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?

  • thekernelEnglish
    13·
    2 years ago

    Not worth the hassle - best compromise is to get your own domain but use a provider like fastmail to host it.

    If they turn sour you can move your domain to another mail host.

    • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
      4·
      2 years ago

      I think this is the solution I was thinking about in the first place. I was just musing about it being part of a home lab. I have to consider whether this solution is is better than just paying for secure email.

      • thekernelEnglish
        2·
        2 years ago

        There are advantages to having your own domain - you can use something like vendor8832@yourdomain.com so each site you sign up to gets their own unique “to” address, that way you can easily send their mail to trash when you dont’ need to deal with them anymore, and will also let you know what company had a data breach if that unique email address starts to get spam.

        • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
          2·
          2 years ago

          This is what I want! I want that granular control of having an email address compartmentalized for specific kinds of communication. I mean, I know it is something provided by basically all email providers, but I don’t know, for sure there are limitations. A unique address for each website seems like such a smart thing to do, on top of being stingy with giving out my email address.

          • timbuck2themoon@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            2·
            2 years ago

            Protonmail at certain levels gives you simple login with unlimited aliases. Something to look into. I love it and have been with them for years.

            • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
              1·
              2 years ago

              Thank you! I was also looking for validation that Protonmail is worth the purchase, since I use them anyways.

          • psilves1@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            2 years ago

            Firefox Relay is by far the easiest (and imo best) solution for that

            You can try it for free and if you use it enough it only costs $24 a year

              • psilves1@lemmy.worldEnglish
                2·
                2 years ago

                Your first 5 email masks are free and if you install the extension a little icon will appear in most email fields. Let’s you create a new mask right there.

                If you buy the premium version you can get your own custom subdomain: @XXXX.mozmail.com where you pick XXXX

                This way you don’t even need the extension. You can just do something like “Lemmy@XXXX.mozmail.com” and Relay will “create” that email for you. Cannot recommend it enough, especially since it’s free to start

                • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
                  2·
                  2 years ago

                  That actually seems really awesome, like it defeats the reason I would ever want to create multiple email accounts, which is to manage different contexts like professional, personal for family and friends, commercial email for online stores, and email lists.