"they should probably just use google." thanks for the clarity.

It's FOSS. The F refers to the software, not the hardware/network/power.

That's the world we live in.

Here's how I see the word "fiat" with re: software. Comes from Saifedean Ammous. "Fiat software" is software where you can't move your data to another provider of the solution. You can't move from Google Workplace to Google Workplace "by Oracle", for example. But you can move from Nextcloud from vendor A to Nextcloud from vendor B. It just so happens that there is a high overlap between non-fiat software and opensource. But this doesn't have to be the case.

You can pay in bitcoin. :)

You can pay with bitcoin. :)

That's the power of these open-source tools. You get to make a choice. Federated Computer customers get to make a choice. Hats off to you. Best wishes!

Sketchy? That's called convenience. I don't think you're valuing your time correctly. And if you are running email, spam protection, ddos protection, nextcloud, jitsi, element, matrix, listmonk, vaultwarden, baserow, wireguard configured like tailscale, caddy integrated with gitea for static site publishing, gitea for code managment, castopod, wordpress, and a global CDN for performance, well, I take my hat off to you! Would you like a job? Best wishes!

Agree. Start9 is a great product but requires a level of skill and dedication that may be beyond the desire/capabilities of many/most.

On your own VM in the Federated cloud. But we can't see your data, once your change your passwords. We can only keep your software up-to-data, initiate the encrypted backup. No, it's not as private as true self-hosting, but it provides the right mix of convenience and privacy.