4. The article was written with the intelligent layperson in mind. Someone who is willing to put some effort into learning how to use a new UI of an open source app, but doesn't necessarily have or want to learn the skills required self host ( ProxMox, Ansible, Docker, etc). And many home internet service plans ban or limit running servers from home.

5. Yes, I prefer Session or DeltaChat to Signal. But Signal's UI is more polished, and it has seen far more adoption than any other alternative. People are much more likely to switch to something that their friends are using. And Signal group is planning to introduce the ability to connect without a phone number soon. And even with its warts, it's a significant marginal improvement over Whatsapp, FB Messenger, WeChat, etc. So, I felt it was the best of the alternatives for most people, taking UI and adoption into account.

6. Agreed, Coinbase has a number of downsides. But it's probably the easiest way for most people to buy crypto (at least in the US). Bisq (https://bisq.network) is a much better option from a privacy standpoint, but it's also much harder to understand and use.

7. Absent a user controlled, mesh network, such as the Althea network, there will always be some choke-point. If you use a VPS, you'll be at the mercy of the VPS. If you self-host, you'll be at the mercy of your ISP. Most people have far more VPS options than they do ISP's. So if your VPS decides to censor you or is pressured to censor you, then it's easier to move hosts than your home.

Agree that it's better to consume media via RSS feeds. Thanks for the pointers to Podcast Addict and Aggregator. I'm currently using Antennapod and miniflux.