My initial discoveries of, and love for, the Fediverse has been well documented. But I’m not done.
Two months ago I teased this…
That was February 12, 2025, but way back in December of ’24 I signed up for a FediHost account and started my own instance of PeerTube. For those who aren’t familiar, PeerTube is the Fediverse version of YouTube, with all of the advantages of being decentralized on the Internet. No ads, no algorithms, and no tracking. Now that may be a disadvantage if you are thinking of making the sorts of money (monetizing) that some YouTubers make. That’s maybe a conversation to be had later. My purpose for signing up for hosting my own PeerTube instance is because I’ve always wanted my own TV station, and I think I’ve got it!
For as long as I can remember, this was my dream. TV station is a somewhat quaint term with the evolving nature of what “TV” even means today. However, the Internet is more than capable of serving up a TV station that I control and keep running by myself. It’s so exciting to even type those words.
So, AndyTube is that first true attempt.
I’ve got my YouTube channel, but that will be the literal commercial version of my video distribution. I don’t have the roadmap yet for how it will all fit together. Hell, I’m still figuring out all this Fediverse stuff. As they say, I’m building the plane as I fly it. YouTube may still make me some money, but I’ll be curious how PeerTube evolves to have its own version of a monetary support system, or how third-party systems like Buy me a coffee, Kofi, Patreon, etc. etc. might be integrated. Or, perhaps there is a Fediverse version of such a system? I’m still working on a balance between making income (especially if I ever get to retire) after my full time edtech career ends, and just simply giving back to the community. There’s nothing wrong with getting a little compensation for hard work that’s been put in. I’m much more in the vein of donation seeking – like my stuff? – Buy me a coffee (or a REALLY BIG COFFEE!).
Now, on first blush on visiting AndyTube, you might be saying, “hey Andy, where are YOUR videos?” Well, they are there, but only a few as I’m just getting started. It’s just that a TV station should have lots of content. With the power of PeerTube, federation, RSS, and all the other technologies like peer-to-peer networking that I don’t completely understand yet, I can bring in other PeerTube videos to my TV station. It’s actually brilliant because the site is self-populating once you decide to subscribe to other PeerTube instances. It’s why calling it a “station” or even a channel is a little outdated. There can be, and are, several channels on AndyTube, including my own personal channel. That’s the beauty of PeerTube.
PeerTube also works well as a podcast (video OR audio!) distribution platform. You can subscribe to my channel in something like Apple’s Podcast app. Go ahead and try it. Here’s my feed – https://andyrush.fedihost.io/feeds/videos.xml?videoChannelId=1390. You’ll get both my video AND audio recordings.
It’s off in the distance, but the potential for live TV (live streaming) integration is a distinct possibility too. Then it would be a true broadcast destination. By no means am I done exploring the capabilities of running a TV Station, albeit small and independent. Getting AndyTube to show up on a streaming box (Apple TV, Roku, or Google/Android TV) would be another dream that is a bit hazy in the current state of Fediverse apps, but work is being done to make it happen.
The main reason to do all this is to take control of the origin and distribution of my creations, be it a video, or a blog post, a photo, a website, etc. It’s the core of the concept of Domain of One’s Own – taking ownership of your corner on the Internet. I’m reclaiming my content from platforms where I am the product, to places where I am my own platform and I control, to the fullest extent that I can, all of my creations. To be clear, I don’t run a web server, or media server from my home to distribute my content. I use Reclaim Hosting for my websites (I’ve mentioned how many I have), and, again, I use Fedihost for PeerTube. I’ll be honest, I’ve never been comfortable with the VPS/Docker method of managing PeerTube. Call it a failing of my abilities, but having a set monthly cost from a company that just does the video hosting and the DEEP admin stuff is exactly what I want. I’ve trusted Reclaim Hosting for years, and have been more than pleased with Fedihost for several months.
Warning! All of this is in the early phases of “development”. There are many things that can change. You may have noticed that the world in general is in a highly dynamic state. Certainly the state of federated content is as well. I’ll be looking into things like domain name possibilities, preferably something on the andyrush.net domain. Currently, tv.andyrush.net redirects to AndyTube. Maybe someday there will be no redirection (?!)
Everything that I have talked about in this post probably needs several more posts (or videos) explaining how it all works. That will happen when I feel confident that I CAN explain it. Until then, feel free to explore AndyTube. You’ll see content of subjects that I’m interested in, and my discoveries have lead to including a lot of Canadian content, not the least reason being that Fedihost is based in Canada. Ooh, there’s a subject of a future post. The dynamic duo behind Fedihost.
Now it’s time to make more of my own content. Stay tuned…
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