I used to use a popular service for free website hosting. Here’s why I stopped.
now.sh is a completely free platform for hosting websites. They include templates for multiple development scenarios, and other niceties.
I signed up a few months ago. The platform seemed promising, and I had heard very good feedback about it.
After signing up, and doing some experimentation, I liked now.sh. So much so that I started to host my blog on their platform, under their domain. It was easy; quick; convenient.
now.sh is relatively simple for hosting a blog, too. While I was using it, my workflow was:
- create a Markdown file in the /articles directory; go wild
- commit this file to VCS; push to the Git forge
- let now’s CI take care of the rest
I had bought a new domain: resynth1943.net. The one you’re on right now.
Prior to this, my blog was under resynth1943.now.sh.
I started to move my brand away from now.sh’s name. And this was a very good idea.
Shortly after that, after doing some more digging about now.sh, I found out they were hosted on Amazon Web Services.
It’s also a closed-source platform, which I knew from the beginning.
Knowing that, I couldn’t keep using it; it was game over for now.sh.
Now (no pun intended), my blog is hosted on Framagit. GitLab’s CI is relatively easy, and Frama’s vision for an open web aligns with the goal of my content.
Now, time for some advice:
Personally, I would always recommend getting a universal domain name that isn’t tied to any service.
What would happen if you were using a domain tied to a service, and that service went bankrupt?
The reason why I use Framagit with this domain, is because if Framagit (or Frama) collapses tomorrow, I can move to another GitLab provider with ease.
Speaking of that, Framagit are going to restrict registrations mid-2021; it’s never too late to keep moving! 😛
We do have the ReverseEagle domain on Framagit too, so eventually that’s going to have to be thought over.
On a side note, if you haven’t checked out the ReverseEagle project yet, please do! It’s becoming rather successful, with more and more people realising the corruption and privacy scandals engineered by Silicon Valley companies.
If you’re using Google, it’s never too late to keep moving.
