I am still figuring it out since it is my hobby and I’m unable to devote much time to it. But I think it will be something like Ubuntu live disks which enabled you to try Ubuntu by running it from a DVD. You could run anything like web server, save files, settings etc. Only they would not persist after a reboot since every thing was saved in RAM. Only here it’ll be a write locked SD card instead of a DVD.
I’m also sure there must be a name for it and step by step tutorial somewhere. If only Google was not so bad these days…
It definitely is a major consideration, mostly because things work more seamlessly when they belong to the same ecosystem. With my past experience, it is very difficult to switch from one to the other and that is why I’m consciously making an effort to rely more on open hardware/software.
I’ve heard good things about H2O AI if you want to self host and tweak the model by uploading documents of your own (so that you get answers based on your dataset). I’m not sure how difficult it is. Maybe someone more knowledgeable will chime in.
I’ve noticed that outside of the fixed use cases and their combination, it is surprisingly difficult to make ESP32 do something. For example, i wanted to crop and apply simple filters on videos being streamed from an ESP32 Cam. Should be doable for a setup that can do facial recognition and AI stuff, right? Clearly not without writing your own libraries.
Unknown to OP, it has now changed 11 hands over the years. Also unknown to OP, it is coming back to them as this year’s Christmas present. OP is going to be very happy about it.
Just want to add for anyone who might attempt this, my IRC client of choice is Pidgin. Open source and works on windows as well as Linux (not sure about iOS). Most tutorials suggest the good old mIRC, but using it after the trial period increasingly becomes a pain with its wait screen with timer.