parties. It is called Offen and is [available as a production ready version.](/get-started/) +To address the above mentioned issues we develop a fair, self hosted and lightweigt web analytics tool that treats operators and users as equal parties. It is called Offen Fair Web Analytics and is [available as a production ready version.](/get-started/) -*Offen's default is to NOT collect any data.* Usage data is collected after opt-in only. If users choose to opt in, they have full access to their data. They can delete it any time or opt out completly. +*Offen Fair Web Analytics's default is to NOT collect any data.* Usage data is collected after opt-in only. If users choose to opt in, they have full access to their data. They can delete it any time or opt out completly. The collected data is presented to users with explanations that describe why a particular metric is relevant and what the privacy implications are. This helps to strengthen trust in operators. At the same time essential metrics give operators the chance to gain valuable insights in an ethical way. Thereby allowing them to improve their websites and develop ideas for new services. All without violating the privacy of their users. -Offen is open source and will always be available for free with no hidden costs lurking. Operators self host the app and can be sure not to pass on any data to third parties. +Offen Fair Web Analytics is open source and will always be available for free with no hidden costs lurking. Operators self host the app and can be sure not to pass on any data to third parties. The installation is relatively simple and supports the use of SQLite files as well. The tracking script is reduced to a bare minimum and allows pages to load much faster. @@ -43,14 +43,14 @@ To complete the package, the app allows to manage several websites with one logi ### Confidential by design -Our strict focus on data protection also means that there are some Matomo features we will never offer. This includes the export of data and public access to reports without prior login. Furthermore due to the integrated end-to-end encryption Offen does not provide access to the raw data. +Our strict focus on data protection also means that there are some Matomo features we will never offer. This includes the export of data and public access to reports without prior login. Furthermore due to the integrated end-to-end encryption Offen Fair Web Analytics does not provide access to the raw data. ### Switch to fair web analytics -We hope this overview helps you to get a better insight into the topic of fair web analytics. If you are passionate about ethical software and want *a truly lightweight and privacy focused alternative to Matomo* you should give Offen a try. Why not let both run parallel for a while and then see how it feels? We are looking forward to your [feedback.](mailto:hioffen@posteo.de) +We hope this overview helps you to get a better insight into the topic of fair web analytics. If you are passionate about ethical software and want *a truly lightweight and privacy focused alternative to Matomo* you should give Offen Fair Web Analytics a try. Why not let both run parallel for a while and then see how it feels? We are looking forward to your [feedback.](mailto:hioffen@posteo.de) -Find further information in our [explainer](/#bg-explainer), test it on your system or get everything you need to use Offen in production. +Find further information in our [explainer](/#bg-explainer), test it on your system or get everything you need to use Offen Fair Web Analytics in production.
- Offen is a fair, open and self hosted web analytics tool that treats operators and users as equal parties. + Offen Fair Web Analytics is a open and self hosted web analytics tool that treats operators and users as equal parties.
Fair web analytics
+Fair Web Analytics
diff --git a/homepage/theme/templates/getstarted.html b/homepage/theme/templates/getstarted.html index d247a63..8ce05c3 100644 --- a/homepage/theme/templates/getstarted.html +++ b/homepage/theme/templates/getstarted.html @@ -22,22 +22,22 @@
Download- Offen as a Docker image + Our Docker image
Deploy with Docker- Your own Offen instance on Heroku + Your own instance on Heroku
Deploy to Heroku- Your own Offen instance on Uberspace + Your own instance on Uberspace
Deploy to Uberspace- Offen as a YunoHost application + YunoHost application
Install with YunoHost
- Details on how to
install and run Offen
+ Details on how to install
and run Offen Fair Web Analytics
Let your users access their data. Gain valuable insights at the same time. Open, lightweight, self hosted and free. @@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
- Our code is open source. All user data is encrypted end-to-end. Offen will always be available for free. + Our code is open source. All user data is encrypted end-to-end. Offen Fair Web Analytics will always be available for free.
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@- Comply with GDPR guidelines. No ads, no third parties involved. Offen uses first-party cookies only. + Comply with GDPR guidelines. No ads, no third parties involved. Offen Fair Web Analytics uses first-party cookies only.
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@- Self host Offen while protecting your users' data. + Self host Offen Fair Web Analytics while protecting your users' data.
Integrate the code snippet into pages you want to track. @@ -246,7 +246,7 @@
- Data of all pages where your Offen installation is active. + Data of all pages where your installation is active.
For example @@ -317,7 +317,7 @@
- Data of all pages a user has visited where your Offen installation is active. + Data of all pages a user has visited where your installation is active.
For example @@ -387,7 +387,7 @@ User data is only stored for 6 months and then deleted.
- A detailed documentation on how to run Offen is available. + A detailed documentation on how to run Offen Fair Web Analytics is available.
- Offen is installed on this website. Access your actual usage data now. + Offen Fair Web Analytics is installed on this website. Access your actual usage data now.
- Offen is available in English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish and Vietnamese. + Offen Fair Web Analytics is available in English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish and Vietnamese.
Our consent banner and the Auditorium for operators as well as users can be displayed in the respective locale. @@ -562,7 +562,7 @@ Customize
- The Offen consent banner is customizable in color, shape and basic font specifications to match your design. + Our consent banner is customizable in color, shape and basic font specifications to match your design.
- Test drive Offen on your system today +
+ Test drive Offen Fair Web Analytics on your system today
Try demo- All you need to use Offen in production +
+ All you need to use Offen Fair Web Analytics in production
Get started
- Details on how to
install and run Offen
+ Details on how to install
and run Offen Fair Web Analytics
- All you need
to use Offen in production
+ All you need to use
Offen Fair Web Analytics in production