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How can people honestly self-host though? Mail for example, is hard to self-host, I do wonder though if this is a good use for something like (calm down) blockc

How can people honestly self-host though? Mail for example, is hard to self-host, I do wonder though if this is a good use for something like (calm down) blockchain? Where we all just run a light weight piece of kit like a rasberry pi and host a hub which runs a mesh network and messages are passed over that automatically encrypted with your private key which can also be retrieved over the network.

kulikalov 3y ago
It seems possible to create separate tiny devices for different applications and sell them prepackaged. The installation process would look like plugging it into electrical outlet and connecting to your local Wi-Fi. Redundancy can be achieved using close friends and family devices of the same class.
renegat0x0 3y ago
I am running a set of SBCs, but I read that it is better to use one server [1]. I suppose one could go with a VM, or portainer, or Yacht, or some other software to visualize everything. Right now I am using a set or solutions: * email * [2] * files * using NextCloud * blog * using Hugo * news * using my own RSS reader * pihole * to filter things What I consider to use in the future * pictures * using photoprism * citadel * I found some sort of suites like citadel. Not sure if that works, if it is good, or if it fits my needs at all [3]. At the first glance seems like a fun project. Links: [1] https://specbranch.com/posts/one-big-server/ https://specbranch.com/posts/one-big-server/ [2] https://github.com/LukeSmithxyz/emailwiz https://github.com/LukeSmithxyz/emailwiz [3] https://www.citadel.org/ https://www.citadel.org/ All in all it is time consuming to setup up, and update regularly.
- adql 3y ago
  For me it was mostly one time setup cost and once-every-2-years Debian upgrade. unattended-upgrade does the security upgrades and I occasionally upgrade the rss reader (as it is not packaged) mail was pretty much fire-and-forget postfix+dovecot on file config, no DB for list of accounts + some catchalls. If I had to pay say $5 for each of those services vs pay myself to manage that it would more less come out the same, minus ability to fix any little annoyances I had directly vs hoping cloud provider gives an option for it. I do use syncthing for file sync so no annoying dealings with PHP apps
crispyambulance 3y ago
> How can people honestly self-host though? They can't or won't. ...and the ones that do are an insignificant drop in the bucket in terms of numbers. Unless "self-hosting" one's digital infrastructure can become easy and off-the-shelf for non-tech folks (or even tech folks that value their time and effort), it just not going to happen.
RamenJunkie_ 3y ago
Mail isn't hard. There are several one click mail set ups for docker or a VPS. I ran Mail in a Box for years and never even had to look at it because it was all self updating, unlike my webserver, which I had to remeber to go update occasionally.
- ensocode 3y ago
  Can you recommend a specific one?
alentred 3y ago
> I do wonder though if this is a good use for something like (calm down) blockchain I think you might have meant distributed and decentralized systems in general. But the answer has nothing to do with technology. We have all the decentralized technology we need (long before blockchain by the way), even e-mail is somewhat decentralized (well, at least distributed), yet it doesn't solve the problem by itself.
ryandrake 3y ago
Mail is not hard to self-host. There is a one-time setup toil you need to just sit down and get past, but then… it just sits there working. I’ve self-hosted Email for over a decade, on a $5/mo Linux VPS running Debian, exim, and dovecot. Multiple domains, multiple users, SSL, SPF, DKIM, the works. Since Email doesn’t cost anything in terms of computing load, I do light duty web hosting from the same box. $5 a month to not have to rely on the graces of megacorps to function on the internet. Even if you’re scared of Linux and writing exim.conf, there are more or less turnkey docker containers out there and whatnot too. I can’t recommend one because I think docker is pointless for a single host running a few applications.
- twelve40 3y ago
  it's pointless to self-host mail (except for backups maybe) because 99% of your normal-life recipients are likely to be on Google and the content of your emails will be ingested by the big brother anyway.
  - ryandrake 3y ago
    My reason for self hosting is not to keep my data away from BigTech. That’s a fight nobody can win anymore. The reason I do it is that E-mail is often the only identity on other services I use (it’s often the only way to reset your passwords), and I feel it is too risky to be dependent on a megacorp for my identity, a megacorp who may decide out of the blue to suspend my account for no reason. I’m dependent on my VPS provider, but I have backups and can take my Debian config with me to a different one. Or bare metal if I have to. I’m dependent on my DNS registrar and haven’t figured out a good way to mitigate that risk. Besides that, that’s it.
    - uselpa 3y ago
      I agree about identity, but this can also be accomplished by "owning" your domain and using a mail provider that allow you to use it. Even Apple does nowadays.
- flagrant_taco 3y ago

kulikalov 3y ago

It seems possible to create separate tiny devices for different applications and sell them prepackaged. The installation process would look like plugging it into electrical outlet and connecting to your local Wi-Fi. Redundancy can be achieved using close friends and family devices of the same class.

renegat0x0 3y ago

I am running a set of SBCs, but I read that it is better to use one server [1]. I suppose one could go with a VM, or portainer, or Yacht, or some other software to visualize everything. Right now I am using a set or solutions: * email * [2] * files * using NextCloud * blog * using Hugo * news * using my own RSS reader * pihole * to filter things What I consider to use in the future * pictures * using photoprism * citadel * I found some sort of suites like citadel. Not sure if that works, if it is good, or if it fits my needs at all [3]. At the first glance seems like a fun project. Links: [1] https://specbranch.com/posts/one-big-server/ https://specbranch.com/posts/one-big-server/ [2] https://github.com/LukeSmithxyz/emailwiz https://github.com/LukeSmithxyz/emailwiz [3] https://www.citadel.org/ https://www.citadel.org/ All in all it is time consuming to setup up, and update regularly.

adql 3y ago
For me it was mostly one time setup cost and once-every-2-years Debian upgrade. unattended-upgrade does the security upgrades and I occasionally upgrade the rss reader (as it is not packaged) mail was pretty much fire-and-forget postfix+dovecot on file config, no DB for list of accounts + some catchalls. If I had to pay say $5 for each of those services vs pay myself to manage that it would more less come out the same, minus ability to fix any little annoyances I had directly vs hoping cloud provider gives an option for it. I do use syncthing for file sync so no annoying dealings with PHP apps

crispyambulance 3y ago

> How can people honestly self-host though? They can't or won't. ...and the ones that do are an insignificant drop in the bucket in terms of numbers. Unless "self-hosting" one's digital infrastructure can become easy and off-the-shelf for non-tech folks (or even tech folks that value their time and effort), it just not going to happen.

RamenJunkie_ 3y ago

Mail isn't hard. There are several one click mail set ups for docker or a VPS. I ran Mail in a Box for years and never even had to look at it because it was all self updating, unlike my webserver, which I had to remeber to go update occasionally.

ensocode 3y ago
Can you recommend a specific one?

alentred 3y ago

> I do wonder though if this is a good use for something like (calm down) blockchain I think you might have meant distributed and decentralized systems in general. But the answer has nothing to do with technology. We have all the decentralized technology we need (long before blockchain by the way), even e-mail is somewhat decentralized (well, at least distributed), yet it doesn't solve the problem by itself.

ryandrake 3y ago

Mail is not hard to self-host. There is a one-time setup toil you need to just sit down and get past, but then… it just sits there working. I’ve self-hosted Email for over a decade, on a $5/mo Linux VPS running Debian, exim, and dovecot. Multiple domains, multiple users, SSL, SPF, DKIM, the works. Since Email doesn’t cost anything in terms of computing load, I do light duty web hosting from the same box. $5 a month to not have to rely on the graces of megacorps to function on the internet. Even if you’re scared of Linux and writing exim.conf, there are more or less turnkey docker containers out there and whatnot too. I can’t recommend one because I think docker is pointless for a single host running a few applications.

twelve40 3y ago
it's pointless to self-host mail (except for backups maybe) because 99% of your normal-life recipients are likely to be on Google and the content of your emails will be ingested by the big brother anyway.
- ryandrake 3y ago
  My reason for self hosting is not to keep my data away from BigTech. That’s a fight nobody can win anymore. The reason I do it is that E-mail is often the only identity on other services I use (it’s often the only way to reset your passwords), and I feel it is too risky to be dependent on a megacorp for my identity, a megacorp who may decide out of the blue to suspend my account for no reason. I’m dependent on my VPS provider, but I have backups and can take my Debian config with me to a different one. Or bare metal if I have to. I’m dependent on my DNS registrar and haven’t figured out a good way to mitigate that risk. Besides that, that’s it.
  - uselpa 3y ago
    I agree about identity, but this can also be accomplished by "owning" your domain and using a mail provider that allow you to use it. Even Apple does nowadays.
flagrant_taco 3y ago