Looking to move from Caddy
Recently it’s come to my attention that Caddy has an AI sponsor so I have been looking at moving away from Caddy.
I’m currently looking for another reverse proxy to use in place of Caddy. For TLS I am looking into using CertBot and it appears there’s a module (github.com/desec-io/certbot-dns-desec) I can use that works for desec.io to handle my certs.
I have two questions, the first is about CertBot. Since Caddy is handling my certs automatically, how often would I want to renew my certs? Desec.io has this command to obtain a cert:
certbot certonly \ --authenticator dns-desec \ --dns-desec-credentials /etc/letsencrypt/secrets/$DOMAIN.ini \ -d "$DOMAIN" \ -d "*.$DOMAIN"
Would I be required to run the same command periodically to renew my cert?
My second question is a bit more open ended. I am looking to hear any suggestions or experiences about different reverse proxies that are preferably free of AI. There is a list here with some suggested alternatives: codeberg.org/ethical-foss/open-slopware#web-serve…
Impossible? There are people who still write code by hand. There are people who oppose AI, some more actively (or destructively) than others.
Harder to avoid seems like a more reasonable take.
However I am coping, by actively seeking, talking about and supporting alternatives with the hope of spreading that knowledge to those who would like to avoid the use of AI or enable those who support AI.
Human creativity has a much longer and far more interesting history when compared to AI or machine learning. AI hasn’t always existed and does not need to have complete influence over our future.
Your stance rules out all the big and mature software. No judgement on the stance, but you are asking a difficult question.
Off that alternatives list, the only one I’ve heard of is lighttpd, and it’s news to me that lighty can do reverse proxying. But I would try that.
I expect it to be a lot more difficult to find documentation and support for anything more obscure than lighty. Which may be fine for you, just know what you’re getting in to.
As for certbot, iirc you need to add a renew command to cron, but otherwise certbot will take care of it. I’m sure the cron is in the documentation.
This list https://noai.starlightnet.work/list.html has a long list of projects explicitly rejecting AI and there are some in there I would place in the “big and mature” bucket
I definitely expect this path to be a bit of a challenge
I was looking at lighttpd as well. That was the only one on the list that sounded familiar to me. I may check it out and see if it can fit me needs. I do run a very minimal setup so I might just be enough.
I know this won’t be popular but… There are still people who cobble shoes too, do you buy your shoes from your local cobbler? All your furniture is made by the Amish?
Yes, these things are available but you probably are getting your machine-made shoes from some superstore and your mass-produced furniture from ikea. Mass-produced code seems like a weird hill to die on these days with everything else the way it is.
I don’t expect perfection out of anyone. I would not make friends if I held them to such high standards or expectations. Everyone learns, adapts and grows at their own pace and I would do better to support them along the way through their journey
Myself and the people around me are doing our best in this situation we are in with the tools that are currently available to us
I don’t believe trying to reduce the complex human experience to 100% right or 100% wrong will lead to any useful discussion when there’s so much in the middle we could be discussing