Selfhosted @lemmy.world smileyhead @discuss.tchncs.de 10 mo. ago

Any domain registrar/hosting provider that does not require propietary software to run?

I gone through a lot of hosting service providers and unfortunetly cannot find a single one that can be used without running nonfree programs, all of them require loading bulky obfuscated JavaScript apps.

I know of Codeberg Pages for static sites for example, but it is not suitable for any business or professional use.

38 comments

What exactly do you mean? Typically you go to a website, register the domain, setup payment and then setup the nameserver. No need to install anything on your end.

Same with hosting. You sign up, setup payment, order a machine (root or virtual) and then you get SSH credentials and are good to go.
- He wants one he an run without adding an exception on NoScript.
  
  Personally, I don't know of any.
  
  I mean ... that's basically how the internet works today. And even if you don't "run" proprietary stuff on your end, their service as a whole is still proprietary. So it seems like a pointless battle, IMO.
  
  I would rather ensure to use a browser where I trust its sandbox to properly isolate the shit it has to run inside.
- The question wasn't about avoiding installing but running proprietary software.
  
  But as I said: once the DNS entries are set up, everything is routed directly to your machine. What runs there is completely in your hands. Same with VPS/root server: SSH is free. Pick the client you like.
  
  I don't know of a single registrar or hoster that I can't run without libre software.
What are you talking about? What nonfree programs? Can you give an example? Btw, for VPS you normally just need ssh, and that is free and even OSS.
There are people who stick to principles and there are people who stick to a form of the present they wished had come to fruition but never came.
Why not just go with a VPS? Then you can run whatever software you like.
- Still need to somehow buy VPS and I can't find a provider that do not require additional software.
  
  I am confused why you think it requires additional software. For example, I personally use DigitalOcean, and that allows you to spin up servers via their website. No extra software needed.
Dreamhost

Or buy a domain somewhere like Gandy or namecheap and host the website on a VPS somewhere
- On VPS somewhere, but the question is where? 😅
- Gandy or namecheap
  
  I'm pretty sure they require proprietary client-side scripts to function as well.
  
  I have no idea what you're talking about. I never needed anything with Gandy to register a domain. I don't see why one would either.
You can use Ansible to create domain names and register URLs on most popular hosting providers/registrars.

You shouldn't avoid platforms just because they have non-free websites, that's extreme bro.
- Eventually I can use those sites, but I am curious is there is at least one provider that does not require running their code on my computer and just send me the HTML (actual site).
  
  No reputable registrar requires you to run an executable on your machine. JavaScript is as far as it'll get.
  
  I'm sure many registrars work without JS, but if I had to be sure of any one in particular, it'd be Njalla. They even have an onion site and accept monero, so they almost certainly function without JS.
  
  I don't think you know what you mean/want. I never had any registrar requiring me to install anything to have my domain registered with them. The same is true about hosters too.
  
  If you want extremely low overhead you can use the API directly with curl. Most hosting providers/registrars allow this.
static sites [are] not suitable for any business or professional use

I wouldn't agree with this statement, there are plenty of businesses and professionals who are only on the interwebs to share their contact, biography or product knowledge base.

That being said, there are VPS providers running on libre software like vpsFree.cz which I use and can recommend. There should be more out there but I don't keep track them, sorry.

There's much thinner chance there exists a registrar caring about thee or thy software freedom though. People at sr.ht, LLC talks about setting up one but so far it's just talks.

OpenNIC registrar (only be.libre seems to be functional) work without JS and thou can prolly ask them to license the site freely but non-ICANN domains are not practical for business or professional use due to the low adoption.
What do you need?

I run 2 vps'es via Hetzner, 1 for dns (primary), mail and webhosting and 1 for dns (secondary). No javascript needed for those hosts. The web interface to the provider requires scripting to be able to order them and pay the monthly bill, but my sites run script free on Linux. The sites on there are plain text sites. (files edited with vi and uploaded to the dorresponding shell account)

BTW the vps'es are for a minute hosting company, works perfectly.
I'm unsure but maybe hetzner admin panel is usable without JS.
Oracle free tier is fine for messing around
https://nic.eu.org/ I think would satisfy the simplicity requirement. It's as barebones as it can be. But you can't technically register a domain with it. You choose one of the subdomains under eu.org and register a subdomain under it.

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