Comment by sccxy
1 month ago
That must be worst website ever made.
Zero information available on mobile.
I thought it is some kind of portfolio site that does not work on mobile.
1 month ago
That must be worst website ever made.
Zero information available on mobile.
I thought it is some kind of portfolio site that does not work on mobile.
Not a mobile issue. I am on desktop and had no idea what this service was because nothing on the initial UI explained what we were looking at. I went and double-checked when people here were talking about pricing and VMs. From the home page, I figured it was some text-based game or experiment and closed the page.
It looks like some people who work there are watching this thread, so to them I say: You have got to explain what this is, not just say "the disk persists..." and expect people to dig deeper. Most aren't that curious.
>From the home page, I figured it was some text-based game or experiment and closed the page.
Same, my first thought was that it's some pentesting game where you're given a VM and your task is to somehow break it. The line "the disk persists. you have sudo" sounds like game rules.
It's odd to see how people are not accustomed to plain websites anymore. You click the 'About' link in the footer, and get a direct explanation of what it is, pricing and the entire documentation.
why do we need to click anything? Why wouldn't the relevant information be there in the initial view?
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Given that this is an AD for the ten millionth VPS service, it should be upfront about the value proposition. Most people think its a game or something interesting and when they find out what it is they're disappointed. You dont want people associating that with your brand.
Even the 'About' page doesn't have much information either though
All the About page contains is:
> exe.dev is a subscription service that gives you virtual machines, with persistent disks, quickly and without fuss. These machines are immediately accessible over HTTPS, with sensible and secure defaults. You can share your web server as easily as you can share a Google Doc. With built-in optional authentication, so you can focus on your thing.
> Your VMs share CPU/RAM. Create as many VMs as you like with the resources you have.
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What is the purpose of the landing page of this site, if it conveys nothing? Sure, 'about' explains what it is, but then from there I need to go back to a page that's called 'all docs' to see the link to pricing.
Don't defend this. It's not plain. It's obtuse.
A properly designed plain site will have the following text front and centre on it's hero:
"virtual machines in the cloud with persistent disks and sudo, starting from $20/month."
You truly, honestly believe that to be the real problem? Come on. You don't need to do whatever this is.
[dead]
The website has a huge `ssh exe.dev`, so I'd expect that running that works, but:
Why put an SSH command in a huge banner if I have to go around and register before I can use it anyway?
you don't need to register the key. just have some sort of key.
I thought it was one of those game sites where you had to "hack" it every step of the way to advance the next level.
It's kind of funny our experiences are so diffent. I almost immediately surmised it's some sort of on the fly generated vm you can access via a ssh jumpserver. Which it is! It's actually really neat. It's quite obvious that the authors want us to just ssh into it and try it out first.
> I almost immediately surmised it's some sort of on the fly generated vm you can access via a ssh jumpserver
How? It just says `ssh exe.dev`. Unless you are clairvoyant.
"ssh exe.dev" is exactly the Linux command you would use to connect there via ssh. And it's stylized like command prompt.
18 replies →
You are not the target audience if "how" was not apparent to you
6 replies →
Yep, with no privacy policy published.
Exactly.
Agree, I finally found information via
Homepage -> blog -> docs -> "all docs" button:
https://exe.dev/docs/list
Which has an about and pricing etc.
That is very counterintuitive to just find out what this is.
I wouldn’t go that far but some link to pricing and documentation would be useful. I have absolutely no idea what the offering is here without those pieces of info.
Their pricing page says that it's currently a free trial.
https://exe.dev/docs/pricing
That link isn’t really easy to find from the home page is a large part of the gripe here. You have to click About in the footer, remain curious enough to click All Docs on that page (which Pricing isn’t usually a part of “docs”), then all you get is a Pricing paragraph that says “Plan options for individuals, teams, and enterprises.” Not very helpful until you realize the heading text “Pricing” is a plain colored link to this pricing page with more info. The whole UX of this site is garbage and what has fostered so many gripes here.
Yeah. I managed to backtrack my way to the pricing through the about page.
It's really annoying when you're interested in a product but can't find a price.
I was confused too. I first thought I should open up my terminal and just enter `ssh dev.exe` and this would be some kind of ssh-based interface? Honestly my first thought is that it would be one of those cool dev hack / art projects like the old starwars traceroute to 216.81.59.173
It didn't read as a company with products at all to me from the front page. Just a cryptic " The disk persists. You have sudo." with links to "Login" and "About * Blog * Discord" --- no pricing link, which made me think it was a weird hobby / art.
ssh exe.dev works
The exact text on mobile is
> ssh exe.dev
> The disk persists. You have sudo.
I've seen enough of these kinds of services in my lifetime that I also immediately knew what it was, for example sdf.org, which is one of the OG services, and various "tilde" services like tilde.town.
I thought the same, but it’s not quite like either of those things. It has their same benefits but way more flexibility with its VM model. It offers auth, and will forward most ports for developer access.
All this was totally lost on me from looking at the website. “I already have tilde and sdf, I don’t need this.”
If I hadn’t looked into the comments I would still think that.
I can see
> ssh exe.dev
> The disk persists. You have sudo.
on mobile
It is showing non-stop loading blink but nothing happens.
And cannot open keyboard if that is needed. It is like big CTA but does not do anything.
Very strange landing page for maybe cool product.
It’s not a loading blink, it’s just some text telling you what the service is
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That as my first thought too. Landing page may as well be an empty page
Hyperbole much? I'm on mobile and think it's great. I wish more websites were like this. Just straight to the point instead of all the regular marketing fluff you need to decipher.
pricing information and what it does/how it works is not marketing fluff
It is not ”to the point”.
I thought it was a web game.
Agreed. Target audience will understand instantly
This thread seems to reflect how the HN audience has shifted — less commenters know what `ssh example.com` does and more commenters concerned about privacy policy.
i'm not sure what you mean; the demo runs with the ssh command in the centre, there's an 'about' link at the bottom, and that links to a docs index
it's fiine i think
Come on guys, it literally says 'ssh exe.dev'
Yeah, and it really is not I would want to do, just like diving into unknown water that sparkles weird.. It's an instinct, can get past it but to get more info about the service... nah.
That's okay, you're not in the target audience is all.
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It would be funny if it was literally the best website I've seen in like a year...
... which it is.
Did you try clicking one link into "about" and reading one paragraph of text?