About this site
History
If you're here, then you probably already know who I am. I originally created this site to practice my web development skills and be a fun place for my friends & family to hang out.
Over time, it's also become a blog to document my self-hosting and IT journey. Hopefully my articles have helped you learn and discover the enjoyment of deploying and hosting your own services.
Philosophy
The Jellie Frontier and its associated services are an effort to transform my digital life based on a few key principles:
I. Control your data.
The current digital landscape has been steadily pushing individuals to rely more on large tech companies to manage their data. This has lead to countless data breaches, brokers selling user data as a commodity, and a general disrespect for user privacy.
The solution is to take back control of user data from profit-driven corporations and put it back in the hands of the people to whom it matters most and to avoid giving data to anyone who doesn't need it.
II. Minimize dependence on cloud services.
The first goal of online platforms is to attract as many users as possible. Online services have accomplished this by creating as much convenience as possible at an unsustainable cost. As these companies feel more pressure to generate profit for investors, they begin extracting as much value from their users as possible.
We can escape the enshittification cycle by running our own software and services. Self-hosting is resistant to price hikes, undesirable Terms of Service updates, and services suddenly being taken offline (see killedbygoogle.com).
III. Support ethical business models.
Despite all the greed and irresponsibility, there are communities and companies out there that are trying to do things the right way. Whether it's a community FOSS project, or a small-medium size company prioritizing product over profit, it's important to support groups that operate ethically.
Support comes in many forms:
- Financial support - This is the obvious one. We can buy products and services that we want to see more of, and we can donate to projects that are providing these products and services for free.
- Contribute to projects - If you know how to code, you can help contribute to open source projects. Even if you can't code, documentation is an underrated way to help out projects.
- Technical support - Getting involved in a community and helping people out is also a great way to support projects you love. If you see someone post a question you know the answer to, then help them out. If you figure out something new, share your findings.
Let's work together to make the Internet work for humanity.