In view of recent events, it seems many people are reconsidering the merits of self-hosting and permissionless services. If this applies to you, there is a new project I love that you may want to check out called @Start9labs.

thread for a Start9 Embassy tour: 1/16

We all know the cloud is just someone else’s computer. What happens if the computer owner decides they don’t like you? They can rug pull your entire digital life. Don’t let them. Self-hosting seemed so daunting but now it isn’t. 2/16

The Embassy hardware is a sleek and fanless Raspberry Pi. It comes with a custom usb stick for backups. Plug it into your home network, wired or wireless, and connect with the mobile app to get started. 3/16

Start9’s app was deplatformed from Apple and Chrome stores for being a competing app store because monopolists gonna monopolize. Start9 simply sidestepped that bullshit by making their own @TorProject onion browser. 4/16

You can connect directly from your device or desktop to the Embassy over a .onion circuit to access the marketplace and interact with installed services. I use Start9’s onion browser on mobile and @Brave Tor tabs on desktop. 5/16

HUGE PERK of .onion routing: no port forwarding is required on your firewall to accept incoming connections. YOU CAN CONNECT TO THE EMBASSY FROM ANYWHERE inside or outside your network with one tap over an encrypted and private circuit even if you do not control the firewall!6/16

Self-hosting network services is about more than #deplatforming defense. There are also privacy gains. 7/16

Many do not appreciate the legal “third party” doctrine: info voluntarily revealed to a 3rd party is not subject to 4th Amendment protections against unreasonable search&seizure. In the cloud, your info is obtainable by LE without a warrant; on your own hardware, it isn’t. 8/15

There are a plethora of cool apps available but let’s take a look at the bitcoin node (bitcoind) to show how ridiculously easy it is to set up and use. Click install on the marketplace and you are presented with a “needs config” button. 9/16

Tap the config button for a menu of pretty much every option for bitcoind. I once spent hours trying to exit vi editing bitcoin.conf on command line and now all you have to do is tap Save to load the default config, which works out of the box, LOL! 10/16

If you do want advanced config like limiting peers, allowlisting trusted nodes, pruning options, mempool settings, etc., that’s just a tap away. 11/16

Then just click Start and your node is up!! One more tap to view the bitcoind log and verify the node is syncing and keep tabs on the network. Your wallet can connect to this node for permissionless banking (e.g., @FullyNoded) – a thing of beauty! 12/16

What else can a Start9 do to take back control from Gigantic Cloud Corp.? For one, self-hosted encrypted messaging. All your chat history exists only on your own hardware, located in your own house. Just give your friends your .onion address and start chatting. 13/16

Same goes for self-hosted file storage, self-hosted non-custodial password manager with @Bitwarden, lightning node setup, and more! Maintenance and updating of these apps is a one-tap breeze! 14/16

If you are interested in learning more about Start9 and the self-sovereign computing vision, check out their podcast appearance on @coincenter Tangents with @valkenburgh. 15/16 https://coincenter.simplecast.com/episodes/matt-hill-and-keagan-mcclelland-BXVED_Fo

And the team’s appearance on @WhatBitcoinDid with @PeterMcCormack “the bitcoin cypherpunk box.” https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/the-bitcoin-cypherpunk-box-with-matt-hill-aaron-greenspan

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