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Ask HN: Imgur Replacement

14 points by ev1 ↗ HN
They are now doing heavy cross site tracking, loading ads from dozens of domains, and no longer allow uploads unless you whitelist several ads/analytics/tracking domains that also request canvas and WebGL and microphone data. There are/were also autoplaying loud video ads "while you wait" on top of all the tracking. They load pixels from Facebook explicitly.

Is there a simple-ish alternative for the direct link occasional image upload, ideally one I can just Cmd+V into a web page?

I do this so rarely it's not worth setting up a webserver. It would be helpful to offer a few recs for non-technical friends too; it'd be ideal if it strips timestamp/EXIF data too as a side effect like imgur did.

Most of my uploads are demonstration screenshots via Snipping Tool, so they usually don't exist on the filesystem, just clipboard.

some I've tried:

- ibb.co tries their hardest to not give you a direct link, only thumbnail w/link to their site.

- photobucket and tinypic no longer exist.

- dropbox requires account and can't easily be uploaded to; requires files

- flickr, requires account, difficult to direct link; not sure if this has changed since smugmug; requires files

- deviantart, not meant for this purpose; requires account and file upload

- google photos, no direct link, requires g account

15 comments

[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 53.8 ms ] thread
SubGenius
Not quite the exact thing you want, but all image uploads on Gurlic are directly linkable. And they end up under the user's `/images` endpoint too.

For eg:

https://gurlic.com/bob/images

All exif/metadata is stripped, but there is a bit of compression. I think I'll allow high-res images if people care enough to use it. I should implement pasting/dropping images too. Didn't think of that before..

sdevonoes
What's the downside of sharing the url of the image instead?
XCSme
Having to click it? Although most messenger apps already automatically show the image if you post an image URL.
diogenesjunior
GitHub, no? Just create a repo and upload an image, direct links will work! And all of your images will be saved in an easily accessible place. - As far as your Imgur itself, I don't like where it is going. I use the site a lot, and my reputation shows that, but the annoying ads have got to go.
reader345611
Not what you are looking for, but there is ImgurViewer app on fdroid. Works well with imgur, gfycat, redgifs and more
therealmocker
I use Dropshare (https://dropshare.app) for images / screenshots, may be close to what you are looking for. Point it to an S3 bucket and whenever you clip an image it puts the URL in your clipboard.
pmiller2
What are you talking about? Unless they just recently changed it, they allow uploads for me, and I have uBlock origin plus Ghostery running.
Normille
Same here. I use Imgur to post images to a couple of forums I'm a member of. I uploaded only yesterday without any problems -and I have uBlock Origin, uMatrix and PrivacyBadger all installed.
LinuxBender
NeoCities [0] And you could use scripts + ImageMagick [1] + ffmpeg [2] to make thumbnail pages or albums for your images and videos. I do not have any links handy for making albums, but you can find them in your language of choice. The advantage to this method is that if some day [image host site] does not like you or they go out of business, you can push your albums to a different site. Most git repo sites like Github and Gitlab should also work.

[0] - https://neocities.org/

[1] - https://imagemagick.org/

[2] - https://ffmpeg.org/

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jamesponddotco
While not simple at first, I found that buying a new domain and pointing it to a storage zone within BunnyCDN[1] solved my problems with Imgur perfectly. It also provided a whole afternoon of fun for my wife and I while we brainstormed names for our personal image hosting service.

I wrote a simple wrapper script to upload[2] and have had no problems since. The script calls another script to optimize the image before uploading[3], but if you prefer to skip that part, BunnyCDN has something they call Bunny Optimizer[4] that can handle it for you on their side, for a fee ($9.50 per month).

The storage box set me back $1.92 last year plus $50 for the domain — because of the TLD —, and I can use it to do whatever I want, with no tracking, ads, or the annoying social aspect that most image hosting websites inevitably add in a desperate attempt to make money[5] — instead of, you know, charging from the get go.

[1] https://bunnycdn.com/

[2] https://git.sr.ht/~jamesponddotco/dotfiles/tree/master/.loca...

[3] https://git.sr.ht/~jamesponddotco/dotfiles/tree/master/.loca...

[4] https://bunnycdn.com/solutions/bunny-optimizer

[5] https://drewdevault.com/2014/10/10/The-profitability-of-onli...

jlelse
I wanted to suggest exactly that! BunnyCDN with storage is nice and cheap. And the API is quite easy to use.
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