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Comment by aorth | Hacker News Reader

On a related note, people should download and run OONI Probe to monitor and record censorship on networks around the world. OONI Probe has tests for Telegram and WhatsApp, as well as middle boxes, blocked websites, etc.

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Link: https://ooni.org/

Short quick start for the lazy ones (also, no Electron so everyone rejoices):

  $ wget https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/releases/download/v3.0.8/ooniprobe_v3.0.8_linux_amd64.tar.gz
  $ # sha512 => 4f215347022028cf5328446d15e59f2141d1a41e59110c0b85c67b711953d115  ooniprobe_v3.0.8_linux_amd64.tar.gz
  $ tar xfv ooniprobe_v3.0.8_linux_amd64.tar.gz
  $ # Move to $PATH
  $ mv ooniprobe ~/bin
  $ # Add crontab to run daily
  $ (crontab -l 2>/dev/null; echo "$(( ( RANDOM % 60 )  + 1 )) $(( ( RANDOM % 24 )  + 1 )) * * * ooniprobe run") | crontab -

Mostly just stolen directly from the readme of the CLI probe: https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli#ooni-probe-cli

Also, make sure you're not on a network where someone will report you for visiting the "wrong" websites. It does requests to a lot of websites you don't want to be caught with in your history.

Why can't it be just

  $ curl -L https://ooni.org/install | sh

That'd be a great addition! Give it a try and implement it: https://github.com/ooni/probe-cli/new/master

Don't forget to think about all the different OSes and the way the handle scheduling!

Saved you a click: It's an Electron app.

Oh! I had no idea it there was an Electron app for desktop. I've been using it on Android for years. I make a point to run it on wireless and mobile connections in every country I travel on. Also, I've made pull requests to https://github.com/citizenlab/test-lists with new URLs that are blocked in certain countries when I find them.

Memes aside: thanks, you really did save me a click.

There's an open-source Android app which is published on F-Droid.

Does it matter what platform it is build on?

To me, yes. I avoid Electron like the plague. I know others feel the same way, so think of it as community service.

Javascript-on-desktop arguments are probably already taking up gigabytes of space in the HN database, so I'll just say it's for all the usual reasons.

It’s not JavaScript-on-desktop that’s the problem- this was a suspicion often cast at Gnome’s bad performance, until Canonical got involved, started fixing performance issues, and it was discovered that most of those issues stemmed from inefficient waits and stuff. The reason why Electron apps gets such a bad rap (and I fully agree, I hate them too) is because they carry basically an entire Chromium with them in addition to whatever you wanted to accomplish. HN is pretty split on Electron afaik because whilst it killed native apps for Windows and Mac, it has brought a lot of them to Linux.

Precisely. I would hate Electron less, if it shipped as a runtime like Java. Though I still think shoehorning web tech onto the desktop is stupid.

There's also a lot of people who don't feel the same way and I think you know it. So probably no need for "saved the click" part in your community service.

People not liking electron isn't an affront to the people who do. Let's not police people's speech.

youd be surprised how well text compresses

Especially text with a lot of repetition.

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