Redsunlib

An alternative private front-end to Reddit, a fork of Redlib with some ^_(minor) function and cosmetic changes.

Disclaimer

There are rapid changes/features in this fork that can^(will) change without notice. If you want to host this version, be aware that it's likely to break at some point. I still wouldn't recommend it in a production environment unless you know what you're doing. Or like living on the edge.......

I would also like to thank the maintainers and contributors of both Redlib and Libreddit for all the work they did while I just added some low quality tacky features. ❤️

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Table of Contents

1. Redsunlib
   • Disclaimer
2. Table of Contents
3. Instances
4. About
   • The Name
   • Built with
   • How is it different from other Reddit front ends?
     • Teddit
     • Libreddit
5. Comparison
   • Speed
   • Privacy
     • Reddit
     • Redlib
       • Server
6. Deployment
   • Docker
     • Docker Compose
     • Docker CLI
   • Binary
     • Running as a systemd service
   • Building from source
7. Configuration
   • Instance settings
   • Default user settings

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Instances

Warning

🔗 Currently public Redsunlib instance are not available, consider using a redlib instance if you are not comfortable running your own

You are more than welcome to host an instance and submit an issue if you want it added. That is, if you've read the Disclaimer and it's within your "personal risk tolerance." ;)

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About

Redlib hopes to provide an easier way to browse Reddit, without the ads, trackers, and bloat. Redlib was inspired by other alternative front-ends to popular services such as Invidious for YouTube, Nitter for Twitter, and Bibliogram for Instagram.

Redlib currently implements most of Reddit's (signed-out) functionalities but still lacks a few features.

The Name

Red sun in the sky + Redlib = Redsunlib

And at the time, I was reading an excerpt from Mao Zedong, so the name seemed appropriate. But paradoxically named since Reddit is basically the sinophobia capital of the internet :/

Built with

• Rust - Programming language
• Hyper - HTTP server and client
• Askama - Templating engine
• Rustls - TLS library

How is it different from other Reddit front ends?

Teddit

Teddit is another awesome open source project designed to provide an alternative frontend to Reddit. There is no connection between the two, and you're welcome to use whichever one you favor. Competition fosters innovation and Teddit's release has motivated me to build Redlib into an even more polished product.

If you are looking to compare, the biggest differences I have noticed are:

• Redlib is themed around Reddit's redesign whereas Teddit appears to stick much closer to Reddit's old design. This may suit some users better as design is always subjective.
• Redlib is written in Rust for speed and memory safety. It uses Hyper, a speedy and lightweight HTTP server/client implementation.

Libreddit

While originating as a fork of Libreddit, the name "Redlib" was adopted to avoid legal issues, as Reddit only allows the use of their name if structured as "XYZ For Reddit".

Several technical improvements have also been made, including:

• OAuth token spoofing: To circumvent rate limits imposed by Reddit, OAuth token spoofing is used to mimick the most common iOS and Android clients. While spoofing both iOS and Android clients was explored, only the Android client was chosen due to content restrictions when using an anonymous iOS client.
• Token refreshing: The authentication token is refreshed every 24 hours, emulating the behavior of the official Android app.
• HTTP header mimicking: Efforts are made to send along as many of the official app's headers as possible to reduce the likelihood of Reddit's crackdown on Redlib's requests.

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Comparison

This section outlines how Redlib compares to Reddit in terms of speed and privacy.

Speed

Last tested on January 12, 2024.

Results from Google PageSpeed Insights (Redlib Report, Reddit Report).

Performance metric	Redlib	Reddit
Speed Index	0.6s	1.9s
Performance Score	100%	64%
Time to Interactive	2.8s	12.4s

Privacy

Reddit

Logging: According to Reddit's privacy policy, they "may [automatically] log information" including:

• IP address
• User-agent string
• Browser type
• Operating system
• Referral URLs
• Device information (e.g., device IDs)
• Device settings
• Pages visited
• Links clicked
• The requested URL
• Search terms

Location: The same privacy policy goes on to describe that location data may be collected through the use of:

• GPS (consensual)
• Bluetooth (consensual)
• Content associated with a location (consensual)
• Your IP Address

Cookies: Reddit's cookie notice documents the array of cookies used by Reddit including/regarding:

• Authentication
• Functionality
• Analytics and Performance
• Advertising
• Third-Party Cookies
• Third-Party Site

Redlib

For transparency, I hope to describe all the ways Redlib handles user privacy.

Server

• Logging: In production (when running the binary, hosting with docker, or using the official instances), Redlib logs nothing. When debugging (running from source without --release), Redlib logs post IDs fetched to aid with troubleshooting.

• Cookies: Redlib uses optional cookies to store any configured settings in the settings menu. These are not cross-site cookies and the cookies hold no personal data.

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Deployment

This section covers multiple ways of deploying Redlib. Using Docker is recommended for production.

For configuration options, see the Configuration section.

Docker

Docker lets you run containerized applications. Containers are loosely isolated environments that are lightweight and contain everything needed to run the application, so there's no need to rely on what's installed on the host.

Docker images for Redsunlib are available at our Gitea container registry, currently only with support for amd64, if you need arm64, or armv7 platforms you can either build Redsunlib yourself or open an issue :)

Docker Compose

Important

These instructions assume the Compose plugin has already been installed. If not, follow these instructions on the Docker Docs for how to do so.

Copy compose.yaml and modify any relevant values (for example, the ports Redlib should listen on).

Start Redlib in detached mode (running in the background):

docker compose up -d

Stream logs from the Redlib container:

docker logs -f redlib

Docker CLI

Deploy Redlib:

docker pull git.stardust.wtf/iridium/redsunlib:latest
docker run -d --name redlib -p 8080:8080 git.stardust.wtf/iridium/redsunlib:latest

Deploy using a different port on the host (in this case, port 80):

docker pull git.stardust.wtf/iridium/redsunlib:latest
docker run -d --name redlib -p 80:8080 git.stardust.wtf/iridium/redsunlib:latest

If you're using a reverse proxy in front of Redlib, prefix the port numbers with 127.0.0.1 so that Redlib only listens on the host port locally. For example, if the host port for Redlib is 8080, specify 127.0.0.1:8080:8080.

Stream logs from the Redlib container:

docker logs -f redlib

Binary

Currently binaries are not supplied at this moment but will be at some point in the future but can be built from source

Copy the binary to /usr/bin:

sudo cp ./redlib /usr/bin/redlib

Deploy Redlib to 0.0.0.0:8080:

redlib

Important

If you're proxying Redlib through NGINX (see issue #122), add

proxy_http_version 1.1;

to your NGINX configuration file above your proxy_pass line.

Running as a systemd service

You can use the systemd service available in contrib/redlib.service (install it on /etc/systemd/system/redlib.service).

That service can be optionally configured in terms of environment variables by creating a file in /etc/redlib.conf. Use the contrib/redlib.conf as a template. You can also add the REDLIB_DEFAULT__{X} settings explained above.

When "Proxying using NGINX" where the proxy is on the same machine, you should guarantee nginx waits for this service to start. Edit /etc/systemd/system/redlib.service.d/reverse-proxy.conf:

[Unit]
Before=nginx.service

Building from source

To deploy Redsunlib with changes not yet included in the latest release, you can build the application from source.

git clone https://git.stardust.wtf/iridium/redsunlib && cd redsunlib
cargo run

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Configuration

You can configure Redlib further using environment variables. For example:

REDLIB_DEFAULT_SHOW_NSFW=on redlib

REDLIB_DEFAULT_WIDE=on REDLIB_DEFAULT_THEME=dark redlib -r

You can also configure Redlib with a configuration file named redlib.toml. For example:

REDLIB_DEFAULT_WIDE = "on"
REDLIB_DEFAULT_USE_HLS = "on"

Note

If you're deploying Redlib using the Docker CLI or Docker Compose, environment variables can be defined in a .env file, allowing you to centralize and manage configuration in one place.

To configure Redlib using a .env file, copy the .env.example file to .env and edit it accordingly.

If using the Docker CLI, add --env-file .env to the command that runs Redlib. For example:

docker run -d --name redlib -p 8080:8080 --env-file .env git.stardust.wtf/iridium/redsunlib:latest

If using Docker Compose, no changes are needed as the .env file is already referenced in compose.yaml via the env_file: .env line.

Instance settings

Assign a default value for each instance-specific setting by passing environment variables to Redlib in the format REDLIB_{X}. Replace {X} with the setting name (see list below) in capital letters.

Name	Possible values	Default value	Description
SFW_ONLY	["on", "off"]	off	Enables SFW-only mode for the instance, i.e. all NSFW content is filtered.
BANNER	String	(empty)	Allows the server to set a banner to be displayed. Currently this is displayed on the instance info page.
ROBOTS_DISABLE_INDEXING	["on", "off"]	off	Disables indexing of the instance by search engines.
PUSHSHIFT_FRONTEND	String	undelete.pullpush.io	Allows the server to set the Pushshift frontend to be used with "removed" links.
PORT	Integer 0-65535	8080	The internal port Redlib listens on.
ENABLE_RSS	["on", "off"]	off	Enables RSS feed generation.
FULL_URL	String	(empty)	Allows for proper URLs (for now, only needed by RSS)

Default user settings

Assign a default value for each user-modifiable setting by passing environment variables to Redlib in the format REDLIB_DEFAULT_{Y}. Replace {Y} with the setting name (see list below) in capital letters.

Name	Possible values	Default value
THEME	["system", "light", "dark", "black", "dracula", "nord", "laserwave", "violet", "gold", "rosebox", "gruvboxdark", "gruvboxlight", "tokyoNight", "icebergDark"]	system
MASCOT	["BoymoderBlahaj", "redsunlib" ... Add more at ./static/mascots]	(none)
FRONT_PAGE	["default", "popular", "all"]	default
LAYOUT	["card", "clean", "compact", "old", "waterfall"]	card
WIDE	["on", "off"]	off
POST_SORT	["hot", "new", "top", "rising", "controversial"]	hot
COMMENT_SORT	["confidence", "top", "new", "controversial", "old"]	confidence
BLUR_SPOILER	["on", "off"]	off
SHOW_NSFW	["on", "off"]	off
BLUR_NSFW	["on", "off"]	off
USE_HLS	["on", "off"]	off
FFMPEG_VIDEO_DOWNLOADS	["on", "off"]	off
HIDE_HLS_NOTIFICATION	["on", "off"]	off
AUTOPLAY_VIDEOS	["on", "off"]	off
SUBSCRIPTIONS	+-delimited list of subreddits (sub1+sub2+sub3+...)	(none)
HIDE_AWARDS	["on", "off"]	off
DISABLE_VISIT_REDDIT_CONFIRMATION	["on", "off"]	off
HIDE_SCORE	["on", "off"]	off
HIDE_SIDEBAR_AND_SUMMARY	["on", "off"]	off
FIXED_NAVBAR	["on", "off"]	on