this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2026
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technology

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On the road to fully automated luxury gay space communism.

Spreading Linux propaganda since 2020

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(posting on an alt b/c I'm probably gonna end up doxing myself and i don't want my banger memes tainted by my being a fed irl)

Hi!

I made a lil webapp that I'm looking to get early feedback on.

Basic idea is to have a library of things made up of stuff that individuals are willing to lend out.
Alternatively, it's like craigslist/fb marketplace but for borrowing stuff.

This was inspired by my local org managing the same concept in a spreadsheet, and I thought that a UI on top would make it more usable (and hopefully prompt more folks to join in).

General concepts:

  • Users add things they're willing to lend
  • Users join groups and share things with folks in that group
  • View and request things that other folks have shared

Goals:

  • Help folks save money and (hopefully) build community
  • Easy to start new group (can start with immediate neighbors or friends)
  • Easy to add folks to existing groups (e.g. new members in an org)
  • Visibility controls for different levels of trust (lend your jewelry to friends but not strangers)

How to test:

  • Link: https://mutual-aid-library.vercel.app/
  • Create an account
    • There's no email verification, so feel free to just use a made up email address
    • To add things, you'll need to go to 'my profile' and add name & contact info, then 'add new thing'
    • If you don't want to create an account, you can log in with email hexbear@hexbear.net, password pigpoopballs
  • idk poke around. Create a group. Join a group. Add a thing.
  • Please don't do malicious stuff. It'll probably work, and I'll be sad.

Feedback requested:

  • If nothing else, just a thumbs up/down would be nice
  • Is there something like this already?
  • Is working on this more a waste of time?
  • Would this be something useful to you personally?
  • Do you think others would use it?
  • What should be added/removed/changed?

Some of the best feedback I could get is "don't continue this for reason," or "direct your energy to project instead."
I'm fully expecting this to go nowhere outside of my org, so don't worry about hurting my feelings.

Actually, worry a little bit. Like don't call me stupid or something. But you can criticize the app. Constructively.

Thank you!

Known issues

  • Many! The app is pretty shit atm
  • UI is dumb
  • Inefficient as all hell
  • Group admins can leave groups w/o a succession plan
  • Group admins can't kick group members
  • A single 'contact info' field isn't right
  • Likely full of security holes
  • Location stuff needs work - searching, fuzzing, filtering, etc
  • Vibe coded. I don't like it either, but I don't know how to do fronted stuff and it's just for a proof of concept.
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[โ€“] RedWizard@hexbear.net 2 points 11 hours ago

Having a system to mark things as borrowed or in-use would be good. I like the idea for a requests board as well. Looking for lawn mower type stuff.

People might want to know if the thing needs to be transported and who will do that. Transport by Owner / Transport by Borrower type status.

I remember using an app way back when called Bill Monk which was basically a reconciliation app. Like, Bob owes Bill $10 but Bill owes Frank $20 and Frank owes Bob $15, it effectively helped settle up peoples balance. In this case, I think the simplest settlement would be for Bill to pay Bob and Frank $5 as that would break everyone even. There are a lot of ways to solve that problem.

Typically it was used to settle up if people paid for others at a dinner or some such.

Might be outside the scope of the project but could be an interesting thing to play around with.

[โ€“] plinky@hexbear.net 2 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

doggirl-thumbsup maybe embrace more anarchist logic for kicking people out (also share all doesn't seem to work, but maybe that's default account being used).

I think i've heard of similar stuff, but anyway, maybe add requests for stuff, so turn it into kinda fulfillment thingy (maybe as a separate negative-donation mutual help, or call it darkside of the moon switch between requests and availability), people may not be super familiar with needs or have something they can lend they forgot about.

(and i think map should be fuzzed to cities or towns by geographical center, just remove precise location, let people talk it out)