As for laptops, there are a lot of other options like Tuxedo, NovaCustom, and Slimbook

I would avoid the Brax phone, they haven’t fulfilled orders and are super shady + social media influencer platform is never a great look. I would prefer the Fairphone, they’ve been around for ages, and you can install mobile Linux on their devices too since they let you unlock the boot loader. postmarketOS on the FP6 is developing rapidly and very exciting! Other pmOS supported devices like the OP6 or Pixel 3a series could be considered too, as well as the custom Android ROMs (Graphene, Calyx, etc.)

AsteroidOS is Linux on smartwatches, what more do you want? You also have Pebble if you’re into e-ink and that sort

As for TVs, it’s tricky, but just look for the non-smart ones (there are quite a few!), and I know Sony makes the Bravia TVs where you can set them to be “basic” non-smart mode. You could also go with a projector instead, those usually don’t have smart TV shenanigans. You can also use a Linux mini PC running Plasma Bigscreen and/or Kodi as an alternative to Google TV.

Mini PCs running some form of Linux (Bazzite, CachyOS, Fedora, Mint, whatever) are always awesome. You also have emulation stuff, like the MiSTER Pi mentioned by another user, but you could run emulation stuff on any cheap hardware (running Linux) just fine.

OpenWRT is supported by lots of routers, and GL.iNet makes routers that have it preinstalled. You also have the MikroTik routers, which run the Linux-based RouterOS (+ they are based in Latvia 🇱🇻)

Reolink cameras w/ Frigate and Home Assistant is the best combo.

The only wireless headphones I would recommend are the Fairphone Fairbuds Gen 2, since they won’t die in a few years w/ replaceable parts and battery, and even then, for 99% of usecases, I would rather go with IEMs + some wireless dongle (I use the Fiio BTR11, but others exist too, in particular, the Fiio Snowsky Retro Nano has replaceable batteries of an esoteric form factor). You get the convenience of wireless as well as all the benefits of wired: harder to lose, better audio quality, WAY cheaper (seriously, I spent less than $30 on my kit), longer lasting, etc. I would recommend the Kiwi Ears Cadenza and Truthear Gate, and I’ve heard the Hexa/Pure is great too. Moondrop’s Chu 2 are awesome too with a metal shell for a ridiculously low price, but the brass nozzle oxidises and clogs in humid environments (I am in the humid land of HK, so no go for me)

As for printers, the Open Printer is crowd funding and looks really neat! You of course have the Brother laser printers too, but not sure about their telemetry and tracking.

I am moving to Piefed at [email protected] (https://retrofed.com/u/scallisto)

Jolla phone runs Sailfish OS (partially closed source, but Linux-based) while the Volla phones can either run Android or Ubuntu Touch (more open-source). They have very different aesthetics and target different prices too (the former is cheaper and has a plastic fantastic build, while the latter are glass slabs)

Personally, I’m rooting for postmarketOS, since it’s compatible with lots of devices. has the ability to install Flatpaks due to using a mainline (or at least closer to it) kernel over Ubuntu Touch and SailfishOS using the Android kernel (or at least parts of it I think, “proprietary blobs”), and recently the Fairphone 6 has been getting good pmOS development (super exciting! Even fingerprint has been made to work!)

I am moving to Piefed at [email protected] (https://retrofed.com/u/scallisto)

For OpenCentauri, there isn’t any store where you can get CCs with it preinstalled. Installation looks pretty straightforward though as long as you can follow the docs (which are really nice actually!)

Just of note, OpenCentauri is still being developed so it’s not the most stable (and the docs mention that Klipper plugins are pretty much a no-go)

I know the community is working on a project called OpenCentauri, an open firmware for the Elegoo Centauri Carbon (great printer and amazing value for the money, but it uses a closed variant of Klipper, who knows what it’s doing in the background)

You also have the DIY Voron kits, and Sovol produces Prusa-likes and Voron-likes that usually use open firmware.

Just avoid Bambu as somebody who owns an A1 (set to LAN only mode, using a microSD card to transfer print files), as aside from the lock down shenanigans and attempting to take down forks of their Bambu Slicer software (which itself is a fork of a fork), they also use a closed firmware and are heavily promoting their cloud services. I also heard that Creality is one to be cautious of too.

I am moving to Piefed at [email protected] (https://retrofed.com/u/scallisto)

Aside from Wireguard, you have Wireguard alternatives-but-not-really-since-they-are-based-on-Wireguard like Netbird and Tailscale. The latter is more well-known, but the main downside is that, to connect to the cloud servers, you need a Google, Microsoft, or Github account to login. It can be self-hosted with Headscale (community project) though (and you don’t need an account for that, since it’s your hardware)! Netbird is similar to Tailscale, but you can use normal email login to use their cloud servers, and they offer official self-hosting support.

I am moving to Piefed at [email protected] (https://retrofed.com/u/scallisto)

Before writing a line of app code, I’m validating demand. And I’ll put my money where my mouth is: the landing page and the waitlist both run on a Debian box in my living room.

This isn’t trying to replace your monitoring server; it’s the mobile, unified, privacy-first front-end I keep wishing those had.

Hello, fellow human! Do you too enjoy the sweet sensations of smell and taste?

Just a small point, double negatives can get pretty confusing. Even in English, you often have double negatives becoming a negative rather than a positive, e.g. “I didn’t go nowhere” or “You don’t know nothing”. Changing which part of the phrase you emphasise can also change that, for instance, if you said “I didn’t go nowhere” it implies that you did in fact go somewhere (double negative becomes a positive when stressing the second negative). This gets all the more confusing when you bring in other languages, since they all handle double negatives differently!

Generally, there are a lot of used options out there (particularly from businesses upgrading their hardware), just like laptops. Even when shopping for new ones, I can find lots of cheap options (though they aren’t very good value usually, but they are enough to serve as a basic media box)

Raspberry Pis have unfortunately gotten very expensive, yes, but those are SBCs, not mini PCs?

Outside, it usually sits around 65-70% humidity, over 80% during the summer. Hong Kong is like that unfortunately. Dunno about the room my printer sits in though, I don’t have a hydrometer in there, but I imagine it’s a little bit lower (maybe 60%? 70% in warmer months?). I don’t dry my PLA though and I’ve mostly had good printing experiences.

Or a mini PC! (little guy that can be a bit smaller + cheaper too, you will need to get a keyboard and/or mouse for it though)

quite a bit cheaper

But it isn’t 2-3x…I never said they were price comparable, I noted that they were more expensive, but not multiples of Bambu’s pricing!

Better value options exist on the market now, like the Elegoo CC and Qidi’s lineup

2x or 3x a bambu

I don’t think the upcharge is multiples, but it is significant comparing the X1 Carbon to the Core One. If you want better value machines, I would look at other brands (but you also have to consider the long term value and the openness, how much is that worth it to you?)

But I would avoid Bambu. They are no longer the best value, they are not open, and they are not as reliable either (it does not “just work”, the nozzle has clogged on my A1 and needs to be replaced, and regular maintenance is needed e.g. cleaning the bed like any printer), the worst of both worlds as I see it.

If you already have a 3D printer, you might be interested in printing some of the parts of a Voron kit!

Avoid Bambu printers, they are locking down everything and a firmware update blocked the use of third-party software (e.g. OrcaSlicer) and hardware (e.g. the Panda Touch display for the P1 series). I have an A1 myself, and I wouldn’t recommend it anymore. There are also better value options from other brands nowadays! I believe Creality is also a brand to avoid based on what I’ve heard online

I know the Elegoo Centauri Carbon is a very good value, even better than the A1 since it is CoreXY w/ an enclosure. You also have the version without an enclosure for even cheaper. Sovol makes some excellent options, as does Qidi (in particular, they’re known for making very good value printers that work well with engineering-type filaments).

And of course, if you want the best reliability, support, and repairability, you should look at the Prusa. Their Core One is their flagship and is CoreXY, has an enclosure, and will later support an multi-toolhead upgrade (the INDX)! You also have their older MK4S+ (which is a bedslinger) as well as their Mini (which has a smaller bed size and is a bedslinger), as well as the XL if you need a huge bed area w/ 6 toolheads (very expensive though)

I am moving to Piefed at [email protected] (https://retrofed.com/u/scallisto)

This seems super cool, you can curate your own search index :O

Being able to preview your search results offline is quite neat too!

One question though, how will you solve the issue of “echo chambers”, because from my understanding, it looks like it will only present results that you search for / have searched for, meaning for some people, you could be stuck with results that only support your view of the world.

1. That’s simply wrong, the most reliable (consumer) machine is probably the Prusa Core One, and the best print quality would depend on what you are printing (resin printing is nicer than most FDM but has its own set of challenges, Prusa XL can have six toolheads, single toolhead printers, etc.)

And of course, enterprises grade machines are probably much more reliable than any consumer grade hardware

2. This is focusing on the budget segment, which the H2 series is far outside of anyways (as is the Prusa machines). The Centauri Carbon by Elegoo is better than the A1 Mini in most metrics (larger volume, enclosed, CoreXY, more open ecosystem, etc.) for around the same price point, and the Sovol machines are quite good there as well.

The Elegoo Centauri Carbon is really good for the price: enclosed, CoreXY, etc. Arguably better than Bambu’s offerings even by feature set alone.

Qidi’s Q series is also quite good if you want to print more engineering type filaments, but might be considered “midrange tier” given that it’s ~$500 ish.

Sovol makes some good machines too, a lot of people have already suggested them.

One thing of note, since Pixelfed is part of the Fediverse, posts made on Pixelfed instances can be seen by users of Mastodon and other platforms that use the same protocol! It’s really neat!

their results seem mostly identical to ddg/bing too though it’s occasionally better than them for some reason

I believe Ecosia uses either Google or Bing search indexes depending on the region, but they are working on an independent index with Qwant that will hopefully be a good alternative! If you live in France, it’s already bring trialled!

But yeah, Ecosia is like any search engine and there is bit of greenwashing with LLMs and all. However, they are a non-profit with transparent earnings reports, and that makes them better than Google, Bing, DDG, etc. for me.

they geoblock certain countries including mine since 2023 or so

Dang, that sucks.

That’s fair enough (unfortunately, this is the case for most search engines aside from SearXNG instances I think)! Thankfully they do let you disable it, which is nice. I mostly like that they are quite transparent about how they operate! The planting trees thing is a nice bonus, but they certainly aren’t saints to the environment, no search engine is