alt Hacker News> the average self-hoster who just wants to enable a few services to send email doesn't want to run a mail server
Maybe I'm confused, maybe the label "self-hoster" is broader than the definition in my mind, but that's exactly what self-hosters want to do, that's why we call ourselves self-hosters, we want to host the stuff we use ourselves :)
If I just wanted to "enable a few services" I'd use AWS or whatever the modern alternatives are.
Replies
> If I just wanted to enable a few services I'd use AWS or whatever
But then you'd be using AWS for those services too.
I think there's a meaningful gap between folks who are willing and able to self host their own applications but have decided that running their own MTA is a separate and much harder commitment. Different line, but still self-hosting in any reasonable read of the term. I've been on both sides of that line at one point, I'm trying to avoid going back. :)
> but that's exactly what self-hosters want to do
Only a sith self-hosters want to self-host absolutely everything.
I think you are confused. I self-host a ton of stuff. One thing I have zero interest in is hosting mail and dealing with all of the configuration and possible timebombs waiting before I can even do the single thing I want the service to do. Instead I pay like $5/month for essentially unlimited emails from any domain I control.
That said, none of it has to do with my own personal email, which has been on Gmail for long enough to drink, so we are probably talking about two different situations.