I used to self-host because I liked tinkering. I worked tech support for a municipal fiber network, I ran Arch, I enjoyed the control. The privacy stuff was a nice bonus but honestly it was mostly about having my own playground. That changed this week when I watched ICE murder a woman sitting in her car. Before you roll your eyes about this getting political - stay with me, because this is directly about the infrastructure we’re all running in our homelabs. Here’s what happened: A woman was reduced to a data point in a database - threat assessment score, deportation priority level, case number - and then she was killed. Not by some rogue actor, but by a system functioning exactly as designed. And that system? Built on infrastructure provided by the same tech companies most of us used to rely on before we started self-hosting. Every service you don’t self-host is a data point feeding the machine. Google knows your location history, your contacts, your communications. Microsoft has your documents and your calendar. Apple has your photos and your biometrics. And when the government comes knocking - and they are knocking, right now, today - these companies will hand it over. They have to. It’s baked into the infrastructure. Individual privacy is a losing game. You can’t opt-out of surveillance when participation in society requires using their platforms. But here’s what you can do: build parallel infrastructure that doesn’t feed their systems at all. When you run Nextcloud, you’re not just protecting your files from Google - you’re creating a node in a network they can’t access. When you run Vaultwarden, your passwords aren’t sitting in a database that can be subpoenaed. When you run Jellyfin, your viewing habits aren’t being sold to data brokers who sell to ICE. I watched my local municipal fiber network get acquired by TELUS. I watched a piece of community infrastructure get absorbed into the corporate extraction machine. That’s when I realized: we can’t rely on existing institutions to protect us. We have to build our own. This isn’t about being a prepper or going off-grid. This is about building infrastructure that operates on fundamentally different principles:
Communication that can’t be shut down: Matrix, Mastodon, email servers you control File storage that can’t be subpoenaed: Nextcloud, Syncthing Passwords that aren’t in corporate databases: Vaultwarden, KeePass Media that doesn’t feed recommendation algorithms: Jellyfin, Navidrome Code repositories not owned by Microsoft: Forgejo, Gitea
Every service you self-host is one less data point they have. But more importantly: every service you self-host is infrastructure that can be shared, that can support others, that makes the parallel network stronger. Where to start if you’re new:
Passwords first - Vaultwarden. This is your foundation. Files second - Nextcloud. Get your documents out of Google/Microsoft. Communication third - Matrix server, or join an existing instance you trust. Media fourth - Jellyfin for your music/movies, Navidrome for music.
If you’re already self-hosting:
Document your setup. Write guides. Make it easier for the next person. Run services for friends and family, not just yourself. Contribute to projects that build this infrastructure. Support municipal and community network alternatives.
The goal isn’t purity. You’re probably still going to use some corporate services. That’s fine. The goal is building enough parallel infrastructure that people have actual choices, and that there’s a network that can’t be dismantled by a single executive order. I’m working on consulting services to help small businesses and community organizations migrate to self-hosted alternatives. Not because I think it’ll be profitable, but because I’ve realized this is the actual material work of resistance in 2025. Infrastructure is how you fight infrastructure. We’re not just hobbyists anymore. Whether we wanted to be or not, we’re building the resistance network. Every Raspberry Pi running services, every old laptop turned into a home server, every person who learns to self-host and teaches someone else - that’s a node in a system they can’t control. They want us to be data points. Let’s refuse.
What are you running? What do you wish more people would self-host? What’s stopping people you know from taking this step?
OC write up by @h333d@lemmy.world
Thanks for compiling this.
I agree with the other comments here about shutting down the internet entirely: if that happens, focus on staying alive.
Want to add a mention which is tech but not computers:
Ham radio.
It charades as a hobby, but it’s really about emergency comms. Yes, it’s filled with a bunch of really annoying old guys. But it is literally infrastructure-loss proof, in that if you can generate the power to run the radio, it will always work, and communication can be effectively worldwide.
If the internet gets shut off, ham radio is the only real option for wide-area comms. Having some knowledge of it, and a working radio (in particular, an HF radio, which is capable of operating on “world bands” like 10m-40m) should be on any real emergency list. If you have one that operates on 2 meter through 40 or even 80, you cover local comms and world comms.
Note that generating the power to run such a radio is something one can do on their own. Most quality radios run on anything between 8 and 13.6 volts direct current. A car battery (or similar, to collect and buffer power output) and dynamo to charge it is all you need. Transmitting is power hungry (though worldwide communication is possible with 10-ish watts), and reception requires relatively low wattage.
Where the knowledge comes in is knowing how to operate it, how to find frequencies of note, and how to set up the antenna (which can be as simple as a long stretch of wire, even for transmission, but proper setup is needed for safety of the operator).
Also of note is Meshtastic, which has seen some success in flood response efforts where cell/internet doesn’t work. Compared to ham radio it uses less power, relies on cheaper radios, doesn’t require a license, and overall has a much lower barrier of entry. It’s a pretty cool system that I only first heard of recently.
Barrier of entry versus using the radio or getting the license?
In an emergency situation, you do not need a license. And you can talk to any radio made in the last ~100 years.
I’d choose a quality radio over a single board custom thing that can only talk to other single board custom things any day. The key advantage is not needing a Meshtastic. Just voice comms.
In fact, I’d argue that even something like a CB radio is more useful in emergencies, simply because there are more of them around vs. Meshtastic.
Fun fact: every time I hear the work Telus, I do a little hock ptui at the ground. I could tell you stories. Proxmox and self host!
Don’t forget to host your code AND code you that you use.
I have my forgejo set up to mirror repos for software I find valuable.
I think the biggest i.paxt isn’t from self hosting necessarily but for local government/city municipals to start providing their own services.
My two biggest prices are: Internet should be a utility and not owned by like 3 companies.
Cities need there own forums/messaging board or whatever instead of Facebook/Twitter. So many cities/towns use it for official messaging, even for emergencies since I don’t have either I’m blocked.
I have a few ham radios and whenever there is some natural disaster it’s one of the few places I actually get information.
What happens when they shut down the internet itself? Im still trying to figure out what to do about communication if the cables are cut and the cell towers go down.
Not attempting to detract from your message at all either, that is still very important work.
I haven’t looked into it much myself, but isn’t that the point of meshtastic?
Haven’t heard of this, but I’ll look it up, thanks!
I do know about some smaller projects using LoRa-based mesh to send texts, such as https://waveshark.net/products/waveshark that look interesting as well.
Edit: I now see meshtastic is essentially the same thing
If they “shut down the internet”, there’s far more important issues to mind than self-hosting.
Ham radio will be the one wide-area communication method which is actually capable of surviving a full scale shutdown of national infrastructure. I added a comment in the main thread about it.
After I finish my Sec+ cert and find employment again, a Ham license is on my todo list
Please add a link to the original post: https://lemmy.world/post/41387733
Communication that can’t be shut down
Uhm, it can definitely be shut down with enough funding. We’re at the mercy of rich people in any case.
Whether we wanted to be or not, we’re building the resistance network.
I’m sorry, but I can’t take this seriously right now. How are you resisting exactly? It’s not as if you’re building a whole new infrastructure from scratch, you’re just rearranging the same pieces over and over again and it leads to no changes in the foundation.
Self-hosting is cool, but it’s not a meaningful change in the big picture. As you saw, one manufacturer decided to do something stupid, RAM prices went up, that’s it, simple as that. And you depend on that, unless you have a way to manufacture it yourself, you’re at their mercy.
Self-hosting social networks doesn’t fix the foundational problems with online human communication right now either. It helps a bit, but fix, definitely no.
When self-hosting becomes too expensive, what can you do? Nothing, absolutely nothing.
Now, my goal is not to discourage trying, but looking at what we’re actually doing and how to actually make a change. Chasing our own tails will get us nowhere and I fear that’s what powerful people are counting on. “Go play with your cute toys, leave the toy making to us!”
