I wish my web server were in the corner of my room (2022)
3 days ago
- #RaspberryPi
- #self-hosting
- #nostalgia
- The author reminisces about running a Linux box in their college room in 2000, turning it into a speech synthesizer for visitors to communicate with their flat.
- They highlight the magical feeling of someone accessing their server from afar, likening it to an 'electronic homunculus'.
- The author discusses the importance of hosting a website locally, like on a Raspberry Pi, emphasizing the sense of creation and ownership it brings.
- They mention the transgressive feeling of having a physical server in one's bedroom, contrasting with the ethereal notion of cloud hosting.
- The text references Julian Dibbell's 'My Tiny Life' and the surreal experience of visiting a server in person, underscoring the physicality of virtual spaces.
- The author expresses a desire to make home hosting easier and more reliable, suggesting a hybrid approach with Cloudflare for static content.
- They ponder the potential for new, playful interactions enabled by local hosting, like ambient sounds triggered by visitors.
- The post concludes with a call to rethink internet infrastructure for greater user agency and a more grounded online experience.