I put openwrt on their router and an adblock dns already but a dns sink would be cool too

Neither of us want to learn proxmox, but I am still convinced there are simple and feature rich solutions that don’t require that.

I wonder how far the ecosystem is from a mini-server as easy as mint… Linux servers on old vapes exist, yet there’s no equally trivial, commodified mini servers. Nixos, silverblue or some other type of immutable os is probably part of the solution…

A completely non-tech friend showed me their internet-in-a-box, cheap, easy, lots of features in the box and well maintained. Just flash an SD or run the install script and its done. All data is on the usb so if there’s ever an issue, just reflash the os. Even comes with nextcloud! https://internet-in-a-box.org/

If we break up and somehow lose contact, and the server dies, they can just unplug the usb drive and use it like they used to. Or ask any of their other linux literate friends.

Thanks for answering :)

They’re not tech illiterate just uninterested in software. They do value privacy and want to life outside big-tech. They got a Linux pc already and love it. Just as easy as installing software in Mint is, so is installing a container inside a webgui.

How can we live life outside bigtech ecosystems, except for self hosting?

Hosting them on my systems create the same kind of lock-in but on an interpersonal level rather than a corporate one. I want to give them a slice of freedom, not tie them to me by way of tech dependence.

Would you get them a qnas or homey or other pre-made products? Apart from providing occational tech support and making sure they’re actually updating, would you argue thats more or less secure and privacy respecting than a basic diy server? Do you know any options that are both simple/”idiot-proof”, non-proprietary and private?

Yea I always provide lifetime support to linux convertees and so far every issue we had in lmde could be solved with the right keyword search. I was hoping the right server distro would have similarity good documentation. The Linux version of TrueNas and open media vault look like promising such distributions.

The idea evolves with all the comments and I think the way is to make two identical servers from thin clients. Identical hardware, different passwords. Two mirrored drives over usb each and the internal nvme for write cache and OS. Perhaps the OS could be immutable on a USB, to further reduce the risk of sudden self immolation. Just need to learn flashing the latest version.

As long as there is a competent webgui I know they are willing and capable of reading documentation and forum answers. Should something ever happen to our relationship my partner can easily take their data even if their server died, but they do say debin goes forever with regular updates. In the meantime, the server gets the same treatment as mine.

I did look at that. Between the giant popup ads and at the time 403 forum I couldn’t tell if it was legit or not. Would you say it is trustworthy and long term?

Maybe I don’t know myself! I suppose it boils down to understanding the whole stack. Too many times I’ve decided ”im gonna do distro A! And Y program. Great. Lets add Z. Oh. Outdated or incompatible without ninja moves. But flawless on distro B” Do i then virtualise, make ninja moves or swap distro? This makes me abandon it again.

For context I’ve gone from being the early linux adopter self hosting game servers on centos but I’m fairly stagnant since 10 years. I deegoogled but never replaced the infra. These days I barely open my laptop except for chores and work. Im back to using gmail for official purposes. But I also desperately want to break out of the phone/surveillance eco system

Now when I’ve been trying to look for solutions theres the added AI jungle. I was reading up on easyNas which seemed to tick all my boxes but it appears new and reliant on claude… so that would require me to look into how they handle that. Which feels insurmountable.

Im looking for the ”simple recommendation for grandparents” but for me, linux knowledgable but information overloaded. Ideally I can support my partner in a gui over the phone, should the need arise.

How did you make your stack and how easy to manage is it? Whats your favourite server distro and do you use any interface for it?

Yea thats my worry… but if they stop growing they stop growing so 🤷‍♂️

I was hoping for beer! Im cultivating multiple varieties both named types and ones I found around the country. I think I’m close too, might harvest tomorrow morning since we’re about to get blasted with heat again.

Is this hobby you want to start actually something you find fun or something you think you’d enjoy if you were the person you think you are?

My tricks to get going; Talk to people about it, this gives me external accountability. It then becomes ”I said I was gonna do it” and I don’t want to be someone who just talks shit. Or the person joins the activity and that makes it much harder to skip.

Think about the end goal or find a critical point. If i want to be a hobby farmer, i need to do the boring part of soil prep. Otherwise summer comes and Ill again be a shit talker. If i don’t sow these seeds now, theres nothing to farm later.

Prepare a work station and leave stuff out; In place and in the way. I make little specialised toolboxes or work stations. Its about lowering the barrier to getting started.

Simplify your ideas. You don’t need to see A-Z. Just reaching B can change circumstances and create inspiration. I employ ”donkey mode” by briefly considering the consequence of doing a bad job, how poorly others have done it but still succeeding, and repeat the mantra donkey mode donkey mode. I can deal with the consequence of my poor labour after the fact. Someone already made it worse than I did.

If things feel insurmountable; just focus on a small thing. I have many projects running in parallel and taking just a single step forward is great. When all the pieces are in place: execute. Dig that damn garden, don’t worry what gets planted.

And don’t be afraid to cut projects loose or shelve them. Having an infinite todo list where hobbies usually get knocked down, prevents the brain from feeling ”done and settled”, which keeps me from getting into something fun.

Cheers and good luck ✌️

Six days of growth looks like its about to bloom or something

Haha yea, hay can be great! But, if you cover your land with hay as mulch it needs to be thick enough to starve out itself from growing. I know this because last year i turned my garlic field into a very dense lawn… The grass seeds really loved that fresh soil and took off like nobody’s business The garlic on the other hand suffocated under the mulch layer. I think the lesson is, mulch out, then cut holes in the hay carpet and plant in those holes. Don’t just cover your crops…

Yea, i get cow manure from my neighbour but i am very paranoid about bringing in slugs, an abundant pest in most of the country but absent here. Which is why I’m so stubborn on making soil from only local ingredients. I have my own gravel pit so thats no issue, and an abundance of trees. Rotted birch has been good but finding and hauling it in any quantity becomes too much work.

Yesterday was a very frustrating day as every blend I made just turned to poorly draining muck in my pots. Even though my last mix has been perfect for my seedlings. So posted here to get inspiration for soil additives to help with that. I think i will up the quantity of wood chips and try again. Good advice tho, for those leas scared of slugs!

Sounds close to what in doing, but with cow manure. Im very paranoid about bringing spanish killer slugs which are abundant all over Sweden, but we are one of the few areas that don’t have any. So the only external material is from my neighbour, who also don’t have slugs.

But my problem with the manure is drainage, which is what prompted this question. On the no dig garden its fine when mixed with whatever, but for things that live in pots it just turns to muck and takes hours to drain. Based on your information i will try a significant increase in wood chips tho.

Thanks for chiming in!

To my understanding, high nutrient soils can burn baby seedlings. This is especially true for blends of peat moss with artificial fertiliser but also uncomposted/poorly composted manures.

I usually go for last years, ie depleted, soil. For small seeds i just pulverise it with my hands for the top centimeter. This year I used soil made of composted manure mixed with sand/fine gravel, crushed terracotta, charcoal and woodpulp i took from some decomposing tree in the forest.

Tomatoes, kale, cauliflower, oregano, sunflower, paprika and chili all took off no problem. No signs of life from my cucumbers and artichoke, tho I think at least the cucumber got eaten by mycelium that spread from the composted manure.

I’m intensively staring at the compost to make it go faster, alas, it’s not ready yet :( And since I don’t yet have killer slugs I’m very hesitant to buying even local organic matter.

Pumice, perlite and leca are all mined products which I don’t want to spend money on. Looking for naturally occurring analogs. Unfortunately i haven’t found any clay on the property or I would try making my own.

Im sure their environmental impact varies but regardless I find it so silly that whatever’s already growing doesn’t care but when we go to plant stuff these things become necessary.

Im considering charcoal as i have an abundance of wood. Make a fire and just extinguish it mid blaze. The potash should help with acidity too, no?

And I forgot to mention that I’ve been crushing up old terracotta tile trying to emulate terra preta, which appears to remains fertile for a very very long time.

Hydroponics are super cool but get expensive fast and I have several hectares of useable land.

Yea the pile is cooking but spring is here so seeds got to get planted! I’m very hesitant to buying external anything since I don’t have killer slugs here (yet) and i really really don’t want them.

Leaves and sticks are the uncomposted (plant)foods I’m thinking of, not so much food scraps.

Fabric pots sound cool, will look into diy options for that, but yea, that takes time too.

Thanks for chiming in!

The spot used to be a gravel patch overgrown by forest offshoots, mostly maple root sprouts, which I cut down early spring last year, cardboarded and covered. This is on the very edge which is why i suspected a root growth or something creeeping in. Most guesses so far have been rhizomal species, which all appear to have similar asparagus looking sprouts. The lily sprout looks similar too but there’s multiple differences, thus i don’t think this is it. Thanks for guessing!

I have watched video after video trying to get my teflon brain to hold onto anything relevant. Multiple videos claim you cut down the first set of shoots because they’re always bull shoots. And that the disease hides in the old shoots. So if this is all bullshit, I am in disbelief and grateful for your correction! Who would go on the internet and just lie! Thanks, mulch appreciated!

For now, I will just not cut anything yet.

Very much doubt it, its not really something that grows around here. Good guess tho the sprouts look quite similar!