Weekly Highlights
I found myself reflecting on the current state of self-hosted communication platforms this past week after seeing the official shut down of Skype. The amount of viable and well-designed software in the space is incredible, which makes it a bit disappointing to see the lack of traction they've gained amongst a sea of popular hosted services.
The actual process of self-hosting the software has never been the difficult part, especially when so many tools exist to assist with deployment. The real dilemma is – how do we convince others to use platforms that (at best) only a handful of their contacts use? Does it matter if a viable WhatsApp alternative exists if no one in our circles will use it? And how can we encourage adoption if 90% of the open-source repositories I come across have badges linking users to their Discord servers and not Matrix, Discourse, etc.?
The lack of interoperability seems to play a large role, and the platforms that have picked up on this – like Mastodon and the rest of the Fediverse – still feel clunky at times. Unfortunately, while I've tried to be intentional about supporting these projects, I still often find myself subconsciously avoiding software communities that don't have a convenient presence on Discord or Telegram.
If this is too much to ponder ahead of the weekend, that's okay. Instead, enjoy the struggle of these Redditors who discovered this week that motion sensors can't detect gingers and the negative impact the redesigned Plex mobile app can have on families.
Happy selfh.st/ing!
In the News
Sourav Rudra
Franck Nijhof
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
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Ethan Sholly
Ethan Sholly
Community Content
John O’Nolan
margfmartel16
Content Spotlight
Meet FileBrowser Quantum, a massive fork of the popular web-based file management platform FileBrowser. Developed for those looking to easily manage files without the need for a bi-directional sync platform (Nextcloud, ownCloud, etc.), FileBrowser Quantum builds on top of its predecessor with a revamped interface and support for additional features including SSO (via OIDC), multiple sources, real-time updates and indexing, improved file listing options, and more.
FileBrowser Quantum can be easily installed via Docker and doesn't require any additional dependencies for deployment.
Links: Source Code
Videos and Podcasts
- Warracker: The Ultimate Warranty Tracking App | DB Tech
- Everything New In Home Assistant 2025.5! | Everything Smart Home
- HomeLab: The Self Hosted Path To Leveling Up | Lawrence Systems
- Linkwarden is an open source self-hosted collaborative bookmark manager | GadgeteerZA
Command Line Corner
Use openssl rand -base64 x (replacing x with a number of your choice) to generate a random password from the command line:
$ openssl rand -base64 12
8AlOdTRS0oFkg6cvRelated News and Content
Kevin Purdy
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