Trying to wrap my head around the fediverse. Is each instance like another person with a server? Could that person just shut it down whenever they wanted to?

Are there any companies that have invested in hosting Lemmy/ other fediverse servers?

Sorry I’m sure I messed up some of the terminology, I hope my questions make sense! I love the idea of the fediverse as I understand it, but I like to dig into these details.

  • @drcouzelis@lemmy.zipEnglish
    31•9 months ago

    Is each instance like another person with a server?

    I just wanted to add, any computer with an internet connection can host a web page! A desktop, a laptop, anything. That’s how the internet all started, as a collection on interconnected computers sharing data. I think many people nowadays forget this or even never knew about it (including me), since we live in a world where people spend all their time at like only a dozen websites. (Google, Instagram, Wikipedia…)

    I have a public “webserver” in my basement. It’s just some random computer hosting some photos for family members. And it’s all completely free, I don’t pay anything to do it. I could easily pop an instance of Lemmy on it too.

    The biggest hurdles in setting up a server from home are needing some technical knowledge, and a free domain name / URL usually looks a little silly (unless you pay for one), and getting hacked is a very real threat unless you pay close attention to security.

      • @tristan@aussie.zone
        4•9 months ago

        Many ways around that these days. Dynamic DNS, CloudFlare tunnels, tailscale funnel, reverse SSH tunnels, etc

        My setup uses a reverse proxy hosted on a free Oracle VPS that feeds through tailscale VPN, so it doesn’t really matter where the devices are connected, as long as they are connected to the tailscale VPN, the reverse proxy on the vps can serve the stuff

        I run Plex and about 30 other things including my own website through it all without any issues