very true. there really something liberating about about self hosting.

i think using node and express.js is very approachable in serving your web content. https://expressjs.com/

following the hello world example on their site will help clarify how everything clicks together.

i know u said this is a project for learning, but static site hosting is pretty cheap and may provide less headaches as you’re learning. sites like porkbun offer it for $3 USD and i think even github has a free way tp host a static site. idk what running a computer at home would cost monthly in electricity.

Oh i am very aware that you are 100% correct in both areas of efficiency and value!

However, I just really like the activity of searching for them at garage sales, flea markets, estate sales, used media stores, etc. if it takes me a while, so be it. ill just rewatch what i already have.

dvd and bluray are so goshdarn cheap that my wife and I thought to just buy everything we like watching physically. yeah we still have to rent new things every so often, but we generally just watch completed series or older movies.

we did an activity called ‘the vault’ where we identified ~800 movies/series that we could just live with forever. Now that the list was made its been the fun casual game of hunting for the best deal.

for instance, we like horror and we found all Blu-rays of the nightmare on elm street for like $15, all Halloween movies for ~$30, original star trek complete series $25.

I am predicting that our 800 works will cost somewhere around $2000? i winced at seeing that price, but spreading it over a few years of searching (we like trying to find our copies at local used stores) i think it isn’t too bad! plus its another activity for me and my wife to do.

Simply realizing that “wow we should just buy the stuff we watch on repeat” has been good for the monthly expenses. yeah we miss out on some exclusive stuff, but honestly there is just so much good shit out there from the past. i can certainly wait for that exclusive stuff to go on sale or finish up its finale so i can resub for a month to binge it.

certainly not laying out all the pros and cons of doing it, but i think the adventure of rediscovering physical media again has been showing is more pros than cons.