Over the past few days and weeks, I’ve decided to downsize my digital and tech collection. I own so many computers, laptops, smartphones, smartwatches, accessories, and so on—I can never really use it all. I bought a lot of it just to own the latest “hot stuff.”

That’s why I’ve gotten rid of most of it—either giving it away or selling it for very little. And I’ve kept only the bare essentials. Often not even the newest or best.

For example: I now only use my Peladn Mini-PC with an old Ryzen 5 5500U as my computer; I don’t even use the newer, faster ones to their full potential, so I gave them away. I’ve now reinstalled Debian Stable on it, with an absolute minimum of programs—just the bare essentials: browser, LibreOffice, Tuta, Signal, VLC, Nextcloud, Localsend, Rustdesk.

I’ve moved away from Fedora because: Fedora = Red Hat = IBM = US Big Tech = US MAGA fascists.

I’m also saying goodbye to Proton and will only use Tuta and Posteo from now on.

All my new smartphones like the S25 Ultra, Pixel 10 Pro XL, etc., are gone; I’ve kept the cute Pixel 8a in beautiful blue, very compact, running GrapheneOS. That’s more than enough—it lasts almost 3 days, and here too, I’ve installed only the absolute essentials.

#linux #unix #opensource #freesoftware #debian #bigtech #surveillance #grapheneos #minimalism #digitaldetox #digitalminimalism #usa #trump #fedora #redhat #tuta #proton

A week ago, I treated myself to a new monitor: the BenQ MA270S, a 27-inch model with 5K resolution, 2x Thunderbolt 4 ports, and much more. The picture quality is incredibly sharp—the best I’ve ever seen! It was actually meant to connect to my MacBook Pro, but of course, it works just as perfectly with all my Linux and Windows computers. Once you’ve experienced 5K resolution, you’ll never want to go back. And this monitor is significantly cheaper than an Apple Studio Display, which ONLY works with Apple. But this model works great with ANY operating system! I’ve never seen my Debian look this crystal clear!

After a week of intensive use, I can wholeheartedly recommend this monitor to everyone—and no, this isn’t a paid advertisement from BenQ, but my honest opinion.

https://www.benq.eu/en-eu/monitor/home/ma270s.html

#monitor #5k #benq #linux #unix #freesoftware #opensource

My brand-new powerhouse: MSI Cubi NUC AI+ 3MG

Intel Core Ultra 9 386H processor, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB NVMe, and much more.

What a beast!

My first Intel-based PC in many, many years. But the new Panther Lake generation is currently superior to AMD. I couldn’t care less about the “Copilot” feature—who needs that crap? I certainly don’t. But I wanted a new, up-to-date, and powerful computer again for the next 5 or 6 years. And even though it wasn’t cheap, if I spread the purchase price of 1,500 EUR over 72 months, that’s 20 EUR per month, so the computer has actually paid for itself in even less time.

But I’m curious to see which Linux—or rather, which kernel version—will run smoothly on it, given all these very new components. My planned testing order: Debian Sid, Fedora with kernel 7.2-rc, and finally Arch. I don’t even need to think about FreeBSD right now, but maybe in the future.

#linux #unix #opensource #freesoftware #msi #minipc #intel

The past two weeks with Debian Sid and my new work setup—featuring two NAS devices and a new internal network—have been a success!

One NAS serves as internal storage for all my documents, photos, videos, etc., while the second NAS acts as a personal cloud connected to my smartphones, backing up photos and videos I take, which I then copy to my internal NAS at home—if relevant.

Conversely, when needed, I move necessary documents, photos, etc., from the internal NAS to the personal cloud so that I have the required materials on hand at short notice for appointments and the like.

That may sound cumbersome, but I consider it more practical not to have everything stored on a single device that can also be accessed remotely.

#linux #unix #debian #opensource #freesoftware #cloud #nas #network #lan #privacy

Tried something new again: installed a fresh copy of Debian 13 and then immediately upgraded it to Debian Sid. I have to say: so far, it’s running remarkably stable and smoothly. Kernel 6.19.14 and GNOME 50—very nice!

As usual, for privacy and data protection reasons, I’m trying to keep the system lean, with only the absolute essentials: Firefox/Librewolf, LibreOffice, Signal, Nextcloud, Localsend, Tuta, Mullvad VPN, and Freetube as an anonymous YouTube client.

#linux #opensource #freesoftware #debian #debian13 #gnome #gnome50 #kernel #privacy #surveillance #bigtech

Top Bun - Sie fürchten weder Tod noch Tofu

#gaumenkino

Call me crazy... but I’ve got this complicated setup right now:

An old Pixel 8 Pro without a SIM card, with no apps installed—or rather, all apps disabled—and on it I’ve set up a second user profile where only the Aurora Store is running, and from there I’ve installed MullvadVPN and WhatsApp. No contacts saved, no Google account linked. On this second profile, my old WhatsApp number runs via the VPN and over Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, most of my friends are on WhatsApp, and very few want to install another messenger or switch, no matter how often or how hard I try to make them understand the dangers of WhatsApp or Meta in general. This dedicated WhatsApp smartphone just sits on my desk at home.

Just like my old iPhone 13 Mini for banking and ID Austria, the government app for Austria (official procedures, digital mailbox, etc.)

And last but not least, my Pixel 8a with GrapheneOS and my phone number for calls, texts, Signal, and calendar management on the go. I always have this smartphone with me; as I said, the other two just stay at home.

It might be a hassle—everyone else just uses one smartphone for this—but in return, I can use WhatsApp without Meta or Google gaining any access to my other usage behavior and data or being able to track my activities. I'm glad I kept these two extra devices when I did a major tech purge a few weeks ago.

#linux #opensource #freesoftware #surveillance #bigtech #meta #whatsapp #signal #grapheneos #google #smartphone

And by the way, I decided to give OpenSUSE Tumbleweed another try today. Since Debian has its little quirks with my keyboards and I don’t want to use a distribution with a U.S. background like Fedora, OpenSUSE would be the politically correct choice for me as a European solution.

#linux #unix #opensource #freesoftware #opensuse #tumbleweed #europe #bigtech #surveillance

For the past few weeks, I've been prowling around CachyOS like a hungry lion around a grazing herd of antelope. I even installed it once, only to return to my usual distribution a few hours later.

But it gnawed at me deep down—also because, after many years of abstinence, I wanted to install my old Steam library again and play a game or two. And according to all the enthusiastic reports, CachyOS is the perfect Linux for gaming. That's why I did it again yesterday and gave CachyOS a new – and this time fair – chance. It's really great and incredibly fast when you seriously get to grips with it!

#linux #unix #opensource #freesoftware #cachyos #steam

Crazy... After a week of continuous use with Debian (with daily reboots in the morning), my Logitech MX Mechanical keyboard suddenly started acting up: some letters got stuck and were displayed dozens of times while I was typing. Other keys weren't registering at all.

Well, I thought, maybe there’s something wrong with the keyboard—dirt, crumbs, dust, or something like that. So I switched keyboards to an MX Keys—exactly the same issue. No improvement even with a third keyboard (Cherry, via cable).

So I removed the built-in NVMe with Debian, installed one with Zorin OS—absolutely no input errors. Same thing with an NVMe running Fedora. Everything back to normal. I’ve never experienced anything like this before. The mysterious mysteries of Linux. 😆

#linux #unix #opensource #freesoftware #debian #zorinos #fedora #logitech #cherry #keyboard

I was bad... so damn bad! I went against my own principles! Out of curiosity, I broke my sacred vow NEVER to use something like artificial intelligence. Especially not for meaningless stuff, like most people use it for.

But then... I was looking for a new profile picture for myself.... and then... I got curious to see if all this artificial intelligence hype had any substance... if this AI is really as good in certain areas as many claim... so I tried out an image AI for the first time... and this is what came out: me as a UNIX Viking... I’m ashamed! So, judge me for my weakness!

But on the other hand: it does kind of look cool, doesn’t it?

#unix #linux #opensource #freesoftware #vikings #AI

@vowe@social.heise.de Bitte nicht den Teufel an die Wand malen! Das würde selbst mir als Österreicher schmerzen, wenn unsere Lieblingsnachbarn so eine korrupte Flasche als Kanzler bekommen würden. Auch, weil das gravierende Folgen für Europa hätte.

Young Buns

#gaumenkino

Die neun Torten

#gaumenkino

Fluch des Aspik

#gaumenkino

@stefan@social.anoxinon.de @dino@fosstodon.org Stell ich mir zwar ein bissl umständlich vor, den Lappi in die Hosentasche einzustecken 😎 aber das nenn ich mal eine coole und spannende Alternative! 👍

@justincrozer@fosstodon.org I read this on a fairly influential German tech website. Here is the source. It says at the very bottom of the last paragraph that Samsung would meet all the necessary requirements, which is why it is assumed that it could be Samsung with a phone produced specifically for GrapheneOS.

https://www.galaxus.at/de/page/grapheneos-verschiebt-pixel-alternative-auf-2027-41106

Stell Dir eine Welt vor, in der jeder kleine Hobby-Bastler und ehrenamtliche Entwickler sich bei einem globalen Konzern registrieren muss, um seine Kreationen zu teilen. Das ist die Welt, die Google im Jahr 2026 für Android vorsieht. https://keepandroidopen.org/de/ @keepandroidopen@techhub.social

@justincrozer@fosstodon.org Rumor has it that GrapheneOS's secret OEM partner is Samsung. This phone was supposed to be released this year, but has now been postponed until 2027 due to the chip crisis and other factors. In any case, it should work out. Then we would finally have a hardware alternative.

Speaking of which: I’ve been back on Debian for a few days now. In the meantime, there have been a few updates—maybe they fixed the keyboard issue? I don’t know. But in any case, it’s working fine now without any problems or keys getting stuck.

#linux #unix #opensource #freesoftware #debian