A quick note to super techie folks! There’s a small group of people on Github who are trying out the final Bridge software and code for a very bare bones back-end server. This server does basic messaging, and the objective is to provide a basis that other technical people can build on to create and run their own back-end servers. They asked me to pop a note here to meet more LP power users :)
Instructions for how to update the Bridge can be found here. And a thread of people chatting about how to run the software can be found here.
So future conversation will happen over there… I think the original Little Printer servers have finally breathed their last, and it took me a while to find the password to this Tumblr in my notes. If you’re reading this, thank you for checking in!
I was scheduled to turn off the Little Printer servers at the end of this month… but I made those plans before there was any idea of what might happen.
So I’ve scraped together a bit of cash, and I’m going to keep the servers on for another 3 months: turn-off day is now the end of June 2015.
I’m super grateful to Nick and Helen for being able to give yet more time to help keep the system spinning. Thank you both!
Now why am I doing this? The reason is that the experimental replacement Little Printer back-end seems to be working ok. It’s way, way simpler than the servers that currently run… but with a bunch more work, it shows a way forward that we can all keep our Little Printers running, albeit only for sending messages.
I’d like some time to make that transition happen.
There’s a lot to do – I have ten “alpha testers” who are kindly helping me test the code. (I’ve got more feedback than I can deal with right now, so I won’t be expanding the group just yet.) The software update to the Bridge works for some people and not others, I’m trying to figure out why. And y'know, bugs etc.
And it’s slow going. I do this at the evenings and weekends when I can, but I do have other engagements full time now.
But my hope is that when the current, old servers do eventually go dark, I’ll have something simpler ready to step in. So that’s the purpose of the next three months.
Hi everyone. Hello from where I’m sitting at home in London. It’s Sunday night, I’m Matt, my personal homepage is over here. Till recently I was CEO at Berg, now I’m the last employee and trying to wrap things up nicely. To do that I’ve got about a day a week cos I also now have other commitments.
I’d like to try something…
My aim is to leave all the Little Printer owners out there (myself included) with a website that keeps the thing running and - for hard-core coders - that they can add new features to.
But because I’m the last one left, it has to be way way simpler than the code we currently have running on the servers. That code was built over several years by lots of people, and it ran many different types of products, some public and some not.
an experiment
So here’s what I’m trying out: I’ve spent some time making a new website backend to run Little Printer. I gave it the codename “sirius” because everything needs a codename.
It’s as simple as I can possibly make it: You can send messages to your printer, and anyone you follow on Twitter can send you messages too. That’s all! Why pick that? Because I saw that, over time, messaging was the main feature that most people came back to, again and again. Gotta start somewhere, hey.
For the engineering that’s beyond my grasp, I worked with the wonderful Tom Hunger of We Are Wizards, who is a thoughtful and diligent engineer of elegant, robust code.
I’m going to warn you, this experimental website isn’t pretty! This is the earliest I can possibly show it to you, so it’s got no design (I’ll have to learn HTML again…), the much-loved message templates aren’t there yet, and there’s no Direct Print API yet.
But you know what… I can claim a printer and my friends can send me messages, so it works!
There’s a link to the “alpha” test site at the bottom of this post. If you’re code-inclined, you will be able to follow along the development there (slow cos it’s just me, but developing).
Alpha testers?
I’m also looking for a some friendly folks - fewer than a dozen - to come and test this with me. London-based please, so we can chat more easily, and it would help if we know each other already. Drop me a mail at matt at bergcloud dot com if that’s you. Apologies in advance for delays in replying, I’m doing a lot of different things these days.
What my “alpha” testers will have to do is install a software update on the Berg Cloud Bridge. This software update makes the Bridge configurable – at the moment, it only connects to the bergcloud.com servers. After the update, you can change it to connect to a different backend server running an installation of this new Little Printer code. It’s heinously complex stuff, the real bare metal of how internet-connected products work. Preparing this update was one of the final big pieces of work Nick did before he finished, and I’m grateful he did. Thank you Nick!
Installing the Bridge software update is risky. We might brick the Bridges. So we’ll take all of this step by step.
You can find the work-in-progress at alpha.littleprinter.com. There’s a link to the code repo on the about page… I’ll make that code public and downloadable once some smarter eyes than mine have had a look at it for howlers. The site is ugly, it’ll break regularly as I develop it, and I’ll have to keep deleting all the data. But I use it right now to run my own home LP so that’s a thing!
Anyway. Just trying out this option. It might not be the exclusive future path of Little Printer, let me see how it goes.
We, at Berg, have some sad news which will affect your Little Printer.
Berg is wrapping up its activities. We might be back one day, but right now we have to go into hibernation. (See the Berg blog for more.)
It’s simple to wrap up most of our activities (like our design consultancy for clients), but for Little Printer it’s a bit more complicated. This is because we want Little Printer to stay running for as long as possible, but it takes specialised technical maintenance and customer support to do so. So a skeleton staff is going to stay on part time till next year. We will be maintaining the platform and services until the 31st March, 2015. Subscriptions, direct messages, and haircuts will keep running for a little over 6 months from today.
We’re examining opportunities to give Little Printer a new home. If after March 2015 no arrangement can be found, all Little Printer features (publications, messaging, and face changes) will stop working. In the meantime we’ll be opening up the code behind Little Printer, and seeing if the community would like to take it on. See below for details.
How about selling it?
We’d be open to selling Little Printer to a company who could commit to supporting and developing it. That means having hardware, software, and service capabilities, and being able to put resources into the product.
We’ve also been providing evaluation units of fleet-managed commercial printers, based on the same Little Printer technology. We’re supporting those customers for the six month period (and providing a migration plan), so that’s part of any sale consideration too.
What might an opened-up Little Printer look like?
Little Printer is a web-connected product, and it is entirely controlled by a backend website. This website is currently bergcloud.com. This code provides publications, messaging, face changes, the Direct Print API, and a website to control your Little Printers, together with services like a back-end print renderer and developer tools.
The current plan is to open source the code that runs at bergcloud.com, and to release a firmware update that allows Little Printer to connect to alternate installations of that code. If Little Printer isn’t sold as an ongoing service in the next couple of months, that’s what we’ll do.
The code is complex, so it isn’t easy for non-technical people to install. But we’re hoping that, by making it open, the life of Little Printer might be extended. Maybe other uses for Little Printer, ones that we haven’t considered, might emerge.
Can I get a refund?
We are able to provide refunds for purchases made on or after 1st August, 2014. If you have a Little Printer you would like to return for a refund then contact us at info@bergcloud.com for a returns number and the returns address. For a return to be accepted, you need to request a returns number by 20th September, and the item received by us within two weeks of that date.
Any more questions?
We love Little Printer as much as you do. It is with great regret and much sadness that we make this announcement. However we will be working as hard as we can, in the time that we have, to make the very best of the situation. If you have questions or would like to get in touch about providing a future for Little Printer then please email us at info@bergcloud.com.
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