Public free (libre) mailbox hosting service for everybody!

[אנטולי קרסנר]

Hello e-mail software developers and users!

I'd like to ask all of you a question. And of course hear relevant
opinion.

I've been using free software happily for a few years, and I found
free/open source alternatives for many popular proprietary tools such as
Facebook, Dropbox, Micro$oft Windows & Office, Youtube, Skype and many
many others. Some of the alternatives are probably known to some of you,
while others are still unknown to many.

But I couldn't find a replacement to mailbox hosting. I'm using a Gmail
mailbox and I hate it. So many free and open source mail servers and I
still use Gmail, a closed-source service (which also probably tracks all
my data, including Google searches I do, and uses it for all kinds of
statistics and advertising, but that's another issue). So I asked
myself, why is there no mailbox hosting service which respects user
freedom?

I sent an e-mail to the Free Software Foundation, and got a suggestion
to ask all of you: do you know any free (libre) mail server out there?
If you do, please inform me, and the whole free software community,
developers and users.

I couldn't find any. If nobody else finds any either, the plan is to
start a new server. There are so many server tools and programs, like
the ones you use and develop. It's just like hosting a Git repository or
videos of pictures for the masses. We can do it with e-mail too.

Q: Why don't I start my own personal server?
A: I'm a programmer and I can do it - with some effort, but I can. The
problem is not me. The problem is that all the non-programmer and
non-technical users can't. And they shouldn't. We tech people can, and
should, run such servers for everybody. For all users who want their
basic freedoms respected.

Another question to tech people: I'm not an expert in e-mail software,
so I'm not really sure setting up a server is as easy as all other
online services we get, such as Diaspora (facebook replacement),
MediaGoblin (Youtube replacement), Gitorious (git repo hosting). Is
there a technical issue preventing people from running a mail server, or
it's just a matter of having enough money to run it, and the necessary
technical skills (which many of you probably have).

If it's possible, we'll do it. Also, if users had to pay for such a
service, it would be okay. I don't mind paying for my free software
stack. I'd actually find it a way to contribute back to the people and
projects which deserve it. The point is not money; such a service can
get funds. The point if FREEDOM.

Waiting for response and opinions from you, my fellow free software
community members,
Anatoly Krasner
Free software enthusiast/activist
Israel