
Use AWS Lambda to self-host your A/B tests - gingerlime
http://blog.gingerlime.com/2016/a-scaleable-ab-testing-backend-in-100-lines-of-code-and-for-free/
======
stephenr
This is another weird use of the term 'self host'. It usually means something
that you can host yourself on a platform you choose - being reliant on a
service that only a single vendor provides is a pretty long stretch to "self
hosted".

~~~
gingerlime
Agree, but what _is_ true self-hosted these days anyway? You'd need an
Internet connection? Power? Did you build your own computer? I can go on... :)

Compared to using an A/B testing service like VWO or Optimizely, I think this
fits in the self-hosted category.

EDIT: the blog post actually mentions a few viable alternatives to AWS Lambda.
It is developed primarily with AWS Lambda in mind, but porting it to another
platform is actually trivial.

~~~
stephenr
> Agree, but what is true self-hosted these days anyway?

Software that can be installed and run on computers that I choose, without
outside dependence.

If someone can't run the software on a private network without internet
access, it isn't self-hostable.

~~~
gingerlime
As it happens, you can do this with gimel with tiny modifications to the code.

~~~
stephenr
So, as I said. It isn't self-hostable.

It has the _potential_ to be made self-hostable, but potential is not the same
as current state.

~~~
gingerlime
Sorry, but I don't really understand the negativity and nitpick here.

I, and I think many others, will consider it self-hosted. If it doesn't fit in
your environment, then the code is dead simple to modify and make self-
hostable.

~~~
stephenr
> Sorry, but I don't really understand the negativity and nitpick here.

It's quite simple: you're claiming something that is factually incorrect.

Your second sentence is just confusing, because if it were truly self-hostable
already, there would be no need to modify it, to make it self-hostable.

So, which is it, self-hostable already, or "dead simple" to make self-
hostable?

~~~
gingerlime
It _is_ self-hostable already in my book (and I believe many others).

For those who think it isn't self-hostable - I'm sorry if my definition
somehow doesn't fit with your world view. You are still free to use the code
and make it fit in whichever definition of self-hostable you believe to be
factually correct.

I presented not one, but several alternatives to hosting it, and all of them
require only minor modification to the code.

I think I was clear and upfront about the benefits and limitations of this
solution. Splitting hairs over self or not self hostable seems like nitpicking
to me.

