Best of self-hosting — November 2025

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Article
selfhosted·27w
What to do with an old laptop?
A developer seeks advice on repurposing a 2014-2015 laptop (Intel i5, 8GB RAM, 500GB SSD) into a home server for running scripts, cron jobs, and self-hosted services. Key considerations include choosing a lightweight Ubuntu-based Linux distribution, enabling SSH access, minimizing resource usage and noise, optimal placement near the router, and whether to disconnect the screen for power savings. The goal is a 24/7 server for automation tasks, data storage, and services like Pi-hole, self-hosted cloud storage, and workflow automation tools.
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2
Article
selfhosted·27w
Nixopus: one-click app hosting on your own server (install apps just like on your phone) now can be extended with extensions.
Nixopus is an open-source platform that simplifies self-hosting applications on your own server with a user-friendly interface. The new Extensions feature enables one-click deployment of 100+ applications like Appwrite, Excalidraw, and Ollama, with custom domain support, live build logs, and transparent configuration. Users can browse available apps, deploy them instantly, manage all running services from a single dashboard, and even package their own applications as extensions by adding a single file.
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3
3
Article
Raghav·27w
Nixopus: one-click app hosting on your own server (install apps just like on your phone) now can be extended with extensions.
Nixopus is an open-source platform that simplifies self-hosting applications on your own server with a user-friendly interface. The new Extensions feature enables one-click deployment of 100+ applications like Appwrite, Excalidraw, and Ollama, with custom domain support, live build logs, and transparent configuration. Users can browse available apps, deploy them instantly, manage all running services from a single dashboard, and even package their own applications as extensions by adding a single file.
40
1
4
Article
Hacker News·23w
What They Don't Tell You About Maintaining an Open Source Project
A developer shares lessons learned from maintaining Kaneo, an open-source kanban board. Key insights include: documentation is never finished and requires constant iteration based on user feedback; support requests reveal unexpected use cases and edge cases; feature requests require careful evaluation against project scope; database migrations are high-stakes operations requiring extensive testing; and managing contributions involves balancing appreciation with architectural consistency. The piece emphasizes that maintenance work exceeds initial development effort, requires setting boundaries while staying helpful, and that engaged users become collaborators who improve the project through bug reports and contributions.
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5
Video
CodeHead·26w
How To Host n8n For Free FOREVER
Learn how to self-host n8n automation tool completely free using two methods: npm installation with Node.js or Docker Desktop. Both approaches allow you to run n8n locally on your machine with access to paid features through a free license, eliminating subscription costs for workflow automation.
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6
Article
Hacker News·27w
Why Nextcloud feels slow to use
Nextcloud's sluggish performance stems from excessive JavaScript bundle sizes, with 15-20 MB downloaded per page load. Core bundles like core-common.js (4.71 MB) and individual apps like Calendar (5.94 MB) and Notes (4.36 MB) create significant execution overhead. Even with caching, browsers must parse and execute massive amounts of code on each visit, resulting in 5-10 second load times on mobile devices. The author has begun migrating to lighter alternatives like Vikunja (1.5 MB) for tasks and Immich for photos, while acknowledging Nextcloud's convenience for other features.
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7
Article
selfh.st·25w
Self-Host Weekly #145: Agentic
A weekly newsletter covering self-hosting news and tools. Highlights include commentary on recent cloud service outages, Microsoft's announcement of Windows becoming an 'agentic OS', and research on why people choose to self-host. Features Postgresus, an automated PostgreSQL backup platform with web interface, scheduling, multiple storage destinations, and Docker deployment support.
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8
Article
Hacker News·23w
Migrating Dillo from GitHub
The Dillo browser project is migrating away from GitHub to a self-hosted infrastructure at dillo-browser.org. The move addresses GitHub's JavaScript-heavy frontend that doesn't work with Dillo itself, single point of failure concerns, and performance issues. The new setup uses cgit for repository hosting, a custom Markdown-based bug tracker called buggy, and maintains mirrors on Codeberg and Sourcehut. All critical data is stored in git repositories with OpenPGP signatures for authenticity, enabling resilience against domain loss and reducing dependency on any single platform.
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9
Article
selfh.st·23w
Self-Host Weekly #147: Ad-Free
A weekly newsletter covering self-hosting updates and tools. Key highlights include Portainer's Docker v29 support update, Stirling PDF's v2.0.0 release with redesigned interface and desktop apps, and the emergence of podcast ad removal tools. Features BentoPDF, a client-side web-based PDF toolkit that performs all operations locally without sending data to external servers, deployable via Docker or bare metal.
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