cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/49721314
I just discovered this. Has anyone tried it?
Basically, you install it on your home server and use it to stash your DRM-free games, and then install the client on your PC, Steam Deck, whatever… log in to your server and just use it like your own, selfhosted Steam app. Any PC gamer already running Jellyfin, RomM, or other selfhosted entertainment-related server might be interested in trying it, if you do… please share your experience! I’ll try it myself when I have time and post back here. If you know of any other alternatives, please share!
Self-hosted & open-source. Run Drop entirely on your own hardware. Your library, your data, your rules — all under the AGPLv3.
Rich metadata editing. Customise names, descriptions, and icons with full Markdown and image support.
Automatic imports. Pull cover art and game details straight from IGDB, GiantBomb, and PCGamingWiki.
A built-in store. Let users browse, filter, and collect games through a fully featured store.
Flexible authentication. Use simple accounts or hook into your existing SSO.
Native desktop client. Download, install, and play your whole library through a cross-platform desktop client.
Available for Windows, Mac & Linux (their web page lists a deb, their github repo publishes packages for all major distros and also an Appimage)
Website:
https://droposs.org/
The github page they link has been archived over a month ago, the last release is from november last year and I don’t think much development happened in the meantime. Their website doesn’t scream up-to-date either.
Did I miss something?
They seem to have moved the client into the main repo.
I see, then the website is probably just very out of date. The main repo hasn’t seen a release in a while either, so it might still be the latest available version.
That’s only true for the client app that they link to from their website. However, on their GH org, if you go to another repo with a similar name, and then go to releases, you’ll see a newer version only with source code packages, no binaries. Maybe they archived their old client and are in progress of a full client re-write ? Sorry I can’t link to it, I’m on mobile.
… That sounds interesting. Especially if it can go and fetch all of the installers for me to have a local repo of my own.
Alright lemmy, tell me how vibecoded this is and whether I should or shouldn’t use it.
Apparently not:
We have a no-AI contributions policy. This is because, generally speaking, LLMs generate code that, while may work, is poorly organised and difficult to maintain.
…and the fact that their website uses AI generated templates, colours, fonts, call to action sure makes me believe that uncritically :/
I don’t care to spelunk their code base, but the old “how you do one thing is how you do everything” adage comes to mind.
EDIT: fwiw
…and the fact that their website uses AI generated templates, colours, fonts, call to action sure makes me believe that uncritically :/
You check the source code of the website, or is that just the vibe that you get from it?
I agree that my first reaction to the website was also that this might be AI generated, but on a second look it doesn’t seem so clear to me.
Awesome!
Looks like human steered, AI assisted. Nothing wrong with that but by all rights it should get 1) disclosure 2) [AIT] tag, if OP is dev
At the very least, it deserves more than just a naked URL drop without explanation.
Edit: fwiw
I haven’t done a deep dive, but on the surface, I haven’t found Claude as contributor. So, if it is vibe coded, it’s not obvious for me, I’m not a dev.
I’ve tried it before. I didn’t like it much. It was not very good at matching games to my set even with metadata in the filenames. Also, the AppImage simply fails to run on NixOS because of assumptions it makes about the system running it. I’ve been using Gamevault instead which has been great especially since they added a way to access Gamevault and download games through just a web browser.
Interesting! Thanks for sharing!
https://github.com/Phalcode/gamevault-app/issues/560
unfortunately the website has no gamepad support, we may add something like this in the future if you request it: https://www.voorhoede.nl/en/blog/navigating-the-web-with-a-gamepad/
But i can’t promise anything, as of now
I think this would definitely make sense as soon as we have native Tauri builds of our application instead of web-only.
Nice! This would be great.
Meanwhile, I hope someone codes GameVault plugin for Open Gamepad UI. That would close the loop perfectly!
native Tauri builds
“Native” and “Tauri” can’t stay in the same sentence
I wonder if they plan to incorporate a moonlight server (or any form of streaming), so you could test a game without having to download it, so long as the admin host has it installed.
I know other tools out there do that already, but it would be nice if it was all in one. I’m also surprised they compare themselves to Steam/Epic when DRM-free is GoGs whole thing
Games On Whales offers this functionality, would be cool if it integrated with something like this or GameVault
I wonder if they plan to incorporate a moonlight server (or any form of streaming), so you could test a game without having to download it, so long as the admin host has it installed.
IDK, but you could easily bake that into the docker container. EDIT: I’m wrong. You would have to add it to the client actually. The server doesn’t play games. Sorry for the confusion.
surprised they compare themselves to Steam/Epic when DRM-free is GoGs whole thing
I guess because they are more mainstream, people are more aware of Steam and Epic than GOG.
I guess because they are more mainstream, people are more aware of Steam and Epic than GOG.
Totally, I was just hoping for a shoutout. If they are pro DRM-free games, they are in an obvious position to promote the store that is… DRM-free
Absolutely agreed. This is a perfect match for GOG. If this is any good, I hope someone writes a plugin that uses the GOG CLI to automate pulling from GOG and stashing the games, ready to be served through Drop alongside your other games.
I’m also surprised they compare themselves to Steam/Epic when DRM-free is GoGs whole thing
I get the feeling that a lot of the motivation for developing something like this is to play “DRM-free” games that weren’t originally that way. 😉
I’m not sure how a self hosted alternative to steam would work… The entire appeal is kinda that its not self hosted.
I wish I could play online games. There are so many titles that really look like a whole lot of fun.
I wish you could too
Thanks. I appreciate the solidarity. ;)
Why can’t you?
I have a seizure condition brought on by a traumatic brain injury, and really intense, fast moving graphics will cause me to roll around on the floor like I’m trying out a new breakdance move, and eat my tongue. LOL I used to play Cities: Skyline which was a really in depth game when you really get into it kind of like Minecraft, which I used to be heavily into.
Shit, that’s terrible. Here’s hoping that one day your grey matter can rewire itself in a way that allows you to enjoy games or blinking lights again without side effects
Shit, that’s terrible.
Nah bro…no worries. That’s life. My number came up on the 'ol Wheel Of Fortune. Shit happens. You either learn to be flexible or get snapped off at the ankles.
Plenty of online games that don’t do that. Hell, you can play chess online. Any turn-based game shouldn’t have fast-moving graphics, for a start.
True, and I do play chess. When I said ‘I wish I could play games’ what I meant was all the really cool stuff with intense graphics. Sorry.
As someone physically capable of playing games with the blinky shiny lights, they aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. My top two games atm are Manor Lords and MENACE, both of which should be perfectly accessible to you.
Ehh, they’re meh. Give me a Stardew Valley or a Minecraft any day over something like Valorant or Call of Black Dutyfield 12
Maybe there’s some kind of filter software that could limit the visual whiplash. Like you can adjust brightness and contrast on the monitor, but maybe there’s some other software that could add motion blur to fast changes, kind of like volume leveling in audio. Even if a game doesn’t support it, you might be able to use something like ReShade or some system software. Just spitballing, you know your body better than I do.
My hesitation in experimentation is the fact that seizures can be fatal. SUDEP as it is known. Plus, when I have a seizure, I’m down for 3 or 4 days. It’s that mentally and physically exhausting. So, I will just be envious of all you gamers and live vicariously. LOL But I really would like to play.
Real Time Strategy
which I used to be heavily into
So you can’t play minecraft anymore? Not even by changing the accessibility settings? You have my condolences <3
It’s unclear to me – does it have any kind of wine or proton integration?
Yes, they have it documented in their docs. It uses UMU, just like every other major FOSS launcher out there.
So this would allow you to self-host a library of open-source games and have people connect to it with their Steam like clients to always have the latest version installed and so on?
Getting relatively non-technical people to install the correct versions for multiplayer games is a real pain without something doing it for them like with Steam.
Absolutely! You could serve FOSS games, Abandonware, GOG games, whatever you want. And access them from anywhere, anytime. Pretty much like Plex / Jellyfin but for PC Games.
That actually seems like a really cool application for it.
My first thought, rather cynical, was “I kinda hope this doesn’t just become a way to serve a mirror of stolen games at scale.” That would be sad.
But also I’m sure the bandwidth that’d take would be quite prohibitive anyway.
Serving LAN / multiplayer games to friends and family, with the right patches and stuff applied, sounds excellent.
UT2k4, War/StarCraft, Mobile Forces, Metal Fatigue, Warsow, Battlefield, Nerf Arena Blast…
Could even do some real vintage stuff like Rainbow Six or Deus Ex’s multiplayer mode LOL.
I tried to think of niche things you probably wouldn’t find on GameRanger haha. (Geeze I haven’t used that in ages…wonder if it’s Linux friendly?)
I didn’t see an obvious link to the source code, so here it is for those interested: https://github.com/Drop-OSS/drop
“A built-in store” … but, eh, isn’t it “your DRM-free games”?
Isn’t it just a lobby for social features and an overlay for your list installers/installed games?I tested out v0.3 mid last year.
Essentially the store contains all games the admin has setup on the server. A user then subscribes to a game from the store, which adds it to their library, ready for download. There’s no transaction or anything like that.
Store probably isn’t the best terminology to use, but I guess they’re trying to mirror steam as closely as possible for adoption purposes.
Thanks
I guess it could be useful to discover and download open-source and drm-free freeware games.
I don’t know, that gives me the creeps though… unless they mean my own games “store”.
The server part seems to be container-only. That’s a shame if you’re aware of iso27002 or SLSA.
Non-sysadmin here, I could only find some generic info on ISO 27002/27001, what does it say about containerized applications?
ISO 27002 is a guidance and reference document for the ISO 27001 standard. There is no ISO 27002 certification. Organizations that wish to be ISO 27001 certified only have to follow the requirements listed in the ISO 27001 standard, not ISO 27002.
Regardless, I just reviewed the latest releases (ISO 27001:2022 and ISO 27002:2022). There is no mention of containers or containerization within ISO 27001. Containerization and virtualization are both mentioned within the 27002 reference, as a potential method of isolating confidential data. If anything, the document is recommending the use of containers as a preventive control measure.
I’ve seen similar comments regarding this. I’m a noob selfhoster. I would be very grateful if you could explain the concept.
?? Containers can be ISO 27002 compliant, they don’t have a control against them to my knowledge
