I’m thinking about self-hosting my own Lemmy server and I probably have too many questions than answers. But maybe some simple ones… do server owners get to set the amount of days a post can be retained before it’s deleted or are there defaults baked into the software package?
Can server owners restrict image sizes or the number of images that can be uploaded?
Can a server owner restrict the creation of new communities? I’m curious how granular permissions can get.
Would I be better off hosting my own instance to get some of these questions answered? 😁
Thanks in advance!
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Yes, you can restrict image size and the creation of communities.
I self hosted a Lemmy instance for a little while, but I stopped over concerns of malicious actors posting CSAM which would then get federated over to my server. I don’t have the appetite to deal with that, and I’m glad I shut it down because just a few weeks later there was a big instance of it happening all over Lemmy, and I’m sure I would have had to deal with cleaning it up on my server too. Just something to keep in mind.
Otherwise though, the setup process isn’t too complex.
Couldn’t you just block all media uploads (images and video) and restrict URL links from shady sites to prevent that kind of stuff?
Sure, but then you’re left with text only and are relying on your blocklist for URLs, which is just going to be a game of whack-a-mole. I personally didn’t want to have to worry about that in my free time, but I’m sure other folks feel differently.
The opposite of a blocklist is an allow list that lets you permit trusted sources that already scan their content for CSAM. Lemmy and Reddit are nothing more than URL link aggregators that allow people to comment on content that gets shared unlike Mastodon that’s built on a web of trusted connections.
Regardless of whether you are using a block or an allow list, you have to maintain the list…
I’m not sure what your point is; if you want to devote your time, effort, and potential liabilities to it, that’s up to you. I just figured I would share a perspective on why I didn’t want to do that.
I appreciate all the hard work done by instance hosts; using individual Lemmy instances are a privelege, not a right. I would fully understand and not be upset if my home instance were to shut down at a moments notice.
Gotcha yea no I really appreciate the input. I may share a blog to help admins in-general with the CSAM problem, at least share some thoughts. My other job is in cybersecurity. Constantly dealing with bad actors.
I just setup my own instance a few days ago, if it interests you, do give it a shot!
IIRC reading about it, all data for posts is set to be deleted automatically on a schedule. The catch is that schedule is every 6 months, and it is not configurable currently. From what I read, textual posts of lemmy doesn’t consume that much, many reported anywhere from 1-10 GB of data over 6 months - ofcourse it all depends on what kinds of communities are subscribed to your instance.
Not sure if you can restrict image sizes or numbers - atleast not through the admin UI, maybe it’s possible through config. You can set global rate limit on image uploads though to not go too crazy.
You can set it so only admins can create communities, or admin would have to approve new communities, or free for all.
If you already have a server, try it out. It shouldn’t be tricky, particularly if you’re familiar with docker.
You could definitely find your questions answered in the docs at the very least. Couldn’t hurt to have a look.
I run my own server, not sure on post retention or image size or even number of images. But you can make it so that only you can make communities, you can even make communities admin post only.
I would give the docs a good read and maybe have a look at the GitHub repos
