Goodbye Digital Ocean

Digital Ocean has served me incredibly well in the last 3 years but like all good things, it’s time to move on.

Why I am moving?

The MereCivilian blog runs on the Ghost blogging platform which I host with Digital Ocean. For more details, check this out. Three years ago, I had more time in my hands (COVID lock downs) to manage my blog which includes updating the ghost software. This process is not entirely straightforward. It is a matter of expertise though, because I know many people have no issues and can swiftly update. Meanwhile, I struggle to do basic things like update node etc. I also find that I have become somewhat of an expert in breaking things as I update my Ghost software. Anyway, earlier this year, I found an alternative host for MereCivilian.com. My only criteria is my host will maintain the administration/management of my blog software and is somewhat affordable and, of course, is reliable.

Affordability is an important criterion and I do not say this lightly. Even Elon Musk needs advertising dollars to keep Twitter alive. Tim Cook needs “services revenue” to make Apple into a $3 trillion dollar company. There is a reason Apple only gives you 5GB of free iCloud storage. It’s because they want your money and nothing is wrong with that. Therefore, it’s only reasonable that I take steps in ensuring this blog remains viable and affordable for me. I recommend everyone to be mindful of one’s expenditure. My grandpa used to say: “it’s very difficult to earn money, and it’s so very easy and convenient to spend it”. Wise words, and I miss my grandpa dearly. Sadly, I lost him last year.

Anther fact is the strength of the US dollar has resulted in an increase in the overall cost of hosting this blog. In simple terms, I need more dollars in my local currency to buy US dollars. This blog costs USD7.20 a month. Not expensive in the grand scheme of things.

Therefore, the primary reason for the move is the desire to spend less them managing the blog and more time blogging. I am happy to spend a little bit of money on fulfilling this desire. Should you wish to assist, please support my blog here or buy me a coffee.

So what now?

Well, I moved to a new host last weekend and if you are reading this blog post, that means DigitalOcean is no longer my host. Stay tuned for an update in this space. I will continue to stress test my new host and report in a few months. Let’s say, so far, I am very pleased and even more impressed with myself that I transferred from one host to another with no one’s help. Kudos to me 😀

By the way, if you find anything is broken, please email me - [email protected].

Have a great weekend !!