We're starting to open up 1999.io, slowly so we can be relatively sure there aren't any huge deal-stoppers. With new code like this, that you want to be running for a long time to come, I like to let the rollout happen slowly, building layer on layer. 

I thought it would be a good idea to start to answer some questions about what it is and isn't. What it's like and what it's not like. 

The server is open source, and it's easy to set up your own self-hosted system. 

Each server can host lots of sites. There is no "single user" mode. But you can restrict access via a whitelist. So if you want to set it up just for yourself, that's not hard. But it's just as easy to host many sites. And it's also easy to offer hosting to everyone who can access your site. So if you want to offer a blog to everyone in your workgroup, or your class, or school -- that's easy. 

I am offering free hosting to start. Not sure how long I'll do that. Right now you can only access that through the 1999-user list. Once we're sure that it's stable, I'll post instructions here, publicly.

The data is very easy to export. There's a command in the Main menu that downloads your website in a single JSON file. Just save the file locally and you have a backup. Making this easy was an important design goal.

I wanted it to be very easy to create new posts. So there's a text box at the top of the page, ready to accept your writing. Just like Twitter, or Facebook, or for that matter my own blogging software all the way back in the last millennium, called Radio UserLand. 

There are many other features, and I'll probably be writing about them over the next few weeks. If you're curious, please sign up for the 1999-user mail list. That's where we're getting things started.