[makapuf]

Distributing a static HTML page content does not need a VC. Nginx on an RPI on my home connection does provide sufficient level of performance and availability. If I need more because my content is way popular, I guess a monetization scheme (asking for a tip) might cover it ?

[Nextgrid]

> If I need more because my content is way popular, I guess a monetization scheme (asking for a tip) might cover it ?

Hetzner will give you a powerful server for ~30 bucks/month and includes 20TB of bandwidth for free (and overages are charged at ~1$/TB, almost 90x less than AWS). That's enough to host and serve a lot of content.

[ziftface]

I really hope you're right but I don't think it will play out that simply for mastodon. I have high hopes for it, hopefully these problems are solved but with this rate of growth, what will happen when there's a big political event that used to cripple Twitter back in the day? I don't think tips will cover it.

[Nextgrid]

Mastodon (and the general "fediverse") is an inefficient disaster by design, but if you ignore that and go back to old-school forum software, your Raspberry Pi will be just fine for a few hundred concurrent users (and way more for read-only traffic).

[mrtksn]

If you are not getting paid for your servers you are the VC/Angel.

[zopa]

A bit of a difference in motivation between a hobbyist and a VC.

[eaplmx]

Agreed! Here you are more a patron or sponsor who's disinterestedly giving spare money for something you think is good for the rest of the people.

Although the Angel investor expects a few shares of a company, I like the analogy of an 'angel sponsor'.

[ysavir]

How does that make them the VC/Angel?

[mrtksn]

They provide the capital required for that venture.

[recursive]

So if I order lunch, am I providing the capital required for the venture of ordering lunch? Is there anything in the universe that's not venture capital?

When all you know is a hammer...

[mrtksn]

No. If you are s 14 years who is into hobbits and you are writing a fan fiction, your mom is a venture capitalist when feeds you and gives you pocket money which you used to buy a domain. She can be a venture capitalist or angel investor depending on her expectations. I guess it also can be a case of racketeering if she does that you just shut up, then you are the VC investing in your own stuff with the money you extorted by being a really annoying kid :)

Anyway, it doesn't matter. The gist is, someone else than the user paid for the experience without immediate expectation for profit from side channels and that's how we had free and awesome things.

[recursive]

Most of the time, it wasn't other people. People were paying for their own hosting for their own purposes, much like how I order lunch.