I wrote a blog on this. My site is down as I rewrite it but
SyncThing
I already explained why I love syncthing, but one limitation is both devices must be online to sync, so this often happens:
Having a server means the phone can sync to that server, and then when the computer goes online and the phone offline the computer can still sync.
Email forwarding
Ditching immature email with zero compromises
* cool_dude420@gmail.com -> evan@<redacted>.io -> email@example.com * cool_dude420@gmail.com <- evan@<redacted>.io <- email@example.comExisting emails delivered to
cool_dude420@gmail.com, but new contacts get my best face (evan@<redacted>.io). It forwards emails tocool_dude420@gmail.comwithout telling the sender, and vice versaHosting projects (many low traffic node, rust, and python servers)
Host backends I write independent of my computer, so they are available when ever me or a friend needs them. Nothing high traffic in this section, but involves some MySQL and such. Mostly node, some rust.
Email aliases
Problem: When signing up for services, they have your email now and can do as they wish
Solution:
netflix -> netflix@alias.<redacted>.io -> cool_dude420@gmail.comThat way, if a service goes rogue
netflix -> netflix@alias.<redacted>.io 🚫 cool_dude420@gmail.comPhoto hosting with Lychee
My photos are a large part of me, and I would like to have public galleries to share with not only my photography teacher, but anyone I give the link to.
The software I use has password protected galleries support, so I can have fully public ones, and a special gallery for class, for my family, and for me.
A wonderful replacement for Google #photos, because it is no longer free
Drive
I want to host a small file server that allows me to have public, unlisted, and password protected areas. In most cases, Google drive is appropriate, but occasionally drive.<redacted>.io/coolfile.png would be nice, to make it clear that information is by me. I really hate NextCloud, but it’s the best option.
Website Hosting
Serving static website that has my notes
- Host your own lemmy instance
- Host a plex server
I run a couple of nodes
- Tor Relay
- IPFS node
- Syncthing, combined with the untrusted node feature so that the VPS never sees the plaintext data. That way I have an always-on node to keep my devices in sync
- Send to securely share ephemeral files with other people
Not super practical but I like to donate my spare compute to Sheep-it
Host your own website Make your own VPN Minecraft/Factorio server File storage and sync
It’s cool beacuse it’s just a little computer you have access from anywhere and can give access to what you want 😁
Run a Nextcloud instance on it.
I set up a NextCloud instance for myself using Digital Ocean. I used this guide using Snap, and it’s been running for a couple of years now without a hitch. It’s a really nice way to deGoogle since you can use it for file sharing, calendars, music, etc.
You could build your own personal knowledge base with Trilium Notes, as seen here: https://lemmy.ml/post/85062
You could host an instance of a fediverse platform (like Lemmy!) if you’re interested, and up for the responsibility of moderating and maintaining the community.
An easier thing that requires less moderation might be to host a privacy oriented “alternative client” for large platforms, such as Invidious for Youtube, Nitter for Twitter, or Teddit for Reddit. They provide users a way of accessing those non-privacy-respecting services while giving minimal data to them.
You could also host your own VPN or DNS/PiHole server and be pretty confident that the server isn’t collecting data you don’t want it to (though your VPS is itself still a concern in that department).
Running BOINC or Folding@Home will donate your server’s computing power to science! Both run calculations for research projects on the local machine (serious ones too, like COVID or cancer research, or crunching the math on the results of particle accelerator experiments).
Finally, if you have an open source project that you want to support, seeding their release torrents and/or providing a mirror server for their package manager or general file store is an easy way to help them out!
Install yunoserve and host a mastadon instance? I host my website through wordpress this way. Yunohost let’s you install a bunch of interesting prebuilt things (wordpress, mastadon, email servers, folks sharing, etc) through a gui. As much as i love wandering through a cli, this just makes setting up super fast.
Serve porn.
Host a mastodon/matrix instance
