All this new excitement with Lemmy and federation has got me thinking that maybe I should learn to run my own instance. What always comes up though is how email is the orginal federated technology.

I am looking at proxmox and see that is has a built in email server, so now I am wondering if it is time to role my own.

I stopped using gmail a long time ago, and right now I use ProtonMail, but I am super frustrated with the dumb limitation of only having a single account for the app. I get why they do it, and I am willing to pay, but it is pricey and I don’t know if that is my best option. I guess it is worth it since ProtonVPN is included. It looks like they are expanding their suite.

Is it worth it? Can I make it secure? Is it stupid to run it off a local computer on my home network?

  • Greater Than StupidEnglish
    2•1 year ago

    there are many replies saying similar things, but don’t be discouraged from try it out. i host my own with mailinabox on a vm from a cloud provider. no spam issues. the only wildcard was spending a few months getting my ip address off google’s spam filters. it is so worth it, i own my own email/calendar/contacts/notes/todo list/ AND website solution. all with mailinabox. completely disconnected from google etc.

    • @DidacticDumbassOPEnglish
      2•1 year ago

      The more I learn about FOSS the more I understand it is just not about using open auditable software, but about having complete ownership of the technology a person uses. I need to learn these things.

    • @cvr@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      2•1 year ago

      Did you ever manage to get off hotmail/outlook spam filters? I ran my own server for years and had no issues with gmail, but was never able to reliably send to hotmail. That was the nail in the coffin in the end as so many businesses I communicate with were on outlook and my mail would always goto spam causing endless issues.

      • Greater Than StupidEnglish
        3•1 year ago

        yes i did. through mxtoolbox(iirc) i learned what blacklists my ip was on. and it wasnt my IP, but my ip block. it was just a matter of filing online requests to have my Ip removed from these lists. With google, i had to have a google account and login and pinky-swear that i would not send spam, and it got me off that list. google was really the most difficult to find info for. beware though, there are some places that say if you pay them, they will get you off the list. don’t believe it. it is free or its a scam

        • @cvr@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          1•1 year ago

          Thanks for the info. I’ll have another go with a spare domain to see if I can get it to working across the board.