I am curious about hosting my own lemmy/mastodon server
from ComradePenguin@lemmy.ml to selfhosted@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 12:52
https://lemmy.ml/post/38450219

My main concerns is illegal content being posted, shared. Any advice?

I am probably not going to do it due to this, so don’t spend too much time replying 😊

#selfhosted

threaded - newest

ugjka@lemmy.ugjka.net on 03 Nov 13:01 next collapse

I run Mastodon in single user mode (only myself) and lemmy with registrations disabled. Also don’t use image proxy-ing with pictrs on lemmy if u concerned about illegal images

FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au on 05 Nov 02:38 collapse

Can I ask why you bother doing that? What is the point?

ugjka@lemmy.ugjka.net on 05 Nov 02:55 collapse

erm, to interact with the fediverse? and to have a place on my website for people to see what I’m up to?

KarnaSubarna@lemmy.ml on 05 Nov 06:07 next collapse

Is it a docker based solution? If yes, can you please let me know if you faced any specific challenge in setting it up?

ugjka@lemmy.ugjka.net on 06 Nov 16:40 collapse

The default docker compose file from the tutorial on Lemmy’s website tries to set up the whole thing with Postgresql 18 image but I got some error with that, i fixed it by using Postgresql 16 image. I forgot what the error message was, but there were people on GitHub complaining about the same errors but one of the devs kept closing them as “support” issue and told everyone to solve it on forums or matrix but people where clueless the as well when i googled around.

KarnaSubarna@lemmy.ml on 06 Nov 17:04 collapse

Thanks for the info.

FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au on 07 Nov 04:13 collapse

But you can just sign up to anywhere on the fediverse, you don’t need to host your own server. What benefits do you get for hosting your own server with only you as a user?

ugjka@lemmy.ugjka.net on 07 Nov 12:55 collapse

more control

FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au on 16 Nov 21:48 collapse

Over what?

hendrik@palaver.p3x.de on 03 Nov 13:06 next collapse

There’s always a possibility of someone posting arbitrary content when a platform allows user content or combines content from many sources. I mean we do have moderation here and illegal content is supposed to be removed or flagged. However as the operator of some internet service, you are ultimately responsible for what’s on your instance. So you definitely do need to make an effort to stay in control. Btw, there are possible compromises, such as using an allow-list of instances you federate with, so you don’t pull content from sources you don’t trust and didn’t approve.

CaptainBasculin@lemmy.bascul.in on 03 Nov 13:50 next collapse

Define that you’re responsible for content originating from your instance on your legal page, and make use of fediseer to block instances that consist of illegal content in your country.

If you’re selfhosting, chances are the worst legal offending instances per your laws are already blocked by your country.

tofu@lemmy.nocturnal.garden on 03 Nov 14:19 next collapse

Do you want to host just for yourself or for other people as well?

ComradePenguin@lemmy.ml on 03 Nov 16:02 collapse

Other people as well

silver@das-eck.haus on 03 Nov 15:04 next collapse

I set up a piefed instance pretty easily for personal use, I recommend checking it out

rozodru@pie.andmc.ca on 03 Nov 16:24 next collapse

honestly it’s better to just host your own private instance as if you want a lemmy and mastodon instance that others can also set up you not only have to admin it you also have to moderate it.

Also keep in mind it’s NOT just actual people signing up but you also have to deal with all the bots which WILL register en masse to your instances. a lot of people won’t mention this. bots flock to this stuff like flies on shit. It’s not worth it unless you plan on really dedicating the time to actively admin your instances.

I run Akkoma instead of Mastodon and Piefed instead of lemmy. both of which were easier to setup than mastodon/lemmy and less resource heavy.

jasonweiser@sh.itjust.works on 03 Nov 17:06 next collapse

I ran mine for a bit and it’s a resource hog, fragile, and images are a constant problem because the cache just keeps growing and growing so either you keep a limited timeframe of user images or you pay for storage elsewhere.

I was the only user so I didn’t have to deal with moderation, but what finally spooked me was the possibility of someone posting something illegal and it propagating over to my server. That was why I stopped hosting my Lemmy server, too.

oeuf@slrpnk.net on 03 Nov 18:37 next collapse

AFAIK If you host GotoSocial it links out to the instances where content is hosted, rather than downloading it as a copy. I have a single-user instance on a tiny VPS and it uses hardly any resources. I think part of the reason for that is the above. You have to use a client application with it because there is no web interface, which I think is partly why it is so lightweight.

Might be worth looking at if you’re concerned about accidentally hosting things you don’t want.

frongt@lemmy.zip on 04 Nov 03:15 collapse

Can you just turn that off, and make people directly link to the external media?

rimu@piefed.social on 03 Nov 18:34 next collapse

IMO Lemmy/PieFed is safer to run because the community mods will delete anything illegal, which will delete it for you, too. About 5 instances host 95% of communities worth joining so it’s easy for us to coordinate defense.

Mastodon is thousands of instances and more wild west. Bad stuff can come from anywhere.

null@piefed.nullspace.lol on 12 Nov 14:29 collapse

Host PieFed instead. I’ve hosted Lemmy and PieFed and Lemmy was a huge pain to set up, and was very resource-heavy. PieFed was a breeze to set up, and the dev team beats Lemmy’s Dev team by a country-mile.