Anyone else thinking what I'm thinking? If #mastodon is like a protocol, why am I tied to a domain name I don't control?
To put it another way, with email servers I can have my own domain name & choose to self host OR use something like Google or Microsoft as my servers.
I have not looked at the code to try and understand it better but that's the one thing I'm really not liking about having to choose a server at the moment.
** It feels like having an aol or gmail or yahoo email address to me. **
And since I run businesses that have to make money I don't quite have time at the moment to self host even just for myself (but I am considering it. Thanksgiving week looks slow...)
@hilarybaumann Feel free to host your own instance, there are services online that's specialized in giving you an easy Mastodon hosting experience. Just ask around. :)
The only advantage of an existing active server is the community with its local timeline activity.
@hilarybaumann That's always been the case. I get what you're aiming at. For your own domain you usually have to do a bit more effort. In this case it'd be hosting an instance yourself.
But, like I said, there are services which can make your life easier. There are paid services specialized in hosting mastodon instances for you, and you just apply your own domain to it. :)
For most people it doesn't really matter to have their own domain, so long it's convenient for them. I've lost access to servers before and I just moved on to another one. People'll know me anyway, don't care too much about post history.
But you have all the freedom to do so. :)