The Future of Librehosters

When we started librehosters, we had 3 aims in mind:

  • A place to share knowledge and work together with other librehosters
  • A place for those who want to start hosting services to learn
  • A list of librehosters for users to find a service provider

I think that with respect to knowledge sharing and working together, some good connections have been made through the network and its channels but we have not been directly active enough in enabling collaboration inside the network itself in the form of network based projects and similar.

With respect to providing a place for those who want to learn about hosting services, we haven’t really done much in this direction other than perhaps providing a space to ask in chat channels and discourse.

As far as the third aim of a list of librehoster service providers, I think we have managed to do this with the directory, however the process is not working as well as it should, very few members discuss and vote on new submissions for the directory and so it takes a very long time for anyone to be added. Also some members dont really maintain their .json files which means the directory has gaps at times.

So it is clear that some of the ideas arent working as well as was hoped, and I think it is perhaps time for a reboot of the project.

I propose that we focus on making a list of librehosters, without the burden of joining the network for projects that follow the basic values we defined. Simplifying things, removing the bureaucracy and allowing users to find the services they need that our groups and others provide.

This would allow us to provide a good resource for those looking for librehosters. It would also allow for those who are no longer wanting the burden of being part of a network to be able to be listed and found.

(Perhaps the discourse could also become a general tool for librehosters to use for discussion and questions rather than a mostly meta forum about the organisation itself. The IRC/Matrix channel could also be used similarly)

Im interested in what the rest of the network thinks of this idea and of any other ideas you think should/could be useful for librehosters.

There are many awesome people here with great values and ideas. I’m sure together we can figure out the most useful future path for us and how we can help others on their journey in the world of libre hosting.

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Thanks @realitygaps for this. A reboot of the project as you propose it might work. With less bureaucracy and concrete goals not to hard to reach. Tools for making LHs visible and services findable was one of the reasons of getting together. I still think this is worth being realized.
Let’s do some trial and error instead of defining everything to the smallest details in writing.
Also, doing things in small groups around small goals could work.
I’m still motivated in participating, especially if things get lighter.

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I am surprised no one has answered this. For me there was always a big tech barrier. As some one who does this on spare time, and only helping the hosting side from the more admin side, I found it difficult that contributing to what you’re saying meant to deal with some git rep and json files. Fancy for those who have the time and knowledge, barrier for those who don’t. But we can continue talking