Thomas Johnson III

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Thomas Johnson III

thomas_johnson_iii@arrcay.7t4.us

Systems Engineer

Active: 3 months ago

Location:: Home Office Space

Homepage:: https://www.7t4.us

Identities:

7t4
https://www.7t4.us
Codeberg
https://codeberg.org/7t4
Github
https://github.com/7t4

Thomas Johnson III

Sun, 29 Dec 2024 22:34:25 -0500 last edited: Mon, 30 Dec 2024 02:52:45 -0500 from ArrCay

Since the 90's, I've advocated the use of open source software for many reasons. One of those reasons is self-reliance, or independence from [insert BigTechMegaCorp here].

Related to that is security, which I mean in a broad sense to include personal data privacy, online safety, fully auditable code (unlike proprietary software), etc.

IT/Computer/Network/Systems/Cyber- Security is a balance of risks.
A simplified equation:
more knowledge/control = less risks
and vice versa.

For softwares (including servers and related network services) to best meet such goals of security, they should be run on the end users' own hardware/system. And maintenance/adminstration should be done by the same end user(s), or otherwise under their full control/discretion.

I'm not sure if the whole "cloud" and "[xyz]-As-a-Service" marketing hype was just another step or went hand in hand with the outsource/off-shore movement in corporate world, and the commoditization in the IT industry. [Run-on. hanging participle? Rambling, non-sequitur? Incomplete thought for another day... Eh, whatever. Not fixing it now. Anyways...]

My opinion is everyone should be self-hosting; using their own server(s) for social media/blog/website and all other "cloud"/online services they use.

Or, since not everyone can setup/run their own servers, at least use the expertise of their local IT co. or independent tech guru to implement a solution.

All the services provided by bigtechs are available at the independent or small community level, and often at better quality levels using the exact same or better software/hardware solution.

An example with social media; the tech to interconnect thousands of individual-run servers (millions of users), running dozens of different social media platforms as if they belonged to the same network, has been around for many years now. Truth social and Gab were built on such a platform [Mastodon] but they are closed off systems that don't connect with any others. Meta, the fecesbook co., has been testing Threads (for data-mining, ad-injection and how to profit from a network they have no control of; no doubt), which is another platform that does connect (somewhat) to others.

More details on social media platforms can be found in the What is ArrCay? Help file

"But with BigTechMegaCorp I can register today and it's free."
In almost all cases, it's not really free. It's a barter exchange. You are handing over your data (personal, demographic, intellectual property aka created content, etc.) - 'your' account is on their server(s), so it really belongs to them. Additionally you are usually agreeing to be subjected to targeted advertising or otherwise having your data sold to third parties. So you are generally 'paying' something in addition to being used for maximizing their ad or other revenue sources. Then there's the less obvious "bigger picture" issues like 'what else does bigtechmegacorp do?' 'does their revenue go towards x, y, or z social/political/etc. interests?' Etc. Etc.

So is your time, data privacy/security, control/ownership of your intellectual property/created content, etc. worth the actual services and server resources (bandwidth, processing, storage) provided?

Probably not, in all reality. Particularly considering that most people undervalue their own time. And in the case of posting/uploading content: many fail to recognize that their creativity, personal knowledge/experience, and contribution has real worth.

On the other hand, I'll go out on a limb and guess that providing your own server resources and administration is either; a) not in your skills repetoire; or b) not in the budget to buy/rent the hardware, any additional internet connection/bandwidth, and the personal time and/or trusted tech support dedicated to just the services you use.

Surely there must be something in between becoming a tech nerd with a server rack at home, and just giving bigtechs full control of my tech life!?

As with many things in life, there are options [shades of gray, a spectrum]...

Get in touch for further discussion.
...and don't call me Shirley.