4 ms·

That is why I stick to OSS like Linux, Thunderbird, nextcloud, etc. as much as possible. I got locked into a closed source platform once and it was a pain to ge

That is why I stick to OSS like Linux, Thunderbird, nextcloud, etc. as much as possible. I got locked into a closed source platform once and it was a pain to get out of it. I will never let it happen again.

joe563323 10y ago
And for email ?
- setq 10y ago
  The parent poster is correct and it's a good assertion. I'm doing the same thing, even though I'm using Windows as a base operating system, primarily for convenience at this point in time. Email is very portable if you keep it in a place you control. You're pretty much just paying for a collection and caching service if you use POP3/IMAP and store your important folders locally. That is portable in a couple of hours between hundreds or thousands of different companies who operate standard protocols. And then there's the possibility of running your own MX with postfix/dovecot etc if you really want.
- distances 10y ago
  I'm myself using a non-profit email redirection service as my main e-mail address. They do not provide an email box, just the redirect, so they can keep the service lean with a very modest one-time fee for new members. This allows me to change the actual e-mail provider when needed. I already moved (successfully) away from Gmail, and I'm currently considering moving again as the spam protection of my current paid-for email service isn't that great. I think the redirection service is ingenious. Sadly it isn't available worldwide, so I won't advertise it here, but I'm sure there are others like that.
  - icebraining 10y ago
    How does it work for sending, though?
    - distances 10y ago
      Sent via the email provider, but I'm using clients that can set a custom "From" and/or "Reply-To" header fields, containing of course the redirecting address.
      - icebraining 10y ago
        Thanks for your answer. What about DKIM? Are you forgoing it, or do your clients have support for signing the emails?
        setq 10y ago
        As an anecdote, I've never used DKIM or even SPF and have no delivery problems from my domain.
        distances 10y ago
        To be frank I haven't even thought to consider DKIM, so I guess it's fair to say it hasn't been a problem. This is a private e-mail address with quite low number of outgoing e-mails, so hard to say how universal my experience on this is.
- TheGrumpyBrit 10y ago
  I have a DigitalOcean droplet running Postfix, which provides edge security and a private IP, but no storage. All my mail is routed through this droplet across a VPN to my home Exchange server. Exchange backups are encrypted and stored on Amazon Cloud Drive. Yes, there's a reliance on cloud services for backup storage, but the only time I'd need the offsite backup is if my home servers both became unavailable for some reason. I'm happy with taking the chance that, if that happens, it won't happen at the same time as Amazon closing my Cloud Drive account. I admit though, this is probably over the top for most people. I do it because email is my job, so it's useful to have my own servers for testing stuff.
smonff 10y ago
Self storage is fine but does it guaranty long term documents safety? I am very sceptical about my ability of maintaining it on the long term.
- pmlnr 10y ago
  I have a home server, which is then mirrored to a rented server. Anything critical and entirely irreplaceable goes onto blu-ray disks, because I can't accidentally delete those; though those are kept at home as well, which is not ideal. So: 2 backups, from which one is off-site and archives, just in case - this should keep you going for a while with self storage.
  - Kristine1975 10y ago
    >Anything critical and entirely irreplaceable goes onto blu-ray disks, because I can't accidentally delete those There's bit-rot though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_degradation#Decay_of_storage_media https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_degradation#Decay_of_stor...
    - pmlnr 10y ago
      I'm aware of that too well; blu-ray, however, is slightly better than the predecessors: even the current, non-archival grade single layer Panasonics should - according to some accelerated tests - last 5-10 years. Now, looking at the current ideas from Sony[1], within 8-10 years every data I ever had will need 1 disk, so I'm not worried. [1]: http://www.computerworld.com/article/3057889/data-storage/sony-cranks-up-optical-disc-storage-to-33tb.html http://www.computerworld.com/article/3057889/data-storage/so...
      - hobarrera 10y ago
        Blu-ray? Really? Sure, they may last, but, will you have a blu-ray reader? I've worked in IT for over ten years, and have not once, once seen a blu ray in person, or ever handled a machine capable of reading one. It'd be incredible afraid to have my backups in something that requires some expensive exotic device to be written/read. You'd be much better off with USB sticks.

joe563323 10y ago

And for email ?

setq 10y ago
The parent poster is correct and it's a good assertion. I'm doing the same thing, even though I'm using Windows as a base operating system, primarily for convenience at this point in time. Email is very portable if you keep it in a place you control. You're pretty much just paying for a collection and caching service if you use POP3/IMAP and store your important folders locally. That is portable in a couple of hours between hundreds or thousands of different companies who operate standard protocols. And then there's the possibility of running your own MX with postfix/dovecot etc if you really want.
distances 10y ago
I'm myself using a non-profit email redirection service as my main e-mail address. They do not provide an email box, just the redirect, so they can keep the service lean with a very modest one-time fee for new members. This allows me to change the actual e-mail provider when needed. I already moved (successfully) away from Gmail, and I'm currently considering moving again as the spam protection of my current paid-for email service isn't that great. I think the redirection service is ingenious. Sadly it isn't available worldwide, so I won't advertise it here, but I'm sure there are others like that.
- icebraining 10y ago
  How does it work for sending, though?
  - distances 10y ago
    Sent via the email provider, but I'm using clients that can set a custom "From" and/or "Reply-To" header fields, containing of course the redirecting address.
    - icebraining 10y ago
      Thanks for your answer. What about DKIM? Are you forgoing it, or do your clients have support for signing the emails?
      - setq 10y ago
        As an anecdote, I've never used DKIM or even SPF and have no delivery problems from my domain.
      - distances 10y ago
        To be frank I haven't even thought to consider DKIM, so I guess it's fair to say it hasn't been a problem. This is a private e-mail address with quite low number of outgoing e-mails, so hard to say how universal my experience on this is.
TheGrumpyBrit 10y ago
I have a DigitalOcean droplet running Postfix, which provides edge security and a private IP, but no storage. All my mail is routed through this droplet across a VPN to my home Exchange server. Exchange backups are encrypted and stored on Amazon Cloud Drive. Yes, there's a reliance on cloud services for backup storage, but the only time I'd need the offsite backup is if my home servers both became unavailable for some reason. I'm happy with taking the chance that, if that happens, it won't happen at the same time as Amazon closing my Cloud Drive account. I admit though, this is probably over the top for most people. I do it because email is my job, so it's useful to have my own servers for testing stuff.

smonff 10y ago

Self storage is fine but does it guaranty long term documents safety? I am very sceptical about my ability of maintaining it on the long term.

pmlnr 10y ago
I have a home server, which is then mirrored to a rented server. Anything critical and entirely irreplaceable goes onto blu-ray disks, because I can't accidentally delete those; though those are kept at home as well, which is not ideal. So: 2 backups, from which one is off-site and archives, just in case - this should keep you going for a while with self storage.
- Kristine1975 10y ago
  >Anything critical and entirely irreplaceable goes onto blu-ray disks, because I can't accidentally delete those There's bit-rot though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_degradation#Decay_of_storage_media https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_degradation#Decay_of_stor...
  - pmlnr 10y ago
    I'm aware of that too well; blu-ray, however, is slightly better than the predecessors: even the current, non-archival grade single layer Panasonics should - according to some accelerated tests - last 5-10 years. Now, looking at the current ideas from Sony[1], within 8-10 years every data I ever had will need 1 disk, so I'm not worried. [1]: http://www.computerworld.com/article/3057889/data-storage/sony-cranks-up-optical-disc-storage-to-33tb.html http://www.computerworld.com/article/3057889/data-storage/so...
    - hobarrera 10y ago
      Blu-ray? Really? Sure, they may last, but, will you have a blu-ray reader? I've worked in IT for over ten years, and have not once, once seen a blu ray in person, or ever handled a machine capable of reading one. It'd be incredible afraid to have my backups in something that requires some expensive exotic device to be written/read. You'd be much better off with USB sticks.