The Irony of the “Privacy” Sponsor
Last Friday, I was doing some hardware maintenance—dropping my Wii U off for a 64GB NAND upgrade to protect it from factory “rot.” While I was out, I watched the latest from The Linux Experiment.
Nick did a great job explaining why Discord is a privacy nightmare. But then came the sponsor: Squarespace. It’s the ultimate irony. Why are we warning people about Discord “owning” their data while simultaneously telling them to pay $150/month to be “tenants” in the Squarespace hotel?
Proprietary Rot vs. Open Sovereignty
Squarespace is a black box. You don’t own the code, you don’t own the database, and you can’t leave without losing everything you built. Promoting it is promoting digital dependency.
DreamHost (specifically DreamPress) is superior because it respects the Admin:
- Portability: If I ever want to leave DreamHost, I can. I own my WordPress database. I can pack my “house” and move it to any server on earth.
- The “Condo” Model: I’m technically a tenant of DreamHost’s servers, but I own everything inside the walls. They handle the “plumbing” (security and updates), while I keep the keys to my data.
- Integrity: When a creator like Nick promotes Squarespace, they’re promoting a “Vibe” over actual tech freedom. We need to stop giving them a pass on this.
The Discipline of Choice
This isn’t just a tech debate for me; it’s a lifestyle of integrity. This week marks the start of my 46-day Lenten journey (no dining out, no exceptions). It takes discipline to walk past the “easy” fast-food options, just like it takes discipline to build a real website instead of a “black-box” rental.
My Dukes and Knights deserve a platform built on sovereignty, not a “Vibe” built on a proprietary lie.
I personally use and recommend DreamPress from DreamHost for hosting your website. WordPress is the most powerful way to build your site, and DreamPress is specifically engineered to make it run at its best!
(Note: The link above is an affiliate URL. If you choose to make a purchase through it, you’ll be supporting my work here at no extra cost to you—thank you!)