Editing Introduction to a Self Managed Life: a 13 hour & 28 minute presentation by FUTO software (section)

== Why Immich? ==

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==== Insanely fast ====

'''Immich''' loads &amp; scrolls through things on a core i3 NUC with an old SATA drive faster than '''nextcloud''' allowed me to on an i7-14700k with an NVME SSD. it’s snappy even on slower computers &amp; phones.

'''Nextcloud''' made the experience of browsing through images &amp; photos not on my phone so bad I stopped doing it; a flagship phone and an i7-14700k, 64 GB of RAM, and a $400 SSD wasn’t good enough to make this usable.

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==== Machine learning for image search ====

I can type ''“cat on chair”'' and have every image of a cat on a chair show up. It actually works, it isn’t half assed and full of false positives.

Immich’s machine learning features &amp; included libraries are also used for '''face detection'''. Immich can sort your images by people, so you can see every image with your dad, cousin, girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, etc.

You can [https://huggingface.co/immich-app choose the model you want to use]. The default model works best for me, but I appreciate Immich respecting my right to choose the model I want.

Immich’s machine learning is done LOCALLY. '''Immich can be blocked from connecting to the internet and all machine learning &amp; facial recognition will still work.'''

When people hear the words ''“Artificial intelligence,”'' ''“cloud,”'' &amp; ''“machine learning,”'' they hear buzzwords for processes which were supposed to be used for our benefit, but instead have become tools of data mining &amp; abusive models. These are not bad things when they are done in a freedom-respecting way. I have no problem with machine learning algorithms going through all of my photos &amp; videos &amp; knowing the names of the people in my photos, because that information will never leave my computer.

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==== Easy proxies ====

Immich supports video &amp; image proxy files. Proxies are photos &amp; videos that are further compressed. They are lower in quality, but their smaller size allows you to load them faster when you’re on a poor internet connection. I use a google pixel, so this is handy. Google pixels have horrible cellphone service &amp; reception because Google is too stubborn to use Qualcomm modems. Google decided that its users care more about [https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/1etk3l6/nothing_makes_me_less_excited_about_pixel_than/ lame AI features] than [https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/x61kee/today_i_have_measured_just_how_bad_my_pixel_6s/ having working cell service]; This is where image proxies &amp; video proxies come in handy.

'''Nextcloud''' allows image proxies(with config file editing; ew). Immich allows both ''image'' AND ''video'' proxies, so high bitrate videos can still be loaded &amp; viewed on slow internet.

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==== Ease of use ====

This program is so easy to use you’ll almost forget you’re using GNU/Linux. When I set up my Nextcloud instance, I had to edit config files to get thumbnails to work. Further, nextcloud only allows ''image'' thumbnails, but not ''video'' proxies. Not only is it more work with nextcloud to get thumbnails &amp; proxies so you have something that loads well on a slow connection - it’s not as functional. Everything here is doable within the web interface after installation, and it’s easy as can be.

This program has the easiest installation &amp; documentation I’ve found for this type of GNU/Linux software. It is useless for me to provide instructions here because [following Immich team’s instructions, this will all work perfectly(https://immich.app/docs/install/docker-compose/) with no confusion. Immich is as good as as bitwarden with regards to “just working” out of the box &amp; a big part of why I fell in love with their progam.

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