
Show HN: Minerva – Better Email. Offshore Mailpile and secure managed server - sushimako
https://www.minervafabric.com/
======
oskarth
I clicked through all the way, the last step being pretty much: "get a server
now".

I was met with this:

 _Got it. What happens next? We currently develop and test the Minerva Fabric
with a very limited set of friends & specialists.

Once we feel confident in the current iteration, we'll make new servers
available on a rolling basis. Rest assured that you'll be among the first who
can reclaim their privacy._

MVP and all, I get that. But why are you submitting it to HN when there's
nothing there?

It's not done. This is just an email form to collect interest. This dilutes
the value of "Show HN" posts.

~~~
sushimako
> It's not done. This is just an email form to collect interest. This dilutes
> the value of "Show HN" posts.

I honestly didn't mean to abuse the Show HN. We trying to gather any interest
and feedback from the beginning. I filed it under "show hn" to show that the
people behind this are here and actively following the comments for feedback
and questions.

In case this is considered show-hn spam and/or and a misinterpretation of the
Show-HN Etiquette, i hope the mods will strip off the "Show HN" from the
title.

------
bobwaycott
It says it's built on Mailpile[1,2], but Mailpile says on it's own github
project page that it is "still experimental and isn't very useful yet."[3]

Slightly confused how this can then be something to charge for at this time if
it's UI is built atop something that is self-professed experimental and not
useful.

But pricing is there, and there's nothing in the language to indicate I can't
jump on this ship right now, including a _Download for free_ option.

Click _Configure $39_ button. Okay, asking for email address & where I'd like
to have Minerva setup. Hong Kong sounds fun. And I want to use my own domain.
But wait. _Request server_? Odd word choice for proceeding with configuration.

Let's backup a step and click download instead. Wanna check out the code and
whatnot so I can see what all is going on that I'd have to support if I do it
myself--and I sometimes like doing it myself for certain things. Trusting a
third-party for email security & privacy has, let's say, taken a big hit
recently.

Click _Download for free_ and ... there's no actual download. It's an email
signup form to request a server. Odd wording for a free download, isn't it?
_Request a server_? I can't really request a server to download. I'm supposed
to be doing setup myself, so I need software, right?

Decided to drop an email address in anyway to 'request a server' for the
configure-your-own option, and it appears it's an invite list--with no prior
copy indicating it was an invite-only thing.

Not exactly a good approach here, Minerva.

[1]: [http://cl.ly/image/030u0i200a1N](http://cl.ly/image/030u0i200a1N)

[2]: [http://mailpile.is](http://mailpile.is)

[3]: [https://github.com/pagekite/Mailpile#welcome-to-
mailpile](https://github.com/pagekite/Mailpile#welcome-to-mailpile)

~~~
sushimako
We're still at a very early stage. We tried to approach it in a way to see if
people would show any interest in case there's the outlook of a finished
product, not only a "This Could Be". We're sorry for the confusion this caused
and hope to make up for it when we launch.

Re: free download, we will release most of our technological stack that will
be running on your mail-stack if you pay us. So eventually you actually could
(and hopefully will, if you can) setup the same thing we're offering yourself.
But in case you don't want to have the hassle seeting it up AND keeping it
up2date and managed, you will have the option to pay us for that part. It will
still run on a dedicated VM (or maybe physical HW) that's dedicated for you
and that you can take and move anytime you want (we will not ever lock you in,
i can promise that right here and now)

~~~
bobwaycott
That is not a good enough excuse.

If you are at an early stage and using other software that is at an early
stage, then say so completely up front the way Mailpile does.

As a sibling comment stated, you've completely diluted the value of Show HN by
throwing up a link to something you cannot even show.

If you want to gauge interest, then do it the way everyone else does--put up
clear, unmistakable language that says you're at an early stage, in
development, not ready to really take anybody at all on, and have a single
email signup for receiving future info and/or early invite access.

That is how you make things clear. Here, you just farmed an email address in
what, for me, amounts to a dishonest transaction by not having anything at all
to provide me as part of the exchange at this time.

Don't apologize for "confusion" that was intentionally created. There is
practically no chance you could have developed this site and not discussed how
it was going to leave people with all these call-to-actions that had zero
action behind them.

Potential users shouldn't have to figure this out for themselves.

EDIT:

Seriously, "in case there's an outlook of a finished product"? Good grief. If
you're just launching trial balloons, respect interested users and HN enough
to state that explicitly.

This is a joke.

You received a signup for an address from @restorethe4th.com. Please remove it
from your email list.

~~~
sushimako
We removed your email from the list and changed the wording of the buttons to
make it clearer that this is WIP.

~~~
junto
How is it any clearer? The first button says "Download for free" and the
second button after entering your email says "Request Server".

The first button should say "tell me when this becomes available" and the
second should say "register my interest" or something similar.

------
gilrain
A one-sentence pitch isn't enough to get me to click a button which looks and
feels like taking an action. I'd rather see at least a short paragraph go into
a bit more detail, first.

As it is, the homepage is basically a splash screen. That might even be okay,
but making the only interaction a button that implies it takes an action makes
me feel like I need to make a yes/no decision on your product before I even
have a good feeling for what it is.

~~~
sushimako
You're right. We changed the button-wording to make it more obvious there's
more information hidden behind it instead of only a signup link. (Waiting for
the cache to invalidate/expire)

------
x0x0
Unless I misread entirely, your price is $39/mo. That's just not happening for
personal email. I value my time, but I already have a vps and you're charging
$500/year. And I'm even willing to pay for email; I already pay $2.50/mo via
tuffmail.

~~~
sushimako
The quoted price is not for a single email account, but for the whole setup on
a dedicated machine/vm. You're free to use up all the resources your machine
has available, we will not introduce any arbitrary limits.

If you know 15 friends/co-workers that you want to share your private, secure
mail-setup with, you're already below the 2,5/mon and have the assurance that
your email and userdata will never be mined or even looked at by a provider.
You will be able to move your mails (or even the whole VM dump) somewhere else
anytime.

You basically pay for managed hosting of your own complete mail-stack, without
any vendor lock-in.

~~~
x0x0
oh, cool

------
jameshart
Why is there a large Philips logo on the metal block on the splash page?

