Ask HN: Why do some of the engineers/hackers manage their own mail servers?

I have an Mail Server by my own. I think its something about having control.

They're probably procrastinating more important projects.

Considering mail could contain intellectual property and/or confidential info. Wouldn't you want your data to live on metal in your domain/lan and be controlled by you?

I do it in case Gmail ever goes kaput. I actually use Google Apps so I am basically using Gmail.

To be more competetive and productive to customers, an effective and customable mail server is a must. mail services provided by big enterprise can not fit everyone's need.

I was fortunate enough to lock in my last name as a domain, so I have first@last.com as my primary address. Sure looks a lot better in my correspondence and on my resume. I just host it via Google hosted domains, it's worth the $5/month.

Two part here:

1. Own domain means you can brand, host other services on it and generally be flexible. It also means you don't end up with the equivalent of an @aol.com or @hotmail.com address for everything.

2. Hosting it yourself also gives you options. 10 years ago gmail didn't exist and many providers charged a lot to host personalised domain (which were seen as a business service). I still keep it because:

a. I used to manage big email setups, re-building a little one was fun practice for a few hours

b. I don't really like gmail's interface.

c. A significant amount of work copying a couple of gigabytes of old email into gmail

d. If Google change some policy 5 years down the track I'll be stuck with it.

e. Trying not to tie my entire life into google.

For years I had my custom domain serviced by gmail in the background, so don't assume they're not using gmail.

These days I run OpenSMTPD ( https://www.opensmtpd.org/ ) on a server out of my house because I want to minimize my cloud footprint, and OpenSMTPD is orders of magnitude easier to configure than other mail software, and was designed from the ground up to be maximally secure. I've also got it locked to require STARTSSL, which is not recommended but works for the mail I get.

Email is a fundamental part of the internet. It is a protocol that is good enough to perform most tasks and has stood the test of time.

Setting up your own email server will teach you the fundamental building blocks of managing a server and all the protocols involved.

To run one reliably, it takes skill.

And it's nice geek credentials..I run my own email server :)

I do because I've been running it since before gmail was a credible option, and it's really not difficult or very much work to run a small mail server for a few people.

I also don't like being dependent on a free service that could at any time have a policy shift I don't like. Or simply be shut down; unlikely as that seems for gmail, the internet is littered with the corpses of services that seemed solid until they weren't.

Why do most corporations run their own email servers and domains? For the same reasons. Engineers know how companies that provide email services really run behind the scenes. Companies do whatever the fuck they want and lie about it. They employ questionable people. You just see the good, happy end user side of it. Without substantial auditing and a strong contract there is no reason to trust something as simple as email services to a third party.

I used to have my own, self-hosted at home on the same computer I used for everything else. It was about learning mostly, I was like 19 years old and had plenty of time on my hands.

If I were to do it now it'll be just to keep my archived mail out of someone else's servers. However, I do trust my current email provider. At the moment I feel like I get much more benefit short and long term by using these people's mail service.