kereszt-bejegyzés innen: https://lemmy.ml/post/39008457
Hi everyone, I posted about my Safebox project earlier, but now I’d like to hear your thoughts on something a bit broader. I’ve been noticing a pattern in self-hosting communities, and I’m curious if others see it too.
Whenever someone asks for a more beginner-friendly solution, something with a UI, automated setup, or fewer manual configs, there’s often a response like: “If you can’t configure Docker, reverse proxies, and Yaml files, you shouldn’t be self-hosting.”
Sometimes it feels like a portion of the community views complexity as a badge of honour. Don’t get me wrong, I love the technical side of self-hosting. I enjoy tinkering, breaking things, fixing them, learning along the way. That’s how most of us got into it.
But if we want more people to own their data, escape Big Tech, and embrace open-source alternatives, shouldn’t we welcome solutions that lower the entry barrier?
There’s room for:
- people who want full control and custom setups
- people who want semi-manual but guided
- people who want it to work with minimal friction
Just like not every Linux user compiles from source, but they’re still Linux users.
Where do you stand? Should self-hosting stay DIY only or is there value in easier, more accessible ways to self-host?
Safebox aims to make self-hosting more approachable without sacrificing data ownership, so I genuinely want your honest take before releasing it more widely.
Some technical highlights of the project, for those interested:
Safebox runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows, supports both x86 and ARM64 (including Raspberry Pi, Banana Pi, and others), and handles domain/subdomain setup, Let’s Encrypt certificates, DNS configuration, reverse proxy (nginx), and also offers WireGuard-based remote access.
The project is currently in beta, and we’d really appreciate feedback from anyone interested in testing it, whether it’s about usability, stability, features, design, or honestly anything at all. You can find all the info about beta testing on our Discord channel.
If you’d like to try it out, check the Github repo: https://github.com/safeboxnetwork/framework-scheduler
Website: https://safebox.network/
Discord: https://discord.gg/aBP8bz6N8J
Thanks in advance to anyone who gives it a look or shares their thoughts.
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This looks great! I’m not into self-hosting, I just don’t have much use for it right now. But this’d is exactly the kind of tool I’d be looking for if I did.
Linux since 1.2.13, here.
Yes, self-hosters can be really focused on their own complex setups, and forget that they’ve become overcomplicated through years and iterations of rebuilds.
A new bucket to stash all those crabs, though, isn’t it.
Start the noobs a little lower on the complexity scale, so it doesn’t look like a mandelbrot just to get basic stuff. App installs on a basic host is totally okay, to start.
Teach and reinforce proper patching and maintenance. Teach man-pages at every turn: promote good ones and take a second look at the bad man-pages because, really, maybe they need updates. Reinforce the “look up before asking;then ask well” routine for discussions and seeking help. Be super-welcoming for good questions, even if the pre-work is “I checked the man page and it didn’t really make sense for that option”, and gently nudge toward a cursory search when even that’s missing.
We lost a LOT of mentorship after the dotcom bust, and we’ve not been great in the Lost Boy generations that followed. We need to make it easier to get help, and we need to encourage that walk-before-fly mentality.
And if apps can’t properly package their stuff so that the secure and safe usage is the easy usage, then we steer noobs around it. I’m looking at you, docker-fixated app ‘releases’ without adequate delivery and via channels that aren’t validated normally as part of the process. We need to be so much better at that.
Lemmy has a perfectly fine cross posting feature you could use
Thanks, must’ve missed that
I occasionally think about self-hosting some apps and start looking into installing the bits and pieces to get it running. Then I get confused and just give up.
I’d love to have a cloud server that I own to store maps and documents, but the learning curve and many nagging questions that I’m too ignorant to even figure out how to ask is quite a barrier to self-hosting.
You’re right,it is very complex.
I’m a noob and started my learning in July. I’ve loved it. Still learning. Did a lot of dumb shit. Got lots of useful services up and running. Happy to point you to resources I used if you want to shoot over a DM.
Its fantastic when you’re a few rungs up and already reaching back to help others.
There are so many hobbies that I enjoy isolated… Home server, gaming, retro emulation, making electronics, podcasts, movies and TV shows. I’ll always be up for sharing interests with those who are into the same niches.
I think you’re right that the community could be more welcoming to newcomers. I also think there is a great point that newbies should be prepared to learn the technical side.
It is terrific that nontechnical people want to self host, particularly as a way of keeping their data and services under their own control. But a large part of the attraction that corporate services like Google and Microsoft offer is, they remove the entire technical layer from users’ view.
As a result we have a few generations that largely don’t know how to even host a basic website, much less rather more complex server software. If you want to admin a server and several services on it, it really is a good idea to know what is required to serve it securely, even only on a local network.
And I’m coming at this from an end user’s perspective, having dappled in home and remote servers for small projects, picking up some limited skills in the process. I have appreciated the GUI offerings that make it easier to set up a home lab or other server for beginners, but at the end of the day, I really think everybody should have (or try to attain) the technical knowledge required to operate or at least maintain the technology we use.
This is not meant to trash on your Safebox project, but a more general viewpoint.
