The pic has to be hosted somewhere. You wouldn’t be able to post it to FR from your own PC unless your PC was a server on the internet.
‘hosted’ means the image is stored somewhere that can be accessed by the internet. your computer might have an internet address. it depends on your isp. but you’re much better off if you don’t establish an internet presence for yourself. first, you would need a name. there’s a small fee to register a domain name. free republic is a domain name. then you have to leave your machine available all the time. as soon as you do that, people will hack it. it’s nothing personal, that’s just what hackers do. and they will do it. if some kid finds bank information on your hard drive, you’ll get robbed. photobucket et al prevent the internet from accessing your personal stuff.