How I Self-Host
What I use
I'm probably tech-savvy in that I know my way around a comptuer via the graphical itnerfaces but I cannot code to save myself, I managed a hello world a few decades ago and that's been it ever since.
I use Yunohost via a virtual machine on an old laptop. This was the smoothest way for me to install the software without having to learn about stuff that fried my brain. I realise I could've installed Yunohost as the operating system itself but hey-ho, when the laptop finally stops working I'll upgrade the machine to a MiniPC.
Vital VM stats
- 2 cores
- 3.8 GiB of RAM
- 36 GiB of storage
I can't recall why they have those stats, except that the laptop has 4 cores, a lot more storage and 8 GiB of RAM. So there's some scope for increasing resources if required but broadly, I don't need much more except for storage for backups.
For storing backups on Yunohost I discovered there's a great way to shrink the backup process and it's by using BACKUP_CORE_ONLY which, unfortunately, is only available in the command line and not the graphical interface.
Programs installed
I have several programs installed and only one of which is to automate anything. I'll link to the yunohost catalogue for all of the apps, as their websites are on the page there.
GoToSocial A great bit of fediverse software that's amazing for single-user, or several-user, instances. Someone managed to install it on their car. I really like it, it's been super simple for me to apply blocklists and tune it to my preferred experience, like having interaction policies. I use an add-on, Streetpass for Mastodon, to stumble across people who are on Fediverse.
Phanpy Is a really cool alternative front-end for various Fediverse/Mastodon instances. It has things like the 'Boost Carousel' that gather the boosts into one spot, so you can keep up with what folk are sharing whilst keeping the main timeline filled with people's personal posts.
WriteFreely This is a really simple and easy to understand blogging platform. You type, you format with markdown and you publish. Simple.
FreshRSS With this I am able to keep upto-date with current affairs without having various “personalisation” alogrithms choosing what their organisation wants me to read. One odd bonus is you can clue into various headline click-baity strategies they use to draw you in. It all runs from RSS and I use an add-on called Feed Indicator to spot RSS or Atom feeds on various websites.
AdGuard Home This program has been a wonder. I've reduced the number of adverts that I see across my home network by an extraordinary amount. I managed to set up some DNS over HTTPS which means I can use ad-blocking on my mobile from afar and allows me to have a more stringent set of rules for Firefox. The setup looks more complicated than it was, I installed it and opened some ports via
gufwon my computer and then opened the same ports on the router. I then pointed the DNS on the router to the IP of the machine running AdGuard and within seconds it was running.Unattended Upgrades This really just makes it easy to upgrade programs without having to manually upgrade things that often. The only time I, currently, have to do so is when there's some sort of major upgrade like a kernel.
Added stuff
Reticently, I use Cloudflare for some DNS and bot-stopping stuff. I am looking to use someone else, perhaps Bunny Net, to get more of my digital footprint within Europe. Why? Probably for fidgeting reasons. I'm aware they're not good for open web, in a way, so it'll be good to get them hoofed.
That's probably everything related to the self-hosting, except the why
The Why
- I chose to self-host in part because I thought it sounded pretty awesome. Running your own tiny corner of the internet and having
the internetin a machine in a cupboard interested me a lot. - There are no adverts.
- I like that if I want to change things I can, although that often causes me more problems than it solves.
- It's also, literally, a laptop in a cupboard!
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