In May 2013, Dyn, once known as dyndns.org, made logging in every 30 days mandatory. Back then I went looking in an article (in German) for a DynDNS provider that wouldn’t nag me every month. A few weeks later, Robert Niedziela showed up in the comments with a terse “offering free dyndns service.” At that point, his service DDNSS.de was just one month old.
I signed up there in May 2014, and DDNSS has been with me ever since. In 2016, I recommended the service myself in the comments (in German) as a provider “without the nagging.” Now there is an email from Robert in my inbox that I really didn’t see coming. After more than 13 years in operation, DDNSS.de is facing a change: Robert is currently in talks about a possible takeover of the service.
A takeover, not a shutdown
That doesn’t mean the end is sealed, though. A decision is due by October 31, 2026 at the latest, with the handover settled by then – provided the talks lead somewhere. If the takeover goes through, the new operator will simply keep DDNSS running. If the talks fall through, Robert wants to let everyone know in good time so you can prepare for a switch without any rush.
So if you have DDNSS set up in your FRITZ!Box or on your own little server, you don’t need to do anything for now. Your existing DynDNS entries keep working unchanged for the time being, and according to Robert there is no immediate need to act. He answers questions at webmaster@ddnss.de. Still, it can’t hurt to check everywhere you have DDNSS set up – in the router, in ddclient or in some script.
Thank you, Robert
Robert isn’t taking this step lightly. By his own account, he has put a lot of time and work into DDNSS.de since May 2013 – there was never a business model behind it, and anyone who wanted to could donate. After more than 13 years, a decision like this is anything but easy for him personally. That’s why he is looking for a solution that will last instead of simply pulling the plug.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Robert very much. To me, keeping a free service like this running for so many years is not something to take for granted. With DynDNS, you usually only notice what you had once it suddenly stops working. I hope Robert finds a good new home for his baby.
These days, I treat myself to a “proper” domain for my self-hosting projects. With my web host, that’s pretty easy: the FRITZ!Box updates the records of my own domain directly via DynDNS, so I no longer need an external service for it. If you own a domain anyway, check whether your host offers something like this.
Leave a Reply