← Feed

Posts

• Post #4298083

  The technical cost per user (excluding moderation) of a Fediverse server is determined by how large your server is. A single person's microblogging server typically costs about 5 euros per user per month through managed hosting, but a server with dozens of people on it typically costs about 0.5 euros per user (and it gets even cheaper per user beyond that). Getting together with a few other people can make it cheaper for all of you. #FediAdmin #Fediverse

• Post #4203120

  Self-hosting people! Do you have suggestions for directories of self-hostable free open source software? So far I've got the Awesome list at https://awesome-selfhosted.net but wondered if there are any others you would recommend? #SelfHosting #FOSS #AskFedi

• Post #4196083

  Do you have recommendations for good reliable domain name providers? (Bonus points if they are user-friendly for non-technical people) Post in the replies if you do 🙂 #DomainNames #SelfHosting #AskFedi

• Post #4091109

  I've overhauled the Grow Your Own Services website, so it provides more info on different options for running your own online services: 🌱 https://growyourown.services I hope the site is clearer than it was before 🙂 All kinds of feedback welcome! #SelfHosting

• Post #4061624

  If you're running a Mastodon server of any size, you might want to follow the official Mastodon Engineering account: ➡️ @MastodonEngineering@mastodon.social The account is run by the Mastodon developers, and provides news about important software updates. #Mastodon #MastoAdmin

• Post #4040036

  AdminForge is a German-language website all about self-hosting free open online services: 🌱 https://adminforge.de (in German) You can follow them at: 🌱 @adminforge@kanoa.de (in German) They also provide a number of libre online services for people who don't want to self-host them. #SelfHosting #CommunityHosting #Deutsch

• Post #3914157

  I know LLMs are interesting as toys, but they are fundamentally problematic: - Even if you self-host an LLM, its model is created unethically elsewhere so it's not really independent or ethical. - LLM creation is extremely resource-intensive, which is burning the planet and destroying communities. - Hardware prices are being driven so high that ordinary people cannot afford to buy computers. - LLMs are designed to deskill people and make them dependent on corporate models. #LLM #AI

• Post #3789227

  Karrot is a free open source self-hostable platform for organising grassroots community activism. You can find out more at: 🌱 https://codeberg.org/karrot You can follow the project at: 🌱 @karrot@fosstodon.org If you don't want to self-host, there's a public server at: 🌱 https://karrot.world #SelfHosting #Activism #Grassroots #CommunityHosting #FOSS

• Post #3767879

  Flohmarkt is a free open platform for small ads and selling things ("Flohmarkt" is the German for flea market). It's part of the Fediverse so the small ads can federate to other servers, and people can interact with Flohmarkt from Mastodon etc accounts. If you want to post or browse adverts there is a server list: 🌱 https://codeberg.org/flohmarkt/flohmarkt/wiki/flohmarkt-instances There is techy info on their Codeberg page: 🌱 https://codeberg.org/flohmarkt/flohmarkt You can fo...

• Post #3726300

  The easy way to take control of your email and avoid enshittification: 1. Create your own domain name 2. Find a good email provider 3. Use your domain name to create custom email addresses on that email provider 4. If the email provider enshittifies, you can move to a different provider without changing any of your email addresses (If you're unsure about how to create domain names, I've done a non-technical beginner's guide to them at https://growyourown.services/a-beginners-guide-...

• Post #3687005

  CryptPad is a free open source collaborative online office suite with the emphasis on privacy and "zero knowledge" encryption. You can find out more at: 🌱 https://cryptpad.org You can follow the project at: 🌱 @CryptPad@social.xwiki.com CryptPad can be self-hosted online, installation instructions are at: 🌱 https://docs.cryptpad.org/en/admin_guide/installation.html It can also be self-hosted locally, instructions for local hosting are at: 🌱 https://docs.cryptpad.org/en/dev_guide...

• Post #3685691

  Are you into 3D printing, self-hosting and the Fediverse? If so you might want to look into Manyfold, a FOSS Fediverse platform which lets you upload and share 3D print models: 🌱 https://manyfold.app You can follow the official accounts at: 🌱 @manyfold@3dp.chat (main) 🌱 @manyfold@makertube.net (videos) You can host your own Manyfold server using the instructions at https://manyfold.app/get-started/installation (be warned though, installation does require a bit of tech skill). #3DPrinting #...

• Post #3651426

  "Homelabs" are where people set up and run their own physical servers at home. It's the most difficult way to self-host services, but also gives you total control over the server. If you've got a homelab or are interested, you can follow one (or both) of the homelab discussion groups: 🌱 !@homelab@fedigroups.social (in English) 🌱 !@homelab_de@fedigroups.social (in German) After you follow, the group's posts will start showing up in your timeline. You can post to a group...

• Post #3468296

  If you're running a public Mastodon server, it is really important to set aside running costs for three months. Leave this money in a separate account if possible, and do not touch it for as long as your server is running. This three month set-aside means you can guarantee your members three months warning if you ever decide to close the server, which is plenty of time to move accounts. This gives your server credibility both with existing members and potential new members. #MastoAdmin

• Post #3134352

  If you want to set up several different online services but can't afford different domain names for them all, you can just use subdomains of one domain instead. They are limitless and cost nothing extra. e.g. You could have a Mastodon server at social.example.com, a PeerTube server at video.example.com, a Nextcloud server at cloud.example.com etc. Each subdomain can use totally different software and be on totally different hosting providers. #SelfHosting

• Post #2811978

  Mastodon server admins have a variety of different options for communicating with their members: - Server announcements and emails reaching all your server's members - Non-urgent server news just for those who want to follow such updates - Official warnings sent to specific members who have broken a server rule - Non-moderation DMs sent to specific members All of these options are covered in the "Communicating with your members" guide: 🌱 https://fedi.tips/how-mastodo...

• Post #2811977

  Do you want to create your own Wiki? You might want to try some of these options: (All of these are free and open source) 🌱 @mediawiki - The software used by Wikipedia 🌱 @TiddlyWiki - Personal wiki stored in a single HTML file 🌱 @FeatherWiki - Lightweight software for making wikis, notebooks, databases in a single file 🌱 @bookstack - Easy-to-use simple wiki & documentation software 🌱 @xwikiorg - Wiki software aimed at businesses, libre alternative to Confluence #SelfHosting #Wiki...

• Post #2811976

  YunoHost is a special Linux distro that makes self-hosting much, much easier. Once you've manually installed YunoHost (either on a computer at home or on a VPS remotely) it gives you a graphical interface where you can self-host lots of online services by clicking icons etc. More info at: 🌱 https://yunohost.org Here are all the things you can self-host via YunoHost: 🌱 https://apps.yunohost.org/catalog You can follow their account at: 🌱 @yunohost (in English & French) #Self...

• Post #2811975

  If people are running a Mastodon server jointly as an organisation or group, the "Roles" system is really useful as it lets you assign customised powers to different people. This makes it much easier to delegate tasks in running your server. More info at: 🌱 https://fedi.tips/how-can-organisations-or-groups-run-a-mastodon-server The "Roles" feature can also be used to assign special badges to members, for example a "Supporter" badge for peop...

• Post #2811974

  Funkwhale is a free open music and audio platform for the Fediverse, which has just been updated to version 2.0. Find out more at: 🌱 https://www.funkwhale.audio Their account is: 🌱 @funkwhale If you want to host your own Funkwhale server without doing any techy stuff, there are managed hosting providers at https://cloud68.co/managed-hosting/funkwhale and https://weingaertner-it.de/index.php/produkt/funkwhale/?lang=en You can also self-host manually using the instructions at https://docs.fu...

• Post #2811973

  It's a really good idea to have a public list of at least some basic rules for your Fediverse server, even if it's a single-user server. Public rules are often used by other server admins when deciding whether to federate with your server (especially if they use allowlists), and public rules are a sign of a responsibly run server. More info about including rules on single user servers: 🌱 https://fedi.tips/should-i-publish-some-server-rules-if-im-running-a-single-person-fedivers...

• Post #2616536

  Do you want to run your own Minecraft server but hate Microsoft? You might want to try the free open source alternative Luanti (formerly known as Minetest): 🌱 https://www.luanti.org It has many different game modes, thousands of mods, online multiplayer support, a scripting language to create your own game modes and mods, and a FOSS community supporting the software. You can follow the official account at: 🌱 @Luanti@floss.social #SelfHosting #Luanti #FOSS #Minecraft #Alternatives

• Post #2548420

  If you're running a public Fedi server, it might be a good idea to have a personal or alternative account that isn't on your server. If your server goes down and all your accounts are on it, there will be an information black hole about what happened as all your contact accounts will be broken. There have been several cases where servers went down for days and people worried they had closed down permanently, but they were actually technical difficulties that took days to fix....

• Post #2531531

  PeerTube admins and self-hosters, There is an official PeerTube forum where you can post technical questions, problems and discussions about running your own PeerTube at: :PeerTube: https://framacolibri.org/c/peertube/38 It can also be used by ordinary users asking questions, but it tends to be more at the technical self-hosting end of things. It's on Framacolibri which is the PeerTube developers' own Discourse instance. #PeerTubeAdmin #FediAdmin #PeerTube

• Post #2499074

  There are a LOT of Fediverse projects out there! If you're a techy person interested in self-hosting Fediverse platforms, you might like to check out the "Delightful Fediverse" list which tries to feature every Fediverse project available: 🌱 https://codeberg.org/fediverse/delightful-fediverse-experience (It's worth noting the meaning of the emoji next to project names, as the status of different projects varies.) #Fediverse #ActivityPub #SelfHosting #FOSS

• Post #2438463

  Anyone can start their own server on the Fediverse. It's much cheaper and easier than people realise. You don't need to be a technical nerd, you don't need to install anything or update anything or own any equipment. Non-technical people can use a "managed hosting" service which means you pay a small monthly fee (usually 5 to 10 euros a month) which includes the cost of the hosting and the hosting company does all the tech stuff for you. More info at:...

• Post #2371661

  If you run your own PeerTube server, you can use it for more than just your own videos! You can also federate videos from other servers, so they appear seamlessly alongside your own videos. More info about how to do this in this guide: 🌱 https://fedi.tips/how-to-fill-your-peertube-server-with-federated-videos The guide also suggests lots of good servers to federate with, and answers lots of questions about this feature. #PeerTubeAdmin #PeerTube

• Post #2256551

  Do you want to host your own Twitch-style livestreaming service? You might want to try Owncast: 🌱 https://owncast.online You can also follow their account at: 🌱 @owncast Owncast is free open source software for hosting video or audio streams with a chat window at the side where your audience can interact with you. It is compatible with the Fediverse, so people can follow your account from Mastodon etc and will be notified when you go live. #Owncast #SelfHosting #FOSS #Twitch #Alternatives

• Post #2225675

  Jellyfin is free open source software that lets you create your own streaming services at home. It's a libre alternative to closed platforms like Plex and Emby. Jellyfin works with locally stored video/audio files, internet radio/TV and broadcast TV. You can find out more at: 🌱 https://jellyfin.org You can follow their official account at: 🌱 @jellyfin #SelfHosting #MediaServer #FOSS #Plex #Emby #Alternatives #Streaming

• Post #2148634

  If you're the admin of a Mastodon server, you can moderate your server's trending posts, hashtags, links and recommended accounts. Here's how to do it: 🌱 https://fedi.tips/how-do-admins-moderate-trends-on-their-mastodon-server Moderating your server's trends is really important, as it means you can pre-emptively prevent nasty or hateful content appearing in your server's trending sections. You can also optionally prevent entire accounts from appearing in...