Submitted 16 hours ago by remington@beehaw.org to technology@beehaw.org
Recently, I’ve been learning more about this subject. Today I came across the Decentralization Scoring System and it slapped me across the face.
Technical ease of running your own backend. Full points for Docker/simple setup with good docs.
Oof, they neef a column for security to mark back down all the services that use docker.
Everyone that thinks self hosting E-Mail is easy, I urge you to run your own mailserver and see how many mails actually reach their targets.
Your mailserver won’t be trusted by anyone, which makes your email always be delivered as spam, if they don’t get blocked outright.
Otherwise this scoring system seems to be quite alright. Even though it could use some more detail and citing some sources for the numbers would be great.
Nobody thinks self hosting email is easy. Wtf.
Self hosting emails is a pain, but I’ve been doing it for almost 2 years and I do not have any of these issues. I’m not an expert either, I just thoroughly followed a tutorial to properly configure dmarc, dkim and everything else and everything just works (I just hope I’m not jinxing it by writing this :D )
How many users are you supporting? And how frequently do they complain about spam, delivery issurs, and that sending that last email with a 5G attachment keeps failing…
Glad it worked out for you!
But it’s definitely one of the deadly sins of selfhosting.
Email should not score this high. Self hosting an email server is a pain in the ass because every other server sends you to spam by default.
The real issue is lack of community-run ISPs. We can self-host all we want, but we’re still using the network paths of major providers when data is in transit.
More community run mesh networks. More community run fiber networks. Generally, just more community, less business.
I’m only aware of people using ham radio for community mesh networks.
Are there more sophisticated community networks? Or do you just mean something like an ISP cooperative group?
Or do you just mean something like an ISP cooperative group?
Yeah something more like this.
There are a few things I don’t like about this scoring system :
Realistically, more people need to self-host, or at the very least we need more mon-and-pop style datacenters. The foundational protocols of the Internet inherently make the web decentralized, but most would rather offload hardware costs and, more importantly, security, to those more knowledgeable. Not that I blame them, as running one’s own hardware is extremely time intensive, nevermind power and equipment costs, but it’s no wonder that conglomerates have stepped up to fill that role (nevermind economies of scale). Yet, this is how we’ve fallen into the situation we are in now.
mom-and-pop style datacenters
I find this wording very funny for some reason. I do wonder what a more-decentralized internet would look like though, rather than 90% of it being in the hands of a few megacorps.
I honestly think the drivers model has some merit to it, and it’d be interesting to see federated data centers. I dunno how well it would work out, but it would be interesting.
Risk is also a factor re: self hosting.
Those concerns are what stop me. Because I otherwise think I’d enjoy hosting a little corner in the fediverse.
Valid points. Also too, the cost associated with a business class data plan that actually allows hosting. If you think about it, it really is an arbitrary restriction put in place by ISPs to goad those who want to leverage the internet’s potential into more expensive plans.
more people need to self-host, or at the very least we need more mon-and-pop style datacenters.
most would rather offload hardware costs and, more importantly, security, to those more knowledgeable.
running one’s own hardware is extremely time intensive, nevermind power and equipment costs
These three points that you’ve made are NOT accurate. I could go into great detail as to why this is but I won’t waste our time nor embarrass you.
The problem, unfortunately, always comes down to money.
This isn’t a technological problem.
All of the popular widely used corporate platforms gain more users because they have the money in which to market/advertise themselves.
Wtf??
What the hell are you even smoking???
I do agree with one tiny little bit of your list, though, and that’s the fact that your rebuttal would, in fact, be a waste of time.
Self-Hosting: Server: Easy (Leverage email hosting services) → Score: 18/20
Is it really self-hosting if someone else controls the data and software?
I run my own mail server since sometime late last century, and it’s gotten progressively more difficult over the years. Not setting up the server, that part is easy. Hardening it is a bit more work. But what’s making it nearly impossible is the big players’ anti-spam (or should that be in quotes) measures.
My mail server checks all the boxes it should - TLS, SPF, DomainKeys, DMARC, a domain name that’s been around for decades, same hostname and IP address for years, never been on any block list, … yet still e-mails relayed by it are tagged as spam for increasingly ridiculous reasons: it’s a residential IP (actually it’s not), the PTR record doesn’t match the A/AAAA record (yes, that server has multiple jobs and multiple host names), the domain name is suspicious (same owner and tech-c for decades, same IP and SPF records for years), … if I didn’t know better, I’d suspect that MS, Google etc. just use their spam filters to make life difficult for anyone outside their oligopoly. But that’s probably just beause I’m a cynic.
Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, nominated by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, wrote that he and his two colleagues “cling to the hope that it is not naïve to believe our good brethren in the Executive Branch perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos.”
Until I read this whole verdict, I hadn’t realized why people were making a big deal about it. It’s breathtaking.
The basic differences between the branches mandate a serious effort at mutual respect. The respect that courts must accord the Executive must be reciprocated by the Executive’s respect for the courts. Too often today this has not been the case, as calls for impeachment of judges for decisions the Executive disfavors and exhortations to disregard court orders sadly illustrate.
This is a losing proposition all around. The Judiciary will lose much from the constant intimations of its illegitimacy, to which by dint of custom and detachment we can only sparingly reply. The Executive will lose much from a public perception of its lawlessness and all of its attendant contagions.
The Executive may succeed for a time in weakening the courts, but over time history will script the tragic gap between what was and all that might have been, and law in time will sign its epitaph.
It is, as we have noted, all too possible to see in this case an incipient crisis, but it may present an opportunity as well. We yet cling to the hope that it is not naïve to believe our good brethren in the Executive Branch perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos.
This case presents their unique chance to vindicate that value and to summon the best that is within us while there is still time.
Holy shit man. Whoever wrote that should get a medal made of gold.
Oops
I absolutely did. I had this story open in another tab because I wanted to get back to it and read it after posting, and somehow crossed my wires. I’ll fix it.
jagged_circle@feddit.nl 32 minutes ago
Since when can you self host bluesky?!?