5 ms·

I pretty darn sure I saw Sumi on Github, is there any particular reason that it's now removed? Edit: Found the repo (removed by author) and double spam threads

I pretty darn sure I saw Sumi on Github, is there any particular reason that it's now removed? Edit: Found the repo (removed by author) and double spam threads commited here on HN adveritsing how cheap it now is to subscribe to Sumi.

alexmingoia 5y ago
You’re right the source was on GitHub for a while. It’s no longer open source because people would open issues asking how to run it, or asking for features, etc. and I’d rather spend my time improving the product for the people who pay for it. It’s written in Haskell using twain, blaze-html, selda, and feed packages. I’m not sure what you’re referring to about spam threads.
- shisisms 5y ago
  Roughly how many people have you got paying for it? (Obviously don’t share if you don’t want to, but the pricing seems spot-on)
  - alexmingoia 5y ago
    Sumi.news started free, then had a lifetime deal, and last month I started charging yearly. There's about 20 grandfathered free users, a handful of lifetime deal users, and since last month I've gotten 20 paid subscribers. I've done zero marketing, except to post here and on Reddit. Ideally, I'd like to compete with Google News (I assume they will kill it off eventually). When I reach enough ARR I will be able to add more robust categorization and local news sources. A lot of news sources also require a paid subscription to their API (Reuters, AP, various local news sources).
- Vindicis 5y ago
  looks good. I made something similar just for my own use that includes short summaries of the articles using a text analyzer. How come you don't have Reuters and the AP?
  - alexmingoia 5y ago
    Paid accounts can add any custom RSS feed or newsletters. Reuters and AP killed their RSS feeds, and charge to access to their APIs. Once sumi.news earns enough revenue, I will consider purchasing their news feeds.

5 ms·

I pretty darn sure I saw Sumi on Github, is there any particular reason that it's now removed? Edit: Found the repo (removed by author) and double spam threads

by huxflux 5y ago

alexmingoia 5y ago
You’re right the source was on GitHub for a while. It’s no longer open source because people would open issues asking how to run it, or asking for features, etc. and I’d rather spend my time improving the product for the people who pay for it. It’s written in Haskell using twain, blaze-html, selda, and feed packages. I’m not sure what you’re referring to about spam threads.
- shisisms 5y ago
  Roughly how many people have you got paying for it? (Obviously don’t share if you don’t want to, but the pricing seems spot-on)
  - alexmingoia 5y ago
    Sumi.news started free, then had a lifetime deal, and last month I started charging yearly. There's about 20 grandfathered free users, a handful of lifetime deal users, and since last month I've gotten 20 paid subscribers. I've done zero marketing, except to post here and on Reddit. Ideally, I'd like to compete with Google News (I assume they will kill it off eventually). When I reach enough ARR I will be able to add more robust categorization and local news sources. A lot of news sources also require a paid subscription to their API (Reuters, AP, various local news sources).
- Vindicis 5y ago
  looks good. I made something similar just for my own use that includes short summaries of the articles using a text analyzer. How come you don't have Reuters and the AP?
  - alexmingoia 5y ago
    Paid accounts can add any custom RSS feed or newsletters. Reuters and AP killed their RSS feeds, and charge to access to their APIs. Once sumi.news earns enough revenue, I will consider purchasing their news feeds.