What is Self-Hosting #
Self-hosting is the practice of running your own applications, websites, or services (like email, file storage, or a blog) on your own servers or hardware, rather than using a third-party provider like Google or Amazon. ~ Google
The above definition is a good one. However, I believe that self hosting is a little broader than that. Self-Hosting does not have to be your own servers or hardware it can be with third-party providers like Google or Amazon. I believe this because self-hosting is really a journey rather than a strict principle that it is only truly self-hosting if its on our own hardware.
Why I Self-Host #
There are three main reasons that I self-host
Privacy #
This is the most important reason I self host. As we surf the internet, companies and sites are harvesting and processing our data. This has been dialled up to the max with rise of “Collect now, analyse later” strategy also known as data hoarding. The strategy is very simple collect all possible data with the assumption that when technology is advanced enough we can do the processing later.
The sinister part about this method is that when the technology is advance enough, companies can build a unique profile about us. The profile would be so accurate that they would able to predict our behaviours based on a given scenario.
Learning #
When I had started self hosting, learning was not really a goal for me. As I had thought I would spin up a service and just stop there. However as I started to delve deeper into self hosting I had to start learning to make things work and this is one of the most enjoyable part of the journey.
Data Ownership #
This ties pretty closely with privacy, again when I had started I was unaware that I could have ownership of my own data. The shenanigans that big tech does with our data is just messed up.
- All our data is processed without our consent or any royalties. We all generate unique data just by using their services we are required to accept the terms that we lose control of our data. The data can be reprocessed as and when required or when technology is advanced enough. But we do not get a say in if we want them to be processed :P
- Locking us out of our own data, by not allowing us to keep the data by our self, or using propriety file format. If by chance the service you are using is shutting down. You basically do not have access to your data, as the servers are going to shut down.
- Down scaling of our data, this is the best. When photo storage first came out, companies were giving free “unlimited” storage for syncing our photos and videos on their apps. This enables services to utilise our data to train their own closed source Machine Learning models. The good: The service gets better with the ML as it would be able recognise users and object. The bad: We get no benefits of the closed source trained ML model, which is trained by our data. We are not paid any royalties or any amount for the revenue that is being generated by our data. Lastly, once the objective has been achieved, the service starts the enshittification process. Like having storage limits, then compressing photos to save space on their own servers unless you subscribed. Totally not because the ML model cant be improved further.
How I started #
I had started simply because I was so annoyed the number of ads that are being served out. The worst part about this was that there are so many malicious ads which are targeting elderly. I had been using ad blocker on my browsers, however I recently had a child I had wanted to make the home internet a little safer when browsing around on devices on the home networks. Around the same time YouTube had started testing multiple ads in videos. That’s when I came along Pi-Hole , a network wide ad blocking. What it does is simple, we just add sites which want to block, then point our home internet traffic to flow through Pi-Hole. Pi-Hole will then block the links which we have in our list and allow everything else. This happens any device which is connected to home network. Maybe i would do a guide/tutorial about Pi-Hole.