I have no job, so the gift cards I have are prepaid and only have a few dollars on them. I should get a job soon, but in the meantime, I want to run my own Lemmy instance. I know this is probably a stupid question, but is there a way to do so? If I run it on just my computer, it’ll shut down when my computer turns off, and there is an old computer my parents have but they won’t let me use it because they don’t wanna buy a new charger (The charger cord is broken)
I wouldn’t start with anything involving user-generated content… Otherwise, it could easily be misused, and the police might end up at YOUR door.
I wouldn’t let that be a deterrent to starting an instance. Just make sure you understand the obligations you have as site owner when it comes to misuse. Maintain good logging and follow legal requirements (which in the US is locking down and preserving evidence and reporting to law enforcement hotlines - depending on the nature of the misuse).
Laws are changing rapidly right now, and it’s practically impossible to keep up with everything. If, for example, files are shared or links to them are posted, things get very tricky. For instance, would you know what to do with *.stl files? Something unpleasant is coming soon regarding 3D printing in Europe https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/02/26/brussels-seeks-eu-wide-jail-sentences-for-firearms-offences-including-3d-printed-weapons You’d have to automatically check such files or see if anything links to them. You shouldn’t host such things on your own network. At least that’s my opinion.
No, that’s not how the new EU legislation works. The new laws build off existing Digital Services Act (DSA) and legacy E-Commerce Directive (2000/31/EC) requirements. The DSA states again that you would have to lock down access to the material (once you become aware) and then inform authorities.
All site operators maintain safe harbor with EU authorities unless those two points are broken. In both US and EU pending legislation, no requirement to scan all STLs is required, so you do not have to automatically check all files like you mentioned.
Thanks
I might
Get new equipment and always run my old computer
Get a Raspberry Pi
Keep running my new computer forever
Pi is a good option because of it’s low power draw.
However I find used mini pc’s and Small Form Factor desktops to be a better value and their idle power is similar to the latest Pi (while costing about the same as a new Pi).
That’s not the point. For example, I use Raspberries as an ad blocker, file server, Nextcloud, private (!!!) web server, and VPN.
I wouldn’t run ANYTHING on them that’s publicly accessible…
Imagine if two users used it to share child pornography, for example… Then your life is completely screwed as the middleman…
Or malware gets distributed through it… Or your entire network gets hacked…
Quickly dismiss the idea of setting up something like Lemmy or whatever on your own network. The world is a shitty place… which means it’s not a question of if something will happen, but WHEN
Ahhhhh, I get it now. Thanks :) In the meantime, I will just run communities on other instances, like my Scandinavian Left-Wing politics community on the PieFed instance I use!