I found that using a wildcard domain cert for HTTPS and an uncommon higher port number works just fine to avoid crawlers and scrapers. I also hide my ssh port behind WireGuard because I got annoyed with the bots filling up my logs with failed attempts. I’ve been doing that for nearly a year now and I have had no more issues with bots
I’m going off the assumption that the people who run crawlers and scrapers are going for known common ports for quick ease of access
I don’t feel the need to run anything extra such as Anubis either. The inconvenience of using an uncommon higher port number has been minimal and I still get to enjoy my tiny corner of the internet
I share my site with only with people I know personally and they don’t seem to have any issue accessing my site
They don’t seem too bothered adding :8000 to the address. Also they are usually connecting at home or on their phone and are not frequently visiting it so the inconveniences are minimal
I don’t understand how it’s suspicious if I am sharing my address with a custom port to people I know. I even take time to explain why I do it and in a way a nontechnical person would understand
The connection is still encrypted because I have a proper domain cert. There’s no warning or any other issue. I have spent more time securing my hardware/operating system/software than anything else, often taking priority over hosting more services
Do I really need to take all these extra steps like a VPS or a login for a basic blog generated from markdown files and a basic file server that has copies of my git repositories? Seems excessive when I already found a solution for myself that takes less effort and works to my satisfaction
I think there’s value in experimenting outside the current set standards and norms. Especially since corporations and states are obviously abusing the trust of these standards and norms for their own personal benefit
I personally feel like a small web/indie web can find their own their place again on the internet with a little creativity and a will to break away from the current norms. Trying to do more of the same will eventually lead to issues like burnout or ever growing frustration
I’m doing this for fun and for myself above all else. Experimenting with different, low effort approaches to the crawler/scraper issue is fun for me. Involving more outside services or adding more internal software does not sound like fun to me. It doesn’t sound like much fun for other people in this thread or by the original blog post either
I found that using a wildcard domain cert for HTTPS and an uncommon higher port number works just fine to avoid crawlers and scrapers. I also hide my ssh port behind WireGuard because I got annoyed with the bots filling up my logs with failed attempts. I’ve been doing that for nearly a year now and I have had no more issues with bots
I’m going off the assumption that the people who run crawlers and scrapers are going for known common ports for quick ease of access
I don’t feel the need to run anything extra such as Anubis either. The inconvenience of using an uncommon higher port number has been minimal and I still get to enjoy my tiny corner of the internet
Higher port? I suppose you just run things for yourself and never share them on the public internet then.
I share my site with only with people I know personally and they don’t seem to have any issue accessing my site
They don’t seem too bothered adding
:8000to the address. Also they are usually connecting at home or on their phone and are not frequently visiting it so the inconveniences are minimalMost people getting hammered by bots are running public facing websites. There a custom port is suspicious as heck.
A limited access service like yours is better served by a VPS or a simple login before everything.
I don’t understand how it’s suspicious if I am sharing my address with a custom port to people I know. I even take time to explain why I do it and in a way a nontechnical person would understand
The connection is still encrypted because I have a proper domain cert. There’s no warning or any other issue. I have spent more time securing my hardware/operating system/software than anything else, often taking priority over hosting more services
Do I really need to take all these extra steps like a VPS or a login for a basic blog generated from markdown files and a basic file server that has copies of my git repositories? Seems excessive when I already found a solution for myself that takes less effort and works to my satisfaction
I think there’s value in experimenting outside the current set standards and norms. Especially since corporations and states are obviously abusing the trust of these standards and norms for their own personal benefit
I personally feel like a small web/indie web can find their own their place again on the internet with a little creativity and a will to break away from the current norms. Trying to do more of the same will eventually lead to issues like burnout or ever growing frustration
I’m doing this for fun and for myself above all else. Experimenting with different, low effort approaches to the crawler/scraper issue is fun for me. Involving more outside services or adding more internal software does not sound like fun to me. It doesn’t sound like much fun for other people in this thread or by the original blog post either