I’ve heard a few people on here are starting their own personal instances so they can federate independently with different instances without relying on a larger, third-party instance. If I wanted to do this, would I need to own an actual server, separate from my PC?
You can also pay monthly for a virtual private server (VPS) through something like DreamHost. You basically let them house and manage the hardware while you personally control the software. It’s like renting from a server hotel instead of buying your own server house. Prices are pretty cheap too, imo.