Hey everyone, as I previously mentioned the rules here are up for debate, and I’d like to start with the problem that led us all here:
- Posts have to be centered around self-hosting. There are other communities for discussing hardware or home computing. If it’s not obvious why your post topic revolves around selfhosting, please include details to make it clear.
Breaking it up:
Posts have to be centered around self-hosting
Kind of obvious for the community, but perfectly fine to note.
There are other communities for discussing hardware or home computing.
Without listing anything here, I think this is pointless and unhelpful. I’d also note that hardware is intrinsic to hosting your own services, and we are talking about people hosting at home, which makes “home computing” here rather confusing. We host these things for our home computing typically. The intention I think was “This is not your generic linux help desk or buildapc”, but that doesn’t come through very well.
If it’s not obvious why your post topic revolves around selfhosting, please include details to make it clear.
I like this not from a moderation perspective, but more of a post clarity perspective. Whats obviously related to selfhosting to the OP may not be obvious to people visiting that post.
Here’s what I propose as a revised rule 3:
Posts here are to be centered around self-hosting. Be prepared to explain to others why it’s related to self-hosting if asked.
Please discuss! Happy to have any additional input on this.
In the meantime, I’m striking out the middle of rule 3 until there is some consensus on wording.
Edit: Its/it’s typo
Edit 2: Slight language update option:
Posts here are to be centered around self-hosting. Please ensure it is clear in your post how it relates to self-hosting.
I’m a bit torn on the hardware bit, myself.
On one hand, hardware is a fundamental aspect of self hosting. There’s already a portion of the community who considers self-hosting to include using commercially-hosted cloud services (as long as it’s not Google), so prohibiting hardware discussion just reinforces that concept. Plus, it can be really fun to see what creative hardware people come up. I’m pretty sure I posted about my Fediverse server running on a WiFi router here, for example. The focus was on the unusual hardware, but it was also clearly related to self-hosting.
On the other hand, looking at what is posted in other communities, I don’t think there’s a ton of value in seeing a dozen photos of a bone-stock rpi or a closed laptop sitting on a desk. Same with the nth post asking if their 30-year-old 1u would be a good choice for Jellyfin; so I see why the rule exists.
Overall, though, I think hardware should be allowed, but maybe add a rule along the lines of “if you’re posting a question, please include what resources you’ve already reviewed or troubleshooting steps you’ve already taken.”
Heck, that might be a good rule for all questions, regardless of topic…
If it became an issue, sure. One thing to note though is that in the past month, there have been a whopping 6 posts about hardware that were removed (and all very specific, not generic “is this OK”), a single one that was a picture, but nearly 40 posts removed with that rule. As of now its a non-issue I think. If it became one, thats where weekly post threads, wiki’s and stickies, etc can be used.
People generally seem to do that already I think, but a valid comment, thanks!