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HowTo Geek Coverage of GNU/Linux and Homelabs
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HowTo Geek ☛ I Love Retro Computers, So I Ranked 10 Classics by Their Looks
The early days of home computing were an exciting and unpredictable time. Different manufacturers were competing at different price points, with varied form factors, each with their own idea of what a modern computer should look like.
The results have largely shaped the now-popular retro-futurism vibe seen in shows like Severance and games like Starfield. Here are some of the best-looking forerunners of whatever it is you’re reading this on.
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HowTo Geek ☛ How My Homelab Became the Most Useful Thing in My Home
My homelab does a lot in my household, but one of the main functions of it is my media servers. I have a video server, audiobook server, and ebook server even—all of which make accessing my self-hosted content a breeze.
Plex powers my video server, allowing me to access my media library both at home and when I’m out and about. I’ve used my Plex server to download movies to watch on airplanes before, or even just enjoy a movie in the car while riding down the road.
Audiobookshelf handles all of my audiobook needs. Not all audiobooks are available on Audible, and I like to go directly to the publisher when I can. So, I have my own audiobook server that allows me to listen to my entire library anywhere I am.
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HowTo Geek ☛ The First 5 Things I’d Set Up If I Were Building a Homelab Today
Are you just getting started on your homelab journey? I’ve been building out my homelab for nearly five years at this point, and I’ve learned a lot on the way. Here are the first things that I would deploy today if I was building a homelab from scratch.
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HowTo Geek ☛ I Run My Favorite Apps in Docker So I Never Need to Reinstall Them
Are you tired of configuring, and reconfiguring, and configuring yet again your favorite server applications? I was, but Docker fixed that. Portability makes Docker one of my favorite homelab tools, and I think you’ll love it too.
Configuring Apps Is the Most Annoying Part of Any Software
There’s nothing more annoying than configuring and setting up self-hosted apps. Some software makes setup a breeze, and it only takes a few minutes, while other programs can, quite literally, take several hours to properly configure.
Between setting up users, remote access, libraries and catalogs, and other configuration options, once I have a program set up I don’t want to go through the process again.
This is one of the best features of Docker—once you set up a program, you really don’t have to worry about setting it up again in the future unless something goes majorly wrong with your configuration files.
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HowTo Geek ☛ Why I’m Done Using My Laptop as a Desktop
Are you using a laptop as a desktop? That’s been my life for years, but after a recent experiment, I actually think that having a dedicated desktop is worth it—even with how great and powerful modern laptops are.
Modern Laptops Are Great Desktop Replacements
For years, I longed for the day when a laptop could truly replace my desktop. I tried to accomplish this task since 2012, and could never do it. Sure, I would end up using whatever MacBook Pro I had at the time as my desktop, but it was always lacking in one way or another—whether that was GPU power, CPU power, thermals, or another area.
In 2016, I finally made the switch to running my life on a laptop. The 2016 15.4-inch MacBook Pro offered enough performance to become my desktop replacement.
Fast-forward to 2021 and the launch of Apple’s M1 Pro/Max lineup of in-house processors, and you have the ideal machine. Apple’s M-series processors offer plenty of raw power in an energy-efficient package, allowing you to use the same computer at home or on-the-go and enjoy the same power at both places.