Update: In addition to dev.cc, I’ve acquired dev.pw and also pointed it to localhost. I’d highly recommend users switch to using dev.pw for their localhost domain and development needs because it is way more cost effective for me, personally. Three-dot-two letter domains are very rare and very costly. Think of the ‘pw’ as standing for ‘Preview’ and consider making the switch.
Currently, I’ll be keeping dev.cc pointing to localhost but the financial burdens may invoke me to ask for donations from the public to keep this true; or I may have to finagle other means to offset the registration and server costs. In any case, I’ll be sure to be as transparent as possible to keep the public aware of any changes should it become necessary. If you have any questions or comments, please drop me a message as I’m curious as to how and if anyone is even using dev.cc.
Remember when Google acquired and broke the .dev domain for countless developers? Before then I was well into my first decade of coding ServerPress’ DesktopServer; a local web server development tool. I was heavily invested (along with countless other developers) in using the previously fictitious .dev TLD for all our locally hosted website development domain names (i.e. example.dev, your-next-client-website.dev, etc.). It was also the premiere way to build out enterprise solutions or to test WordPress Multisite in sub-domain mode. That all changed when Google decided to take control of the .dev TLD and make it real; one that eventually, just about anyone, could register. At first it was rumored that they would keep it for developers; then the .dev TLD simply stopped working in Chrome browsers by demanding an SSL certificate for the yet-to-be-registrable domain, and then later it stopped working in Firefox.
Like a lot of crazy wanna-be entrepreneurs, I collect domain names with every “new idea” that popped into my head. I’d hate to reveal my annual renewal fees and I do have a set goal of letting some of that go in 2023. Thankfully, that trait served me well before 2017 as I had already acquired a bunch of short domain names and decided that ServerPress would utilize the .dev.cc domain and point it back to localhost for all developers. That served a self-interest as DesktopServer was one of the top localhost development tools for WordPress; and tacking on two more characters was a no-brainer for users and a simple upgrade in our software. It worked out great.
With ServerPress’ closure the fate of dev.cc has come into question. Today I’m happy to say that I’ve personally acquired the TLD and will keep the dev.cc domain alive and pointing to localhost. It doesn’t matter what local development you’re using; whether that’s MAMP, XAMPP, or whatever. You can rest assured that dev.cc and any of its sub-domains (*.dev.cc) will continue to always point back to your local box. No need to edit your host files, or setup extraneous software, or perform local DNS futzing. I’ll be paying for the dev.cc TLD registration fee from this day forward and will keep it free for developers to use.