@TCB13@lemmy.world
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TCB13

@TCB13@lemmy.world

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TCB13, (edited )
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I don’t (specially DDR3-era stuff) because old server hardware is way more expensive, won’t be of any particular advantage and older hardware, compared to new stuff, will use a LOT of power.

Instead use regular desktop/laptop machines as they’ll probably be more than enough for homelabs. You can a good 9-10th gen Intel CPU and motherboard that is perfect to run servers (very high performance) but that people don’t want because they aren’t good to play the latest games. Modern hardware = less power consumption, cheaper, more performance.

If you go really low end, let’s say i5-6500, this will probably cost around 80€ second hand with RAM. You can use www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/ to compare CPUs the server hardware you can get with modern hardware if you’re interested.

Most DDR3-era server hardware comes with RAID controllers/cards and other things that nobody uses anymore, people have moved on the software RAID be it BRTFS or ZFS and you will want to do the same. Servers make a lot of noise - impractical for a home - and a CPU from that era will be around 150-200W, you can get a recent i5 with more performance that runs around 50W.

Another thing to consider: you’re trying to build a NAS get a basic motherboard with 4 SATA ports and then add a PCI to 5 SATA port card and it will be much cheaper than whatever server hardware. BTRFS as your filesystem and its RAID if needed. Now you may be thinking something like “I want a faster CPU in order to have fast SMB”, just don’t - your gigabit network will saturate before an i5-6500 or any mechanical drive does and when this happens you’ll be at something like 10-20% CPU usage. Just don’t waste your money.

TCB13, (edited )
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

If you’ve an OpenWRT compatible router why are you thinking about pfsense? There isn’t much to gain there, your OpenWRT will do NAT and also has a firewall.

I like this device since 3ports would allow me to create a physically separate DMZ

OpenWRT can do this as well. What are your plans with the DMZ tho?

Be careful with the use of the acronym DMZ as in the context of typical routers and ISPs it has a different meaning of what you’re implying here. DMZ usually is used in the context for a single host that is “outside” the ISP router’s firewall and all requests coming into the ISP router will be forward to that device.

With my current diagram, it seems like it is not possible for the NAS to receive updates from the internet.

You NAS will never “receive updates” it will ask for updates. Maybe add a firewall rule that allows traffic from the NAS to the internet but not the other way around (this is usually the default state of any router, it will allow local devices to go to the internet but not incoming connections to those devices).

My TrueNas has 2x2.5Gb ports. Can i connect each NIC to a different network? Would this have any benefit?

You can, but is it really worth it? If someone hacks the device they’ll access the rest of the network. Same applies to your computers and cames consoles, they can be used to jump to the other side and vice versa.

Frankly I don’t see the usefulness of your setup as you’ll end up with weak points somewhere. Just get a single OpenWRT router and throw everything into the same network. Apply firewall restrictions as needed.

TCB13,
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

I agree with that take until…

The “what you go for it’s entirely your choice” mantra when it comes to DE is total BS. What happens is that you’ll find out while you can use any DE in fact GNOME will provide a better experience because most applications on Linux are design / depend on its components. Using KDE/XFCE is fun until you run into some GTK/libadwaita application and small issues start to pop here and there, windows that don’t pick on your theme or you just created a frankenstein of a system composed by KDE + a bunch of GTK components;

(Constructively) What is your least favorite distro & why?

I’ve been distrohopping for a while now, and eventually I landed on Arch. Part of the reason I have stuck with it is I think I had a balanced introduction, since I was exposed to both praise and criticism. We often discuss our favorite distros, but I think it’s equally important to talk about the ones that didn’t quite hit...

TCB13, (edited )
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

Debian is a great desktop distro if you get your software using Flatpak, as anyone should be doing in every distro.

TCB13,
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

It’s usually “it’s good enough for us, so that’s where we’ll leave it”, and they end up with these weird solutions that only they use.

Exactly. And to make things even worse then you’ve people upstream (Debian) or sidestream (other distros) that eventually decide to implement whatever they did but properly and then they go there, pick it and replace their original implementation.

TCB13, (edited )
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

What’s the problem with running an older OSX? github.com/blueboxd/chromium-legacy

Despite the CPU being 64-bit, the distro MUST be 32-bit. This is because of the MacBook’s BIOS, which prevents 64-bit bootloaders from working.

That’s the thing, you can run a 64-bit distro as long as you’ve a 32 bit grub starting it :) You run Debian 12 amd64 on a 32 bit EFI:

As of 2023 and Debian 12 the amd64 installation media (available in netinst form) includes the UEFI boot loaders necessary for both i386 and amd64 boot. By selecting “64-bit install” from the initial boot menu, debian-installer will install a 64-bit (amd64) version of Debian. The system will automatically detect that the underlying UEFI firmware is 32-bit and will install the appropriate version of grub-efi to work with it.

wiki.debian.org/UEFI#Support_for_mixed-mode_syste…

Enjoy.

I have an issue with how SIM cards are handled in most countries

Almost all countries require official authentication to activate a SIM card. This seems to me as a huge privacy problem, if the country can track sim cards across cell towers and connect them to a person. It seems like a dystopian system, that we litterely can not hide from our governments without turning off our smartphones. It...

TCB13, (edited )
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

It seems like a dystopian system, that we litterely can not hide from our governments without turning off our smartphones

That’s basically it.

However SIM cards that aren’t tied to people usually ends up scenarios like the US have where SIM swap attacks are common and you’ve a LOT of identity fraud. Note that we’ve an increasing number of services sending information and validation codes via SMS like banking apps and whatnot and you don’t secure the SIMs anyone will be able to get a replacement SIM because “I got my phone stolen” and you’ll have zero security.

I don’t like it, but I get the point.

TCB13,
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

Why docker?

Its all about companies re-creating and reconfiguring the way people develop software so everyone will be hostage of their platforms. We see this in everything now Docker/DockerHub/Kubernetes and GitHub actions were the first sign of this cancer.

We now have a generation of developers that doesn’t understand the basic of their tech stack, about networking, about DNS, about how to deploy a simple thing into a server that doesn’t use some Docker or isn’t a 3rd party cloud xyz deploy-from-github service.

oh but the underlying technologies aren’t proprietary

True, but this Docker hype invariably and inevitably leads people down a path that will then require some proprietary solution or dependency somewhere that is only required because the “new” technology itself alone doesn’t deliver as others did in the past. In this particular case is Docker Hub / Kubernetes BS and all the cloud garbage around it.

oh but there are alternatives like podman

It doesn’t really matter if there are truly open-source and open ecosystems of containerization technologies because in the end people/companies will pick the proprietary / closed option just because “it’s easier to use” or some other specific thing that will be good on the short term and very bad on the long term. This happened with CentOS vs Debian is currently unfolding with Docker vs LXC/RKT/Podman and will happen with Ubuntu vs Debian for all those who moved from CentOS to Ubuntu.

lots of mess in the system (mounts, fake networks, rules…)

Yes, a total mess of devices hard to audit, constant ram wasting and worse than all it isn’t as easy change a docker image / develop things as it used to be.

Self-hosted or personal email solutions?

I have a unique name, think John Doe, and I’m hoping to create a unique and “professional” looking email account like johndoe@gmail.com or john@doe.com. Since my name is common, all reasonable permutations are taken. I was considering purchasing a domain with something unique, then making personal family email accounts for...

TCB13,
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

Proton is all fun and games until you find out they don’t support IMAP/SMTP without a bridge.

TCB13,
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

What’s the real difference between an “anarchist communist” and a “communist”? The first one can have “personal property” while the second cant? So… an anarchist communist can own a car but not a house? According to the internet “personal property” is everything that can be moved (not real estate) and isn’t considered for production of something…

TCB13, (edited )
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

Why bother with Windows? Mostly the same reasons moving from Windows to a Mac can be a pain, however on macOS you get better professional software support and less reasons to virtualize Windows from time to time. To be fair, what’s the point of using X operating system if some of the tools you need require a virtual machine or you’ve to use alternatives that are sub-par, will make you waste time and have a worse experience. Again even under macOS with Microsoft’s own MS Office for Mac things sometimes aren’t as compatible as they should be.

Linux desktop is great, I love it but I don’t sugar coat it nor I’m delusional like most posting about it. Here is a list of cases that aren’t easy to deal in Linux:

  • People who need the real MS Office because once you have to collaborate with others Open/Libre/OnlyOffice won’t cut it;
  • Designers who use Adobe apps that won’t run properly without having a dedicated GPU, passthrough and a some hacky way to get the image back into your main system that will cause noticeable delays;
  • People that run old software / games because not even those will run properly on Wine;
  • Electrical engineers: Circuit Design Suite (Multisim and Ultiboard) are primarily designed for Windows. Alternatives such as KiCad and EasyEDA may work in some cases but they aren’t great if you’ve to collaborate with others who use Circuit Design Suite;
  • Labs that require data acquisition from specialized hardware because companies making that hardware won’t make drivers and software for Linux;
  • Architects: AutoCAD isn’t available (not even the limited web version works) and Libre/FreeCAD don’t cut it if you’ve to collaborate with AutoCAD users;
  • Developers and sysadmins, because not everyone is using Docker and Github actions to deploy applications to some proprietary cloud solution. Finding a properly working FTP/SFTP/FTPS desktop client (similar WinSCP or Cyberduck) is an impossible task as the ones that exist fail even at basic tasks like dragging and dropping a file.

If one lives in a bubble and doesn’t to collaborate with others then native Linux apps might work and might even deliver a decent workflow. Once collaboration with Windows/Mac users is required then it’s game over – the “alternatives” aren’t just up to it.

Windows licenses are cheap and things work out of the box. Software runs fine, all vendors support whatever you’re trying to do and you’re productive from day zero. Sure, there are annoyances from time to time, but they’re way fewer and simpler to deal with than the hoops you’ve to go through to get a minimal and viable/productive Linux desktop experience. It all comes down to a question of how much time (days? months?) you want to spend fixing things on Linux that simply work out of the box under Windows for a minimal fee. Buy a Windows license and spend the time you would’ve spent dealing with Linux issues doing your actual job and you’ll, most likely, get a better ROI.

Also, the guys take on “what you go for it’s entirely your choice” when it comes to DE is total BS. What usually happens is that you’ll eventually find out while you can use any DE in fact GNOME will provide a better experience because most applications on Linux are design / depend on its components and installing them on KDE will simply give you small issues here and there, windows that don’t pick on your theme or simply create a frankenstein of a system composed by KDE + a bunch of GTK components.

TCB13,
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

I’m more worried about what’s going to happen to all the self-hosters out there whenever Cloudflare changes their policy on DNS or their beloved free tunnels. People trust those companies too much. I also did at some point, until I got burned by DynDNS.

TCB13,
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

This post is proof that Linux desktop isn’t as good, perfect and polished as everyone says it is. Stop living in the delusion.

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    TCB13, (edited )
    @TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

    reMarkable is also a good device, very light and you can enable SSH/root access with a simple toggle on settings. There are also entire repositories of software for it toltec-dev.org github.com/Evidlo/remarkable_entware

    Here a few link that you might find useful:

    I believe it is the most open-source thing you can get right now that is a finished product working and whatnot with eink.

    TCB13, (edited )
    @TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

    Here’s a table with multiple solutions and comparisons: www.cryfs.org/comparison

    https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/930823e6-0012-4aa0-ae50-458ae0345924.png

    Just be aware that some solutions like gocryptfs are provided on a user-space filesystem (Fuse). This has a very low performance and most importantly if you require inotify on the decrypted data for some application then it won’t be available. In short inotify is what allows apps to watch a filesystem for changes and act accordingly in real time.

    TCB13,
    @TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

    Recommending our religion Linux to others

    Yes… tadeubento.com/…/linux-desktop-a-collective-delus…

    TCB13,
    @TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

    Systemd.

    TCB13, (edited )
    @TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

    Linux desktop will, most likely, fail for: Developers and sysadmins, because not everyone is using Docker and Github actions to deploy applications to some proprietary cloud solution. Finding a properly working FTP/SFTP/FTPS desktop client (similar WinSCP or Cyberduck) is an impossible task as the ones that exist fail even at basic tasks like dragging and dropping a file.

    Linux desktop is great, I love it but I don’t sugar coat it nor I’m delusional like most posting about it.

    It all comes down to a question of how much time (days? months?) you want to spend fixing things on Linux that simply work out of the box under Windows for a minimal fee. Buy a Windows license and spend the time you would’ve spent dealing with Linux issues doing your actual job and you’ll, most likely, get a better ROI.

    tadeubento.com/…/linux-desktop-a-collective-delus…

    Also, immutable distributions are a scam:

    Guess what happens whenever people popularize immutable distros as the next hype in tech that will make everything better? You get yourself into a totally unreasonable and avoidable ecosystem just because those systems won’t cut it for most use cases… same that happened with Docker/Kubernetes.

    I’ve been saying it for year and nobody cares: nowadays those companies are all about re-creating and reconfiguring the way people develop software so everyone will be hostage of their platforms. We see this in everything now Docker/DockerHub/Kubernetes and GitHub actions were the first sign of this cancer. We now have a generation of developers that doesn’t understand the basic of their tech stack, about networking, about DNS, about how to deploy a simple thing into a server that doesn’t use some Docker BS or isn’t a 3rd party cloud xyz deploy-from-github service.

    The latest endeavor in making everyone’s hostage is the new Linux immutable distribution trend. Immutable distros are all about making thing that were easy into complex, “locked down”, “inflexible”, bullshit to justify jobs and payed tech stacks and a soon to be released property solution.

    We had Ansible, containers, ZFS and BTRFS that provided all the required immutability needed already but someone decided that is is time to transform proven development techniques in the hopes of eventually selling some orchestration and/or other proprietary repository / platform / BS like Docker / Kubernetes does.

    “Oh but there are truly open-source immutable distros” … true, but this hype is much like Docker and it will invariably and inevitably lead people down a path that will then require some proprietary solution or dependency somewhere that is only required because the “new” technology itself alone doesn’t deliver as others did in the past.

    As with CentOS’s fiasco or Docker it doesn’t really matter if there are truly open-source and open ecosystems of immutable distributions because in the end people/companies will pick the proprietary / closed option just because “it’s easier to use” or some other specific thing that will be good on the short term and very bad on the long term. This happened with CentOS vs Debian is currently unfolding with Docker vs LXC/RKT and will happen with Ubuntu vs Debian for all those who moved from CentOS to Ubuntu.

    Those popularizing immutable distributions clearly haven’t had any experience with it before the current hype. Let me tell you something, immutable systems aren’t a new thing we already had it with MIPS devices (mostly routers and IOTs) and people have been moving to ARM and mutable solutions because it’s better, easier and more reliable.

    TCB13, (edited )
    @TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

    This is the definition of clickbait, bullshit articles… they didn’t even bother to take their own screenshots of the suggested alternatives. I also don’t really know what’s the point of this article, Linux users know what’s out there and although I dislike LibreOffice and have strong thoughts about it it is vastly superior to the other alternatives suggested to the point said alternatives aren’t really alternatives.

    Also, Cryptpad? Fucks sake.

    TCB13,
    @TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

    Also forcing people to go KDE to be again disappointed because their design is bad.

    TCB13, (edited )
    @TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

    Welcome to Linux. It’s dope here. Things are FAST.

    Yes, until you decide to use GNOME and suddenly everything “endlessly complex” while you wait for pointless UI animations to finish. :P

    TCB13,
    @TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

    Yeah pure gnome would be great if they:

    1. provided desktop icons (like they used to);
    2. had an option to disable the activity BS on startup and go straight to the desktop.

    But oh well, the GNOME team is more occupied with censoring comments on their blog and trying to re-invent the desktop environment experience with animations and whatnot instead of focusing on what really delivers productivity.

    TCB13,
    @TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

    Yes Debian, then use Flatpack to get all the latest desktop software and enjoy.

    Piracy is Preservation (feddit.de)

    Image description: a screenshot from the Wikipedia page for the Doctor Who TV series, with a user-added caption that reads “Preserve the media you can before it’s gone forever.” The Wikipedia article reads, “No 1960s episodes exist on their original videotapes (all surviving prints being film transfers), though some were...

    TCB13,
    @TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

    Yes it is, you’re destroying culture. And it isn’t only one episode or one tv show, there are countless reports on episodes and movies that are suddenly missing parts, episodes etc because it “hurts” someone. Let alone “politically correct” remakes from Disney. How come you don’t see this is what China and others do with imported media?

    TCB13,
    @TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

    people will start looking for alternative frontends such as Piped or Invidious

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