Why Self-Hosting is the Future of the Internet: An Overview of Free and Open-Source Options

Self-hosting is becoming a more popular choice among individuals and businesses that want to have control over their online presence and protect their data from surveillance and censorship. You are the one in charge of your data when you host your website, email, and other services. You don't have to rely on third-party companies to keep your information private and secure.

Benefits

One of the biggest benefits of self-hosting is having full control over your data. When you use a third-party service to host your website or email, you are entrusting your data to that company. This can put your data at risk if the company is hacked or if the government requests access to your data. By self-hosting, you can ensure that your data is kept safe and only accessible to those you trust.

Data leaks

One of the many examples here is the Data Breach of LastPass in August of 2022, where Hackers could get into the servers and reveal data like basic customer account information and related metadata. Thankfully all encrypted files remained “secured with 256-bit AES encryption”.

In June 2020, Wattpad suffered a huge data breach that exposed almost 270 million records. The incident exposed extensive personal information including names and usernames, emails, IP addresses, genders, birth dates, and passwords stored as bcrypt hashes.

Censorship

Another advantage of self-hosting is the ability to avoid censorship. Governments around the world are increasingly using their power to control what people can see and say online. By self-hosting, you can bypass these restrictions and ensure your voice is heard.

Software to use

Free and open-source options such as Nextcloud, Mail-in-a-Box, or Ghost can help you set up and manage your self-hosted online services without incurring significant costs. These options are open-source, meaning their source code is freely available for anyone to review and modify, ensuring security and privacy. The awesome-selfhosted GitHub repo is an excellent and well-organized collection of open-source software.

Conclusion

Self-hosting is becoming a popular choice for those who want to have control over their online presence and protect their data. Free and open-source options make it an accessible and cost-effective option for anyone looking to take control of their online presence and avoid censorship.