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?

  • leopardboy@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    1 year ago

    I used to run my own mail server many, many years ago (early 2000s), but today it’s a lot more difficult. I personally don’t think it’s worth it, but I do have my own domain that I can host anywhere I choose. At the moment, I’m using Fastmail. Lots of nice features, and no complaints.

    • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      Yeah, I think getting my own domain is the first step I have never taken. Closest thing to web development I have done is a Neocities I have not messed with since getting an account.

      • leopardboy@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        1 year ago

        You definitely don’t need to worry about a web site if you want to just use the domain for email.

        Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions about it. Some providers make it pretty easy I think to setup and manage all of that together, while others require some manual work on your part.

        • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
          3·
          1 year ago

          Thank you for the offer! There seems to be a lot of packages that automate all the hard stuff, so I think the hardest part is actually getting my own domain and paying for a remote server.

          Any suggestions on that?

          • Matt@netmonkey.techEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            Replying to you from my new instance here.

            I know that Fastmail can sort that out for you, and get the domain you want setup for email. I believe they can register the domain, too, but I know they can at least host the DNS. That would be my personal suggestion.

            • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
              2·
              1 year ago

              As much as I want to control every aspect, I am clearly not ready for the responsibility, at least not yet.

              Fastmail is attractive because it streamlines so much. It looks really clean too. ProtonMail seems like a better deal because of the VPN, but it just feels like I am getting sucked into this growing company that may not even be all that great.

              Yeah, this is on my shortlist. $36 for the basic is good to me. I will be trialing it!

              • Matt@netmonkey.techEnglish
                1·
                1 year ago

                Cool!

                Some features I really like include the following.

                • They’ve got a totally decent email client.
                • You can have more than one domain, if you want.
                • You can use masked email, which is really nice for privacy reasons.

                Good luck!

                • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
                  2·
                  1 year ago

                  I am basically sold. I still want to learn how to set up my own server. I think it would be valuable to have an intranet accessed by VPN for REAL PRIVATE STUFF.

                  Any suggestions for uses cases with masked email? I think I get the concept and have ideas of how to make use of it, but maybe I am missing some scenarios. Like, can I have a prepared list of address to give out to strangers? Some times it is necessary, but I don’t want some rando to take advantage of my trust.

                  • Matt@netmonkey.techEnglish
                    1·
                    1 year ago

                    The main thing with Masked Email is that you can use it to sign-up for different services. Like your phone number, it’s another way that your identity can be connected between accounts. It’s also something you can use to give out to people, without having to give out your read address. I know with your own domain, you can use email addresses at that domain or you can use fastmail.com. I prefer to make masked emails using fastmail.com, so no one even knows my domain.