Why a website?

Why a website?

Simply because. Because the internet doesn’t have to be owned by 4 people who decide what you see and what you don’t. Because the internet can be different. Because it allows me to host the self-hosted services I want. And because I agree with Henry of henry.codes.

And why .eu?

Because I live in Europe, and because it is cheap.

Internet domains are controlled by ICANN, which determines which top-level domains (.cat, .eu, .com, .org, etc.) can be created and which cannot. There are alternatives, most of them decentralized. Some are free (.dyn, .libre, .ygg), while others require payment (.eth, .bit). However, they are not easy to use, and Internet Serivice Providers do not make things easier.

This is the reason why, if you want your website to be accessible, you must pay a private company for a second-level domain (gencat.cat, ub.edu, mtorra.eu...) under an ICANN top-level domain. In this commercial and centralized landscape, some domains can be extremely expensive. The .eu, however, is managed by the European Commission and is cheap. About 75% cheaper than .cat, and 50% cheaper than .com. And having a domain should not be prohibitive, nor should it enrich anyone.