Walk me through getting a del.icio.us clone running locally on my Mac?

March 31, 2006 11:46 AM

I would like to build and host a del.icio.us clone on my Mac (Intel iMac running Tiger). It need not be accessible outside of my machine, although if you can advise me how to do that while still keeping my machine secure, that would be a very nice plus. I am able to build simple command-line apps in Unix and puzzle some stuff out, but I am very much not a l33t hax00r. Can anyone walk me through the process very simple step by very simple step?

I have tried various options since unsuccessfully asking this question of Ask MeFi, and have still grown certain that the extremely simple interface of del.icio.us is what I'm looking to work with for to-dos. When they're done, zap them. The tagging can let me sort through my ideas on any one of a hundred different levels by throwing tons of tags at a to-do (work shoppinglist imac web priority1 quickie). The hyperlinking is useful because so many of my to-dos have a hyperlink attached to them. And the bookmarklets will be very swift, given that they'll be interoperating with a local del.icio.us and no web server. It's very much what I'm desiring to do.

The problem is that I do have a minor bit of technical knowledge, but not the full amount. I can go to the command line and do "./configure, make, make install." But if it throws off errors, the best I can do is Google the error to see what other people did to solve it. I can install stuff that it needs to have to depend on. I know what tar and gz are. I understand that MySQL has to do with databases. But a lot of this stuff is gonna be like "Guh?!" to me.

I know that del.icio.us now has a "keep this private" bookmark. But this would interfere with my use of del.icio.us as a linklog system for my website. I also know that there are to-do sites that include tagging and Smart Lists. However, they don't seem as swift to me, and their interfaces seem to include a lot more steps than I'd like, even with the bookmarklets they use.

I know of at least one open-source del.icio.us clone. However, trying to install it without customized help led to a bellyflop and the aforementioned "guh?!?!?!?!".

Can anyone help me out here? Keep in mind that Lifehacker and 43 Folders and other sites read Ask MeFi, so you could end up being a superstar to a lot more people than just me. ;-)

posted by WCityMike to computers & internet (8 comments total)

have you looked into gtd tiddlywiki?

supports hyperlinks and multiple tags to some extent.
no bookmarklets afaik.
posted by juv3nal at 12:17 PM on March 31, 2006

Ohh, I think that this question is probably beyond the scope of an ask mefi. While apache is fairly easy to install with tiger, the problem of building your own webapp to do something is time consuming, requires a bit of skill (not l33t but a bit). I've done a bit of webapp programming but the annoyance factor of rolling my own is much more than the annoyance of using software from other people.

You can set up apache by enabling personal web sharing in your systems folder. From there, it's a matter of writing a CGI or other script to collect and store information.

As an alternative solution, perhaps you can have a secondary del.icio.us account for todo items? I just looked at the terms of service, and there does not seem to be a problem with multiple accounts.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 12:33 PM on March 31, 2006

Just for clarification, I really don't need to build from scratch a new open source web app from scratch with Perl and Rubric and whatever — nor was that really what I meant by my question. Sorry if I was unclear.

I'm looking more for help installing either del.irio.us — or some other del.icio.us clone that I don't know about — onto my machine locally. And instructions on how to get to it through a webserver either just through my machine or also from outside (if I can secure everything else down otherwise).

If I could somehow make "keep private" a default in del.icio.us, then a second account might be a semi-lukewarm possibility.

GTDTiddlyWiki looks somewhat interesting.
posted by WCityMike at 1:04 PM on March 31, 2006

Ah, hell. No one's got anything else? Did I just waste a week? !@#!@#!@#!#@ ...
posted by WCityMike at 2:22 PM on March 31, 2006

Your question is wide and non-specific so you probably won't get a real answer, but this is what you can do. This is like saying "Hey I want to build a PVR, tell me how." Sorry its not that easy.

First, decide on the software package you're using. Examine its support options. Is there a forum? Is there a mailing list? Ask install related questions there. Ask people who are running it how they've secured their machine. etc.

So in my example, say I want to build a mythtv box. I would get on the mythtv list and ask a few general questions after I've read the FAQs and documentation. And after some google seaches.

Usenet and mac forums are your friends. Ask there how to secure OSX, work the firewall, etc. Tell them what app you have and what your settings are.

Apache is a huge and complex program all its own. The best thing for you is for someone who is running the same app to tell you how to configure it properly. Learning Apache's in's and out's to just run one app is a waste of time.

ALso, to CS types web scripting and hosting is "easy." To lay techies its a lot more complex than you might think. So if some software has a reputation for being 'easy to install and modify,' that's usually with the assumption that the installer has a CS degree or a decent amount of experience. I don't think its easy to go from zero to "I'm running my own popular-web-app clone" for most people. So you're going to have to go into this with baby steps and seek specific support for the specific modules you need help with.

This project could teach you this. From what i can tell you need to really grok the following before trying something like this:

1. Server basics. OS X firewall. OS X permissions. Apache permissions.

2. MySQL. Basic SQL syntaxes and comman queries. Implementation. Backups.

3. Basic to intermediate understanding of scripting. I dont know what delirious runs, but if it runs PHP, a PHP reference would be handy if not required. If youre modifying this stuff then you need to understand modern programming concepts like classes and functions. etc etc

4. Managing services. Reading logs. log analyzers.

5. IP networking. Static vs dynamic. Bandwidth. etc.

I would say someone who knows basic html/javascript and has done non-programming webwork shouldnt assume this is a weekend thing. More like a month to get it right. Probably longer if you really want to learn this stuff past beginner level.
posted by skallas at 2:43 PM on March 31, 2006

While apache is fairly easy to install with tiger

Call me crazy, isn't it already installed? I'm still on Panther, but apache has been on every previous OSX, right?

And shouldn't it already have PHP, MySQL and Perl of course?

Assuming I'm not crazy, WindyCityMike, you've already got all the components which would allow you to run server-based, database-back-end applications on your local Mac.

But you need someone to write one. Because those services you mention aren't the kind of thing you can download and install for yourself, because they want you to use their online service. That being their business model.

So, you want a clone of those services. And you don't have the programming knowledge to write it yourself. Is that fair?

So it's easy enough to write, but as others have said, not so easy that someone wouldn't want to get paid for writing it.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 3:14 PM on March 31, 2006

Well, I just downloaded a few different versions, an all of them are more than a little bit of work. del.irio.us is underdocumented and the php alternatives don't want to run on my computer. This is about at the point where I'm giving up on it.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 5:17 PM on March 31, 2006

*sigh* Okay. Lost cause, then. I do appreciate everyone here's efforts and responses. Thank you, very much.
posted by WCityMike at 6:15 PM on March 31, 2006