Indeed, it’s a mess. And that mess is one of the reasons we have been witnessing a shift against the very notion of public space.
I’ve noticed a few people trying to argue with me specifically. I have no idea why (like I think I said, I just mentioned what I know and I don’t even do photograph anymore) but that’s fine with me. And while they seem to be so vocally willing to defend their undisputed (by me, at the very least) right to privacy I can only wonder how many of those privacy warriors are carrying their own spyware riddled smartphone absolutely everywhere they go, including to the most private place I can think of: the bathroom. And I feel 100% reassured knowing they will pick the right fights ;)
Thx a lot for sharing.
I’m a 50+ non-geek Linux user myself, and selfhosting is the one computer ‘thing’ I would love to be able to setup one day but I’m too afraid to seriously start doing as I’m way too afraid of being that ‘low hanging fruit’ you mentioned in your post.
I said I was not a geek in the sense that, after almost 40 years using only Apple computers, I’ve switched to Linux to use it like I used… my Mac. Sure, I’ve learned to understand a little bit of Linux workings and I would not want to go back to the Mac, no way, I can also write simple bash scripts (with a lot of trials and errors) but that’s about the full extent of my computer ‘expertise’.
So, even though your post is well written and informative, it was still way beyond my limited skills, I’m afraid. I’m not saying that as downer, it was a really interesting read and very informative with all those useful links, but hopefully as away to let you know there are… extremely… odd users like myself that are very much interested in the idea but also are as clueless as an oyster comes the time to buy a pair of sneakers :)
In regards to self-hosting, my conclusion so far is that it’s a much safer choice for someone like me to not do it. The risk is too real to get into some serious issues. And that I’m better off using the few paid services I rely (all in the EU, many of them small companies I can have have direct/human discussion with) as I know by experience I can trust their expertise a lot more than I woudl ever trust my desire to ever become not completely in competent in those fields ;)