@Smidgybit
Indeed it is, and all free of surveillance capitalism.
And if you're feeling especially adventurous, there's the rabbit hole called #selfhosting 😍
Just ask @_elena 😄
@Smidgybit
Ha! The answer to that question is itself a rabbit hole 😄
There is no shortage on self-hosting guides (and opinions!), but you may find this rather comprehensive guide a good starting point https://binarytechlabs.com/self-hosting-ultimate-guide/
This site has good and clear tutorials on specific projects, for example Pixelfed https://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-pixelfed/
I often find my own projects are a mix of various guides, as opinions and preferences differ as much as approaches. The result is that one guide may cover everything you need, except they use Nginx as the reverse proxy, and you want to use Caddy or Traefik, and now your setup falters.
Persistence pays though, and it's HUGELY satisfying when you launch your private equivalent of a Big Tech platform, from a humble Raspberry Pi in your living room, knowing that there is ZERO tracking and profiling, and YOU hold the strings.
My first project was @snikket_im, a federated and decentralised WhatsApp/Telegram etc. alternative. I'm now in my 7th year of running it, and the sense of freedom and liberation it gave me has never gone away.
@aerion @snikket_im @_elena
Thank you so much!!! I tend to wander with the rabbits, so at least this hole is one I’m already interested in. 😄
@aerion @Smidgybit possibly unpopular opinion, but I think that discovering the fediverse and jumping into self-hosting *THE SAME WEEK* is too fast. I got into it after 2 years of Fediverse explorations. I'd recommend a slower pace of learning... otherwise it's too overwhelming.
Once you're curious and ready, there's this: https://blog.elenarossini.com/a-newbies-guide-to-self-hosting-with-yunohost/
enjoy! 🚀
@_elena
I see your point, but, while related, one does not necessarily have anything to do with the other.
The Fediverse is not more difficult than t̶r̶a̶d̶i̶t̶i̶o̶n̶a̶l̶ legacy social media, so there is no learning curve that needs to be overcome before one's ready to tackle self-hosting. Finding a suitable server, sure, thats a bit tricky when coming from centralised platforms, but once an account has been opened, posting, following, and replying work pretty much the same as any other platform.
Now self-hosting, that 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 have a learning curve, and it's surely not for everyone. It depends on one's technical expertise and/or one's willingness to learn.
Wanting to escape from, for example, Instagram, can be a great motivator to get one's hands dirty, so to speak. While still new to the Fediverse, it was my strong desire to ditch WhatsApp et al, that drove me to self-hosting, and into the arms of #Snikket.
My initial comment "next stop: Pixelfed" wasn't to do with self-hosting, but rather a reaction to the remark that Flickr had been chosen as an alternative to Instagram.
The biggest link between the Fediverse and self-hosting, is that pretty much everything on the Fediverse 𝘤𝘢𝘯 be self-hosted, and 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 is the rabbit hole I was pointing out. I also pointed out that many projects have public servers one can try out, before investing h̶o̶u̶r̶s̶ days in learning how to self-host.
@Smidgybit may well decide that it's ultimately not for them, but they showed curiosity and asked for information.
Discovering and exploring the Fediverse means two things: realising that 1) 𝘪𝘴 another way to be on social media, and 2) the choice also includes the option to be 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 in control through self-hosting.
