LinxMax

LinxMax takes two old ideas, short URLs and webrings, and bundles them into one self-hostable thing. The URL shortener gives you durable links you keep editing as targets move: pick a slug or take a random hash, set a campaign label, and the mapping persists in plain JSON you can grep and back up like any other file. There is a hit counter per link, but no per-visit tracking, no IP retention, no referrer fingerprinting, and no cookies.

The webring directory is the indieweb half. Each ring has a homepage, a moderated member list, and next/prev/random navigation that actually works in 2026. Submit your site to a ring, the ring owner reviews and approves, and you paste a small widget snippet onto your page. That is the entire onboarding.

The whole stack is open: two small C++ servers on Boost.Beast, a React/Vite admin SPA and public SPA, a C++ CLI, and an ansible+systemd deploy. JSON on disk; no database server to babysit. Run lnx.mx on a $5 VPS or in a homelab next to your blog. No cloud account required.