• Rising Cost of Consumer Technology
• Cloudflare Outages - interest in local hosting
• Re-purposing older machines into functional use!

(00:11)

Offline Tooling, Local Tooling, Resilience Introduction

(00:50)

Sponsor Ameridroid

• LINUXPREPPER code

(01:14)

Domain Changes and thoughts after years on .network, xyz and org

(01:32)

Forum posts related to simple, resilient setups

• Show notes listed there as well

(02:21)

Do you have a device in a drawer that might be useful as-is?

(04:38)

KDE Connect - Thoughts after Three Years

(08:30)

Unbound, DNSMasq - Local DNS Caching, Recursive DNS and Resolvers

(09:30)

Quad9 - Global Public Recursive DNS for Public Benefit, alternative to Cloudflare and Google

(09:55)

Local DNS Resilience and Why It Matters

(12:15)

Connecting Multiple Services and What DNS Adblocking Actually Does with Pi-Hole, Adguard Home, etc.

(13:04)

Dividing IP Ranges for Custom DNS, Adblocking assignments

(13:55)

Adding Resilience, Privacy and Speed Most Routers Do Not Offer Natively

(15:20)

Challenges You Can Try at Home!

(15:59)

Wiki in early development as plain text. Learn more on the forum

(17:00)

Low Key Gear Exchange for LFNW. Details for forum users!

• Forum post for registered users

(17:36)

100 Selfhosted Services for Low End and 32-bit Hardware

(19:11)

HomeLab Episode to be released with Robin Monks. Unedited interview available on Premium

(19:29)

Nginx, Caddy - Reverse Proxy via DNS Challenge for Local HTTPS Testing

(20:00)

mDNS and Avahi for remote machines gifted to others without https

(22:35)

Become a Premium Subscriber to Support the Show

(23:36)

How resilient is your setup? Let me know! podcast@livingcartoon.org

(24:05)

Discord and bridged Matrix Chats for discussing the show! Please Share with Others!

(24:55)

LFNW Schedule, should be live shortly. April 24th - 26th

(25:11)

AI Scanned My Brainrot, Live only at LFNW, on 04/26 at 3pm!

(26:17)

Upcoming Episode on SeaGL, LFNW and Conferences!

(00:00)

Welcome to Linux Prepper Podcast

(00:19)

Bonus episode connected to Season 1 Episode 1: A Great Year for Linux. Time to get technical!

(01:29)

This discussion will not cover Permissions, File Systems, or Backups.

(02:32)

Lemmy Discussion - What is keeping people away from Containers

(02:47)

Ameridroid Sponsor: LINUXPREPPER code

(03:16)

What are Containers for?

(04:05)

HB describes making a text adventure game (in Docker)

(04:42)

MagPi Magazine

(05:09)

TTYD: Share your Terminal on the Web

(06:12)

Why containerize TTYD?

(07:05)

Managing multiple iterations through containers

(07:47)

Use of containers, as opposed to Python virtual environments

(08:53)

When does it make sense for someone to consider containers?

(10:30)

Docker run commands. similar to bash scripting

(12:30)

Compose Files, migrating from docker run commands

(13:03)

Portainer - WebUI Management for Docker services (HB)

(13:16)

docker ps - Management from the terminal (James)

(13:34)

James using Docker to test for NextcloudPi and write documentation

(14:41)

Using containers in order to define your own image

(15:50)

Running a fleet of AI services through Compose: “Ultimate Bacon Cheeseburger”

(17:17)

James migrating to Compose files to manage variables across many services

(18:54)

Composerize - Turn run commands into compose files

(18:58)

Storing compose files to avoid confusion

(20:21)

Noisebridge Unicorn services run via compose files on a VPS

(26:34)

Docker Networks - connecting services internally, even to a reverse proxy

(27:46)

Aria Download Protocol

(28:04)

HB describes using multiple, simulateous networks in isolation

(30:00)

James describes complexity of modular tools like Nextcloud

(31:37)

Testing Locally

(32:30)

People leaking their private credentials in their Docker images on the web

(33:09)

Docker Secrets

(33:42)

HB suggests storing environment variables as files

(34:52)

Understanding git.ignore files for people hosting files on public repos

(35:32)

Using public sharing to learn, share and problem solve

(36:31)

Lemmy comments of those opting out of containers

(38:03)

There is nothing wrong with running services directly, aka “bare metal”

(43:20)

HB’s Github

Welcome to Linux Prepper

(00:25)

Keepass skit

• KeepassXC is recommended for desktop users.

(01:32)

Ameridroid Sponsor

LINUXPREPPER at checkout

(02:43)

Lemmy discussions. It looks to be a great year for Linux.

• Those who’ve switched to Linux in the last year, how is it going?
  • Lemmy world and Lemmy ML
• Where is Linux not working well in your daily usage? Share your pain points as of 2026, so we can respectfully discuss.
  • Lemmy World and Lemmy ML
• Linux Prepper Lemmy community

(03:13)

Lutris - Open Gaming Launcher

• Github repo

(04:57)

Ubuntu Shutdown from 4 to 2 clicks

(09:47)

Mermaids - ASCII Game developed by HB

• Pixel Artwork Tools recommended by HB

(11:56)

Who is HB, the guest host?

(13:17)

Who is James, the host?

(14:18)

Containers, Compose - Good? Who are they for? Bonus episode TBD

• Asking Lemmy about reasons to avoid containers

(15:19)

Premium subscriptions available

• Recurring support possible through Ko-fi, backed by Stripe.
• You can now be a Patron of the show!
• Get access to additional content.

(16:04)

HB’s Thoughts on show topics and expectations

(17:02)

State of the Podcast

• Discussion forum for the show, used for notes.
• Lemmy community
• Discord chat now bridged to Matrix
  • Invite to Discord
  • Invite to Matrix space for Living Cartoon Company and Linux Prepper
  • Podcast now available on Youtube Music

(18:22)

Steam Key Giveaway now through March 20th

• Leave a review on your podcast platform to enter!

(19:15)

This podcast is now available on Youtube

(21:30)

Submit to DURP - DIY Unfinished Resurrection Project

• Now through March 20th
• Work on a project this Winter!

Accepting audience submissions! Get included in an episode!

• Use this simple form to submit thoughts or an audio recording.

Discussing Homelabs with Robin Monks of Don’t Forget to FOSS

(23:15)

LinuxFest Northwest Performance TBD weekend of April 24th

• Hackerspace AI Scanned My Brain Rot (Working Title)
• SeaGL 2025 Coverage to be posted: Trivia, Open Source Projects, Recap, Interview.

We are a welcoming show, which doesn’t waste time judging others; we are all here with a common interest. By engaging in our communities you agree to our rules, which keeps things supportive and family friendly.

• The Matrix chat in Living Cartoon Broadcasting is now bridged to Discord.
• The podcast is now available on Youtube, in addition to directly from the website, Spotify, Amazon Music, Fountain, Podcast Index, etc.
• 2025 episodes

According to DuckDuckGo:

The Linux Prepper podcast focuses on using open-source technology to enhance everyday life, featuring discussions on self-hosting, Linux, and related topics. It aims to empower listeners to take control of their technology and enjoy a DIY approach to tech.

Complete Shownotes at https://discuss.james.network

(00:40)

Sponsor

Ameridroid referral link - US-based distributor of Odroid, Open Hardware and Home Automation

• Third Reality M1 Power Plug w/ Metering with Home Assistant support.
• LINUXPREPPER at checkout

(02:01)

State of the Podcast

Albyhub as a selfhosted Bitcoin Lightning node. Locally hosts wallet and node for podcasting 2.0 donations + Nostr authentication.

• Thank you to those who have sent me donations and messages over the last couple days of it working.
• Send a direct lightning or Nostr donation here.
• Also, a thank you to the helpful Alby team. They have useful step-by-step guides. Only email them because their chat is covered in scammers.

(02:44)

Nostr decentralized social network.

• Iris.to webui client for Nostr

(04:38)

Events

• SeaGL or Seattle Gnu/Linux Conference at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA from 11/07 - 11/08. Full schedule released. No cost; all are welcome!
  • My SeaGL presentation on 11/07 at 5pm.
  • Will also be tabling to promote this show. Do stop by and say hello!

(06:40)

Self-hosted Tools

Is Wireguard hard to use? Send your thoughts on an anonymous form.

Adding authentication services onto Wireguard, specifically ones you can selfhost, and run on a cheap VPS:

• Racknerd Referral link, and select “Reveal Deals” for VPS annual subscriptions at $11. They are friendly bunch with a great reputation; Pangolin recommends them. Minimal VPS is all that is needed for these sorts of services, which are merely providing your authentication, as opposed to the actual wireguard traffic. Limited locations:
  • Los Angeles, San Jose, Seattle
  • Chicago, Dallas, New York, Ashburn
  • Strasborg France
  • Toronto, Canada
  • Asia recommended to use DC-02 out of Los Angeles

(07:47)

• Netbird - Connect your devices into a secure WireGuard®-based overlay network with SSO, MFA and granular access controls.
  • You can try their hosted service or selfhost it, or whatever. Check out
• Pangolin - is a self-hosted tunneled reverse proxy server with identity and context aware access control, designed to easily expose and protect applications running anywhere. Pangolin acts as a central hub and connects isolated networks — even those behind restrictive firewalls — through encrypted tunnels, enabling easy access to remote services without opening ports or requiring a VPN.
  • Combines traefik reverse proxy with Single Sign On and Wireguard. Meant to be selfhosted, but they do offer a hosted instance.
  • Pin codes, temporary links, password links for exposing services as a “funnel”. Similar to cloudflare tunnels, where users cannot be bothered to sort things out and just want a service exposed.
• Headscale - The main objective of Headscale is to provide a non-proprietary implementation of the Tailscale protocol & control server for hobbyists and self-hosters. Acts as a replacement for the listening servers while allowing you to continue using your existing clients applications. Funnel functionality is currently considered in beta status. Does not include a web ui by default.
  • Headscale-ui
  • Full listing of various webui implementations for Headscale

(14:15)

Self-hosted Tools for when your Nextcloud server goes offline

Syncthing - peer-to-peer file synchronization utility, designed to sync files between devices on a local network or between remote devices over the Internet. Note: Syncthing project does not directly support Apple Store or Google Play store for mobile.

• Syncthing-fork for Android. Available through Github or F-Droid
• Moebius Sync for iOS. Paid app.
• FileStash - webui designed to sit on top of your own sync service, Git, Google Drive, Database, S3, etc. Now supports arm devices!
• FileBrowser webui
• SFTPGo webui with multi-user and group support!

Ways to support the show!

• Share with others! Help spread on social media.
• Donate on Paypal
• Donate Directly on Podcasting 2.0
• Steam Key Giveaway drawing continues through 11/01 for reviewing the podcast on a platform of your choice: Apple Podcasts, Podcast Index, etc. Send me a link to enter the drawing.

(20:01)

You into Cyberdecks, bro?

Cyberdore 2064 - 3D print yourself, with Pi Zero and Pi Pico. Looks like a blackberry / cell phone / palm pilot.

What is a Cyberdeck - A cyberdeck is a portable computing device often associated with the cyberpunk genre, typically used by hackers or “Netrunners” to access and navigate virtual networks.

Cyberdeck hat from Adafruit $9 and still requires a 3.5“ style touch or non-touch display for another $35. Angled to not be awkward on existing GPIO port in back.

Cyberdeck Bonnet $8 and a $20 e-ink display or small OLED. Allows a couple pins additional GPIO access. Size of the Pi Zero / GPIO port.

Pi 400 - $66. Another $20 for the accessories: mouse, power supply, SD Card. Awkward GPIO access requires expander, similar to Cyberdeck or Bonnet. No camera or Touchscreen cable connector. Improved thermals over Pi 4!

• 4gb ram is lame if using this with a web browser watching videos.
• Functions as a bluetooth keyboard, as do the other models!

pi400kb - Use the Pi 400 or 500 as an actual HID USB Keyboard on your existing computer. Will likely require a USB-C splitter to allow power for the device while it acts as your USB keyboard

• Supports an attached mouse as well!
• Pi 500+ support still in development

OrthoPi - Convert Pi 400 to mechanical yourself with a ~$20 gerber board that supports a rotary encoder.

• Doubles height of the keyboard.
• Repository offline and gerber not available in Wayback Machine. Send a link to the show if you find it!

Pi 500 lowered heat produced. Regular keyboard. 8gb ram. $90. $30 for accessories.

Pi 500 + w/ Gateron switches. RGB lighting. m.2 slot. Includes 256gb nvme at $200. $30 for accessories, probably worth it for 5 amp power.

Is this actually comfortable to type on? Chiclets are ultimate low profile. Raised keys are angled… so, does this thicker keyboard feels uncomfortable?

(30:00)

Keybow 2040 by Pimoroni. Pi Pico RGB-lit mechanical 12-key. Python programmed over usb.

(31:00)

Dell SK-8115. Turn up at Goodwill. $12 - 20 on ebay. - Bomb-proof, raised keys, and made for decades of abuse. $59.99 retail.

• NextcloudPi podcast interview by Nextcloud
• NextcloudPi Lightning Talk 2022
• How to Contribute Panel Discussion 2023
• You Can Contribute to Open Source Lightning Talk 2023
• How to Escape Bigtech Techlore Interview 2023

Who is in the Interview

• Tobias is the developer of NextcloudPi, Atomic, and Nextcloud Secrets
  • Hire as freelancer or donate directly on Kofi
• Marcel is the developer of Floccus, Nextcloud Bookmarks and Recognize.
  • Donate through Github or donate directly on Kofi.
• James is host of Linux Prepper Podcast. Contributor of documentaton and testing to Nextcloud, NextcloudPi, AIO, Floccus.
  • Donate directly on Paypal. Premium subscriptions with bonus content TBD.
  • Steam Key Giveaway is active for anyone leaving a quick review of the show on their podcast platform of choice.

(00:14)

Welcome to this Mini Episode + Lengthy Interview! Detailed shownotes on forum.

(01:44)

Nextcloud Conference 9/27 - 9/28 in Berlin

(01:56)

SeaGL Conference in Seattle, WA 11/07 - 11/08

(02:20)

Sponsor - Ameridroid - use LINUXPREPPER at checkout

(02:47)

Odroid H4, Plus, Ultra series

(03:43)

Nextcloud service overview and short review, also called Nextcloud Hub

(06:51)

NextcloudPi - Managed Nextcloud for Selfhosters

(08:04)

Nextcloud AIO or All-in-One is containerized by Nextcloud company proper in Docker

(08:45)

Nextcloud Snap

(09:06)

Floccus - Cross Platform Browser + Mobile App Syncing to Karakeep, Git, Google Drive, Nextcloud, etc.

(09:33)

Nextcloud Bookmarks app

(10:20)

Recognize AI app - Smart Media Tagging for Nextcloud

(10:56)

Nextcloud Atomic - System Level Wrapper for Nextcloud AIO in Podman. WIP

(12:20)

Prototype Fund - For Developers Contributing to Open Source

(14:31)

Interview Begins with Tobias Introduction

(15:43)

Hire Tobias Freelance!

(15:58)

Marcel Introduction - Listen to his previous episode interview on AI in Nextcloud

(18:18)

What is NextcloudPi? Not actually made for only the Raspberry Pi

(21:29)

How Tobias became involved in NextcloudPi project, then Atomic

(26:39)

Architecture and Efficiency of Maintenance

(29:21)

Starting as an early Nextcloud project and the rise of containers + AIO

(32:59)

Build system of NextcloudPi with Bash as opposed to containers

(35:55)

Development of Atomic through containers

(37:03)

Immutability - Fedora Silverblue, NixOS, Fedora CoreOS & iOT, openSuse MicroOS, etc.

(39:30)

SkiffOS - early contendor for Atomic. Embedded Linux Systems from Scratch

(41:02)

Updates and security in SkiffOS and Buildroot

(42:50)

mkosi by Systemd in combination with Debian & Armbian

(45:46)

Nextcloud Atomic upgrade process for developer

(51:23)

How major upgrades will be handled for users

(54:04)

Is Atomic upstreamed to AIO; use of Podman

(57:24)

Management of Nextcloud Apps within Nextcloud. Updates breaking apps.

(59:06)

Will I now be able to use imagick on the operating system by default?

(01:01:47)

Support for users making their own changes: Jellyfin, etc.

(01:05:55)

“Untested” Nextcloud update handling in Atomic

(01:09:38)

Who is the target audience of Atomic vs NCP?

(01:15:49)

The future of NextcloudPi

(01:18:30)

Conference Lightning Talk in Berlin for Atomic

(01:19:12)

Marcel thoughts on NextcloudPi and Atomic

(01:20:08)

What has Tobias learned from the last 6 or 7 years?

(01:23:34)

How James became involved with NextcloudPi, Discourse, and Nextcloud

(01:25:25)

Tobias on how the community contributes to the project

(01:27:00)

How to Contribute Panel at Nextcloud Conference 2023.

(01:28:00)

How can future contributors to Atomic help Tobias?

(01:32:40)

Ways to Contact, Hire or Learn more about Tobias & projects.

(01:33:37)

Ways to Contact or Learn more about Marcel & projects

(01:34:19)

Next episode will discuss fundraising, how they handle donations, other interests, life balance, containers

Sponsor - Ameridroid

• USA distributer of Odroid, Home Assistant, and other open hardware. Tons of reasonable shipping options and great customer service. Use linuxprepper at checkout.
  • Odroid H4, Plus, Ultra series
  • Low Power x86 with BYO Ram DDR5 up to 48gb, Dual 2.5gb realtek nic, 2 - 4 Sata ports, m.2 nvme expansion
  • Supports Truenas Scale, OMV, Proxmox
  • Not a power house, but great as a backup server or basic server

Events

• Nextcloud Conference 9/27 - 9/28
• SeaGL Conference 11/7 - 11/8

Self-hosted Tools

• Nextcloud - Biggest FOSS application in file sharing and online collaboration. Has grown from a dropbox alternative to a Google Suite alternative. Massive app store. Attempts to be a jack of all trades.
• NextcloudPi - Managed image of Nextcloud for hands-off, single machine selfhosting.
• Nextcloud All-in-One, or AIO. Containerized Nextcloud.
• Nextcloud Atomic - Immutable system-level wrapping of AIO for hands-off, single machine selfhosting. Currently in active development only.
  • Roadmap

Nextcloud Apps, available within Nextcloud itself

• Bookmarks app
• Recognize app for local AI/ML media tagging for Nextcloud: recognizes faces, objects, landscapes, music genres
  • Hear previous episode interview on Recognize and use of AI in Nextcloud as an open source project.

Software Spotlight

• Floccus - Cross-platform Firefox, Chrome, Vivaldi, Brave bookmarks sync for Nextcloud, Linkwarden, KaraKeep, Git, Google Drive or WebDAV server. Also offers dedicated mobile apps for iOS and Android.

Ways to engage with the show

• Send in one-click anonymous feedback or email podcast@james.network
• Join the forum
• Join our chat on Matrix
• Follow directly from the fediverse @linuxprepper@james.network
• If the enjoy this small show, please share it with others! Thanks!

Transcriptions for this episode will be added within the week.

One year of the show as of 9/11! 12 episodes from episode 0 - 11. In binary this would make this episode 1100.

(01:41)

Sponsor - Ameridroid

• Excellent US-based provider of open hardware. All the shipping options.
• Use LINUXPREPPER at checkout
• Odroid Go Ultra handheld for retro gaming

(25:44)

Steam Key Giveaway for those writing a review of this podcast!

• See the basic rules here.

Racknerd VPS and Dedicated Server Hosting

• Currently testing. Works fine, support is responsive, pricing is very low. Darling of lowendbox and lowendtalk. Referral link, and select “Reveal Deals” for VPS annual subscriptions at $11.
• What do you think of VPS hosting?

(03:16)

KDE Akademy

• KDE Linux “Banana” planned as immutable successor to KDE Neon.
• Livestream and Matrix to watch both days of presentations.
• Thanks to Neal Gompa of Alma Linux and Fedora for taking a little KDE Trivia challenge. He is a host on Sudo Show podcast.

C-base Berlin

• Classes include NixOS, Godot, lockpicking, and more.
• Take a self-guided online tour.

Xhain Hackerspace in Berlin.

• Classes include Woodworking, 3d Printers, crafting nights, etc.

Nextcloud Conference 2025 on September 28th - 29th.

Texas Linuxfest in Austin, TX from October 3rd - 4th.

(10:29)

SeaGL Gnu/Linux Conference on November 7th and 8th at University of Washington

• “How I Create Physical Theatre and Mime shows using FOSS Tooling” presentation: I’ll be giving as part of upcoming SeaGL. How I develop my own Living Cartoon shows for touring and for live audiences.
• “What Is Free May Never Die” presentation: an exploration of the idea that free software is functionally immortal while proprietary software is mortal. You cannot kill free software, but proprietary software dies all the time. If this idea is interesting, come to the talk, I want to hear other people’s perspectives on this too.
• /dev/hack in Seattle. U-district. Thursday nights for tours.
  • See their git infrastructure and their wiki

Chaos Communication Congress 39C3 in December in Hamburg, hosted by Chaos Computer Club. Join 15k other people from 12/27 - 12/30! An event that birthed the hacker and makerspace movement.

(16:30)

KDEConnect (Software Spotlight)

• Find my phone
• Send a File or Clipboard
• Media Control
• Use phone as mouse
• Supports Linux, Windows, Mac, Android, iOS
• Works fine over VPN

(19:26)

OpenStreetMaps

KDE Akademy, international travel and cycling around Berlin with OpenStreetMaps. Works! Download the local maps. Not usable for me in San Francisco or Bay Area because of live traffic. Updates save me 1/3 of my commute minimum or even hours.

• Are you able to use OSM as a driver receiving traffic updates?
• OSM+ for Android

Ways to Support the Show!

• Donate directly. Premium version of the podcast and recurring donations still in development.
• Share this podcast with others! Help keep me off of social media and focused on releasing more content.
• This is a very small show, so your engagement really helps!
• Anonymous 1-click feedback formjoin the Matrix chat, write on the forum or email podcast@james.network

(37:36)

Graphene OS and the future of sideloaded Android

• Google Developer Verification for Sideloading Apps
• F-Droid app store - can be installed directly from APK. Open alternative to Google Play
• Obtanium - Install and updates apk files from Git repositories directly

(26:17)

Kodi media player and diy streaming devices for the holidays

Kodi - Open Source Home Theatre software dating back to Xbox Media Center.

Making a DIY Steaming Device running Kodi to gift to my grandma. Your input appreciated!

• Bye Bye Raspberry Pi episode
• Instructions on how I prepare a device I’ll gift to friends and family.

Libretro and retroarch. Libretro is a simple API that allows for the creation of games and emulators without worrying about input devices, video drivers or sound API’s. Commonly bundled with Kodi and used in all sorts of devices, from handheld devices to full arcade cabinets. Emulates classic game consoles and beyond.

• Retroarch is a Cross-platform GUI, commonly bundled with Kodi, built on Libretro.
• Lakka, w/ git repo, fork of LibreElec. “Just enough OS for Kodi.”
• NGALAC, Live Streaming enabled Arcade Cabinet
• Odroid Go Advance, discontinued handheld.
• Odroid Go Ultra, current handheld offered by Ameridroid or directly from Hard Kernel (+ tarrifs)

Contributing to Open Source

Do you want to contribute back?

Contributing to Open Source projects and communities

• Nextcloud AIO documentation pull request in regards to local hosting.
• Castopod pull request to add Discourse forum.
  • Next submission is adding generic options for Chat, Email, Forum, Newsletter, Wiki, Fediverse. Currently lists very specific tools: Discord, Slack, Mastodon.
• Example of federation in Wallabag. If you are unsure, ask first.

Preparing a submission

• Get a feel for development pace.
• Check first, then ask if unsure on a submission.
• Do less, making sure the developer can follow along.
• If I can do it, so can you.

Etiquette for engaging with project git repositories

Following along on Github, issue trackers, forums, chats.

• What is an issue, pull request

• Engaging with reactions and subscriptions instead of commenting

• Kill-the-Newsetter - Email to RSS, can be combined with email from git services. Self-hostable.

• RSS-bridge - supports Github issues, pull requests, trending, searches, Gitlab, Gitea. Self-hostable and public instances.

(00:00)

Welcome. A full length episode was released a few days ago

(00:15)

Happy Birthday to Linux

(01:31)

Intro - What is Linux Prepper Podcast

(01:58)

Single Point of Failure PSA

(04:00)

Sponsor - Ameridroid for open hardware, Home Assistant gear and all the shipping options from a US-based company with excellent customer service.

• Use LINUXPREPPER at checkout.

(04:43)

iSponsorBlockTV - Selfhosted, Network Ad skipping and muting for your Smart TV, Streaming Devices and Consoles.

(06:36)

Join our Matrix Chat! We are a friendly bunch.

(07:00)

Looking for ways to access multiple multimedia servers (Jellyfin, Emby, Plex) from one interface

(11:01)

Jellyswarrm - reverse proxy that lets you combine multiple Jellyfin servers into one place

(13:53)

How do you manage access on our laptop or mobile to multiple VPN networks?

(15:04)

Steam Key Giveaway from Linux Prepper is officially open!

• Write up a review for the podcast on whatever platform and then let me know. Thanks.

(18:46)

Anki - Flashcards (Cross-Platform)

(20:16)

Anki Sync Server (Selfhosted)

(20:29)

AnkiCollab Plugin - Open Source Collaboration on Flashcards

(20:31)

Ankimon - Play Pokemon against other Anki users through studying gamification

(21:08)

Thunderbird - Email, Calendar, Contacts Desktop app (Cross Platform)

(23:33)

Thunderbird Pro service has been announced

(24:08)

Thunderbird Conversations Plugin - Gmail-like layout of received emails

(24:45)

How is Matrix chat going for you in 2025? form.

(24:46)

Let’s invent a new word for someone having a privacy attack vector meltdown!

(24:58)

Truenas - What do you think? Send in your thoughts!

(27:00)

Want to send me a guest segment? You can!

(27:48)

Donate directly to support the show!

(28:02)

Podcasting 2.0 Fundraising Donation Link

Intro - Recap of episode. Link to full-er show notes.

(02:03)

Ameridroid Sponsor

• use LINUXPREPPER at check out

(03:19)

SeaGL Conference, hoping to present 11/07 - 08 in Seattle

(05:01)

Kit Scenarist - Dead Software Spotlight for Storyboarding, Comics, Scripts

(06:05)

Still using dead tech? Share in this poll!

• What abandoned or discontinued tech do you still rely on, Lemmy discussion

(06:19)

Giada - Software Spotlight for Music Looping

(07:31)

Osees - Sorcs 80 album made on samples / loops with drumpads (Music Suggestion)

• See it performed live

(08:21)

Deerhoof - Noble & Godlike in Ruin album (Music Suggestion)

(09:27)

Email me suggestions! or post to https://discuss.james.network

(09:35)

Software and Hardware Failure - fwupd, Ubuntu, screen failure, remote access, mobo death

(15:43)

Deja Dup - Backup Software Spotlight

• Timeshift also a nice option

(17:23)

I don’t use AI - Audience Feedback

(19:36)

Soundcloud Training on User Data & Receiving Copyright Claims

(23:32)

artfight.net - Make Drawings inspired by the other drawings! Website Spotlight

(24:10)

a2b2.org (Website Spotlight)

(24:48)

Objective Confusion - Audience Feedback

(26:56)

Adding 30-ish second Objective Recaps the rest of this episode

(27:18)

Rustdesk (Selfhosted Software)

(31:40)

Reaper (Digital Audio Workstation) due to issues with Audacity Compatibility

(35:04)

Truenas - Open Enterprise Storage, Build Your Own NAS

(35:52)

Using Truenas? How is it? Fill this form with your thoughts!

(40:05)

Donate to the show directly, or share with others! Thanks for listening.

(40:47)

Podcasting 2.0 support for the show. Fundraising Link for Lightning Donations.

(41:01)

Matrix (Software Chat Platform & Ecosystem).

(42:33)

Do you use Matrix as of right now? How is it? Share your Thoughts in this form!

(43:43)

Powerhoof - 2 person Indie Game Developer Company

(44:21)

Crawl (Game Recommendation). Itch includes Steam key.

(44:51)

Adrian Vaughn VO Actor Reel

(46:27)

Doom (1993), still alive in 2025. Click for more detailed notes.

(58:04)

Doom Pilgrim - Print & Play Tarot Card Game of Survival Horror

• Doom Pilgrim Soundtrack
• Crowdsale for the retail versions

(59:54)

Farkle - Dice Game, grab 6 regular dice and a friend IRL

(01:01:30)

Join us on Matrix and chat! Thanks for listening!

Detailed Show notes, because tons of links this episode

(01:38)

Air Conditioned Nightmare - Mr. Bungle

(02:51)

SFTPGo - Simple Folder Sharing

(05:49)

Sponsor - Ameridroid. Use LINUXPREPPER at checkout.

(06:45)

ChapterTool - Show and Chapter Notes for Audio & Video Platforms

(07:49)

openDAW - Browser-based Multi-track Recording

(09:13)

Kanboard - Project Management

(18:09)

• Offline Tools. What do you use?
• Dead Tech. What do you use?

(18:34)

No more Skype. Try Signal!

(25:58)

Figlet, Toilet - Terminal ASCII Artwork

(27:15)

Meme

(27:56)

Dead Tech - What do you use? Take a quick survey

(29:18)

Offline Tooling. What do you use? Take a quick survey

(29:49)

Epson Ecotank Printers. Can be converted to Sublimation

(34:07)

Kill Doctor Lucky - A print and play boardgame

(35:43)

Root as a Print and Play game. Insanely popular as a modern, commercial board game

(36:04)

Skull card game. Classic bar game, played on napkins, etc.

(39:03)

Paper Circuits

(44:08)

• Pinecil Soldering Iron
  • Soldering is Easy web comic by Mitch Altman
  • Fine Soldering Tip Set
  • Large Soldering Tip Set
• PinePower Travel Charger w/ International Adapters
• PinePower 120w Desktop Charger

(51:21)

• Paperless-NGX - digitize that paper
• Kavita
• Komga
• Codex
• Calibre-Web
• LibreOffice Suite
• pdfarranger. Fork of pdf-shuffler: a small python-gtk application, which helps the user to merge or split PDF documents and rotate, crop and rearrange their pages using an interactive and intuitive graphical interface. It is a front end for pikepdf. Available on Windows, as flatpak, snap, in repos, etc.
• pdftk - terminal app for universally password protecting pdf files.
• pdfbook2 - terminal app to convert your pdf document page layout into a printable book, or zine.

(56:01)

Ronin Solo RPG

(57:20)

Notorious Solo RPG

(58:12)

Snake Acid web browser game

(59:23)

• Lutris, which includes Itch support, Steam, GOG, Epic, local games, etc.

(00:07) Welcome

What is included in the episode, and what will be released as part of episode 8 later this month. Revised description of what Linux Prepper is.

(04:50) Ameridroid Sponsor

• Home Assistant Green
• Home Assistant Green w/ Skyconnect Zigbee & Matter Controller
• Skyconnect Zigbee & Matter Controller

Use LINUXPREPPER coupon.

(06:22) Trivia Challenges at Linuxfest Northwest

• Saturday Winners
• Sunday Winners
• Linux Unplugged 612, around 7 minutes in.

(17:26) On tabling at my first conference.

Gratitude for meeting so many people and having this shared experience together! Ways to support me, especially in sharing the episodes to social media or with friends that would find this interesting!

Thank you to those who are donating to support the show!

• Paypal

(24:45) Tahoe LAFS

Decentralized object storage

• Request to mirror federated storage locally in Nextcloud server
• Join our attempt to self-host Tahoe for a year!
• Is it worth hosting decentralized services for others?
• Is storing encrypted data for other people not worth it?
• Have you hosted distributed tools between yourself and other people’s servers? Did it succeed? Fail?

(45:54) Alby Hub Fundraising to register a Self-hosted node.

Thank you to those supporting the show on Podcasting 2.0 clients.

• Direct Donation link
• See related forum post

(47:20) Sequoia Fabrica Makerspace

• See related forum post
• Wiki for Sequoia Fabrica
• Networking layout of the space
• How to Host Events
• FAQ
• Noisebridge Hackerspace
• Spacebridge launches since 2024
• Noisebridge’s infrastructure Ansible
• List of International Hackerspaces in your Area.

Welcome to our first long format interview! Consider this a bonus episode. Please share it with others if you enjoy it! Let me know what you think; your feedback appreciated.

(00:20)

LinuxFest Northwest in Bellingham, WA April 25th - 27th

(00:37)

Quick Intro on Marcel - Developer behind Nextcloud Bookmarks, Floccus, Recognize

(01:04)

Recognize AI & ML for Nextcloud Photos documentation

• Project Github

(02:30)

Floccus - Browser Bookmark Syncing Extension for Chrome, Firefox, mobile clients, etc. Supports Nextcloud Bookmarks, Google Drive, Git, webdav and more.

• Project Github

(02:54)

Be sure to send in your feedback with this anonymous form!

(03:33)

Spread the word and share this show with others if you enjoy it! Thank you so much!

• You can donate to support me here.
• Podcasting 2.0 listeners to donate to support my upcoming Alby Hub node here. Fundraising 50k Sats.

(03:45)

Interview with Marcel Begins

• EfficientNet
• TensorFlow
• WhisperAI
• Stable Diffusion Image Generation by Stability AI
  • See some generated Mascots for Nextcloud
  • Try it here
  • Github repo

Beatles use AI to complete a new song

Nextcloud Assistant

• Project github
• Context Agent documentation

Summary Bot for Nextcloud Talk Chat

What are Common AI Models & How to Use Them

Ollama, supporting Deepseek and other kinds of models, from small to large.

• Project Github

Perplexica AI Search

• Built on Searxng

Hope you enjoyed this first interview.

For Detailed Shownotes and Links - Click Here

(00:45) Linuxfest Northwest

(02:10) Audience Suggestion - Forgejo

(06:02) Television Fuzzy Finder

(08:38) Uptime Kuma- Monitoring

(12:25) Dockje - Docker Compose Manager

(14:50) Homebox - Inventory Management

(17:14) Ameridroid Sponsor - LINUXPREPPER coupon at checkout

• Home Assistant Green
• Home Assistant Skyconnect Zigbee/Matter adapter
• Home Assistant Voice Preview
• IndieDroid Nova

(19:40) Whisper AI - Speech to Text

(27:00) What services would you like tested on an arm64 server? Let me know.

(27:30) Lemmy discussion on AI tools people are testing locally.

(29:10) Themio Stereotool

(30:19) scp - SSH based Copy

(32:00) ffmpeg audio extraction from mp4 video after a Zoom call.

(32:47) Getting a New Laptop. Windows 11, AntiX, NixOS, Kubuntu.

(53:30) Ubuntu adopting uutils

(57:00) Podcasting 2.0 support - State of the Podcast

Alby Hub and fundraising sats to register it.

• Podcasting 2.0 listeners should now have Transcription and Chapter support as of this episode.
• IPFS Podcasting is supported. Host and you’ll receive a split of donations.

Spread the Word! Help promote the show. Send in feedback. See more detailed episode show notes by clicking here.

(00:40) Linuxfest Northwest 4/25 - 4/27

(01:30) Forum now available for full show notes and project discussion. Also accessible from Matrix.

• https://flarum.org/

(02:39) Simple feedback form now available for sending your feedback and suggestions. Or, you can always email podcast@james.network

(03:45) ameriDroid now sponsors the podcast.

• use LINUXPREPPER coupon code to support the show.

(04:50) If you like the show please do share it! Spread the word. This is a small show, which most people don’t know about. Thank you so much.

• You can also donate to me on paypal.
  • Allowing recurring donations with a fancier system is in-the-works.

(05:50) Librewolf browser, community fork of Firefox.

(06:35) Works on My Machine badge by CodingHorror of Discourse

(07:30) Kickstarter for PixelFed and Loops by dansup

• PixelFed is a federated, FOSS alternative to Instagram
• Loops is a federated, FOSS alternative to TikTok
• Dansup website

(08:45) @linuxprepper@podcast.james.network

• This podcast is also available on the fediverse at the above address. Use Mastodon of whatever client you prefer.

Audience Feedback with HB

(10:00)

• HB is on github

Hungry Bogart interview on Linux Prepper origins and background on Medium.

Pimox 7 for learning Proxmox on arm64 hardware, starting with Pi 4.

• Pimox 8 Pi 5 fork
• Promox is the original project for Virtual Machines on x86.
• TinyMiniMicro by ServeTheHome
• Pi Pico microcontrollers. Less is more. Downgrade if you can use lower level devices for basic GPIO access.
• What is an esp32
• What is a BBS
• risc v community
• Limitations are in relation to the hardware, now that most software is supported on arm64 or x86. Architecture is all that matters.
• What is a HTPC
• Use .internal domains for local services over mDNS ala Avahi
• Ennuicastr video and audio recording platform based on Jitsi

• df -h to confirm disk usage
• docker system prune -a to remove older images, stopped, hanging. Recovered 50gb. (16:00) The Raspberry Pi Evolution

Does the Pi family make sense in 2025? If you already own one, use that. If you don’t, the draw to modern thin clients and PC’s is more desirable in cost & size vs performance.

(19:39) NextcloudPi project. Years of testing across various devices. Adopting containers in order to spin up simultaneous production and test instances of the same software. Less interest in specific devices and more interest in running whatever service I need on arm64 or x86 architecture. I’m behind the times in terms of modern automations when testing, but this is how I’ve learned.

(21:01) Testing and Flexibility

At what point does the Pi simply become another server? I feel we’ve already reached this point with the Pi 5.

(24:50) Repurposing Old Hardware

Having older iterations of hardware is great. Pi 2 has full sized USB and basic ethernet, so is fine assuming it is still supported by a project. Personally self-hosting on Pi devices to help me with audio editing since my laptop is not powerful enough on it’s own.

(26:30) What modern laptop would you recommend I purchase? Haven’t purchased a high end model in over 10 years, so ready to upgrade. Would like to edit video and run LLM.

(30:12) Seeking Audience Input on devices they use. (31:00) What devices are you hosting on? If you use a Pi 5, why? Do you regret it vs an alternative? Does a Pi 5 with NVME disk make more sense than an x86 computer? (32:00) Audience question on wanting to know more about the host. Masonry, theatre gigs, open source volunteer with hackerspaces, piracy in academia, all about the Host (44:00) Apprentice to the Wild book by Kurt Hoelting (45:30) btm terminal application recommendation. Known as bottom, for monitoring remote network services.

If you like the show, please do share it!

(00:24) Happy 2025!

(00:34) Hungry Bogart interview on Linux Prepper origins and background on Medium.

(01:00) Episode Overview

(01:45) Audience Feedback

• What is Matrix and why do we have a Matrix chat. Join it here.

(02:50) Discussion forum now live for the podcast and eventually Living Cartoon Company, my theatrical work.

(03:20) SeaGL Gnu/Linux Conference from October

• Found through Steadfast Self-hosting. Book also on Github

(08:00) There is more to this podcast than just technology in terms of computers. Also relates to making musical instruments, electronics, recipes, DIY, hardware

(09:15) My audience expectations is you want to learn more. You are someone happy to learn more. You will be inspired to take initiative.

• Basic web searches like “Linux Password Manager” to learn.
• Markdown is how this is written for you.
• Bullet Journaling
• Password Managers

Where to Begin

(12:00) Everyone starts hosted. No shame in it. But, when to try selfhosting on your device?

• Encounter a limitation like sharing multi-terabytes of data, when my hosted storage is smaller.
• Get a “homelab” with any old machine.
• Give yourself a reason to learn.

(15:00) Basic services you can experiment with to begin your own homelab of internal devices

• Avahi, mDNS for treating your device as hostname.local for printing, Samba and more with zero configuration.
  • Edit avahi-daemon.conf with whatever stand-in hostname you want
• DNS Server, popularly done with Adblockers like Pi-hole and Adguard Home, plus Unbound with a blocklist.
  • Sync multiple failovers of these using Orbital Sync for Pi-hole or adguardhome-sync
  • My personal preference is Adguard Home alongside Unbound and Adguardhome-sync.
• DHCP Server (requires router access) to use something like the above services to set static routes and DHCP reservations for your devices in a saner manner.
• I personally enjoying setting all of my device IP assignments based on MAC addresses.

Expanding beyond DNS and DHCP

(19:00) Buy a domain yourself using a service like Porkbun.com

• or, try an open source, dynamic dns provider like duckdns.org

(19:30) Reverse Proxy to access your services with valid https, either publicly and/or locally only.

• No more http warnings in the browser. <- nothing makes friends and family less interested in our service.
• No more remembering IP addresses or port numbers.
• Classier than simply using avahi as hostname.local:$port
  • avahi still serves as a nice fallback
• Local only https is totally doable thanks to DNS challenges. Your application doesn’t have to be public.

There are tons of reverse proxies to choose from! I don’t want to recommend one over another. Which do you prefer? All of these services are ones your friends and family will use, whether they know it or not.

(22:05) What services do you actually host for your friends and family? Let me know! podcast@james.network

State of the Podcast

(22:30) Paypal donations accepted (23:00) Podcasting 2.0 support enabled (24:00) Now using studio monitors for reference in better recording and mixing the show.

(00:24) Hosted Service Definition

• Account you have access to: web hosting, Dropbox, email, etc.
• “I would like an account on your service”

(01:22) Selfhosted Definition

• VPS, Dedicated, Colo, Garage, Old Laptop you maintain.
  • often Single point of failure
  • Distribution is part of our grand experiment!

(03:00) Status of the podcast

• Please do spread the word if you enjoy the show!
• Castopod moved onto a hosted instance.
  • Castopod supports subscribing from the fediverse
• Now accepting paypal donations
• Domain registrar I recommend - Porkbun
• Podcast Index
• Value 4 Value & podcasting 2.0 listening support added for those on compatible clients.
• Join our Matrix Chat
  • Draupnir moderation bot. Fork of Mjolnir.

(07:40) What tool do you find the most indispensable?

• Send in your thoughts to our Matrix chat or to podcast@james.network

My top tools: notes and a password manager.

(08:05) KeePass - 20+ years of goodness on all platforms! Portable, encrypted, awesome.

• Distribute your databases to better manage your services
• People have paid me to teach them this!
• Friends & Family approved open source!
  • KeepassXC on Linux, Mac, Windows
  • Keepassium on iOS
  • KeepassDX on Android

(10:20) Hey, where is my keepass? sketch

(11:30) RSS protocol for updates & notifications.

• The introverts “social” network dashboard
• As good as you make it. Be patient.
• Basis for all podcasting

(12:10) RSS Clients - use them on any device to get started.

• RSSowl - barebones and available on Linux Windows, MacOS. Java based.
• Newsboat - top notch terminal application. Successor to Newsbeuter.

(13:20) RSS Server applications

• Adds multi-user support, sharing, archiving, filtering, sync to clients.
• FreshRSS
• Miniflux
• Tiny Tiny RSS
• Nextcloud News filter issue

(16:45) Do you have recommendations for RSS compatible services? Let us know!

(17:00) feed2toot - relay you feed into the fediverse of services like Mastodon and this podcast (Castopod).

(17:20) RSS-bridge convert URL services to RSS

• Public instances available for you to try.
• Subscribe to Youtube, Twitter and much more

(18:15) searxng - meta-search engine that supports subscribing to results as RSS.

(18:40) Wallabag self-hosted PHP archive for web links.

• Subscribes to RSS Feeds
• integrates with RSS server applications mentioned above as a Sharing feature

(19:00) Archivebox is another great self-hosted archive.

(19:30) Nextcloud Bookmarks.

• Floccus front end for Firefix, Chrome, Edge, etc. to Nextcloud Bookmarks, WebDAV, Linkwarden, Git, Google Drive by same dev.
• Subscribe to your Bookmarks folders as RSS!
• Share bookmarks with your other RSS services.

(00:10) Several years of Ubuntu Studio desktop releases

KDE Plasma is solid the last few years! Xfce, Openbox also great.

(06:00) Timeshift snapshot and restore with rsync or btrfs.

(08:00) Truenas Scale is a Debian Linux + OpenZFS variation of Freenas BSD + ZFS. File system based snapshots with VM support.

• Why Mirror Vdevs are better than raidz

(08:55) 5 years of Raspberry Pi 4. Radxa Quad Sata Hat & Case after a couple years of use.

(11:45) Castopod - Open Source Podcasting Host platform, which supports Podcasting 2.0

Open Source Game Recommendation

(12:49) Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead, NetHack, Dwarf Fortress

Open Hardware Recommendation:

(14:25) Pine64 PinePower Travel Charger