i am not looking to manipulate or convince anybody, just something informative in general, like “this is the bigtech world, this is the open source / selfhosted world.” any good knowledge bases, blogs, youtube channels and alike that you would recommend? the less technical, the better. it’s not about “how to install this and that” but rather “what do i need this and that for, what are the advantes and what are the downsides”. also, are there resources like that in your language (if you or your people are not english native speakers)?
also very interested in anything else you have to share regarding your personal selfhosting experience and how it may or may not affect those around you.
i’ll start: in my own experience, there are so many other things going on in people’s life, that i understand are far more important than whether their todo list is stored on their own disk or in some other part of the world. especially in the beginning, going open source / selfhosted does often feel like losing comfort, only to be left with more to take care about in return. so getting started as a non-technical person seems incredibly difficult. another thing that comes to mind is, yes i could do the selfhosting for related people and friends, and yes they would trust me with some of their data – but no i don’t want that. not because i am not willing to help, but i honestly don’t want to have access to their data, it just doesn’t feel correct.
thanks for your inputs and have a nice weekend!
Long ago I learned to stop convincing people to stop shooting themselves in the foot.
Coward. I always convince them to shoot themselves in the foot.
More seriously, I don’t think I will ever stop. It may not change their life significantly and immediately, but that’s not necessary. Even if it makes them just be aware, that’s enough sometimes to make a positive change. I’m all about that. The least we should do i lose hope. It’s not that black and white.
“I run it myself without the internet.” 🤨
They’re non-techies. Any more explanation than that would only frighten and confuse them.
I think selfhosting should be as normal as owning a car and as easy as using a phone. It’s because I think people should run the internet, not billionaires.
@libre_warrior @thelocalhostinger The fact is that we consider selfhosting somehow “special”, as opposed to “I’m just running this [ideally free & open] app that shares stuff with my friends”, is part of the problem. Damn you, IPv4 and NAT! *shakes fist*
You know Google drive? You know how it doesn’t work when the internet is out? You know how we live in rural USA so the internet is out every other day?
Yeah that computer in the corner is my own Google drive that still works when the internet is out.
“You pay for how many streaming services??? You could start building a decent DVD/BRD collection that you own forever.”
“Yea but I hate swapping disks and I watch on my phone.”
“Gather around, let me tell you the story of a fin made of jelly.”
I say, I don’t pay for Netflix, but I’m able to stream whatever I want. I do the same with books. And audiobooks.
Everyone has experienced an AWS / Google Cloud / Azure outage or has had a service - you are happy to use switching to (more expensive) subscription service. That’s two things that are not going to happen to self-hosters (except the outage thing, but you can actually do something about it when it happens).
I haven’t really needed to, I just show them. I open up Jellyfin and explain that I put all the movies I own there so I don’t need to find the discs or pay for a service like Netflix. Or I’ll show them my OCIS setup with LibreOffice online and explain that I don’t need Google Docs or Microsoft Office 365. If they ask where it runs, I point to the server on my desk.
Everyone has their own reasons for doing it, and I think they can draw their own conclusions just by seeing it in action.
Do you remember that time Netflix removed [insert series title]? I basically have my own private version of Netflix. That way nobody can take my favorite series away from me without warning.
I just explain how when you watch Netflix, you use their computers, that’s why it costs money. You could just use your own computer at home but it takes some setup.
Just tell them “I own my own private cloud” and then look smug.
Then I may tell them “this way the CIA (don’t say NSA, older people usually don’t know what NSA is, but they know CIA) or those capitalist companies can’t spy on me”
And I don’t find a need to go into more detail, at this point the conversation has either moved on or they say “but I have nothing to hide” and move on anyway.
I just tell them I run a private cloud. It’s so much easier because they understand in general “cloud equals internet”
Just link them the story of a Dad getting locked out of his Google account after sending a picture of his child to the Doctor as part of remote care.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/aug/22/google-csam-account-blocked
The point being they can fuck up your life on a whim and don’t care about the harm they will cause because your one out of millions.
Pointing to the hard drives connected to the server on my desk: “see, i know where my data is and it’s not being sold or shared with anybody. It’s right here and doesn’t leave here.” Oh and AWS was down: “see, I don’t care :D”
