Lemmy v0.18.0 Released! (and some thoughts before upgrading)

3 years ago by zinklog to c/freemediaheckyeah

Official Announcement: https://lemmy.fmhy.ml/post/263377 Github Release Page: https://github.com/...

This is a massive upgrade, and a lot of the minor annoyances that users were finding about Lemmy has been fixed. You can check the above links for all the changes implemented but some of the major ones are:

Websockets replaced by HTTP: What this means for you is that instances will feel snappier due to less load, and the annoying sudden flood of new posts when browing hot is also gone. In general hot/active sorting has been reworked and feel much better to browse.
Links that would take you off-instance should now get automatically converted to ones that don’t. And just writing the name should be enough to turn it into a link. So no more manually searching for the linked communities you find in the comments.
Support for 2-Factor Authentification.
Custom emojis for Instances.
Support for PWA.
A Share Button.
Improvements to overall look and feel of Lemmy.

Not to mention many under the hood changes like database optimizations and bug fixes. This is a very big version upgrade that's come at just the right time.

However, some Instance admins encountered errors when trying to upgrade. And captchas, which we rely on to prevent bots from flooding in, will come back only in version 0.18.1.

So our options are to either upgrade now, maybe have some downtime and to turn on registration applications, or wait until v0.18.1 is released before upgrading (which shouldn't take more than a few days). We are leaning towards option 2 for now, but interested in hearing what others have to say.

inventa 52 points 3 years ago

The continuous refresh makes the site mostly unusable for me in browser. I'd prefer updating to fix one of the biggest bugs the site has

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anonynorbi 31 points 3 years ago

2FA is something I've been missing honestly, but I can wait until v0.18.1 for more stability. Thanks for the change log and the developers of Lemmy for this awesome update.

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sarsaparilyptus 24 points 3 years ago

v0.18.1 is released before upgrading (which shouldn't take more than a few days)

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, and an update that fixes bugs which break basic functionality is worth upgrading for immediately rather than waiting for over-the-rainbow. 2FA alone makes it pretty much not a realistic discussion, honestly.

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bg10k 23 points 3 years ago

Waiting for 0.18.1 seems like the safe, smarter option to me

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mr_washee_washee 3 points 3 years ago

yea not all instances are 0.18 sadly :(

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PCChipsM922U 21 points 3 years ago

If it really is only a few days, yeah, I'd wait it out.

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Deletecat 15 points 3 years ago

I think you should go for option 2!

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knowncarbage 15 points 3 years ago

Things are working, no rush for new things or major change. Prioritize ease of administration over immediate need for new toys.

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Dee 2 points 3 years ago

I updated my small instance, it worked great. Until I rebooted the server then it stopped working entirely. I tried restarting the database and the app separately, but it never came back up. I had to wipe and reinstall as downgrading didn't work either. Due to issues with names no longer federating if the instance is recreated with the same domain and name I had to change my subdomain entirely as well. If for example a user was named user1@instance1.tld and you reinstall that instance using instance1.tld. If you recreate the user user1@instance1.tld, it will not federate any comments.

I may be a small use case, but it has made sure I'll be waiting a good long time before upgrading again.

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Repulsa 14 points 3 years ago

I'd vote for waiting for 0.18.1 if it's only a couple more days

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Hedup 14 points 3 years ago

To me personally the websockets thing make the site pretty much unusable. So I'd prefer to upgrade earlier.

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Snippet0136 10 points 3 years ago

whats the problem with websockets?

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Hedup 3 points 3 years ago

The bug where your feed keeps being flooded with posts from the top, thus pushing everything down. You can't click anything while that happens.

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AnonymousLlama 3 points 3 years ago

I'd be keen to hear about how websockets are slowing down Lemmy and how much of an impact this update will have.

kbin works on sockets for it's messing from memory, but I haven't dug to deeply into it

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gamencode 13 points 3 years ago

It's a good idea to keep it stable but I will have you know that updated jerboa users can no longer login to your instance.

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darkmatterstyx 1 point 3 years ago

Can't log in, or get the annoying pop-up? I'd rather wait till the full upgrade is ready than have the sever go down twice in a week.

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Parsnip8904 5 points 3 years ago

Jenora crashes every few minutes or lesser after the update. practically unusable right now

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darkmatterstyx 4 points 3 years ago

Hmm.. I've been using Jerboa since I signed up about a week ago. It's not perfect, but the only problems I had was last night when my router and access points went offline to update...

Also, I have been using Jerboa for the last 10 hours with minimal bugs...

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gamencode 0 points 3 years ago

Can't login at all.

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AB7ORH7D 12 points 3 years ago

How does one know when their instance is updated?

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Martineski 3 points 3 years ago

Idk how to do it on the jerboa but on web when you scroll to the very bottom you can see the version

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TechnoBabble 1 point 3 years ago

When your feed stops being broke I'd guess.

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Sabakodgo 1 point 3 years ago

If you are on web version scroll down and there is something like "BE: 0.17.4".

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gadgetzombie 12 points 3 years ago

Sounds like a good update, a couple of days shouldn't matter but I can see both sides to it, people want the latest and greatest but also if there are any issues that's not great as more people migrate to Lemmy

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SwingingKoala 11 points 3 years ago

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foni 10 points 3 years ago

Updating now and closing new user registrations for a few days is an option? I understand that it would be a problem, but it is supposed to take a few days

In any case what you decide well done will be

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knowncarbage 2 points 3 years ago

Seems a shame to close new user registrations during a period of rapid growth and mass exodus from Reddit.

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lodion 9 points 3 years ago

FWIW I've upgraded aussie.zone to 0.18 and encountered no isses, apart from the removed captcha support. But my instance isn't huge by any means.

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SirEDCaLot 9 points 3 years ago

I sat wait. Right now Lemmy and this instance are working and usable. IDK why they'd pull captcha given the number of spam bots but that's worth waiting for IMHO especially if it's only a few days.

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sneakyninjapants 6 points 3 years ago

I remember reading through a discussion in which the dev popped in to explain their reasoning, maybe a Github issue? but yeah, if it will only be a few days work to implement a different capcha, probably better to wait.

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SirEDCaLot 4 points 3 years ago

I don't get why not wait a few days for the release then? If the problem is that easy to fix, is there some other issue that needs to be released ASAP?

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sneakyninjapants 2 points 3 years ago

That's just what they decided to go with. I think it was a decent decision given the usability and stability problems that were made apparent when people started coming in droves during the blackouts. Now instance operators have a choice; upgrade and lose captcha temporarily (those with email verification and applications less affected here), or wait for 0.18.1 when it's slated to be implemented.

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rlhe 8 points 3 years ago

I don't see any wrong answer; both options have advantages. Personally, we've already waited this long, what's another few days?

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sarsaparilyptus 5 points 3 years ago

It's another few days with websockets, broken sorting, a front-page-breaking bug, and no 2FA. Plus the site is even more broken for everybody running the latest version of Jerboa till 0.18.0 gets installed.

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SilentStorms 5 points 3 years ago

I just updated Jerboa and now it won't let me login due to us not being on 0.18.0 :( Not the end of the world if its just gonna be a couple of days, the (buggy) web version exists. But damn, was so used to Jerboa.

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rlhe 4 points 3 years ago

All fine points and I can't argue against those! Just my personal preference where I don't mind being miserable for another few days, particularly in the case where important anti-bot features are missing.

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sarsaparilyptus 4 points 3 years ago

I have to disagree with the last point, turning on email verification will do fine at preventing bots, especially since the reason captchas are being removed is that the Lemmy devs say they don't work properly anyway.

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rlhe 3 points 3 years ago

Oh, interesting! I didn't know the captchas were crap (how I feel about captchas anyway) on Lemmy. TIL. Seems like upgrading now has more benefit then; carry on and ignore me.

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Venutianxspring 6 points 3 years ago

I think it's smart to wait it out the few days. With all of the bots assembling, better safe than sorry so this place doesn't get flooded

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Sabakodgo 5 points 3 years ago

I would update; no websockets and links are really nice. BUT captcha is really important.

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sarsaparilyptus 6 points 3 years ago

It's kind of important, they currently don't work properly anyway and email verification will do the same thing.

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riley 4 points 3 years ago

I love it that this instance works. Can you wait for eager people to work out the kinks before updating?

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darkmatterstyx 5 points 3 years ago

This is a major Lemmy upgrade, The FYFM server already asked/discussed upgrading taking the server off for a while, or wating another couple days until the full update was ready.

If you're worried about the Jerboa warning, just hit cancel, it still works just fine (still has bugs as is still in Alpha) life is better, smile and have fun!

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_totally_toasted_ 2 points 3 years ago

is there any update about a native dark mode or user interface upgrade?

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Dee 1 point 3 years ago

Unfortunately none of the comments I've made from my instance are federating anywhere since I update.

Two factor is nice, however having it not create a barcode is a bit of a pain. You can create one locally if you install qr through pip (I'm sure there are many other ways but that one worked well for me). Just pip install qr. Once it's installed just type qr and paste the link given through lemmy. Worked for adding it to Aegis on my phone.

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Usernameblankface 1 point 3 years ago

I keep seeing stories about the amount of bot accounts flooding in. I think better not have a weakness for bots to exploit at a moment where the site is getting a lot of new attention.

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