XCP-ng is pretty cool

Why should I use a piece of software that’s controlled by a corporate entity in Russia?

I got a used unit for much cheaper from the place I previously worked at. If I had to spend 5K on one, I probably wouldn’t use it either.

I use LTO magnetic tape for archiving data, but unfortunately the tape drives are VERY expensive. The tape itself is relatively cheap though (this is a 5-pack at 12TB uncompressed, 30TB compressed per cardridge, totaling at 60TB uncompressed, 150TB compressed. This is a lot cheaper than hard drives, and lasts for much longer), has large storage capacity and 30+ years of shelf life. Yes, I know, LTO 9 has come out, but I won’t be upgrading, because LTO 8 works just fine for me, and is much cheaper. The drives are backwards compatible by one generation though, e.g. you can use LTO 8 tape in an LTO 9 drive.

I run my Pi-Hole on a dedicated Raspberry Pi. I have another Pi that runs my SSH tarpit. These are the only 2 things I keep on separate devices, the rest is containerized on my main server.

You can accomplish the same with dnscrypt-proxy and Orbital Sync for Pi-Hole. You can also run a recursive DNS server using Unbound.

Yes, just take the SIM card out of your iPhone, put it into the new phone and you’re done. Make sure to buy a carrier-unlocked Pixel though, otherwise you won’t be able to install Graphene.

Last Git commit to the old UAD repo was on April 10th, 2023, so yeah, I think it’s fair to say that it’s unmaintained. For comparison, UADng was last updated yesterday.

That one is old and unmaintained. Use this newer version of it instead: https://github.com/Universal-Debloater-Alliance/universal-android-debloater-next-generation/

Arch is pretty good, but it’s fairly easy to break it, if you don’t know what you’re doing. For gamers I recommend Bazzite. It’s an image-based fork of Fedora Atomic (Universal Blue). You can also try other ublue-based distros such as Aurora or Bluefin. Or Fedora Atomic flavors like Silverblue and Kinoite. In fact, you can easily switch between them without reinstalling your system. All it takes is one command, and ostree will do the magic.

I love it too, it’s genuinely the best app for podcasts I’ve ever used

That honestly feels like a downgrade to me

Convince them to use Signal, by far the best, end-to-end encrypted messaging app

I’m trying to help out wherever I can :)

The markdown link to your dotfiles is broken

https://github.com/Jas-SinghFSU/HyprPanel

https://rentry.co/firehawk52

Probably an unpopular opinion, but I’ve never seen the point of PWAs. I don’t want a crappy website as an icon on my homescreen, I want a proper native app. If the app is privacy-invasive, I will either find a FOSS alternatives, or isolate it in a separate user profile.

The main reason I think they may need google services is the banking app. Mine will refuse to launch without google services installed.

That’s true, I also need Play services for mine, but I have a special user profile for it.

They can recieve security updates if you use an alternative ROM such as Lineage or /e/OS.

They can only receive OS updates, but firmware updates are just as important for maintaining the security of a device. These can only be provided by the device manufacturer.

Can you please explain how e/OS/ is insecure?

Sure. It’s based on the already insecure LineageOS, you can read more about that here: https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/android.html#lineageos

On top of that, the /e/OS devs don’t release updates in a timely manner, often taking 1-3 months to releases even simple but important Android Security Bulletin patches.

If you use a Pixel, why don’t you go with GrapheneOS? It is much more secure and private than LineageOS.