I’ve spent enough time watching how the "modern web" works to know I don’t want any part of it. Most people go to Wix or Squarespace because they want convenience. They get a drag-and-drop editor, but they lose everything else: ownership, privacy, and control. You’re basically renting a billboard from a company that can decide that you’re "in violation" of their terms whenever they feel like it, demanding ID or shutting you down without a second thought.
I wanted something better.
Why I built it this way
I opted for a static, pure HTML/CSS setup. There are no plugins, no database, and no hidden scripts tracking users. Just the code. It’s incredibly fast because there isn’t a server trying to run a couple thousand lines of code just to track you when you pull up a headline.
If I ever decide to leave, I just grab the folder, move it to another host, and I’m back up. That’s sovereignty. The hosting, the design, and the identity are all things that I control.
It lives on my Pi
I’m running this site on my own Raspberry Pi 4. There’s something incredibly satisfying about having your own server running on hardware you can reach out and touch. It forces you to learn how things actually work. When it breaks, I don’t submit a support ticket to a "Help Desk", I fix it myself.
This isn't just about having a website; it’s about knowing how the systems I rely on actually function. Building this way, tinkering with the build script, and maintaining it locally is the only way to truly understand what you're hosting.
If you're still relying on Big Tech to rent your digital home, it's time to build your own.