No argument here, that’s a fair and thoughtful response, and you’re not wrong regarding the prejudice against self-hosting (and for what it’s worth I absolutely come from the era where that was the default approach, have done it extensively, like it, and still do it/recommend it when it makes sense).

> “ geek code" thing we were doing a while back

Not sure what you’re referring to. “Shibboleet”, perhaps? https://xkcd.com/806/