selfhosting.couchsurfing

#Surfhosting is #selfhosting while #couchsurfing. This is an infrastructure HOWTO project for #nomadic developers and power users.

Documentation is written with cyberpunks, cyberserfs, and frugality in mind. Special attention will be paid to portability and usability on untrusted networks.

The Surfhosting.cc website is back under construction as of January 2025. Soon!!!

#DIY #Proxmox #OpenWrt #GLiNet #Linux

Public Key

npub1nq6ztqk0qhj0uay4yfpmdzs0cqt6wks7txn0kc28v5fyczte7kvsr6salp

NIP-05 Address

surfhosting@mastodon-pirateparty-be.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsfsdp9st8ste87wj2jysak3g8uq9a8tg09nfhmv9rk2yjvp9ultxgz5aa66

Author Public Key

npub1nq6ztqk0qhj0uay4yfpmdzs0cqt6wks7txn0kc28v5fyczte7kvsr6salp

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Last Notes

2025-04-26 02:54:01

wow, fail2ban came back like a muscle memory. I think I've learned and forgot it more than once, weird how each time you have to refresh yourself it imprints a bit further.
that is why I'm using fail2ban at this juncture, because I knew some knowledge of it would still be in my brain.

2025-04-16 04:09:20

today I realized a way I can get the Surfhosting website development un-stuck, so I gotta do that thing in the next day or three

2025-04-14 00:36:35

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btw, this 'I want' statement is pure id, with money and other concerns being no object. in reality with limited budget and practical concerns, I'd just get a used business PC.

2025-04-13 05:13:35

so based on recommendations, it looks like a Pixel 8 kinda fits the bill and is running about $310 right now, that's doable sometime in the next few months I think? maybe

2025-04-12 05:07:49

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@nprofile…d8jm oh duh, took a pic of the cabbage and not the fricking router I was talking about, which was literally right there. it'd be about the size of one on the bottom, with little antennas that fold up.
https://mastodon.pirateparty.be/system/media_attachments/files/114/323/257/381/506/354/original/94f53597043a116d.jpg

2025-04-07 02:36:14

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@nprofile…455a sure, very simple. when I came back to my current city I had a couple old small consumer UPS units stored, instead of getting new lead-acid 12V batteries for them, I got LiFePO4 drop-in replacements. the replacements have a lower max discharge rate but hold about the same amount of energy and weigh half as much.
it's worth noting that not all LFP batteries like this are the same, some don't like being connected in series, max discharge rate varies (I got 15A which is more than enough with my flock of relatively low power gear)

2025-04-07 02:32:29

after looking at my wishlist yesterday due to mentioning it here, I hyperfixated on finding a) half decent (assuming they're not counterfeit) m.2 2230 NVMe sticks, and b) pickled herring, to add to it.

2025-04-06 03:51:43

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@nprofile…j9fz yeah it's just as good, of 2 people I helped switch to Linux in the past 5 years, I recommended Xfce for one.

2025-04-06 02:07:27

I've been watching PCsRefurbished.com like a hawk lately.

2025-04-06 01:26:25

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clarification: my anecdata only

2025-04-06 01:25:35

used PC prices have been holding pretty steady for a while already. semiconductor tariffs will tend to push used PC prices up. that's why I keep an eye on it

2025-04-05 22:44:16

I keep confusing LXQt and LXDE, I guess that means I'm not ideologically committed to one or the other. I think I went with LXQt because it's got more development activity.

2025-04-05 22:28:45

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but thankfully there are parts of my #surfhosting tech stack which are fairly settled already:
OS: #LinuxMint; #Debian (with #LXDE if needed, or #BunsenLabs); #OpenWRT
Virtualization: #Proxmox
Hardware: refurb "1-liter" #1LPC business #miniPC from HP, Dell, Lenovo, with mid to high end CPU
Network: #GLiNet and #FriendlyElec #NanoPi routers / network-attached devices
Phone: #VoipMS with dedicated SIP phone, plus softphone apps for limited use

2025-04-05 22:15:46

the main reason I haven't launched the damn website yet is that I'm still doing primary research on how to answer the question: what is an acceptable set of software to use and how to use it, to selfhost my digital life and a suite of web services while semi-nomadic?
the fact that I am evolving how I do that on nearly every front means everything takes 5x the effort right now because there's no muscle memory for the new ways yet. but it won't be that way forever. and once I settle on some answers to some of the open questions I have, I can document all those decisions as part of launching the damn website.

2025-04-04 20:44:12

friday food bank has a lot of produce today, maybe it will be flash pickling time this weekend

2025-04-03 19:59:56

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@nprofile…sdt0 yeah... I'm off in Rockchip-powered ARM box land, but even ancient and fairly slow x86 CPUs still routinely kick the crap out of 'em at compute.

2025-04-03 05:08:47

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@nprofile…sdt0 that's a very nice price for what looks like a very flexible machine. eSATA, interesting choice which I could get down with for spinning rust. it looks like it kicks the crap out of my RK3568B-based solution for a #selfhosted "last man standing" server for about the same price... it might use a bit more power though
in my case I wanna keep my Cal+Card data off-site in case I lose all my computers somehow, but I am also slowly putting together a local server to stay up for as long as possible in a power outage, etc. and this is interesting for that.

2025-04-03 04:51:06

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@nprofile…nq5q interesting info, thanks. good tip with Vivaldi, I already use it for work but of course hadn't paid any attention to a calendar feature. maybe they will add CalDAV to it at some point, they seem pretty intent on supporting the FOSS way etc... will definitely check out the other apps you mentioned as well. this is a "I can't rest until it's settled & decided once and for all" type of tech need.

2025-04-03 04:45:33

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anyway I have a good stable setup for the data store and the syncing, that works great. a couple three years ago I assayed a bunch of apps and settled on Baikal (web-based backing store) + DAVx5 (sync) + aCalendar (Android calendar) + Tasks.org (Android tasks) and it all works great.
what I do *not* have is a good desktop or web solution, the latter of which needs to run on the same penny host as Baikal.

2025-04-03 04:32:56

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I wonder if GrapheneOS (or even current LineageOS, or AOSP) can natively sync CalDAV yet, my phone is running an older release because updating Android phones fills me with such rage that I can only stand to do it every so often...
as I understand it, the actual data store for calendaring is provided by Android itself, and Android does not natively support CalDAV, thus an app to sync the data between a CalDAV server and the native data store is required, etc etc etc

2025-04-03 04:26:56

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it's also fairly terrible that doing this the FOSS way requires a minimum of 3 apps: a calendar app which can save tasks via CalDAV (I believe the default app on recent Android meets this description), a CalDAV server which supports that, and the Tasks app
there are like ... historical reasons for that or whatever.

2025-04-03 04:24:44

I think doing a mindful assessment of Thunderbird and whatever uhh other first-line desktop calendar apps for Linux that I can find with #CalDAV and task support vis-a-vis how they interact with tasks created by Tasks.org (Android) ...... is on the agenda for this coming week. I need to get this done. I need a phone-plus-desktop solution for calendar CRUD that works with my tasks app and calendar app on Android sufficiently gracefully that I can tolerate it.
I have been looking for a drop-in replacement for Google's Android implementation of reminders for like 6 years. I started de-Googling that long ago (wow) and one of the first things I pulled off Google was my calendar and contacts. anyway a lot has changed in 6 years so maybe I'll find something.
preliminary indications: Thunderbird is not giving good vibes, I added a task on my phone and it popped up a window so I could dismiss like 4 weeks worth of upcoming reminders 😬 #PIM #selfhosting

2025-04-02 18:45:43

thinking about my "upgrade" (expansion) plans a bit more, prices for used gear have dropped enough that I think I can limit myself to mini PCs that can take 64GB RAM. this includes at least some mini PCs with Intel 9th generation CPUs and definitely 10th generation, and it eliminates the 8700T from consideration in most (all?) cases.
this means I can use the RAM for two generations when I eventually upgrade to a Zen 3 / 3+ system.

2025-04-02 18:44:36

2025-04-02 18:41:53

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@nprofile…jvky the bonus of an EV for #vanlife is that it has a giant battery built in! but yeah, base cost still favors an ICE van with a custom battery bank.

2025-04-02 01:21:32

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@nprofile…455a no links yet - Surfhosting.cc will be one head of the hydra when I finally get the website launched. I plan to likely incorporate as an LLC, I'd prefer to do a nonprofit but it's just not feasible until some steady income is built up. apart from that I do Wordpress contracting on an informal basis with a friend from high school who handles customer relations, we don't (yet) have an identity for that either, despite doing it for years. it's mostly ad-hoc for mom n pop small business owners she meets when going to conferences etc.

2025-04-01 23:30:59

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> Through June 30, the BrightDrop 400 and BrightDrop 600 are available with $25,500 purchase rebates throughout the country as part of the 2025MY BrightDrop Consumer Cash Program.
> BrightDrop's superior range is what pushes prices above the others. Ford’s vehicle has about 140 miles at full charge, and Rivian’s is slightly higher. The BrightDrop van goes nearly double the distance, at 272 miles with maximum range battery pack and all-wheel drive.

2025-04-01 23:28:46

GM storing poor-selling Canadian-made electric vans on Michigan lot
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2025/03/29/gm-storing-electric-vans-michigan/82700941007/
...maybe this foretells a chance for those with a chunk of change to spend on a #vanlife setup to get an EV bigger than a Ford Transit at a discount...?

2025-04-01 21:38:15

I know I've said this before, but switching from software #VOIP phones to a hardware one - even a generic SIP phone, as opposed to one tied to a particular provider - makes inexpensive VOIP service just so much less of a pain in the ass to use. this is especially true for incoming calls.
Android SIP phone apps all suck. and #SIP phone apps on a laptop running Linux can only ever be as good as Linux's audio I/O handling capability, which as we all know is not good, and also completely depends on what you may or may not be doing with your headphones, laptop, etc at any given moment.

2025-04-01 18:03:28

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@nprofile…827z I've been wanting to build RGB shoji-style server lamps for years, albeit with a single hidden server - this is a cool take on it!

2025-04-01 17:58:58

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the point of expanding the flock, btw, is to fully separate my "personal" computing from my work-related computing, meaning Surfhosting, but also web hosting and all that.
this will be helpful upon incorporating the business etc.

2025-04-01 17:56:55

anyway, speaking of upgrade plans, I finally got enough cash for a 2TB NVMe stick, which triggers sufficient hand-me-down upgrades that once I get another dirt-cheap Intel mini PC, the only thing I should need to get it going is some DDR4. I will have sufficient storage on hand to put together a third box.
the only wrinkle is that the Intel box might be limited to 2x16GB, which is too small for the Zen 3 machine the RAM will eventually end up in, so I'll have decisions to make as to what to do about that. I'm not sure which generation of Intel CPUs and resulting mini business PCs started supporting 64GB of memory.

2025-04-01 17:50:43

so yesterday I said my general upgrade path was focused on Zen 3 machines, but I wasn't clear that that is my current horizon, or the furthest ahead I'm planning my mini PC upgrades (meaning eventual replacement of older machines) at this time.
I will be adding a third mini server to the flock soon, likely an Intel 9700T or 10500T machine, as those are increasingly available to po' folks like me dirt cheap on pcsrefurbished dot com.
the plan is to eventually replace that machine and my existing 8500T machine with machines based on Zen 3. but because I am working on a shoestring budget, the upgrade/replacement path has an Intel Skylake+++(+) stepping stone before Zen 3.

2025-04-01 17:43:43

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@nprofile…455a so far, I've been sticking to pre-built business PCs from the Big 3 (Dell, HP, Lenovo), so by "upgrade" I mean "buying used to replace existing units or expand the flock." because they are made in such volume, it's easy to get parts, and they tend to get more BIOS updates etc.
that said, I occasionally take a look at the Chinese pre-builts, in case something in the DDR4 era might be a good fit.
current fleet of 2 servers consist of my personal virtualization box, a HP Elitedesk Mini 805 G8 with an AMD 5750GE (Zen 3), and my webserver, a Dell Optiplex Micro 3060 with an Intel 8500T (Skylake++). I'm planning to add another soon, and will be posting about that shortly.

2025-04-01 17:21:35

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@nprofile…vzdp currently using this with a CalDAV back end and it's pretty good, I wish there were fewer options though.
if I ever get to the point of doing Android development I'd be tempted to fork it and make a "simple" version that does what I want (replicate Google reminders compatible with a CalDAV back end) and nothing else. add it to the list I guess...

2025-04-01 17:19:33

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@nprofile…7e36 @nprofile…vzdp I'm currently in a low-speed run-through of "try every desktop app with tasks support that exists" to try to find a (Linux based) solution for this, with CalDAV as a backend.
no idea if I will find what I am looking for, but I will definitely be posting about it if I do.
Google's Android implementation of reminders (an infinitely snoozable notification stack) was perfect for my mind, but I don't want Google having my calendar data, so instead I've been trying to replicate that UX with free tools for years.

2025-03-31 19:18:22

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@nprofile…9759 yeah, although apparently the protocol itself is being replaced

2025-03-30 20:48:38

Building an LLM-Optimized Linux Server on a Budget
https://linuxblog.io/build-llm-linux-server-on-budget/
#LocalAI #Selfhosting #GenerativeAI

2025-03-28 20:59:18

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@nprofile…d0nl the unannounced changes to services people are actually using is by far the worst part of the #voipms experience

2025-03-27 22:06:08

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@nprofile…d0jg @nprofile…gm3w @nprofile…w0mv sorry to be the bearer of bad news on that. Fastmail's US presence is why I switched to @nprofile…cn4l quite a few years ago now, otherwise their service is great.

2025-03-27 22:04:47

so is #WHOIS really on the way out? I read some article to that effect a week or so ago, and was wondering bc I just ran a query and it hung for a while before coming back.

2025-03-24 23:15:43

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@nprofile…9759 damn 😐

2025-03-24 20:15:53

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@nprofile…fxcq @nprofile…gm3w I can vouch for @nprofile…cn4l as a good email provider in a country (Norway) which is said to have good data privacy laws

2025-03-24 20:14:54

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@nprofile…d0jg @nprofile…gm3w @nprofile…w0mv unfortunately last I knew Fastmail has some infrastructure and a corporate presence in the USA

2025-03-24 20:13:18

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@nprofile…t9gy I have been using Photo Editor by dev.macgyver for probably more than a decade, unfortunately it's only on Google Play, but one nice bonus is that he's somehow managed to keep the app incredibly lean despite all its features, latest download on my phone is only 14MB
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iudesk.android.photo.editor

2025-03-23 21:28:37

anybody who's gotten food from a food bank knows they give out some weird stuff, anyway I'm here to tell you that dill pickle seasoned peanuts are actually delicious #FoodBankFinds

2025-03-23 19:44:43

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@nprofile…sdt0 I'm glad I tested Librewolf on my NanoPi first before switching on my laptop, because I still don't know why I get logged out of any site that's not continuously open after a week or so

2025-03-23 03:48:31

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@nprofile…d8jm yeah, I've been trying to figure it out for nearly 9 years, and while I've made considerable progress, I'm still a long way from being able to maintain equilibrium when I don't have my own space and don't control my sensory input.
now that I'm back on the west coast, if I had a car, things would be plenty different, because it's waaaaay easier to go camping here than it is in the northeast. so I could just drive my ass out to a national forest and recharge every so often.
this is part of why I stick to small and low-power equipment for my Surfhosting tech stack, eventually I want to be able to self-host all my own shit from a vehicle over 5G or whatever.

2025-03-23 03:39:30

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@nprofile…d8jm practically speaking, I need to figure out how to get switching over into my queue of shit to be done. seemingly simple tasks like that can be blocked for months when I'm chronically overstimulated, because my 🧠 will lock up on one or another piece of them, or forget I intended to do them.

2025-03-23 03:37:44

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@nprofile…d8jm this is a good tip. though one of my big current problems is that I never know when I'll have money vs not, and it's very often not, so I can't sustain even $30/mo until I have more predictable income coming in. and that is taking forever because all my couchsurfing setups since 2016 have been a denial-of-service attack on my ability to think, and thus to do paying work.
even so, if they do 10GB for free, that's more than Assurance Wireless does for free.
I suspect they might not like me installing a weird OS without Google Play on whatever phone they send, but that's fine, I'd just leave it as normal Android. any Obamaphone I get would just be for shooting video and running banking apps and apps tied to my real identity and being a hotspot for my daily driver phone.

2025-03-23 02:24:36

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@nprofile…d8jm I've heard other recs for OnePlus, definitely a brand I'll keep an eye out for.
I might end up going Pixel if I ever get sufficient $ to buy a new daily driver, as I'm thinking about switching from LineageOS to GrapheneOS on my next personal phone. I'm like .... 7 years into a deliberate, but very very slow de-Googling process though.
my current phone (a Pocophone F1) is interesting, a flagship-adjacent phone for the India market (IIRC), so for its day it had a very good processor & plenty of RAM & storage, but the screen is meh and the camera is potato quality. it hasn't talked to US towers since the 3G+ shutdown, so I carry my terrible Assurance Wireless Obamaphone in my backpack in hotspot mode so I can use my real phone while I'm out & about 😆

2025-03-23 02:14:55

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@nprofile…t0s7 VPN endpoints may be running in those blocks, both for-pay VPNs and private wildcat ones. I am on one of the latter 24/7, albeit not in a "cloud" block but with a mom n pop VPS provider. but people may well install whatever OS on a cloud provider compute node and do the exact same thing.

2025-03-23 02:09:55

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@nprofile…d8jm interesting lil all in one unit. I currently have 2x Joby squid tripods and 2x Reticam phone holders, one set I got while I was away from my current city for 5 years, and one set I foolishly left in storage here while I was away for 5 years
what I really need are a couple more 2019+ Android phones, preferably with better camera than my Poco F1, but that's a whole nother story

2025-03-21 22:09:10

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@nprofile…d8jm I hate compression artifacts. and old NTSC/PAL artifacts. don't mind film artifacts tho

2025-03-21 21:48:10

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@nprofile…d8jm I've done a fair amount of video transcoding over the years, one thing I've noticed is that a lower resolution at a good bitrate often looks better than a higher resolution at a crappy bitrate

2025-03-21 19:58:56

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@nprofile…d8jm good to know, my laptop is pretty full

2025-03-21 19:54:20

looks like there's a new firmware update for the Grandstream WP826. given the number of bugs with the device, it's good they seem to have a regular release cadence (every 2 months or so)

2025-03-20 19:54:36

so, my latest poll on what type of services people are interested in ended:
https://mastodon.pirateparty.be/@surfhosting/114145982549443979
looks like general web apps and anonymity+privacy services were in the lead, with decentralized social networking close behind.
this is valuable info, I wish there were more voters but nothing prevents me from re-polling in the future.
I would love to hear from anyone reading what public and/or members-only services you'd be interested in using. I use the "members-only" term loosely as I haven't decided how I want to handle that, but it would probably be tied to donations in some way.

2025-03-19 21:34:05

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@nprofile…hkdp perhaps AgenDAV, it looks like it's in maintenance mode, but that could be because they consider it finished software
https://github.com/agendav/agendav #CalDAV

2025-03-19 18:30:30

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@nprofile…t9gy maybe BlissOS with the desktop-ish launcher enabled

2025-03-16 19:09:05

perhaps my least favorite form of discrimination against people using the web from a data center IP is when the website pretends to let you sign up and pretends to send the confirmation email, but never actually sends the confirmation email.

2025-03-16 01:17:44

I dragged my #GLiNet routers not currently in use out to boot them up and see if there are any firmware updates, and lo & behold I found another weird bug.
it seems (tentative description) that if "Block Non-VPN Traffic" is enabled, and DNS over TLS is enabled (and maybe other conditions, dunno), after a few months being powered down, the router can't resolve DNS queries and so nothing else works, UNTIL the date & time is manually set and the router is rebooted.
whew. yeah, that sounds about right for GLi stock firmware.

2025-03-15 23:09:00

interesting, the wifi failure on the NanoPi was because 'rfkill' started blocking the interface somehow. did I fatfinger a secret hotkey in LXQt?

2025-03-15 00:46:49

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@nprofile…d8jm this is good info, I'm still trying to convince a particular friend of mine to start making videos.

2025-03-15 00:46:04

hrm, the NanoPi's wifi crapped out for some reason, even after a reboot... not sure I can debug this right this minute, I was planning to make a bunch of food today and I'm only 1/3 thru it.
the onboard wifi is controlled by an Armbian script, I tried installing NetworkManager at one point, but it didn't work.

2025-03-14 19:34:06

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@nprofile…d8jm how are you doing with video editing on mobile? did you find a good solution?

2025-03-14 19:31:36

Intel reaches 'exciting milestone' for 18A 1.8nm-class wafers with first run at Arizona fab
While the whole market was looking at the appointment of Lip-Bu Tan as Intel chief executive, there was another major development at the company this week: The first 18A (1.8nm-class) wafers are running around Intel's Arizona fab.
Up until recently, #Intel processed wafers on its 18A production technology at its site near Hillsboro, Oregon, where new manufacturing processes are developed. While the company can volume produce chips in Oregon as well, porting this new fabrication process to a brand-new fab in Arizona is indeed a milestone for the company.
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/intel-reaches-exciting-milestone-for-18a-1-8nm-class-wafers-with-first-run-at-arizona-fab #Semiconductors

2025-03-14 01:37:28

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@nprofile…t2wy yes, unfortunately as is increasingly common these days, the VPS provider blocks 465 and 587

2025-03-14 00:48:13

trying to negotiate with my VPS provider where my always-on DIY VPN terminates to stop blocking outbound SMTP traffic, and it's not going well 😑
is there truly no easy way to bounce a #SMTP connection to my one (1) destination, namely my paid email provider?
ugh.

2025-03-13 22:09:24

hmm, another power flicker

2025-03-11 21:49:53

I need to do a hackathon on getting back up to speed once and for all with my Flatcar Container Linux work, but I don't know how to do that without being able to sequester myself for like 3 days, which I'm not able to do

2025-03-11 21:45:22

posted the next poll partly as a result of all the commentary on RISC-V boards, lol

2025-03-11 03:35:24

another update on the #Grandstream WP826 (hardware VOIP phone), the latest stable firmware is not sufficiently stable for mission-critical applications, in that it can still get into states where it drops registration and the like. however, the encouraging thing is that new stable firmware releases seem to happen every couple months.

2025-03-11 03:16:00

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@nprofile…8rrr I just saw a post about that from @nprofile…v96l recently!

2025-03-10 23:14:39

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@nprofile…8rrr I'd really love to get a RISCV board to tinker with, although I don't have much use or justification for it... yet.
as I start to bring services online under the Surfhosting banner, I'd eventually like to set up some unusual hardware such that people can connect to it and use it for development without having to buy their own dev board.
of course, getting some weird hardware before I've built such a thing might drive the building of it 🤔

2025-03-10 23:10:20

RISC-V mini AI PC that fits inside a Framework laptop shell revealed
DeepComputing has developed a reputation as a pioneer of small form factor RISC-V PCs. The company is now accepting pre-orders for its newest product, a mini AI PC that can replace the mainboard of the Framework Laptop 13.
The device will be based a mystery SoC with a 64-bit 8-core RISC-V CPU running at up to 2 GHz, along with an NPU, GPU, and VPU to cover all of the AI bases. The mini PC supports up to 64GB of LPDDR5 RAM and NVMe SSDs.
The only SoC that advertizes the same specs is Eswin Computing's EIC7702X, which is two Eswin EIC7700Xs stuck together. The dual-CPUs, two 4-core SiFive Performance P550s, are rated for up to 1.8 GHz each, paired with GPUs based on Imagination IP.
The device will start at $300 on its release in Q3 2025, with a $9.90 deposit required today. If it follows the pattern of the first DC-ROMA Framework mainboard, it will likely be sold as a standalone board, inside a mini-PC enclosure, or pre-assembled inside a Framework Laptop 13.
https://www.tomshardware.com/laptops/risc-v-mini-ai-pc-that-fits-inside-a-framework-laptop-shell-revealed-deepcomputings-dc-roma-risc-v-ai-pc-claims-50-tops-64gb-ram #RiscV #Framework13 #DeepComputing

2025-03-10 22:21:48

my biggest current stumbling block to getting the website development back on track, and to experimenting with a bunch of web services, is needing to get back up to speed with what I was doing with Flatcar Container Linux.
I chose it as the way I want to run containerized (i.e. Docker) services for plenty of good reasons, but man it was quite the learning curve, and my prior two development burns on learning to use it were blown out of the water by circumstance, and now I've forgotten a lot of stuff. but, there is also a lot of documentation which past me wrote for myself.

2025-03-10 04:15:26

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the other reason besides my own personal compute resilience, is of course to give the device a workout, post about how good or not-good it is here, and eventually once the web site is up, have all of that information available both as a post, and as a video.

2025-03-10 04:13:43

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people may fairly ask, but dude, you live on a couch, why is this a priority at all, let alone why is it competing with getting another low-cost 1LPC server to host shit that'll make you money.
I'll tell you why: survivability (meaning, ability to maintain compute capability in the face of adversity), and portability, which my existing M4 (pictured) does not have, and which even with a 3D-printed case, would be substantially worse than the M6.
as for the M6, I hear it can get pretty hot, and for wifi I believe you need to run little wires thru the punch-outs in the case to external antennas. but it seems like it would be a lot more backpack portable than the M4.
the RK3588S CPU is a substantial improvement over the RK3399 as well: https://www.cnx-software.com/2022/01/12/rockchip-rk3588s-cost-optimized-cortex-a76-a55-processor/ #Rockchip #Rockchip3588

2025-03-10 03:59:39

btw, after my experience with the FriendlyElec #NanoPi M4, I will be attempting to get and review the NanoPi M6 in the configuration shown: 16GB RAM, 64GB eMMC, metal case without LCD. it has "platinum" Armbian support last I looked.
some of these #SBC vendors have got their shit a lot more together than what I'm used to from Cubieboard days.
https://mastodon.pirateparty.be/system/media_attachments/files/114/136/085/323/335/259/original/b047a87ebe2f8d84.jpg
https://mastodon.pirateparty.be/system/media_attachments/files/114/136/086/396/798/676/original/9213aaf76ce4ac5c.jpg
https://mastodon.pirateparty.be/system/media_attachments/files/114/136/087/148/816/437/original/ef19881b5c975553.jpg
https://mastodon.pirateparty.be/system/media_attachments/files/114/136/088/187/875/544/original/0bf6d91d770f0bf1.png

2025-03-10 03:46:27

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@nprofile…t2gg I have spent many years toning down my sharp tongue in corresponding online about software when it comes to that exact attitude :blobfoxlaughsweat:
I've been using Debian or some close descendant of it as a daily driver (one or both of server and desktop roles) for many years now, it's good to hear these things about Armbian as this is my first time successfully booting it on anything.

2025-03-10 03:33:27

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@nprofile…t2gg that last bit makes a huge difference!

2025-03-10 03:26:56

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@nprofile…t2gg they've certainly done a great job of getting the RK3399 support done in the years since it's been out. I've had very few problems with it in a few weeks of use, granted the hardware has been out 6 years or so, but I expected things to be worse.
I imagine most of the support is in mainline now, but with #Armbian I can run 6.12 while many of the vendor images are still stuck on 4.x!

2025-03-10 03:21:50

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@nprofile…t2gg I'm pretty sure Armbian isn't running a vanilla kernel, the machine I'm typing this on has a package installed called linux-image-current-rockchip64, whose description is "Armbian Linux current kernel image 6.12.17-current-rockchip64"
I suppose it's possible that a vanilla kernel is used for some hardware and not others, but I have my doubts about that. you'd think Armbian would have various config options they'd want to keep largely consistent across devices where it makes sense to do so.

2025-03-10 03:17:49

after a number of rounds thru the spin cycle, I finally figured out what's the least-worst way to enable Tailscale nodes on the LAN side to connect to other Tailscale nodes on the WAN side with an OpenWRT router sitting in between them.
this is important in my case because I have multiple LANs for various purposes (e.g. "personal" vs "work" services), and if this isn't set up, some of the Tailscale traffic will be routed via a distant relay on the internet rather than staying within my physical location.
anyway, the solution in OpenWRT Luci is Network > Firewall > Traffic Rules, and add a rule as pictured.
it's a good idea to specify your WAN network in the Destination Address field if you only want direct UDP connections to port 41641 to be forwarded to WAN (as opposed to the entire Internet) ... this can be useful if you use an always-on VPN like I do, and don't want to open a leak of Tailscale traffic to the wider internet, which would happen if you leave Destination Address unset.
#Tailscale #OpenWRT #Surfhosting
https://mastodon.pirateparty.be/system/media_attachments/files/114/135/949/697/902/185/original/64f29c9fca5bc46b.png

2025-03-09 22:18:11

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@nprofile…d8jm guessing they just straight up stole the electronics, but the end result is the same

2025-03-08 02:32:26

hmm, near-barebones 1-liter Lenovo Thinkcentre with Intel 8500T for $85 on pcsrefurbished.com ... :blobfoxthinkanime:

2025-03-08 01:57:38

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@nprofile…t2gg I'm looking forward to knowing the project well enough to know why. seems like they might have some people who are good at doing the nitty-gritty of figuring out hardware support.

2025-03-08 00:20:32

I built a package from source on the NanoPi (it came from an Ubuntu PPA, hence why I did so) and oh wow is this little beast slow at compiling... its good performance at light web browsing lulled me into a false sense of security :blobfoxcomfycomputer:

2025-03-07 21:42:18

I gotta say, apart from the broken stuff when venturing off the garden path with Armbian install/config scripts, I'm very impressed with the distro after installing it and spending a couple weeks pushing the NanoPi M4 to its limit.
it doesn't support LXQt as a desktop out of the box - meaning installing #LXQt isn't a curated option in the #Armbian install script - but just doing so as one would typically do on a bare Debian machine works fine, there are few to no obvious bugs, and the desktop is very snappy on the #Rockchip RK3399.
I will try to get a #NanoPi M6 eventually, as 4 GiB RAM is just not enough, but for now the M4 is doing very well in the role I have it in.

2025-03-07 05:44:01

I keep having thoughts about setting up Surfhosting as a nonprofit

2025-03-04 21:01:26

I finally found the energy to look into why I can't send SMTP from my personal (i.e. non work/professional) VPN endpoint, and it's because the damn VPS provider blocks it 🤬
such is life when you're paying less than $2/month.
I'm not sure if it's possible to set up a private #SMTP relay on my more reputable VPS provider, I tried doing a simple TCP relay but that doesn't work due to TLS certificate checks. anybody got ideas?

2025-03-04 01:45:16

#ServeTheHome takes a look at the first 1-liter PC to (unofficially) support 128GB of RAM, the Lenovo M75q Tiny Gen5.
reviewed unit has an AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 8700GE processor, 35 watt TDP.
overall a very promising Proxmox box, only stumbling blocks are that it still ships with 1Gbps ethernet, and SATA is no longer supported.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCvyUyk8jmk #1LPC #miniPC

2025-03-04 01:06:11

A video from @nprofile…827z comparing the Raspberry Pi 5 to an Intel N150 #miniPC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TORg5FhKf-4

2025-02-25 22:27:19

despite the firmware bugs - which do seem to be getting fixed over time - having a physical VOIP phone like the Grandstream WP826 makes using a generic VOIP carrier like Voip dot ms so much less painful than software phones can be.
that's pretty important, especially when you realize that with #VoipMS you can have a phone like for about $2/month and $0.01/minute of talk time.

2025-02-25 19:42:08

Framework Laptop 12 is a cheaper, more colorful take on a repairable laptop PC
At a product event today, the company showed off what it called "an early preview" of its third laptop design, the convertible, budget-focused Framework Laptop 12.
This addition to Framework's lineup centers on a 12.2-inch, 1920×1200 convertible touchscreen that flips around to the back with a flexible hinge, a la Lenovo's long-running Yoga design.
The first #Framework Laptop 12 motherboard is going to use Intel's 13th-generation Core i3 and i5 processors, originally launched back in late 2022. It supports up to 48GB of DDR5-5200 (implying just a single DDR5 RAM slot).
The company hopes to begin preorders in April and to begin shipping the laptop in mid-2025.
Ars Technica / https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/02/frameworks-laptop-12-is-its-first-stab-at-a-budget-convertible-touchscreen-pc/ #Framework12 @nprofile…8xaf

2025-02-25 04:40:19

the Grandstream WP826 still has some firmware bugs... I made a call earlier today, and afterwards it started dropping registration periodically like it did all the time before I updated the firmware. I had to reboot it.

2025-02-24 20:53:03

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my best box is an original 5750GE (the 5 in the third digit means it has features equivalent to Intel vPro). they're pretty good APUs. I dug up Tom's article for the original release of these chips.
looks like these new chips, both 65W G-series and 35W GE-series, have the same exact clock rates as the originals. the iGPU likewise appears identical. AMD really didn't change much here at all and is apparently just looking to cover the budget end of the market. but if the chips do become available to consumers, even white label, they could be a decent option - especially the 35W GE series in 1-liter Proxmox boxes.
one thing to note with that, though, my particular system with the original 5750GE - an HP EliteDesk - does not break the iGPU into a separate IOMMU group from most of the rest of the integrated peripherals, meaning that GPU passthrough is impossible without using a kernel patch which severely compromises security.

2025-02-24 20:38:57

AMD breathes life into Ryzen 5000G family with six new chips
Despite launching the Ryzen 9000 CPUs in 2024, some two generations after the Ryzen 5000G processors (which launched in 2021), AMD quietly released six new Zen 3 Cezanne chips recently.
Cezanne wields Zen 3 cores with integrated Radeon Vega graphics and slots into the AM4 socket. The chips are limited to PCIe 3.0 speeds and DDR4. #AMD hasn’t announced the prices for these CPUs yet, nor has it announced if they'll be available to the retail market.
AMD’s continued support for the AM4 socket means that users still have the first-generation Ryzen processors (launched in 2017) and can get a modern CPU eight years later without replacing their motherboard.
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/amd-breathes-life-into-ryzen-5000g-family-with-six-new-chips-cezanne-with-up-to-eight-zen-3-cores-and-4-6-ghz-boost-clocks #Zen3 #Cezanne
https://mastodon.pirateparty.be/system/media_attachments/files/114/060/767/387/419/745/original/2403af306e88c893.png

2025-02-23 08:55:47

this article is interesting for more than one reason:
https://blog.bitsofnetworks.org/riscv-upstream-part0/ #RISCV
if I get Surfhosting going more and get some weird dev boards donated, it'd be cool to make 'em available for people to tinker with remotely.