7 ms·

Yup. People tend to assume running your own site is difficult but running a static webserver is dead simple. As long as you don't involve all the unneeded dynam

Yup. People tend to assume running your own site is difficult but running a static webserver is dead simple. As long as you don't involve all the unneeded dynamic language and database it's secure and doesn't really need updating all the time either. 90% of people can run a static web server on their home connection and it would fulfill their every requirement (as well as solving almost all 'problems' that exist on the web). Home connections of a couple megabits are certainly fast enough for a personal site.

coldpie 7y ago
Mm, nah. Running a DNS server, choosing an HTTP server and keeping all the related software up to date is a lot to ask even of a techie. And that's not even getting into dynamic IP issues.
- superkuh 7y ago
  Why do you need to run a DNS server? My IP only changes once every few years with Comcast. I use one of the many free DNS services available online (been w/zoneedit for almost 2 decades) and set it manually when it does change. But they also support dyndns that most home routers have options to use for updates. Most webservers are very secure when they're not running php and mysql too. They have far less of a security problem than a browser executing arbitrary javascript and require updating only once a year or two, if at all.
- icebraining 7y ago
  You don't need to run a DNS server, just some utility that updates the record when your IP changes. There are many, and are quite simple to use (basic text config, or simple GUI). As for maintaining stuff updated, unattended-upgrades on a Debian or Ubuntu LTS system will keep your system patched for five years, and it's very rare that the infrastructure stuff breaks.
  - slx26 7y ago
    maybe that's the difficult part, finding the uncommon path among all the current trends, clearly distant from these "simple" proposals. it might be easy to set up if you understand how the web works, but that understanding generally comes from some real work/experience we already have, which might not be so easy to pick up. having 1000 simple ways to run a website could be much more complicated than having 2 tricky ways to run a website. specially if you don't know whether any of those ways are simple or not.
- cameronbrown 7y ago
  My website runs on a PaaS - effectively free and zero maintenance, and I can lift and shift to my own host at any time.
- tracker1 7y ago
  It's easy enough to setup and host a static site on s3 or netlify or whatever if you want to go that route. It's not that hard that a tutorial can't walk you through the steps.
ilogik 7y ago
You don't even need a home server, something like netlify or surge.sh makes it dead-simple.
- pletnes 7y ago
  If you’re a coder, what about github pages?
  - erklik 7y ago
    If your a coder, I've found netlify to be even better. Allows bit more functionality like forms, some server less functions etc.
wvenable 7y ago
I do a hybrid-static. I just use PHP to manage headers and footers but otherwise all the content is static.
z3t4 7y ago
Existing web servers such as Nginx are really good. I recommend (free)BSD as a web server, although it does have a learning curve - it is secure by default.

coldpie 7y ago

Mm, nah. Running a DNS server, choosing an HTTP server and keeping all the related software up to date is a lot to ask even of a techie. And that's not even getting into dynamic IP issues.

superkuh 7y ago
Why do you need to run a DNS server? My IP only changes once every few years with Comcast. I use one of the many free DNS services available online (been w/zoneedit for almost 2 decades) and set it manually when it does change. But they also support dyndns that most home routers have options to use for updates. Most webservers are very secure when they're not running php and mysql too. They have far less of a security problem than a browser executing arbitrary javascript and require updating only once a year or two, if at all.
icebraining 7y ago
You don't need to run a DNS server, just some utility that updates the record when your IP changes. There are many, and are quite simple to use (basic text config, or simple GUI). As for maintaining stuff updated, unattended-upgrades on a Debian or Ubuntu LTS system will keep your system patched for five years, and it's very rare that the infrastructure stuff breaks.
- slx26 7y ago
  maybe that's the difficult part, finding the uncommon path among all the current trends, clearly distant from these "simple" proposals. it might be easy to set up if you understand how the web works, but that understanding generally comes from some real work/experience we already have, which might not be so easy to pick up. having 1000 simple ways to run a website could be much more complicated than having 2 tricky ways to run a website. specially if you don't know whether any of those ways are simple or not.
cameronbrown 7y ago
My website runs on a PaaS - effectively free and zero maintenance, and I can lift and shift to my own host at any time.
tracker1 7y ago
It's easy enough to setup and host a static site on s3 or netlify or whatever if you want to go that route. It's not that hard that a tutorial can't walk you through the steps.

ilogik 7y ago

You don't even need a home server, something like netlify or surge.sh makes it dead-simple.

pletnes 7y ago
If you’re a coder, what about github pages?
- erklik 7y ago
  If your a coder, I've found netlify to be even better. Allows bit more functionality like forms, some server less functions etc.

wvenable 7y ago

I do a hybrid-static. I just use PHP to manage headers and footers but otherwise all the content is static.

z3t4 7y ago

Existing web servers such as Nginx are really good. I recommend (free)BSD as a web server, although it does have a learning curve - it is secure by default.