I agree with everything here. The internet wasn’t always a constant amusement park.
I’m rather proud of my own static site
this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2025
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If you don’t mind me asking, how do you host your site?
Buy the cheapest laptop you can find, with a broken screen it's fine. Install debian 12 on it give it a memorable name, like "server" go to a DNS registrar of your choice, maybe "porkbun" and buy your internet DNS name for example "MyInternetWebsite.tv", this will cost you 20$/30$ for the rest of your life, or until we finally abolish the DNS system to something less extortionnate Install webmin and then apache on it go to your router, give the laptop a static address in the DNS section Some router do no have the ability to apply a static dhcp lease to computers on your network, in that case it will be more complicated or you will have to buy a new one, one that preferably supports openwrt. then go to port forwarding and forward the ports 80 and 443 to the address of the static dhcp lease now use puttygen to create a private key, copy that public key to your linux laptop's file called /root/.ssh/authorized_keys go to the webmin interface, which can be accessed with http://server.lan:10000/ from any computer on your PC and setup dynamic dns, this will make the DNS record for MyInternetWebsite.tv change when the IP of your internet connection changes, which can happen at any time, but usually rarely does. But you have to, or else when it changes again, your website and email will stop working. Now go to your desktop computer, and download winsshfs, put in your private key and mount the folder /var/www/html/ to a drive letter like "T:" Now, whatever you put in T: , will be the content of your very own internet web server enjoy
While i appreciate the detailed response here i did make another comment letting OP know i'm in a similiar situation as them, i use Docker Engine & Docker Compose for my self-hosting needs on a 13th Gen Asus Nuc (i7 model) running Proxmox with a Debian 12 VM. My reverse proxy is traefik and i am able to receive SSL certificates on port :80/:443 (also have Fail2Ban setup) however, i can't for the life of me figure out how to expose my containers to the internet.
On my iPhone over LTE/5G trying my domain leads to an "NSURLErrorDomain" and my research of this error doesn't give me much clarity. Edit appears to be a 503 error.
This is a snippet of my docker-compose.yml
services:
homepage:
image: ghcr.io/gethomepage/homepage
hostname: homepage
container_name: homepage
networks:
- main
environment:
PUID: 0 # optional, your user id
PGID: 0 # optional, your group id
HOMEPAGE_ALLOWED_HOSTS: my.domain,*
ports:
- '127.0.0.1:3000:3000'
volumes:
- ./config/homepage:/app/config # Make sure your local config directory exists
- /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock #:ro # optional, for docker integrations
- /home/user/Pictures:/app/public/icons
restart: unless-stopped
labels:
- "traefik.enable=true"
- "traefik.http.routers.homepage.rule=Host(`my.domain`)"
- "traefik.http.routers.homepage.entrypoints=https"
- "traefik.http.routers.homepage.tls=true"
- "traefik.http.services.homepage.loadbalancer.server.port=3000"
- "traefik.http.routers.homepage.middlewares=fail2ban@file"
# - "traefik.http.routers.homepage.tls.certresolver=cloudflare"
#- "traefik.http.services.homepage.loadbalancer.server.port=3000"
#- "traefik.http.middlewares.homepage.ipwhitelist.sourcerange=127.0.0.1/32, 192.168.1.0/24, 172.18.0.0/16, 208.118.140.130"
#- "traefik.http.middlewares.homepage.ipwhitelist.ipstrategy.depth=2"
traefik:
image: traefik:v3.2
container_name: traefik
hostname: traefik
restart: unless-stopped
security_opt:
- no-new-privileges:true
networks:
- main
ports:
# Listen on port 80, default for HTTP, necessary to redirect to HTTPS
- target: 80
published: 55262
mode: host
# Listen on port 443, default for HTTPS
- target: 443
published: 57442
mode: host
environment:
CF_DNS_API_TOKEN_FILE: /run/secrets/cf_api_token # note using _FILE for docker secrets
# CF_DNS_API_TOKEN: ${CF_DNS_API_TOKEN} # if using .env
TRAEFIK_DASHBOARD_CREDENTIALS: ${TRAEFIK_DASHBOARD_CREDENTIALS}
secrets:
- cf_api_token
env_file: .env # use .env
volumes:
- /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
- /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro
- ./config/traefik/traefik.yml:/traefik.yml:ro
- ./config/traefik/acme.json:/acme.json
#- ./config/traefik/config.yml:/config.yml:ro
- ./config/traefik/custom-yml:/custom
# - ./config/traefik/homebridge.yml:/homebridge.yml:ro
labels:
- "traefik.enable=true"
- "traefik.http.routers.traefik.entrypoints=http"
- "traefik.http.routers.traefik.rule=Host(`traefik.my.domain`)"
#- "traefik.http.middlewares.traefik-ipallowlist.ipallowlist.sourcerange=127.0.0.1/32, 192.168.1.0/24, 208.118.140.130, 172.18.0.0/16"
#- "traefik.http.middlewares.traefik-auth.basicauth.users=${TRAEFIK_DASHBOARD_CREDENTIALS}"
- "traefik.http.middlewares.traefik-https-redirect.redirectscheme.scheme=https"
- "traefik.http.middlewares.sslheader.headers.customrequestheaders.X-Forwarded-Proto=https"
- "traefik.http.routers.traefik.middlewares=traefik-https-redirect"
- "traefik.http.routers.traefik-secure.entrypoints=https"
- "traefik.http.routers.traefik-secure.rule=Host(`my.domain`)"
#- "traefik.http.routers.traefik-secure.middlewares=traefik-auth"
- "traefik.http.routers.traefik-secure.tls=true"
- "traefik.http.routers.traefik-secure.tls.certresolver=cloudflare"
- "traefik.http.routers.traefik-secure.tls.domains[0].main=my.domain"
- "traefik.http.routers.traefik-secure.tls.domains[0].sans=*.my.domain"
- "traefik.http.routers.traefik-secure.service=api@internal"
- "traefik.http.routers.traefik.middlewares=fail2ban@file"
Image of my port-forwarding rules (note; the 3000 internal/external port was me "testing")
___
**Edit:** I should note the [Asus Documentation for Port-forwarding](https://www.asus.com/support/faq/1037906/) mentions this:
> 2. Port Forwarding only works within the internal network/intranet(LAN) but cannot be accessed from Internet(WAN).
> (1) First, make sure that Port Forwarding function is set up properly. You can try not to fill in the [ Internal Port ] and [ Source IP ], please refer to the Step 3.
> (2) Please check that the device you need to port forward on the LAN has opened the port.
For example, if you want to set up a HTTP server for a device (PC) on your LAN, make sure you have opened HTTP port 80 on that device.
> (3) Please note that if the router is using a private WAN IP address (such as connected behind another router/switch/modem with built-in router/Wi-Fi feature), could potentially place the router under a multi-layer NAT network. Port Forwarding will not function properly under such environment.
> Private IPv4 network ranges:
> Class A: 10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255
> Class B: 172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255
> Class C: 192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255
> CGNAT IP network ranges:
> The allocated address block is 100.64.0.0/10, i.e. IP addresses from 100.64.0.0 to 100.127.255.255.
I want to highlight the fact that i may be under a multi-layered NAT, the folks in my household demand the ISP router given that i have PiHole running DNS blocking and my Asus Router routes all outbound connections through a VPN tunnel, besides DDNS obviously which my router also handles, i have to run these routers in bridged-mode so that they share the same WAN IP **but**, if I am able to receive SSL/TLS certificates from LetsEncrypt on port :80/:443 that means port-forwarding is working as intended right? Hi,
The internal port will also be the same as the external port 80 and 443. If the router is running in bridge mode, that would mean that your dhcp, dns and nat is happening on the upstream router. That means you will have to go to the upstream router to setup the port forwarding.
Also depending on how it works internally with the VPN. It might try to port forward the ports on the VPN's ip address Which none of the VPN I tried allowed to port forward port 80 and 443
With a linux or openwrt router this could be as easy as the following
iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -i eth0 -p tcp --dport 80 -j DNAT --to-destination 192.168.1.199:80 iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -i eth0 -p tcp --dport 443 -j DNAT --to-destination 192.168.1.199:443
But the problem with store bought router is that every one of them has a different way of doing the things so it gets confusing really fast.
All of this confusion about port forwarding was engineered to discourage ordinary people from using their internet to host their own files and instead because cloud-dependant techno-serfs.
Another way, would be to go on the forum low end talk and obtain a VPS, and host your apache server there. That would work, but you would be back to renting someone else's computer (aka cloud bull) but it's still better than paying squarespace about it.
Keep at it, you'll figure it out, it's actually very easy once you know all the complicated bits, I do it all the time.
Once again, thank you for your insight! It truly does help a lot.
Today I learned the VPN routing is the cause of my issues, I opted to expose my homelab to WAN and tried to connect over LTE/5G and was surprised to see it actually resolve!
I also learned Fail2Ban has failed me in this regard.
Unfortunately this now throws a wrench in my plans In regard to security so now I’m debating on getting another piece of hardware and labelling one as “front end” and the other as “back end” so that the “back end” doesn’t share the same public IP as the “front end”.
This has ignited a spark to rework my homelab!
Realistically, you don't need security, NAT alone is enough since the packets have nowhere to go without port forwarding.
But IF you really want to build front end security here is my plan.
ISP bridge -> WAN port of openwrt capable router with DSA supported switch (that is almost all of them) Set all ports of the switch to VLAN mirroring mode bridge WAN and LAN sides Fail2Ban IP block list in the bridge
LAN PORT 1 toward -> OpenWRT running inside Proxmox LXC (NAT lives here) -> top of rack switch LAN PORT 2 toward -> Snort IDS LAN PORT 3 toward -> combined honeypot and traffic analyzer
Port 2&3 detect malicious internet hosts and add them to the block list
(and then multiple other openwrt LXCs running many many VPN ports as alternative gateways, I switch LAN host's internet address by changing their default gateway)
I run no internal VLAN, all one LAN because convenience is more important than security in my case.
I host it via docker+nginx on my own hardware.
I’m in the same boat (sorta)!
Follow up question, did you have trouble exposing port :80 & :443 to the internet? Also are you also using Swarm or Kubernetes?
I have the docker engine setup on a machine along side Traefik (have tried Nginx in the past) primarily using Docker Compose and it works beautifully on LAN however I can’t seem to figure out why I can’t connect over the internet, I’m forced to WireGuard/VPN into my home network to access my site.
No need to provide troubleshooting advice, just curious on your experience.
I keep everything as flat as possible. Just the regular docker (+compose) package running on vanilla Debian. On the networking side, I’m lucky in that I have a government-run fiber provider that doesn’t care that much what I host, so it’s just using the normal ports.
I did previously use C*mcast, and I remember there was an extra step I had to do to get it to redirect port 80 over 443, but I couldn’t tell you what that step was anymore.
With respect to the presentation of your site, I like it! It's quite stylish and displays well on my phone.
If you don’t mind me asking, how are you hosting your site?
I like your pictures!
Thank you!
Beautiful, I bookmarked it.
Thank you for sharing.
Well...
Maybe that’s a dark mode thing? I know Dark Reader breaks almost anything with an already dark theme.
Lol, no. I made a usercss for this (currently not released) but explicitly disabled it here. But that one uses a base style that switches via @prefers light/dark:
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
:root {
--text-color: #DBD9D9;
--text-highlight: #232323;
--bg-color: #1f1f1f;
…
}
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: light) {
:root {
…
}
Guess your site uses one of them too.
I admit I used Publii for my builder. I can’t program CSS for crap. I’m far more geared towards backend dev.
Good luck get advertiser support for your "slow web". Oh, wait...
I would question the assumption that advertisers on the internet is a good thing.
I think I wrote this. This is my philosophy for how the web should be. Social media shouldn’t be the main Highway of the web. And the internet should be more of a place to visit, not an always there presence.
Interesting read. It captures a lot of how I feel and what I miss about the "old internet."
I think this is the first time I found a reasonable take on "how to fix the internet". You can't fix the corpo web. Most people just want constant updates and they don't care about ads, bots and AI slop. You can't change their minds.
Saying "fuck it, I will just build my own thing and I don't care if anyone will see it" is the right approach. Couple of times I was thinking about creating some guides (like guide to public EV chargers in Spain) and I just gave up because I realized I'm not going to win the SEO war and no one is going to view it. Why write guides if they are not helping anyone? I'm still not sure if it makes sense to create guides but it may be a good idea to create a simple site, post some photos, share a story. I will probably do it.
One of the things I miss about web rings and recommended links is it's people who are passionate about a thing saying here are other folks worth reading about this. Google is a piss poor substitute for the recommendations of people you like to read.
Only problem with slow web is people write what they are working on, they aren't trying to exhaustively create "content". By which I mean, they aren't going to have every answer to every question. You read what's there, you don't go searching for what you want to read.
Something that I have enjoyed recently are blogs by academics, which often have a list of other blogs that they follow. Additionally, in their individual posts, there is often a sense of them being a part of a wider conversation, due to linking to other blogs that have recently discussed an idea.
I agree that the small/slow web stuff is more useful for serendipitous discovery rather than searching for answers for particular queries (though I don't consider that a problem with the small/slow web per se, rather with the poor ability to search for non-slop content on the modern web)
I don't know abou that. I don't want to manage visiting dozens of websites.
Technically it is also possible to make interactionless feeds with no live and share bottons
How's visiting dozens of pages different from visiting dozens of websites?
And BTW, on sites where feeds are in fashion, maybe some kind of Usenet upgraded for HTML and Markdown and post\author hyperlinks would be more in place.
Visiting feeds is like using tools from one organized toolbox. Visiting many websites is like jumping between many separate toolboxes
No. You have a toolbox, it's called a web browser. To unite the particular websites you have a web ring, or your own bookmarks. There were also web catalogues.
Bookmark at not intuitive enough to me and RSS feeds are still feeds that have no interaction features like the writer of this article like.
I am always for giving the most power to users. I like compromises like user settings so people who want a feed with interactions can and who doesn't can disable it
But why do we need interactive crap for everything. Comments and etc for articles are the worst. Not everybody needs to hear you, sometimes you’ve just gotta take in information and process it.
Like I literally Maintain my own fleet of apps that give me just the article body images, in a sorted feed. No ads. No links. Nothing. Even the links to other articles, etc in the middle of an article is too much. I hate that shit. Modern web page design is garbage and unreadable.
I don’t need to know stacy from North Dakota’s thoughts on an article because 99% of the time it’s toxic anyways. Or misinformed.
Interactiviry seems to be a good thing. What brings you to participate here on Lemmy?
Reading content. I'm more of a lurker compared to most users.
Modern web page design is garbage and unreadable.
Because it's a "newspaper meets slot machine" design. Kills two birds with one stone, hijacking media (censorship is invisible) and making money (invisible too).
I don’t need to know stacy from North Dakota’s thoughts on an article because 99% of the time it’s toxic anyways. Or misinformed.
And also because not every place is supposed to be crawling with people.
the internet peaked in 2000
Adding my voice to the chorus of "this is how I feel" because, well, it encapsulates exactly how I feel. Author's personnal website is now in my RSS reader under a new category: Slow Web.
If anyone has suggestions for more website to add to that category they're more than welcomed.