this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2026
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Selfhosted

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A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don't control.

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[–] non_burglar@lemmy.world 8 points 2 hours ago

This is neat, and I see that lots of folks are getting a good look at their laid out setup costs. However, you should stop using project management budget coding words. Also:

  1. You are confusing roi with payback period.
  2. There are intangible factors to consider like command of your data, control over security, etc.
  3. Opex and capex are values used for fixed-term projects, they aren't meant to quantify ongoing efforts past project outset.
  4. Hardware is absolutely NOT a "one-time purchase". If you are amortizing the cost of equipment, you must include projected failure rates, particularly for disks. Please refer to green-cycling.
  5. Information projects are different than physical processing projects because they "expire", meaning your i5-7200 is OK now, but will likely be nearly useless in 2030 when everyone is pretty much moved to 4k.
[–] Saapas@piefed.zip 3 points 1 hour ago

I'm usint old hardware I have around anyway and electricity is part of my rent. But I also don't use any paid subscription service or did before I had my server.

Maybe the calculator wasn't made for me lol

[–] ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago) (1 children)

I think the ROI for my server is something like 6-7 years, not counting the electricity it uses. I don't do it to save money but to gain independence, which is good because realistically it will never break even.

[–] melfie@lemy.lol 1 points 1 minute ago* (last edited 1 minute ago)

I asked a friend who owns a small plane whether it saves money vs. flying commercial, and the answer was no way, it’s for the freedom, convenience, and love of aviation. Realistically, self-hosting is the same, albeit a lot cheaper.

[–] rollerbang@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

How to factor in independence from BigTech and privacy gained?

[–] hendrik@palaver.p3x.de 3 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Puh, ziemlich fokussiert auf Video. Ich ersetze damit mehr meinen Chat, Cloud-Office, Social Media... Aber der Return of Investment ist da weniger die Abo-Gebühr 😅

[–] ShortN0te@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

There is a box for manually added monthly savings. But yes, hard to classify what you would actually subscribe to if you would not have a server already.

But same for video. I would never buy 3 streaking service at a time.

[–] hendrik@palaver.p3x.de 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Kind of the reason why I quit Netflix. For once it got more expensive each year. And at some point there was less and less of my favorite shows on there, so I'd need to subscribe to a second service for Star Trek... then a third one for all the good stuff that's Disney... And I don't even watch that much TV. So instead, I just quit. Maybe one day I'm gonna read a book on a Friday evening 😆 Or the stuff the government forces me to pay for.

[–] ObscureOtter@piefed.ca 1 points 2 hours ago

But same for video. I would never buy 3 streaking service at a time.

This is an awesome sounding typo.

[–] Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyz 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters More Letters
Git Popular version control system, primarily for code
IP Internet Protocol
VPN Virtual Private Network

3 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 9 acronyms.

[Thread #45 for this comm, first seen 30th Jan 2026, 13:10] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

[–] slazer2au@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago

Ooof. 47 months. I should rethink my setup.