diff --git a/.drone.yml b/.drone.yml
index 09090f9..959c69e 100644
--- a/.drone.yml
+++ b/.drone.yml
@@ -141,13 +141,13 @@ depends_on:
     - arm64-docker
     - armhf-docker
 ---
-name: jfa-go-git
+name: jfa-go-1.16-git
 kind: pipeline
 type: docker
 
 steps:
     - name: build
-      image: golang:latest
+      image: golang:1.16rc
       commands:
         - apt update -y
         - apt install build-essential python3-pip curl software-properties-common sed upx -y
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 71a8ff1..062b8b5 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ dist/
 build/
 data/
 version.go
+embed.go
 notes
 docs/*
 lang/langtostruct.py
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 135ca51..926dba7 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -16,31 +16,31 @@ npm:
 
 configuration:
 	$(info Fixing config-base)
-	-mkdir -p build/data
-	python3 config/fixconfig.py -i config/config-base.json -o build/data/config-base.json
+	-mkdir -p data
+	python3 config/fixconfig.py -i config/config-base.json -o data/config-base.json
 	$(info Generating config-default.ini)
-	python3 config/generate_ini.py -i config/config-base.json -o build/data/config-default.ini
+	python3 config/generate_ini.py -i config/config-base.json -o data/config-default.ini
 
 email:
 	$(info Generating email html)
-	python3 mail/generate.py -o build/data/
+	python3 mail/generate.py -o data/
 
 typescript:
 	$(info compiling typescript)
-	-mkdir -p build/data/web/js
-	-$(ESBUILD) --bundle ts/admin.ts --outfile=./build/data/web/js/admin.js --minify
-	-$(ESBUILD) --bundle ts/form.ts --outfile=./build/data/web/js/form.js --minify
-	-$(ESBUILD) --bundle ts/setup.ts --outfile=./build/data/web/js/setup.js --minify
+	-mkdir -p data/web/js
+	-$(ESBUILD) --bundle ts/admin.ts --outfile=./data/web/js/admin.js --minify
+	-$(ESBUILD) --bundle ts/form.ts --outfile=./data/web/js/form.js --minify
+	-$(ESBUILD) --bundle ts/setup.ts --outfile=./data/web/js/setup.js --minify
 
 ts-debug:
 	$(info compiling typescript w/ sourcemaps)
-	-mkdir -p build/data/web/js
-	-$(ESBUILD) --bundle ts/admin.ts --sourcemap --outfile=./build/data/web/js/admin.js
-	-$(ESBUILD) --bundle ts/form.ts --sourcemap --outfile=./build/data/web/js/form.js
-	-$(ESBUILD) --bundle ts/setup.ts --sourcemap --outfile=./build/data/web/js/setup.js
-	-rm -r build/data/web/js/ts
+	-mkdir -p data/web/js
+	-$(ESBUILD) --bundle ts/admin.ts --sourcemap --outfile=./data/web/js/admin.js
+	-$(ESBUILD) --bundle ts/form.ts --sourcemap --outfile=./data/web/js/form.js
+	-$(ESBUILD) --bundle ts/setup.ts --sourcemap --outfile=./data/web/js/setup.js
+	-rm -r data/web/js/ts
 	$(info copying typescript)
-	cp -r ts build/data/web/js
+	cp -r ts data/web/js
 
 swagger:
 	go1.16rc1 get github.com/swaggo/swag/cmd/swag
@@ -60,24 +60,33 @@ compress:
 	upx --lzma build/jfa-go
 
 bundle-css:
-	-mkdir -p build/data/web/css
+	-mkdir -p data/web/css
 	$(info bundling css)
-	$(ESBUILD) --bundle css/base.css --outfile=build/data/web/css/bundle.css --external:remixicon.css --minify
+	$(ESBUILD) --bundle css/base.css --outfile=data/web/css/bundle.css --external:remixicon.css --minify
 
 copy:
 	$(info copying fonts)
-	cp -r node_modules/remixicon/fonts/remixicon.css node_modules/remixicon/fonts/remixicon.woff2 build/data/web/css/
+	cp -r node_modules/remixicon/fonts/remixicon.css node_modules/remixicon/fonts/remixicon.woff2 data/web/css/
 	$(info copying html)
-	cp -r html build/data/
+	cp -r html data/
 	$(info copying static data)
-	-mkdir -p build/data/web
-	cp -r static/* build/data/web/
+	-mkdir -p data/web
+	cp -r static/* data/web/
 	$(info copying language files)
-	cp -r lang build/data/
+	cp -r lang data/
 
+embed:
+	python embed.py internal
+
+noembed:
+	python embed.py external
+	-mkdir -p build
+	$(info copying internal data into build/)
+	cp -r data build/
 
 install:
 	cp -r build $(DESTDIR)/jfa-go
 
-all: configuration npm email version typescript bundle-css swagger copy compile
-debug: configuration npm email version ts-debug bundle-css swagger copy compile
+all: configuration npm email version typescript bundle-css swagger copy embed compile
+all-external: configuration npm email version ts-debug bundle-css swagger copy noembed compile
+debug: configuration npm email version ts-debug bundle-css swagger copy noembed compile
diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index 624cdb1..4c6a48e 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ var emailEnabled = false
 func (app *appContext) GetPath(sect, key string) (fs.FS, string) {
 	val := app.config.Section(sect).Key(key).MustString("")
 	if strings.HasPrefix(val, "jfa-go:") {
-		return localFS, "build/data/" + strings.TrimPrefix(val, "jfa-go:")
+		return localFS, "data/" + strings.TrimPrefix(val, "jfa-go:")
 	}
 	return app.systemFS, val
 }
diff --git a/embed.py b/embed.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..21fd16f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/embed.py
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+#!/usr/bin/python
+import sys
+import argparse
+
+parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+parser.add_argument("embed", metavar="<true/false>|<internal/external>|<yes/no>", type=str)
+trues = ["true", "internal", "yes", "y"]
+falses = ["false", "external", "no", "n"]
+
+EMBED = parser.parse_args().embed
+
+with open("embed.go", "w") as f:
+    if EMBED in trues:
+        f.write("""package main
+import (
+    "embed"
+    "log"
+)
+
+//go:embed data data/html data/web data/web/css data/web/js
+var localFS embed.FS
+
+//go:embed lang/common lang/admin lang/email lang/form lang/setup
+var langFS embed.FS
+
+func loadLocalFS() {
+    log.Println("Using internal storage")
+}""")
+    elif EMBED in falses:
+        f.write("""package main
+import (
+    "io/fs"
+    "os"
+    "log"
+    "path/filepath"
+)
+
+var localFS fs.FS
+var langFS fs.FS
+
+func loadLocalFS() {
+    log.Println("Using external storage")
+    executable, _ := os.Executable()
+    localFS = os.DirFS(filepath.Dir(executable))
+    langFS = os.DirFS(filepath.Join(filepath.Dir(executable), "data"))
+}""")
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 0cd9a8a..ea6362e 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package main
 import (
 	"context"
 	"crypto/rand"
-	"embed"
 	"encoding/base64"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"flag"
@@ -52,13 +51,7 @@ type User struct {
 	Password string `json:"password"`
 }
 
-//go:embed build/data build/data/html build/data/web build/data/web/css build/data/web/js build/data/web/js/ts
-var localFS embed.FS
-
-//go:embed lang/common lang/admin lang/email lang/form lang/setup
-var langFS embed.FS
-
-// contains everything the application needs, essentially. Wouldn't do this in the future.
+// contains (almost) everything the application needs, essentially. This was a dumb design decision imo.
 type appContext struct {
 	// defaults         *Config
 	config         *ini.File
@@ -91,7 +84,7 @@ type appContext struct {
 
 func (app *appContext) loadHTML(router *gin.Engine) {
 	customPath := app.config.Section("files").Key("html_templates").MustString("")
-	templatePath := "build/data/html"
+	templatePath := "data/html"
 	htmlFiles, err := fs.ReadDir(localFS, templatePath)
 	if err != nil {
 		app.err.Fatalf("Couldn't access template directory: \"%s\"", templatePath)
@@ -201,7 +194,7 @@ func start(asDaemon, firstCall bool) {
 	/*
 		set default config, data and local paths
 		also, confusing naming here. data_path is not the internal 'data' directory, rather the users .config/jfa-go folder.
-		local_path is the internal 'data' directory.
+		localFS/data is the internal 'data' directory.
 	*/
 	userConfigDir, _ := os.UserConfigDir()
 	app.dataPath = filepath.Join(userConfigDir, "jfa-go")
@@ -271,7 +264,7 @@ func start(asDaemon, firstCall bool) {
 	}
 	if _, err := os.Stat(app.configPath); os.IsNotExist(err) {
 		firstRun = true
-		dConfig, err := fs.ReadFile(localFS, "build/data/config-default.ini")
+		dConfig, err := fs.ReadFile(localFS, "data/config-default.ini")
 		if err != nil {
 			app.err.Fatalf("Couldn't find default config file")
 		}
@@ -435,7 +428,7 @@ func start(asDaemon, firstCall bool) {
 
 		}
 
-		app.configBasePath = "build/data/config-base.json"
+		app.configBasePath = "data/config-base.json"
 		configBase, _ := fs.ReadFile(localFS, app.configBasePath)
 		json.Unmarshal(configBase, &app.configBase)
 
@@ -782,6 +775,7 @@ func main() {
 	if flagPassed("test") {
 		TEST = true
 	}
+	loadLocalFS()
 	if flagPassed("start") {
 		args := []string{}
 		for i, f := range os.Args {
diff --git a/static.go b/static.go
index ea620f5..41c1c00 100644
--- a/static.go
+++ b/static.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package main
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
 	"io/fs"
 	"net/http"
 	"strings"
@@ -15,13 +14,12 @@ type httpFS struct {
 }
 
 func (f httpFS) Open(name string) (http.File, error) {
-	fmt.Println("build/data/web" + name)
-	return f.hfs.Open("build/data/web" + name)
+	return f.hfs.Open("data/web" + name)
 }
 
 func (f httpFS) Exists(prefix string, filepath string) bool {
 	if p := strings.TrimPrefix(filepath, prefix); len(p) < len(filepath) {
-		stats, err := fs.Stat(f.fs, "build/data/web/"+p)
+		stats, err := fs.Stat(f.fs, "data/web/"+p)
 		if err != nil {
 			return false
 		}
diff --git a/version.py b/version.py
index 387e23e..3e9b9ed 100644
--- a/version.py
+++ b/version.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import subprocess
 import sys
-import os
+
 try:
     version = sys.argv[1].replace('v', '')
 except IndexError: