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Matt Hill
#287: EmbassyOS v0.3.0, building out the independent stack, and philosophy with Matt Hill
- EmbassyOS v0.3.0 represents a complete rewrite focused on modularity, scalability, and transparency—designed to turn average people into sysadmins without requiring technical expertise. - Start9 Labs is building a parallel computing paradigm to counter centralized tech giants; the operating system bridges commodity hardware, open-source software, and non-technical users through a generalized API and marketplace ecosystem. - The marketplace will be decentralized after v0.3.1, allowing anyone to spin up competing marketplaces so Start9 is never a single point of failure for software discovery and installation. - Services on Embassy (Bitcoin Core, Matrix chat, Bitwarden password manager, file storage, etc.) work seamlessly over Tor with planned ClearNet support coming in 2022, plus future I2P integration for network redundancy. - Privacy and sovereignty are framed as insurance against future regime change and data monetization extraction, not just today's threats; Tor relay nodes will be toggleable in v0.3.1 to strengthen the Tor network itself. - The vision extends beyond personal servers to a decentralized Internet of Things where users control their own smart home devices rather than surrendering them to Google and Amazon ecosystems.
Matt Hill on Sovereign Computing, The Private Web & Truly Owning Your Own Data
- Matt Hill and Start9 Labs have developed EmbassyOS, a personal server operating system designed to enable non-technical users to self-host applications and maintain digital sovereignty over their data and communications. - The Embassy device runs Bitcoin and Lightning nodes alongside privacy-focused services like Matrix messaging, Bitwarden password manager, Mastodon, and BTC Pay Server, all routed through Tor for privacy. - EmbassyOS 0.3.0 (forthcoming) represents a complete rewrite with major improvements including health checks, real-time GUI updates over Tor, dependency management, and sophisticated service packaging with extensive metadata. - Start9 uses a non-commercial open-source license allowing source-available code with three ways to obtain Embassy: buy pre-built hardware, assemble commodity hardware yourself, or build from source. - The "dark net" or "private net" enables users to operate services (Bitcoin, Lightning, messaging) securely without exposure to centralized intermediaries like Google, Amazon, or Apple. - Matt's long-term vision involves decentralized mesh networking, open protocols, and sovereignty over both software and hardware supply chains to prevent authoritarian control.
#220: Matt Hill
- Start9 Labs is building Embassy, a self-sovereign personal server running on Raspberry Pi 4 hardware that enables individuals to control their data, communications, and smart home devices without relying on centralized platforms like Google, Apple, or Amazon. - The Embassy interface uses Tor hidden services (onion addresses) and browser-based access, circumventing Apple's App Store restrictions that blocked their native iOS app; users can now manage their server remotely via Firefox, Brave, or other browsers with full end-to-end encryption. - Apple's rejection of their app demonstrated how centralized platforms can arbitrarily block software; Start9 Labs responded by pivoting to web-based access, making their system "unstoppable" by eliminating single points of failure. - Start9's long-term vision is an open-source, self-hosted alternative to the centralized cloud model, positioning Embassy OS as a platform for IoT devices, home security cameras, and smart homes that remain under user control rather than corporate surveillance. - The company is currently five developers and is hiring to expand; their roadmap includes a higher-performance "Embassy Home" device, a self-hosted home security camera, and broader adoption of Embassy OS across different hardware platforms. - Privacy and physical safety concerns drive adoption—smart speakers, locks, and connected cars pose security risks if controlled by cloud providers; Start9 Labs offers an alternative where devices coordinate on a personal private cloud.