I have no job, so the gift cards I have are prepaid and only have a few dollars on them. I should get a job soon, but in the meantime, I want to run my own Lemmy instance. I know this is probably a stupid question, but is there a way to do so? If I run it on just my computer, it’ll shut down when my computer turns off, and there is an old computer my parents have but they won’t let me use it because they don’t wanna buy a new charger (The charger cord is broken)


Oracle Cloud isn’t available in my location by the way, and I tried Google Cloud, it keeps crashing when I do an instance and it wants me to pay all of a sudden.
I wouldn’t start with anything involving user-generated content… Otherwise, it could easily be misused, and the police might end up at YOUR door.
I wouldn’t let that be a deterrent to starting an instance. Just make sure you understand the obligations you have as site owner when it comes to misuse. Maintain good logging and follow legal requirements (which in the US is locking down and preserving evidence and reporting to law enforcement hotlines - depending on the nature of the misuse).
Thanks
I might
Get new equipment and always run my old computer
Get a Raspberry Pi
Keep running my new computer forever
Skip the pie as it is really terrible for the money you are spending
Instead, find a old workstation and setup Linux.
Pi is a good option because of it’s low power draw.
However I find used mini pc’s and Small Form Factor desktops to be a better value and their idle power is similar to the latest Pi (while costing about the same as a new Pi).
Google only gives you about $100 to start with