This sort of hand-waves the core issue we've always had, which is that it's too error-prone and annoying to set up self-hosting. That, and that alone, is why it's still only done by enthusiasts, no matter how much technologists would like it to be otherwise.
Until it's as easy (and cheap!) to self-host as it is to sign up for an account, self-hosting will remain a niche.
For the last 30 years, there've consistently been companies looking to break into home computing appliances. With the maturity of container deployments, the ubiquity of low-power/high-performance SoC ARM platforms, the increasing consumer concern over data privacy, and the ongoing spread of fiber, the cake is just about fully baked.
Whether it's a big existing company or some startup, somebody will break open the market with a little puck that you plug into the wall and that comes preconfigured with something NextCloud-like and self-maintaining. Then the competition starts, a few generations of innovation happen, and voila.
That puck still costs money, where many existing services are free
It won't be directly accessible over the internet without either router configuration changes, or some kind of cloud service to phone home to
If it were addressable over the internet- would the customer have to set up a custom domain? Or memorize an IP address? Or rely on a cloud service to redirect requests through?
And then on top of all that, it'll go offline if the customer's home power or internet goes out
There's some more gap to be closed, sure, and you already don't have to be a programmer to set that kind of thing up. But I don't see this kind of thing ever traversing beyond the realm of enthusiasts
You are talking about one month's cellular or cable bill.
It will take effort to set up and run one of these - it's always easier to get corporations to do everything for you, but is that what you want out of life?
Anyone could set up a small business supplying these with domain included, and even provide remote admin for a fee. Some people would like that, some would not. Hover will sell you a domain in five minutes.
You put the puck and your router on an UPS, like any security system. If you have a power hit longer than an hour, does it really matter if your website is offline? How often does that happen? Maybe solar power it, just for giggles.
Everything you're saying is still from the perspective of an enthusiast/idealist; try to step out of the bubble. Most people don't think about their technology that way.
They don't care that it follows abstract ideals, or that it sticks it to Big Tech. They probably don't want to spend an extra five dollars, or an extra five minutes, on those things. They want technology that makes their life tangibly better, that lets them do things they couldn't otherwise, and that just works. And most people won't understand the subtle difference between "self-hosted with remote-admin" and "not self-hosted" anyway.
I'm not judging them. I want simple most of the time too. I make some different choices here and there, but I often pick the easy solution when it comes to consumer tech, because I have other things in my life I'd rather spend my energy on.
I'm not sure self-hosting can ever get there, but if it does, it's still got a steep road to climb first.
Yeah, it’s like growing your own food or fixing your own car. Most people can’t, and don’t care.
Remember Heinlein:
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
When even on HN people think clearing your cookies makes your tracking consent meaningless, then I'd even say we are far, far away from people understanding what they give away.
Eben Moglen and the FreedomBox Foundation have been pursuing this since 2010.[0][1]
Moglen recognized very early the loss of freedom and agency involved in the stampede to the cloud. FreedomBox is entirely free and open source software.[3]
You can buy the puck[2] or make one yourself.[4] The erratic changes in residential IP addresses are handled by dynamic DNS. Like all private email servers, running a residential email server is difficult - the best approach is to use a service like Fastmail to relay for you.
Running your own Mastodon server or web site is straightforward.
I'd say its far easier now than say 20yrs ago and also way cheaper tbh, I'm excited for the next decade because I think there's still innovating cheaper energy, cheaper storage, easier integrations, etc.
Until it's as easy (and cheap!) to self-host as it is to sign up for an account, self-hosting will remain a niche.