Fosshost, a hosting provider that offered free VPS hosting for FOSS projects is officially shutting down.
The Fosshost project started several years when a guy named Thomas decided that he wanted to create a hosting provider specifically for FOSS projects that would otherwise either have to self host or pay for hosting.
The project grew quickly, both in FOSS projects applying for hosting, and in volunteers joining Fosshost to help run the platform.
I joined Fosshost in October of 2021, initially to help manage the support ticket queue, but I quickly found myself accepting additional responsibilities. From the beginning we always had more work to do than we had volunteera willing and able to do said work. While I will always be proud of the job our volunteers did, the realities of burnout were inevitable. As time went on Thomas had less and less time for the project. As he retained sole control over several important accounts, we begain having issues that only he could solve. As frustration built up, volunteers began to resign from the project. I myself resigned when it became apparent that nothing short of a miracle could save Fosshost.
With the open letter from Thomas published today, Fosshost's fate is officially sealed. I find myself able to finish a mourning process that begain when I resigned two months ago. In Fosshost I had found a passion and a joy that I've never experienced in my professional life, and losing that had been harder than I ever would have guessed.
Now that that chapter is over, I must begin to look forward to the next. FOSS remains a great passion of mine, and there are many wonderful project out there in need of additional help. With any luck, I'll be able find that joy again soon.
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