hddherman

Author here, I've actually worn glasses since I was 8. :)

That's why I highlighted GNOME getting usable fractional scaling out of the box, it makes all the difference. Previously I relied on the large text accessibility feature, but toggling it on/off depending on what monitor I used was a pain.

It's really handy for switching between projects that are on different Java versions, plus tools like IntelliJ pick up on the correct version via the SDKMAN! configuration as well.

In the current context, isn't Cloudflare a single point of failure?

If anyone is wondering, then there are Ventoy alternatives like IODD [0], but they are not perfect. Usable, but annoying in some aspects.

[0]: https://ounapuu.ee/posts/2025/02/14/iodd-st400-review/

I have considered going that route, but I'd have to switch to a platform that supports those formats and that will likely be too expensive for me as a hobbyist.

On my ThinkPad T430, I have a weekly full discharge cycle set up using "tlp recalibrate BAT0", it helps avoid that issue and helps confirm that the battery is still functional.

Hello, author here! It's a nice surprise to notice my own post here, but the timing is unfortunate as I'm shuffling things around on my home server and will accidentally/intentionally take it offline for a bit.

Here's a Wayback Machine copy of the page when that does happen: https://web.archive.org/web/20251006052340/https://ounapuu.e...

> You’re not just writing for today’s invisible audience. You’re writing for:

> Future you. Your posts become a time capsule of your evolving mind.

Fully agree with that one. My own blog has become a public diary of my hobby and it's great to see what I've been up to and how wrong I was about certain predictions and assumptions, especially about the ones that say that I'm done reworking my home server setup, multiple times.

> Another key area this device hasn’t cut back on is its security. Quarterly security updates for 2 years² will help keep everything safe and sound.

That's a criminally short support period, and a great way to produce even more e-waste.

I have also run into issues with DFS in the past[0] without fully understanding what was wrong, until my friend let me know that this is a thing. Choosing a static Wi-Fi channel that's outside the DFS range, or limiting the selection of channels to exclude the DFS channels has worked well for me.

[0]: https://ounapuu.ee/posts/2024/11/11/openwrt-dfs/

It is if you don't navigate to it via HN.

Pretty damning stuff that I wasn't previously aware of.

I heard a saying recently that went along the lines of "engineering without constraints isn't engineering", and after reading "The Performance Inequality Gap"[0] and its follow-up series "Reckoning"[1], I'm convinced that software developers should use lower end devices so that they, too, feel the pain they're inflicting on others.

Running cheap hardware is fun and will make you want to improve your craft.

[0] - https://infrequently.org/series/performance-inequality/

[1] - https://infrequently.org/series/reckoning/

It's possible to give constructive feedback without being mean-spirited.

Plug-in hybrids are much more suitable for environments where you simply don't have the charging infrastructure at home. This is also unlikely to change in the near term (10-20+ years) if my home town is anything to go by (Tallinn, Estonia), older apartment buildings barely have enough funds to handle renovating the buildings for better energy efficiency.

Fairphone has made Fairbuds [0] and Fairbuds XL [1], both with easily replaceable batteries. So at least there is one option out there.

[0] https://shop.fairphone.com/fairbuds

[1] https://shop.fairphone.com/fairbuds-xl

Thanks for the heads-up, I'll look at mine in a different light from now on.

I remember giving that a go many years ago. Not 100% successful, but when it worked, it was fantastic. It would be incredibly handy nowadays, especially for troubleshooting use cases. OS installation, memtest, clonezilla, portable Windows installation, and you'll always have them with you since you're already carrying your phone!

The demand for a Ventoy-like tool is clearly there, but I hope that one day we'll have an alternative that we can actually trust. Until then it seems that having a small collection of USB sticks is still the way to go, the inconvenience is preferable to the whole installation getting compromised.

I recently installed Debian 12 running XFCE desktop environment on a ThinkPad T40 for fun. The T40 was released 21 years ago, so not quite 25 but close enough.

I could load my blog with it on a modern version of Firefox. It was not fast, but I could still do it!

Didn't expect a list this in-depth, but thanks for sharing, have a few things I'll need to check on my own setup that is really similar, except for the part where I run Fedora Linux.

Happy to see another btrbk mention, it really is great!

btrfs has 1, 2 and 3, and if you count projects like WinBtrfs [0], then possibly 0 as well.

Been using it happily for years on my workstations, and about a year on my home server mainly because of the licensing issue and a kernel update possibly resulting in the ZFS pool not being imported.

ZFS is still great, but the kernel issue is still problematic on anything other than Ubuntu, where Canonical ships kernels with ZFS built right in.

[0]: https://github.com/maharmstone/btrfs

For what it's worth, I got politely turned away at the PostgreSQL devroom doors when I was about 10 minutes late to a session. Perhaps this is not something that got passed along to all volunteers.

Hi, author here.

Usually I'd agree with you here, people use tech in places where it shouldn't be used quite often, but in this case I do not mind it at all. If this helps avoid future visits to the vet (and so far it has worked), then it's OK in my book.

And yes, you do have to clean it regularly and change the filters, we're already doing that.

Very valid point, I just did that and my multimeter measures the output at 7.71V.

Hi, author here. If the writing on those adapters was easily readable by the visually impaired and surrounded by bright red/orange colors, this wouldn't be that much of an issue. I had one hell of a time trying to even photograph the output voltage etching specified on the adapter itself.

Nope, Estonian. Quite close to Finnish but not quite the same. We do have all the õäöü-s that we need though.

Hi, author here, I've fixed that in the post now.

Did the upgrade on both server and workstation platforms, and it was painless. Great work!

The car dependency in Tallinn is definitely not helped by public transport being much inferior to just taking your car everywhere. I've tried to reduce my dependency on cars in Tallinn, and yet I often discover that an hour-long trip via public transportation in Tallinn can be done in 15 minutes or less via car, often due to infrequent departures or due to the unreliability of the schedule. There's also one road that I frequent that has 4 lanes, and yet buses get stuck in traffic jams because of cars clogging the road up, and there are no bus lanes in that part of town.

Bicycle infrastructure is also very inconsistent. You can end up riding on a nice, physically separated path, then find yourself driving on painted gutters that are bumpier than the surface cars ride on. Connections between bicycle paths are also awful. One time I just found that the bicycle path just stops with a dead-end, and the only option was to continue driving on the road alongside cars.

Car usage rising has a lot to do with city leadership not taking steps that actually discourage car dependency. Making mass transit free or very affordable is good, but it has to be accompanied with steps that actually make public transportation a better option compared to cars. The most convenient option wins, always.

Hi, author here. I went ahead and did the math based on offerings in raspberrypi.dk since that's the reseller that the official Raspberry Pi website directs me to as someone living in Estonia.

Raspberry Pi 4 8GB: 92.87 EUR

"Armor Aluminium heatsink case for Raspberry Pi 4": 19.01 EUR

Official Raspberry Pi power supply: 10.80 EUR

32GB microSD card: 12.17 EUR (and on sale)

At this point the subtotal is 134.85 EUR (~142 USD). Budget about 10-20 EUR on shipping on top of that, so about 150 EUR.

And to run two SATA SSD-s off of the Raspberry Pi, you'd need an extra USB to SATA adapters. ICY BOX ones are quite good, those are about 15-20 EUR each, and are unlikely to work properly because of power limitations. I've done the testing in the past, one SSD is OK, two is a bit too much for the board, so you'd need to rig them up with external power, adding cost.

To have something similar, we're looking at about 180+ EUR (~190 USD) worth of gear to replicate what we'd find with a Zimaboard, and with trade-offs and inferior results (USB-SATA is worse than plain SATA).

I think it's a fair comparison, at least with EU market prices.