February 27, 2026
Self‑hosted… by who?
Show HN: I built a self-hosted course platform in Clojure
Teacher ditches platform, cuts prices — but HN asks: where’s the code
TLDR: An indie Clojure instructor built his own site to sell courses, cutting prices by skipping the marketplace fees. The thread cheers the speed but quickly pivots to a debate over “self‑hosted” and demands for a public code release, highlighting the ongoing tension between DIY products and open-source expectations.
On Hacker News, a Clojure teacher dropped a mic and a price tag: he moved his course business off Podia, built his own site in Clojure, and says cutting out the platform fees let him slash costs. The crowd? Immediately split between applause and audits.
The top vibe: speed. One commenter fired off a gleeful “snappy!” while others cheered the indie‑builder energy and the back‑to‑basics “we build it, we ship it” teaching style. Courses on Clojure, its browser cousin ClojureScript, and the database language Datalog, plus podcasts and live workshops, had fans saying it felt like a focused, hands‑on clubhouse rather than yet another generic course mall.
Then came the spice: “Self‑hosted” triggered the classic HN reflex—“cool story, but is the code on GitHub?” A direct ask for source turned the thread into a semantics showdown: does “self‑hosted” mean you host it yourself, or that the author does? Word‑lawyering ensued, alongside winks about the eternal “Show me the repo” meme.
Strongest takeaways: indie dev dumps the middleman, lowers prices, and ships a slick site; the community loves the speed, side‑eyes the wording, and wants receipts. DIY energy meets open‑source expectations, and the comments are where the sparks fly.
Key Points
- •ClojureStream offers subscription access to hands-on video courses in idiomatic Clojure, ClojureScript, and Datalog.
- •Courses emphasize building and shipping projects to solidify practical skills.
- •The curriculum is structured into gradually introduced thematic units to show how concepts connect.
- •Instruction focuses on combining libraries into cohesive solutions, not just understanding APIs.
- •Additional offerings include the ClojureStream Podcast and live online workshops for community learning.