(attempt to cross-post from /c/programming )
Idea: Scrape all the posts from a subreddit as they’re being made, and “archive” them on a lemmy instance, making it very clear it’s being rehosted, and linking back to the original. It would probably have to be a “closed” lemmy instance specifically for this purpose. The tool would run for multiple subreddits, allowing Lemmy users to still be updated about and discuss any potential content that gets left behind.
Thoughts? It’s probably iffy copyright-wise, but I think I can square my conscience with it.
Update: as per the feedback, I have acquired a separate instance, and started coding. Just tonight I managed to clone some posts from a subreddit to it. - I’m intentionally being vague because I will probably wipe and reset the communities on there a couple of times, and that messes up federation.
The goal is to have all the communities be read only for non-mods (and the only mod will be the admin and bots), but to also have a separate request community where anyone can request subreddits to be cloned. I’ll keep updating this post here - still figuring all of this out as I go along :)
Hey I LOVE this idea! I had it myself but I can’t code for nuts, so glad to see someone else trying it out.
Question: how can we follow your progress? Are you thinking of creating a dedicated community/website to share updates? If one already exists then do let me know, I’d love to stay connected.
EDIT: As for copyright/concerns…if the goal is to preserve information, then maybe you have some way to pseudonymise usernames as part of the script. Or even remove usernames completely, as we’re focusing on the comments.
I prefer pseudonymising, as you can replace real usernames with fake ones, so that it’s still possibly to follow who’s replying to whom within the context of a comment thread.
Still in testing mode, but I’ll keep putting on this page. Once it’s ready to go live, I’ll be sure to create a new post.