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by mayop100·13y ago·view on hn ↗
[Firebase founder here] We weren't trying to be disingenuous with the title. Keep in mind that basically any web technology, including P2P ones, do actually use servers. If you're using a domain name, for example, you're probably going to use a DNS server. If you're using Google Analytics or any other addon in a web page, you'll be using their servers. If you're on a 3G connection your data is probably being proxied by a server somewhere. Even BitTorrent has trackers. The list goes on...

Our point is that you don't need to run a server. You can treat Firebase like you treat DNS -- a service that is there for you to use but that you don't need to operate.

2 comments
So wait, is Firebase 100% free? If it is, I kind of see the argument you're trying to make. If not, the user is PAYING for a server (or part of one) to host a critical part of what makes their video app work.

The big problem is that moving most of your app logic to the front end does NOT necessarily make it serverless. In the case for this WebRTC project, it relies less on the server than the Google demo, but you still have a server. This is why many folks (including myself) are thinking that the title is a bit disingenuous.

We'll have a free plan, but in general, no it's not free. Neither is DNS though (it's free for the end user of course, but not the developer, just like Firebase).
Cloudflare would never say (and never has said) "meet serverless DNS", because I'm still paying for a DNS server somewhere over at Cloudflare. Sure, it's a different server, but we are still paying (basically the same amount, if not more) for a server.

The title of this post should be "meet a more client heavy version of WebRTC", because that's what it is.

I challenge you to find a way to use fewer servers... WebRTC depends on them for signaling. We're just providing a tool to make that easier.

See: http://www.html5rocks.com/en/tutorials/webrtc/basics/

"In the real world, WebRTC needs servers..."

Exactly - the title should be "here's an easier way to do WebRTC with less backend code, less servers, and more frontend code", not "meet serverless WebRTC". Can you appreciate the difference between these two statements?