On Self Hosting

· ~radhitya · ⮕tech · #selfhost

Table of Contents

You might only know how to use application, but dont know how to be provide. I asked to some of my friend and most of them only know how to use apps without understanding how they works

Self-hosting is the activity of running and maintaining a service with our control. When you self-host a service, you understand how the applications works behind the scenes, control the data, and ensure privacy.

Self-hosting web services have gained popularity with the rise of free software and open source software projects that provide alternatives to various web-based services and applications, such as file storage, password management, media streaming, home automation, and more.

There is also a sizeable hobbyist community around self-hosting, made up of hobbyists, technology professionals and privacy conscious individuals.1

Self-hosting is not just an activity; it’s spirit of independence. You can build your own instance and contribute to the community.

Self Hosting: What is That?

You might only know how to use application, but dont know how to be provide. I asked to some of my friend and most of them only know how to use apps without understanding how they works

Self-hosting is the activity of running and maintaining a service with our control. When you self-host a service, you understand how the applications works behind the scenes, control the data, and ensure privacy.

Self-hosting web services have gained popularity with the rise of free software and open source software projects that provide alternatives to various web-based services and applications, such as file storage, password management, media streaming, home automation, and more.

There is also a sizeable hobbyist community around self-hosting, made up of hobbyists, technology professionals and privacy conscious individuals.1

Self-hosting is not just an activity; it’s spirit of independence. You can build your own instance and contribute to the community.

My Experience with Self Hosting

I have been inspired by left-wing movement and their online communication tools, like Riseup , Systemli , Autistici . Not only the left-wing groups, but also the free software community has embraced self-hosting. Instead of relying on big tech platform, they created their own independent spaces.

Since then, I became interested. In Indonesia, especially in my city, it is rare to find people who self-host. So I often conect with others via IRC and social media.

Now, I do a lot with self-hosting:

Blog

This blog is not Wordpress.com, Blogspot.com, or Medium. I built my own blog with a self-made theme and powered it with Hugo. That is why the blog layout may look different from typical blogs.

I write my posts as markdown file and Hugo turns them into html like you are reading now. I also avoid large file sizes to improve user experience; there are no javascript, no ads, and no large images.

Cloud

I’m not completely sure if it’s “cloud”, but i believe cloud is just another computer.

I usually save my file on my server and I use unix stuff: scp for copying files and rsync for backups.

Why not Nextcloud? Because Nextcloud too complicated for me and i prefer simplicity

Notes

I sometimes take notes using memos, a free and open source app that lets you create and share plain text notes with Markdown support.

I like it because Memos is cross-platform. I can write anywhere as long as I have an internet connection and a browser.

Email

I wanted an email with a good username radhitya@temanbsd.com so people can easily reach me. So i just self host my email.

I use Dovecot for IMAP, OpenSMTPD for SMTPD, Rspamd + Redis for prevent spam.

How Many Cost I’ve Spent?

It’s cheap; the cost is less than a cup of coffee. However, since the cost depends on the U.S. dollar, I hope the Indonesian government can better control the currency.

⚘

Questions or comments? Please feel free to contact me.