@shollyethan@fosstodon.org avatar shollyethan , to random

Self-Host Weekly (13 February 2026)

My thoughts on the recent news, software updates and launches, a spotlight on -- a mobile-first tracker, and more in this week's recap!

https://selfh.st/weekly/2026-02-13

@Soblow@eldritch.cafe avatar Soblow , to random

If you self-host services on the internet, you may have seen waves of crawlers hammering your websites without mercy.

To annoy them and protect my services from DDoS, I decided to setup an iocaine instance, along with NSoE... And it worked... Too well.

Recently, they started flooding my VPS so much it started choking.
If you followed me here on Fedi, you saw my journey to find a way to relieve my server.

This is a rant about LLM crawlers, and some observations & conclusions, along with some techniques to help you protect your own services.

Read it here: https://xaselgio.net/posts/26.poisoning-knowledge/

18+ @cf@todon.eu avatar cf , to random

Having been on for a long time, right now We're seeing a lot of creatures interested in self-hosing their own homeserves, We have a word of caution.

is a demanding piece of software, not only being unusually heavy for a self-hosted chat software in its hardware demands, but it keeps needing to be actively maintained, this year already the homeserver We help out with experienced two new and exciting failure modes that needed to be addressed immediately.

With the main problem being not necessarily that the problems are very hard to deal with (though sometimes they are), but that it demands you to be ready to jump into action on a moment's notice, or else all your users can't actually use your instance and the longer it goes on the more you risk rooms getting permanently desynchronized.

We would advise to just offer help to an already existing homeserver instead, be that financial or maintenance wise, or band together with at least three other creatures who want to do sysadmin stuff for that, if you insist on self-hosting.

ALT
@itsfoss@mastodon.social avatar itsfoss , to random

Stop letting Amazon control your library. These tools help you host your own ebook server instead.

https://itsfoss.com/self-host-ebook-server-software/

@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar stefano , to random

Just received an email from my mail server administrator. They sent me a link to change my password because it's 'insecure'.

My mail admin is so efficient...

...hey, wait a minute... I AM my mail administrator! 🤦‍♂️

@RxBrad@mastodon.rxbrad.com avatar RxBrad , to random

I'm "in it" now, so I'm not going back. But transitioning from just Docker-in-Debian to everything-in-Proxmox is not without its drawbacks.

There's this new element of chasing down bottlenecks & trying to figure out how to address them.

VMs take ownership of stuff in ways that make sharing with other VMs/LXCs challenging.

Attaching storage to VMs vs LXCs have their own unique intricacies that it's taking me awhile to wrap my head around. Throw in USB3 HDD enclosures and it's extra-fun.

But, I'm getting there...

ALT
@shollyethan@fosstodon.org avatar shollyethan , to random
@peritia@alovely.space avatar peritia , to random

to the community

How much does your Services use in Storage?

Specifically:
Your Git Server (like Gitea or Forgejo)
Your Matrix Server
or other Services you run

oh and how many users do you have?

My Private Forgejo Server is a bad benchmark since it has literally 1 User XD

So ye I am curious

If you run anything else please comment that too would love to hear it :3

@kalvin0x8d0@social.obulou.xyz avatar kalvin0x8d0 , to random
@atomicalliance@mastodon.social avatar atomicalliance , to random German

Mein Test mit Passbolt entwickelt sich so langsam für mich zu einem Game-Changer. Der Browser Quick Access in Verbindung mit TOTP - 🤯 - Click - Copy - Paste ... 😎 Das heißt für mich, am Wochenende das Ganze Projekt ausfallsicher inkl. Backup erstellen und irgendwie Dokumentieren.

@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar pluralistic , to random

Anyone have contact with Microsoft network ops? They've blackholed my SMTP (204.11.50.134) (which is used by me and half a dozen other people, none of whom send spam), and my admin's on vacation and I don't wanna screw up his time off. This is obviously a false positive though.

AstaMcCarthy ,
@AstaMcCarthy@mastodon.pirateparty.be avatar

@pluralistic @Aaron @kat It would also be good if independent mail server operators file complaints at https://competition-policy.ec.europa.eu/antitrust-and-cartels/procedures/complaints_en so this anti-competitive behavior can be ended for once and for all.

@terminaltilt@climatejustice.social avatar terminaltilt , to random

I have officially deleted my Amazon account and cut ties with their ecosystem entirely. For a long time, the convenience of Prime felt like a necessary evil, especially since they have a warehouse in my city and can do same day shipping. But I can no longer reconcile the big tech giant's behavior with the values I promote at Terminal Tilt. As a privacy advocate and FOSS supporter, continuing to feed the machine feels increasingly hypocritical.

Ethically, their treatment of labor is indefensible. Between the terrible warehouse conditions and the dark patterns designed to make canceling subscriptions nearly impossible, it is clear they view both employees and customers as numbers to be exploited, with contempt. Their anti-competitive practices have done irreparable harm to small businesses and independent creators who are forced to play in a rigged sandbox.

As an FSF and EFF member, I believe privacy is a fundamental right. Amazon's business model relies on massive data harvesting and a huge surveillance network that I simply do not want to be a part of. Deleting my account is my way of reclaiming my digital sovereignty and refusing to let my personal data be a product in their inventory.

The change also affects how I handle Terminal Tilt going forward. I am officially ending the use of Amazon affiliate links for the channel. While the links are a standard revenue stream for most creators, I refuse to track my audience into the Amazon ecosystem just for a small commission. I would rather the channel grow slower and more honestly than profit from a company that actively works against user freedom. Convenience is the enemy of sovereignty.

When I review products now, whether it is the security keys from @nitrokey , @yubico , and Token2 or open source hardware, I will provide links to direct manufacturers or ethical, privacy-respecting retailers instead. Convenience should never be the primary metric for our choices.

If you want to support my work on Linux, privacy, and the movement, I encourage you to use my LiberaPay or Ko-Fi links. Supporting creators directly ensures that the content remains independent and free from the influence of the Epstein class and corporate overlords. You can find all my direct support links on my self-hosted Linkstack: https://links.terminaltilt.com

It feels good to be out. It is time to prioritize people and principles over same-day shipping.

ALT
@gamingonlinux@mastodon.social avatar gamingonlinux , to random
jamesgbradbury , (edited )
@jamesgbradbury@mastodon.social avatar

@gamingonlinux This reminds me that I used to use self-hosted Mumble for game voice chat.

https://www.mumble.info/

There are other alternatives if you want the persistent text chat features. https://alternativeto.net/software/discord-app/?license=opensource&platform=self-hosted

@homegrown@social.growyourown.services avatar homegrown , to random

You don't have to rely on streaming services to watch films or listen to music. You can create your own home streaming systems surprisingly easily nowadays, and the content you add to them is rent-free, chosen by you and can never be taken away or edited.

Here are a couple of really good videos about how to make your own home streaming services:

🌱 https://tinkerbetter.tube/w/ns3WDZZgAoe1SfrDCAUrni

🌱 https://makertube.net/w/k9EzH4bnR61d45XSuB5KPF

@grymas1000lecia@101010.pl avatar grymas1000lecia , to random Polish

Jak lubicie i blogowanie to zaczynam pracę nad prostym CMSem dla prostych blogów. Żadne rocket science, ale jak ktoś lubi takie klimaty to myślę, że za parę miesięcy będzie do testowania. W międzyczasie oczywiście obiecuję raporty z pola bitwy.

@shollyethan@fosstodon.org avatar shollyethan , to random

Self-Host Weekly (2026-02-06)

<3 , software updates and launches, a spotlight on - a lightweight PDF library, and more in this week's recap!

https://selfh.st/weekly/2026-02-06/

@lffontenelle@mastodon.social avatar lffontenelle , to random

Dear hivemind,

I'm looking for some survey form system that allows me to take a tablet somewhere without internet access, fill the form, and then the system syncs the answers to the backend when the tablet regains Internet access.

I know Redcap does it, but I was thinking of something more open?

🚀🙏

@hi@romanzolotarev.com avatar hi , to random

minmal setup in just two days...

  • 12 posts
  • 60 following
  • over 9000 files (sic!)
$ du -hd0 /var/snac && find /var/snac | wc -l<br></br>61.8M	/var/snac<br></br>    9532<br></br>$<br></br>

meanwhile feed is just 9999 bytes
https://romanzolotarev.com/pub/hi.rss

$ curl -s https://romanzolotarev.com/pub/hi.rss | wc -c<br></br>    9999<br></br>

thanks for great defaults and working perfectly out of the box ❤️

hi OP ,
@hi@romanzolotarev.com avatar

two days later, but with relays connected (with daily purge)

+260% file count
+16% space

$ du -hd0 /var/snac/data && find /var/snac | wc -l<br></br>71.5M	/var/snac/data<br></br>   26230<br></br>

still okayish for a project

@DeltaLima@social.la10cy.net avatar DeltaLima , to random German

is a pretty cool server software!

Super lightweight, no database, easy to set-up.

I will not replace my main instance with it, but i really have some other use cases for it, for example some bots or so.

And from what I saw, the code also is pretty nice to learn things from it. (me, a c programming noob)

Edit: Totally dumb of me to NOT post the Git repo in the first place 🤦‍♂️
https://codeberg.org/grunfink/snac2

#c

@RxBrad@mastodon.rxbrad.com avatar RxBrad , to random

Don't mind me. I'm just using Instagram to backup my NAS.

https://github.com/depreciating/InstaCloud/

@mikulski@mastodon.com.pl avatar mikulski , to random Polish

RE: https://social.gryf-kujawy.pl/@gryf/115997550681389670

Właśnie bawię się nowymi emotkami na serwerze. Trochę czasu siedzę nad konfigurowaniem własnego Mastodona. Pierwszy raz się bawię takim czymś i po woli do przodu. Uczę się na bieżąco. Jeszcze tylko ogarnąć jak sprawić, by jakieś pierwsze posty i inne treści zaczęły się pojawiać w zakładce Explore

Saorsa , to random

Can any instance operators offer an explanation as to why federating with Mastodon from an instance not running their software tends to be more difficult?

I've noticed lately that when viewing a profile from a Mastodon instance, their post history tends to be incomplete or otherwise missing. Any posts that are made recently tend to have a significant delay or don't show up on their profile at all.

I know that you can view the content from the remote instance in question for a complete profile, that you need to do so however does seem to be a failing on the part of the server software to properly federate and populate posts.

, , , , , , , , , , .

@mikulski@mastodon.com.pl avatar mikulski , to random Polish

Ogólnie to nie będę się znów przenosił stąd na własną instancję z dwóch powodów: 1. tu mam dostęp do fajnego feeda lokalnego i mam lepsze okienko na fediverse. 2. Wystarczy mi tych przenosin, do trzech razy sztuka i mam nadzieję, że nie więcej xD

@xabd@mastodon.social avatar xabd , to random

Kimai is a professional, open-source time-tracking app you can self-host.

Built for freelancers and teams who want to avoid SaaS tools like Toggl or Clockify. No forced cloud, full data ownership, with invoicing, reports, and 2FA support.

👉 https://github.com/kimai/kimai

👉 More tools like this: https://digital-escape-tools-phi.vercel.app/

ALT
@emill1984@101010.pl avatar emill1984 , to random Polish

Robie porzadki w archiwum zdjeciowym, skoro juz i tak przenosze je do .a. Oprocz duplikatow (z ktorymi immich calkiem dobrze sobie radzi) musze pokasowac tez troche miniaturek pobranych razem z danymi z roznych social mediow (niestety, tutaj juz immich nie daje rady i trzeba to zrobic recznie).

Smiesznie jest jak sie filtruje najstarsze zdjecia, sprzed 15 lat - rozdzielczosc maja taka, ze czasami nie wiadomo co jest oryginalem miniaturka czy faktyczny oryginal. xD