#1 2025-10-16 05:32:44

johnraff

nullglob

From: Nagoya, Japan

Registered: 2015-09-09

Posts: 12,874

Website

Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

Now that Imgur is inaccessible in the UK,
https://forums.bunsenlabs.org/viewtopic.php?id=9568
we have to think about suitable alternatives to use in our built-in utilities like the "quick screenshot and upload" item in the menu. (Unless the UK issue is worked out.)

Things to consider:

1) free
2) available world-wide
3) anonymous upload possible
4) access via an api, so scripts can use it
5) no extra nasty privacy issues

Please post suggestions! (It might turn out to be impossible to satisfy all the above conditions...)

Here's a random bunch I turned up yesterday:

https://postimages.org/
https://postimages.org/plugins/fluxbb
https://imgbb.com/
https://api.imgbb.com/
https://catbox.moe/ # catbox probably blocked in many countries
https://catbox.moe/tools.php
https://gist.github.com/MineBartekSA/1d … 9b4fb06591
https://litterbox.catbox.moe/
https://hostr.co/

And a lot of people on this forum are already using:
https://imgbox.com

also:
https://bashify.io/

Last edited by johnraff (2025-10-29 02:56:35)

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PackRat

jgmenu user Numero Uno

Registered: 2015-10-02

Posts: 2,723

Re: Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

I've been using imgbox because the thumbnail image scales to show the entire image. The imgbb site is nice, but the thumbnails are cropped.

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ceeslans

Member

Registered: 2015-09-30

Posts: 200

Re: Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

+1

MarkW

Member

Registered: 2024-11-03

Posts: 360

Re: Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

I've been using imgbox because the thumbnail image scales to show the entire image. The imgbb site is nice, but the thumbnails are cropped.

This ^

brontosaurusrex

Middle Office

Registered: 2015-09-29

Posts: 2,760

Re: Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

I've been using imgbox because the thumbnail image scales to show the entire image. The imgbb site is nice, but the thumbnails are cropped.

Looking at the imgbox.com site, there is no mention of any kind of upload API, is there one? (Sure, we can work around that, but ...)

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unklar

Back to the roots 1.9

From: #! BL

Registered: 2015-10-31

Posts: 2,764

Re: Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

I only consider the following to be practical:

postimages
imgbb

and
catbox
litterbox

which I am not yet familiar with and will try out. Thanks for the links @johnraff.

Everything else is contaminated with ***gugel***.

It's not that imgur is to blame. The EU is also working on a so-called CSA regulation, and at the moment, only Germany is standing in the way of its mandatory implementation.

In the long term, the BL forum will face this problem again and again until we can forget about ‘image hosting’. 

PackRat

jgmenu user Numero Uno

Registered: 2015-10-02

Posts: 2,723

Re: Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

I've been using imgbox because the thumbnail image scales to show the entire image. The imgbb site is nice, but the thumbnails are cropped.

Looking at the imgbox.com site, there is no mention of any kind of upload API, is there one? (Sure, we can work around that, but ...)

I don't know, and have never looked for one. I don't use auto-uploading for images because I like to proof them first for personal info or flaws.

Edit - Based on your other thread, you seem to have found one.

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MarkW

Member

Registered: 2024-11-03

Posts: 360

Re: Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

Some forums have self hosting for small files like images.  But I imagine the cost of the server space needed would be prohibitive. And does this forum software even allow for such a thing anyway?

hhh

Gaucho

From: High in the Custerdome

Registered: 2015-09-17

Posts: 16,396

Website

Re: Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

I use imgbox. I'm pissed when I forget to choose 'scale'. Especially when I don't have the delete url and I think "Great. More Internet cruft."

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hhh

Gaucho

From: High in the Custerdome

Registered: 2015-09-17

Posts: 16,396

Website

Re: Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

Yeah, I'm uploading scrots to imgbox on a new carbon install, so firefox doesn't have an adblocker extension added yet. They've got pROn ads, not really the look we want?

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johnraff

nullglob

From: Nagoya, Japan

Registered: 2015-09-09

Posts: 12,874

Website

Re: Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

Some forums have self hosting for small files like images.  But I imagine the cost of the server space needed would be prohibitive. And does this forum software even allow for such a thing anyway?

Another reason not to jump into self-hosted images is the legal liability aspect.

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micko01

void main()

From: Queensland, Australia

Registered: 2024-04-07

Posts: 559

Website

Re: Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

There is a gtkdialog adblocker that runs locally using /etc/hosts. I'll dig around to see if we can shoehorn it into BL somehow. While imgbox is good for the pics it can be slow and the ads are a nuisance.

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./bunsen

johnraff

nullglob

From: Nagoya, Japan

Registered: 2015-09-09

Posts: 12,874

Website

Re: Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

Looking at the imgbox.com site, there is no mention of any kind of upload API, is there one?

I don't know, and have never looked for one. I don't use auto-uploading for images because I like to proof them first for personal info or flaws.

Having an API means that people can write scripts to save users the multiple clicks involved in navigating to the host web page and providing the image file to upload. It doesn't necessarily mean the image has to be uploaded automatically (although it could).

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...elevator in the Brain Hotel, broken down but just as well...
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Introduction to the Bunsenlabs Boron Desktop

johnraff

nullglob

From: Nagoya, Japan

Registered: 2015-09-09

Posts: 12,874

Website

Re: Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

While imgbox is good for the pics it can be slow and the ads are a nuisance.

That's what I liked about imgur. Fast (for me anyway) and you can link directly to the full-sized image, bypassing all the ads etc. But such direct links are unprofitable for the hosts, so Imgur might well phase them out anyway.

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...elevator in the Brain Hotel, broken down but just as well...
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Introduction to the Bunsenlabs Boron Desktop

bendingoutward

New Member

Registered: 2025-09-30

Posts: 4

Re: Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

While imgbox is good for the pics it can be slow and the ads are a nuisance.

That's what I liked about imgur. Fast (for me anyway) and you can link directly to the full-sized image, bypassing all the ads etc. But such direct links are unprofitable for the hosts, so Imgur might well phase them out anyway.

Not that I'm necessarily in a position to offer such a thing in the near future, is this the basic wishlist? Rather, would this be enough (with the assumption being that worldwide and free are kind of a given in my mind)?

• Anonymous image posting API

• Direct image links (cdn alright?)

• No ads (this might be an easy feature if I'm allowed not to have a proper UI)

• No intrinsic privacy concerns (how about anonymous only? no user system)

Last edited by bendingoutward (2025-10-21 09:35:33)

brontosaurusrex

Middle Office

Registered: 2015-09-29

Posts: 2,760

Re: Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

@bendingoutward, that + all the potential legality issues. p.s. And probably GDPR compatible policy of some sort.

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Jimbo_G

Member

From: France

Registered: 2017-05-12

Posts: 330

Re: Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

Maybe we could use this service to convert images into ASCII art and never have to worry about image hosting ever again

https://www.asciiart.eu/image-to-ascii

I'm sure that would work perfectly for screenshots!

MarkW

Member

Registered: 2024-11-03

Posts: 360

Re: Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

DeepDayze

Like sands through an hourglass...

From: In Linux Land

Registered: 2017-05-28

Posts: 1,921

Re: Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

Bummer that there are countries that are blocking access to image hosting sites and there's not much can be done about it, but creating duplication and hassles for those who are within such countries to access images and attachments hosted on those sites that can't be accessed.

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johnraff

nullglob

From: Nagoya, Japan

Registered: 2015-09-09

Posts: 12,874

Website

Re: Image hosting services suitable for BL forum users

Bummer that there are countries that are blocking access to image hosting sites...

That is a bummer indeed, but it's not what is happening with Imgur in the UK. The UK Information Commissioner's Office plans to fine Imgur for some child protection violations, and  the company made a business decision to cease providing service to the UK. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gzxv5gy3qo

There's no guarantee that other international web services, especially image hosting, won't run into issues like that in the future.

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...elevator in the Brain Hotel, broken down but just as well...
( a boring Japan blog (currently paused), now on Bluesky, there's also some GitStuff )

Introduction to the Bunsenlabs Boron Desktop