I’m just mildly curious. I know this isn’t the self hosting chan, but how many of you self host services as part of your efforts to retain your privacy, security, and anonymity?

I’ve been self hosting something for decades now. I got really started back in the PreNapster era. I ran an independent, selfhosted, fully licensed, internet radio outfit. That was back when music on the internet was a lot of cheap, tinny, geocities, midis. LOL I worked with a company called IM Radio Networks. They and Phillips, developed one of the world’s first bookshelf stereo, that was internet ready. Hook it up to the internet, and you could listen to AM/FM and IM radio. I’ve often mused that if it weren’t for Shawn Fanning, the music landscape on the internet might look a bit different as he forced the music industry to reevaluate how they did business.

Now, I self host a ton of stuff just for my own needs. It’s an enjoyable, purposeful, hobby, that keeps me busy. It’s also, so very educational, and I learn new things daily.

ETA: Man it does my heart good to meet and greet privacy minded users who also self host. It is an integral part of my privacy, anonymity, and security posture. If you aren’t already, or are thinking of self hosting, do it! You don’t need massive racks in the closet that dim the lights on reboot. A simple NUC or even RPi are quite capable of serving up services. You don’t need a Tier 1 feed from your ISP. Keep it simple and basic and work up from there to meet your needs.

Thanks again to all those who responded and shared their experiences.

  • termaxima@slrpnk.net
    81·
    2 days ago

    Self hosting looks interesting, but I’d generally rather keep things offline. Even as a software developer, I value simplicity, and most online “services” I find entirely superfluous ; self hosted or no.

    Jellyfin ? How about a big external drive with movies on it, just plug it into your viewing device of choice.

    Hosting my notes ? I take my notes on physical paper. (Loose sheets, because notebooks have the same scaling issues computer notes have. Sometimes I just want to splay everything out on the table and do big picture work. That’s also why I only use one side of the sheet.)

    Music streaming ? I dont even know if you can self host this one (probably yes) but I’d rather just copy the file over ; even a huge library doesn’t take that much space.

    Photos ? I just have folders on an encrypted drive, with some backups elsewhere. Though I guess Immich looks interesting…

    Documents ? Okay, I should self-host this one. For now it’s all local, on-disk (encrypted of course, there’s no good reason not to), but it can be quite inconvenient if my only copy is at home on my desktop.

    So no, I don’t self-host yet, and when I do (hopefully soon) it will be only in a limited capacity ; mostly out of a convenience concern, privacy being a distant second.