Email provider for home server alerts
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I don't know how to answer that. That's just how they work.
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I ended up setting up a postal server on my vps (see here). Their docs are pretty easy to follow through and it's probably the cheapest option (assuming you already use the and have a domain).
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The issue is that my ISP blocks it. And so any service that requires it is inherently broken.
The solution to spam is to require invitations.
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I started running into the same problem about 2 years ago. Found a company called Send in Blue ( which has since been bought and is now called Brevo). They're a commercial mail sender but have a free tier. How long that will continue to be available, I don't know, but for now it solves my email sending issues.
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aren’t reliant on any particular company or service, and are easier to run and manage without requiring approval from your ISP
What other than email provides that? Browser notifications generally don't work on mobile. Most of the common instant messengers rely on a single instance running the thing if you're not suggesting sending messages via IRC or XMPP (or matrix or...) which have their own problems. App notifications require that you have the thing which app is running to be available and online and they more often that not require some spesific device. Also even if you had linux desktop "app" it requires that the software is running.
Also I have not met an ISP which would block sending email via gmail/amazon/protonmail/whoever. Sure, my current ISP blocks tcp/25 to the world by default, but you can request to open that too if you really want to and ports 587 and 465 are open, so you can work around that if you don't want a smarthost for some reason.
With other options you wouldn’t need to because they already provide the features you’re looking for in those apps.
Which other protocol allows notifications at the same time on all the mobile devices, all the workstations and allow easy way to send the very same message to arbitary amount of recipients to all of their devices? I had email on a palm pilot device at 2001 or so, over mobile data with IRDA and you can read email even with Commodore 64 if you really want to (well, to be more spesific, use C=64 as an terminal for *nix server to access email, I think there's no actual IMAP/POP client for it). There's just no way for any other modern service to even try to compete with versatility with email.
And then there's the more sopisthicated approaches like pushing email trough however complex procmail/perl/python/whatever scripting you like where you can develop quite literally whatever you can imagine. Set up a old fire alarm bell, hook it up to your home automation, process incoming emails and if it's severe enough turn the bell on. Sure, at least a some of that is possible via instant messengers too, but with email I can be pretty sure that if I write a script today for it it'll still run quite happily for the next 10-15 years.
Please do tell me which of the modern messaging alternatives offer all of that.
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What other than email provides that?
Matrix? For one?
Browser notifications generally don't work on mobile.
...of course they do?
if you're not suggesting sending messages via IRC or XMPP (or matrix or...) which have their own problems.
Among others. Email has much bigger problems.
App notifications require that you have the thing which app is running to be available and online and they more often that not require some spesific device
I have no idea what any of that means...
Also I have not met an ISP which would block sending email via gmail/amazon/protonmail/whoever.
Which makes no difference when self-hosting...
Which other protocol
See above.
you can read email even with Commodore 64
I...don't know what that's supposed to mean. You want to argue that email is superior because it's old? You can run a Mastodon server on a Commodore as well.
There's just no way for any other modern service to even try to compete with versatility with email.
Yes? There are a hundred ways.
Set up a old fire alarm bell, hook it up to your home automation, process incoming emails and if it's severe enough turn the bell on.
...why wouldn't you just send the signal directly to the server?
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So...use a different browser?
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I use SMTP2GO (with my own domain) with the free plan (1000 email per month) that's way over a selfhoster needs.
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hard agree, I hate browser notifications with a hard passion, I would never see them if they swapped to that.
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Because it's universal, it works, it's multi-platform, device agnostic and it's simple to use user side.
Nothing else available really fits that criteria.
The closest in todays age is probally discord or teams, but neither of which are decentralized. XMPP could work for it, but nobody really uses it anymore and to be honest the standard is ugly as hell to implement.
Browser Notifications are ineffective and have a high probability of failing or not being seen, they are more meant for real-time notices not historical notices not to mention locked to that browser.
App notifications would be amazing for things with apps, but not everyone wants to be forced into using their mobile device for everything, and it would again only be available from said app(unless you do use something like NTFY), which would generally be locked down to a device
Email sucks admin side, but there's a reason its used.
This is also ignoring the multi-use case that email allows for such as authentication as well, so if its already being stored for accounts, might as well use it for notifications
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Because it's universal, it works, it's multi-platform, device agnostic and it's simple to use user side. Nothing else available really fits that criteria.
I already listed a handful of other platforms that check all those same things without being a pain in the ass to host, being sucky to use, or requiring approval from your ISP.
XMPP could work for it, but nobody really uses it anymore and to be honest the standard is ugly as hell to implement.
Uglier than email? Nah.
it would again only be available from said app(unless you do use something like NTFY)
Yes, NTFY is another example I already gave.
which would generally be locked down to a device
No it's not.
so if its already being stored for accounts, might as well use it for notifications
It shouldn't be used for accounts. That was my entire point. I host a dozen services and half of them no one else can use because the software mandates email verification, which I can't use because my ISP doesn't think I should be allowed to for some reason.
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FastMail is nice.
or (I don’t recommend it) you could learn to:
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Self hosted ntfy and mailrise. Mailrise is a wrapper for apprise that let's you send emails to it and in turn converts the email to the desired push alert.
For password resets or account creation welcome emails I'd use a SMTP service. I use SMTP2GO for those. Free plan is something 1000 emails a month. I've been using them for a year and think I've sent maybe 5 or 10 emails.
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Find out if your ISP provides an SMTP smarthost.
Worth noting that in Finland they are also by law required to log metadata of delivered mails.
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Given it seems to be a single guy doing his thing I don't expect them to get bought out.
It's a great service and incredibly cheap. With advanced pricing I'm only paying ~0,40€ per month. My domain + purelymail is less than I'd pay for other providers email only.
Edit: If Amazon increases their prices they'll have to pass it on, but those should be pretty consistent.
If you use your own domain (or an alias service) switching email providers is simple anyway. -
Email is like, the worst possible option. Check out Apprise. Super easy to setup Telegram or Discord notifications via webhooks. Takes like a minute.
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I have no idea what any of that means…
That checks out. You conveniently skipped the part where I requested a single messaging solution which works with either modern android/ios devices or with anything you'll find in your dad's(or grandads I guess) drawer, can manage multiple recipients, escalations to sms/home automation bells, works reliably even if the uplink goes down for few hours and so on.
And no, you very much can not run mastodon server on a Commodore 64.
But you seem like a young and enthustiatic individual. I was one "a few" years ago. Keep it going, but that arrogant attitude won't get you anywhere. Email has been a thing since the 1970s and there's a reason why it's still going strong. Things like XMPP has been around for a good while and there's a reason why they're not even close of overtaking email as a primary communication technology around.
You'll live and learn. My guess is that when you reach my age, email is still working just fine and majority of the hot stuff which is around right now has faded to the history.
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You conveniently skipped the part
I didn't skip anything. The solutions I listed support all of that, with the possible exception of running on old shit which...why is that even remotely relevant?
you very much can not run mastodon server on a Commodore 64.
You absolutely can. There's an entire community dedicated to running Mastodon servers on old hardware.
Email has been a thing since the 1970s and there's a reason why it's still going strong.
Is it ignorant old farts refusing to embrace new technology?
Things like XMPP has been around for a good while and there's a reason why they're not even close of overtaking email as a primary communication technology around.
Because it came around after email and all the old farts were too committed to it to learn something new? Is it because tech oligarchs learned from their lessons and embraced, extended, exploited, and abandoned open standards? What is the reason? You tell me.
email is still working just fine and majority of the hot stuff which is around right now has faded to the history.
It doesn't work "just fine", it's fucking awful. Outside of trying to host it, just using it is a nightmare. Trying to find any information is a nightmare because there's no common communication thread, and the emails are chock full of unnecessary bloat, and everyone has a fucking signature that's a mile long and full of giant images. You can't send videos. There's a bunch of tracking features built into it. It's insecure. Like, the list goes on...
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you very much can not run mastodon server on a Commodore 64.
You absolutely can.
Ok. Send me the link of disk image of that. I have C64 laying around with 1541 disk drive. I'll set up a public mastodon instance running on a C64 with a webcam stream of the setup.
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I don't know where to find that information. I've just seen it running.
