Some people get into self hosting just because they’re interested in the mechanics of it, but many people I think got inducted by the fact that for example, Facebook or snapchat make it so difficult to save your own pictures or migrate to another service, or the possibility that Google is reading all of your emails, etc. Others may have been radicalized by a specific event, such as a service provider closing up business and therefore you lose your data.

For me, it was Spore com. I loved Spore, from the time I got it for my 10th birthday to maybe the age of 16 or 17 I poured hundreds or probably thousands of hours into this game. As I got older I became less invested in the gameplay and more invested in the creative aspect of it. I designed some badass creatures and spaceships that I was really proud of. I had a whole line of Spaceships that all served different roles in my head cannon, with different races of aliens following different themes.

EA/Maxis/whoever runs Spore now purged all of them from spore.com, and now they’re gone. Years of my childhood essentially put into a locked box and the key thrown away. For me it was like losing a scrapbook in a fire. What right did they have?

So I ask, What radicalized you?

  • sarinkhan@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    2 years ago

    I started self hosting around 2003-2005. I had a dsl modem that could be switched to a router by doing some hack. I did it, then wrote a how to. Then wanted to host the site. I had to use the hack I made to host the site about the hack. Then a few years back (5, at most 10) I discovered docker stuff on my open mediavault Nas. Started self host lot of stuff.

    Last straw is recently, when I rebuilt my homelab. I discovered services like twingate, so I could access my Lan stuff securely from anywhere. Once I watched Plex from outside easily I think I became a lost cause for many services.

    I now feel like I can do almost anything I want myself. I got fiber 2 years ago perhaps, with gig symmetrical, so it also made many stuff possible. Bthe internet can be my Lan. I can now have my stuff working as I want, and access it anywhere.

    And if I can’t have a reliable mobile connection outside, I can still have stuff replicating on my laptop or whatever.

    I’d say what made me a full on self hosting fan is the combination of amazing technologies available to us. Deploying a stack with docker-copose up -d is insanely cool. Also many self hosted apps are so cool, I don’t know if there is even a paid equivalent.

    Data helps me become better :manage groceries with grocy. Manage money with firefly iii. Write structured docs with bookstack. Organize stuff with Kannan. Do loads with nextcloud.

    Those stuff help me manage my life. Even relationships, old friends I forget to call, there is Monica to manage stuff like that.

    Those apps are developed by real people, that want to address a need. Unlike most commercial apps, that want to create one and make you pay for stuff monthly, have you watch ads all the time, etc… I really love those self hosted apps. Home assistant, man… It was a game changer. Say a life changer. It made me develop domotics products. It grew my skills. Now I use it to get my energy consumption in check. It kept my aquariums alive at some point.

    All of this… All of this is the good stuff. And also, I feel a sense of belonging. Those people, they are my people. All of you guys and gals, I love y’all :)