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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: December 12th, 2023

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  • I do the same too. I even made my own very adaptable rsync based tool. The biggest feature is that it can automatically swap source and destination paths to quickly reverse the transfer direction. That makes syncing in either direction far less annoying than having an endless list of aliases.

    Syncthing, nextcloud and any other bidirectional transfer service has been an awful experience. What I lose in bi-directinal transfers, I gain in stability and consistency by just using rsync commands directly. I don’t have to deal with the headache of troubleshooting every time syncthing or nextcloud decides to stop working because I sat down to relax.


  • One of my favourite bands released a surprise album a few days ago. Now I’m even more excited to see them live in a few months. Especially because I am going with one of my best friends who I met because of this band :)

    At the end of a past Halloween party, they stepped outside where I was talking to some other people. As they come around the corner, they shouted out “I’m gonna see Enter Shikari next week!” A few hang outs after that concert, we were best friends. Life changed so much after we met each other :)




  • I keep everything I do as minimal as possible.

    Everything is documented using either sh scripts or markdown style plain text files. If I need anything more than that, I’m over complicating things for my brain.

    The upside to this approach is that it works anywhere because it’s all just text files and it’s very tiny in size. I am more interested in making low-power/low-spec things work so less is appropriate.


  • I have lots of scripts and aliases since I run a very mininal setup.

    The aliases are automatically set when I start a new shell and I have a shortcut command to cat the alias file so I can quickly view what aliases and functions I have saved.

    I also have a folder that contains all my notes and scripts. It’s all organized and it acts as a staging area before I move any scripts to the proper location or device.

    I found a hobby in writing scripts. I’ve been spending a lot of time writing my own backup system that uses rsync and it’s nearing completion which I’m excited about. It’s been something I’ve been working building on and off since the new year began.



  • Thanks, I’ve learned a lot about Linux focusing on learning POSIX portable scripts. It’s been an experience.

    I just have two containers. Caddy which handles let’s encrypt certificates and Kiwix to host Wikipedia plus about 10 other wikis, ranging from Linux coding to first aid, gardening, and other stuff meant for local self sufficiency.

    I also use Caddy as a basic file server. I have a number of self sufficiency books on there, POSIX coding references and all my scripts and notes on Alpine Linux. I also have a static blog site there simply using Caddy as well.

    I have a strong focus on minimalism so I don’t intend in going crazy with self hosted services. Also I have huge trust issues with so many self hosted projects so making my own projects when possible means less exposure to security vulnerabilities, AI or enablers of Authoritarian powers.

    I spent a lot of time making it secure with some added obscurity so only myself and those who I share my site with can feel safe connecting to my server. It’s been quite the learning adventure.

    Let me know if you have any issues with the motd script. I gather most of the information from /sys/ and /proc/ files so hopefully it’s consistent and accurate across other distributions. I’ve only tested it on Alpine Linux.


  • For the past couple weeks I’ve been working on getting a small self hosted server up and running. It’s running off a Rasberry Pi 5 + a portable USB 3 hard drive so it’s quite small and simple. It runs Alpine Linux and I’m using rootless podman to manage my containers.

    I’ve been writing my own backup system which are all POSIX portable scripts focused around rsync. One script handles chains of rsync commands based on files. One script handles the number of backups and the current script I’m writing handles stopping and starting containers for before and after a backup.

    All the scripts are minimal, focus on one specific task and easy to use in scripts. There’s lots of focus on making them safe to use with lots of error handling.

    After that I need to make a keep alive script because I lose all connectivity to the server sometimes, including ssh. The device isn’t frozen, just stops talking for reasons unknown. After that I want to secure my ssh connection with wiregaurd and my server will be secure and low maintenance enough for my liking.

    I have my completed scripts up on codeberg.


  • I’m currently in the process of setting up my home server again but this was basically my setup before. Alpine Linux + SSH + Docker and I kept everything to a minimum.

    This time I’m setting up rootless Podman in place of Docker and as of today the switch over is complete.

    I’m thinking of trying to use wireguard as a way to secure my ssh port but I’m still trying to learn and figure out if that’s possible.

    With all the security and trust issues hitting the self-hosting headlines, less and simple is completely fine with me.



  • Minimizing small acts enables manipulative behaviour.

    Since 2020 I’ve spent a lot of my personal time learning about manipulation and learning how to identity and handle manipulators. I’ve also spent a lot of my personal time teaching others how to identity and deal with manipulators in their personal lives.

    After learning so much about manipulation, it’s hard not to see how much manipulation has been normalized in our everyday lives.

    Ignoring the small acts means letting a new boundary be normalized. Minimizing those small acts is attempting to ignore them. It is important not to enable and normalize the boundaries that are being pushed.

    Authoritarian power and manipulators will not stop pushing boundaries. To them, enough is never enough.


  • I’m less concerned if it’s age verification or if it’s an optional field. The issue I feel is that it’s pushing boundaries and normalizing new boundaries.

    I’m viewing this with a focus on authoritarian power and manipulation. There seems to be far less resistance to change if it’s not immediate. That’s why small acts such as “making a joke,” creating optional fields or reversing laws can be so dangerous. It normalizes a new boundary that can be pushed further. At the very least, it’s enabling the behaviour to push new boundaries.

    Focusing on the definition of what it’s called seems to distract from what’s happened, the response to what has happened and what that could mean in the future for large groups of people’s personal identity, safety and freedom.

    Authoritarian power and manipulation should not be enabled or normalized.


  • I use Linux Mint DE for steam games which I barely play anymore so this whole Systemd/age-verification mess has next to no effect on me. It’s still really interesting to see everything play out in real time.

    Speaking strictly as an outsider looking in, I still can’t help but feel uncomfortable and slightly worried about what has happened already. People who seek authoritarian powers over others will always start small, even if it’s “just a joke.” Always pushing boundaries and normalizing new boundaries that are further away from freedom. It’s never ending.

    Fighting back against people who’s only source of creativity or identity is labeling and categorizing other people is fucking exhausting. And they don’t even make an effort for their one creative outlet either…



  • I purposely let “weeds” grow in my veggie gardens and have a plot specifically for wildflowers and “weeds”. People have warned me about those nasty “weeds” spreading and I casually don’t listen to any of them.

    I’ve been seeing so many new and interesting bugs in my backyard. I spend less time attempting to pollinate some of my plants by hand. The extra ground cover keeps my soil moist longer during those sunny days. I also think my chaos gardens look really nice compared to a neatly manicured plot of veggies too.

    I can’t wait to start planting again. Go away snow and freezing rain, you’ve over stayed your welcome.


  • I run a super minimal setup for my server and home network devices but I still like to see how the self-hosting scene is evolving. It’s changed so much in the last year alone.

    I think one reason why I choose to run such a minimal setup is because there’s so many trust issues that seem to be developing over time with so many different projects. At the very least, every weekly newsletter keeps me inspired to keep creating my own projects.

    Recently I just finished writing my own back up system including rotating out old backups using only rsync and POSIX portable shell commands. I wrote the scripts to be adaptable to many uses outside of just backups so I am really proud of how they turned out.

    My next self-hosting project is something far more absurd and I’m excited to start developing it.