Ask HN: How did you open source your life?

Hi HN,

I finally overcame some mental inertia and have decided that it's time to host my own digital services.

To that effect, I've decided to use Digital Ocean (DO) to set up an Arch Linux based OwnCloud instance to sync contacts and files between devices. I would love your inputs and advice in that regard.

I also have a Samsung Galaxy SIII (intl.) which is flashed with Paranoid Android. However, I would like to move to a distro and app store that is completely open source. Your recommendations here would also be welcome.

More generally, how did you guys take control of your data again? What were some of the obstacles and how did you overcome them?

Thanks.