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Best Home Wi-Fi settings for Maximum Speed and Internet coverage in Europe

Tuesday, July 21st, 2026

best-home-wifi-settings-for-maximum-speed-and-internet-coverage-europe-simple-steps-to-improve-your-home-wifi-signal

A fast broadband subscription is only part of the equation to have excellent internet air connectivity configuration for a home / work Wi-Fi Internet Router.
Even if you pay for good stable gigabit fiber options connection, poor Wi-Fi configuration can reduce your real-world speeds by more than half which might make working with devices have annoying temporary slownesses or even disruptions, when exchanging data to internet.

Our modern homes are filled with smart TVs, streaming devices, gaming consoles, laptops, smartphones, and IoT devices – all competing to take over fastest and stablest connectivity to the wireless device bandwidth.
Thus optimizing Wi-Fi router connectivity settings is no longer optional but is kind oa  in year 2026.

This snall guide would covers most of the best practices for configuring a home Wi-Fi network for maximum speed, stability, and security across Europe.

1. Choose the Right Wi-Fi Standard

Your router determines the maximum performance of your wireless network.


Recommended standards:

  • Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax): Best value for most homes
  • Wi-Fi 6E: Excellent if your devices support the new 6 GHz band
  • Wi-Fi 7: Future-proof and ideal for multi-gigabit internet connections

! Avoid, using older Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 4 equipment unless upgrading is not possible !

2. Use the Best Frequency Band

Modern routers typically broadcast multiple wireless bands.


2.4 GHz Advantages:

  • Longer range
  • Better wall penetration
  • Disadvantages:
  • Lower speeds
  • More interference
  • Congested in apartments


2.4GHz Ideal for:

  • Smart home devices
  • Printers
  • Cameras

5 GHz Advantages:

 

  • Higher throughput
  • Lower latency
  • Less interference
  • Ideal for:
  • Streaming
  • Gaming
  • Video conferencing
  • Workstations


6 GHz (Wi-Fi 6E / Wi-Fi 7) Advantages:

 

  • Extremely low interference
  • Highest available speeds
  • Very low latency


6Ghz Wifi is usual use is:

With most modern Devices, such as (IoT connected devices, Wifi Gaming PCs, High-performance laptops, For large files transfer), tech quipment that looking for best Internet connectivity via air.. 

3. Position Your Router Correctly

best-wifi-router-placement-location-position-your-wireless-router-correctly-for-optimial-internet-air-speed

Router placement has a greater impact than many people realize.

Best practices for Router Positioning:

  • Place the router near the center of your home.
  • Position it on a shelf or table rather than on the floor.
  • Avoid placing it inside cabinets.
  • Keep it away from large metal objects.
  • Maintain distance from microwaves and cordless phones.
  • Keep antennas vertical unless the manufacturer recommends otherwise.
  • In multi-story homes, position the router between floors whenever possible.

4. Select the Best Wireless Channel

Channel congestion is one of the biggest causes of slow Wi-Fi.

For Europe (European Union countries):

For 2.4 GHz Wifi;

Use signal spread only:

  • Channel 1
  • Channel 6
  • Channel 11


These channels minimize overlap.

For 5 GHz;

 

Enable automatic channel selection or manually choose a channel with low congestion using a Wi-Fi analyzer.

5. Use the Correct Channel Width

For 2.4 GHz WiFi


Use:
+ 20 MHz
Avoid:
– 40 MHz unless there are very few neighboring networks.

For 5 GHz

Recommended:
+ 80 MHz
+ Use 160 MHz only if:
+ Few neighboring networks exist
+ Your devices support it

For 6 GHz

Use:
160 MHz or wider when available.

6. Enable WPA3 Security


Best WPA3 selection:

WPA3-Personal


For older devices require Backwards compatibility (keep enabled):
WPA2/WPA3 Mixed Mode

Avoid:
– WEP
– WPA
– Open networks
– Strong security helps prevent unauthorized users from consuming bandwidth.


7. Separate IoT Devices in different network

Many smart home devices generate unnecessary wireless traffic.
Create seperate networks for:

  • Main networ
  • Guest network
  • IoT network

This improves performance and enhances security.

8. Enable OFDMA and MU-MIMO

Modern Wi-Fi 6 routers support technologies that improve efficiency.
OFDMA

Allows multiple devices to share wireless resources efficiently.
MU-MIMO
Enables simultaneous communication with multiple devices.

Both should remain enabled.

9. Update Router Firmware

Manufacturers regularly release updates that improve the Performance, Security, Stability, Compatibility.
As script kiddie "hackers" threaths raise seriously day by day, when possible always, do:

  • Enable automatic firmware updates whenever possible.

10. Use Quality of Service (QoS)


Use the router to QoS prioritizes important traffic
Usual candidates for higher priorty internet traffics configs are:

  • Streaming, Work VPN traffic
  • Gaming, Video calls


Se as Lower priority ones :

  • Downloads
  • Cloud automated backups, etc.

11. Disable Legacy Wi-Fi Modes


Older compatibility modes, has advantages for interoperability but does reduce network efficiency, so most people would like to disable it.

Disable wifi mode transmission:

– 802.11b
– 802.11g


For Performance use instead the newer transmissions:

+ 802.11n
+ 802.11ac
+ 802.11ax

12. Always Prefer Wired Connections for High-Bandwidth Devices

alwayes-prefer-wired-connections-for-high-bandwidth-devices-cable-network-connection-should-be-always-first-choice

Connect these devices via Ethernet whenever possible:

  • NAS systems (Storages), Desktop PCs (most important candidates for UTP connectivity)
  • Gaming consoles, Smart TVs, Streaming boxes (secondary but also important to not disrupt your fun time)


Note !:
 Every cable connected device would have possible impact on any other connected Wi-Fi devices such as Mobile phones.
Every wired device reduces wireless congestion!

13. Use Mesh Wi-Fi for large sized sq. meter homes

If your home exceeds approximately 150–200 m² or has multiple floors, consider a mesh Wi-Fi system instead of relying on a single router.


Benefits includes:

  • Better coverage
  • Seamless roaming
  • Higher overall speeds
  • Reduced dead zones

14. Monitor Network Usage


Many routers provide tools to identify bottlenecks. Some common ones are

  • Bandwidth-heavy devices, Weak connections

     

     

     

     

    Review these statistics as regular as possible to optimize your network and have decent internet connectivty.

  • Congested channels, Signal quality issues

15. Understand European Wi-Fi Regulations

European countries follow ETSI regulations for wireless spectrum.
Most routers sold in Europe automatically comply with regional requirements, including:

Permitted transmit power, DFS (Dynamic Frequency Selection), follow approved set wireless channels.

! Avoid changing the router's region setting, as this may violate local regulations and reduce compatibility. !

Example Configuration for a Modern European Home (Recommended Value Settings)
 

  1. Wi-Fi Standard    Wi-Fi 6 or newer
  2. Security    WPA3-Personal
  3. 2.4 GHz Channel    1, 6, or 11
  4. 2.4 GHz Width    20 MHz
  5. 5 GHz Width    80 MHz
  6. 6 GHz Width    160 MHz (if supported)
  7. Firmware    Automatic updates enabled
  8. QoS    Enabled
  9. OFDMA    Enabled
  10. MU-MIMO    Enabled
  11. Smart Connect    Enabled unless manual band control is preferred
  12. DNS    ISP, Cloudflare (1.1.1.1), or Google Public DNS (8.8.8.8)


Common mistakes to avoid

 

  • Placing the router inside a cabinet.
  • Using outdated firmware.
  • Running all devices on the 2.4 GHz band.
  • Selecting crowded wireless channels.
  • Leaving the default administrator password unchanged.
  • Using Wi-Fi extenders instead of a proper mesh system in large homes.
  • Connecting high-bandwidth devices wirelessly when Ethernet is available.

Conclusion

Optimizing a home Wi-Fi network involves more than purchasing a fast router. Proper placement, choosing the right frequency bands, selecting appropriate channels, keeping firmware updated, and enabling modern Wi-Fi features such as OFDMA and MU-MIMO can significantly improve speed, reliability, and coverage.
For most European households, a centrally located Wi-Fi 6 router configured with WPA3 security, 80 MHz channels on the 5 GHz band, and Ethernet connections for high-bandwidth devices provides an excellent balance of performance, security, and future readiness.

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Posted in Curious Facts, Educational, Everyday Life, Hacks, Performance Tuning, System Optimization | No Comments »

Why modern Linux systems feel Slow and how to Speed it up. Common RAM, CPU, and performance Linux problems in 2026 explained

Monday, May 18th, 2026

For years Linux we the Linux users proudly mocked Windows for bloated resource usage and that was a reason for many enthusiasts like me to start in the Linux realm.
There used to be the good old times where, lightweight distributions running comfortably inside 128MB of RAM were once common, and old computers and the hackers good old ThinkPads series were perfect for becoming a computer professional.

Fast-forward trip to 2026 and many modern GNU / Linux desktop's resource hunger has topped UP and a typical GUI environment such as Gnome is consuming as minimum 2 GB of RAM and often  4GB of RAM immediately after enters through the Login manager and machine. So many of the old computers if even running for 7-8 years and served well once updated or reused with Linux on a fresh install  prformance feels really bad. There of course work arounds to that as there are distributions such PuppyLinux / Tiny Core Linux / Linux Lite / Lubutuntu and even multiple articles online suggesting on how to place an ordinary Debian on Ubuntu and optimize it to work better on older hardware but still this article might be of help not only for old school Linux fans who install on old harware but also for sysadmins who has to deploy and install brand new Linux distributions and want to squeeze best of performance from the machine and make it as minimimalistic as possible in order to reduce the number of problems that might occur for system management.

So What happened, to make Linux performance degrade so dramatically over last 15 years ?

Old Hardware feels Slower Even With Linux

People often install Linux expecting miracles on ancient hardware.

Modern workloads assume:

  • SSD storage
  • multiple CPU cores
  • AVX instructions
  • GPU acceleration
  • large memory pools

Even lightweight Linux distributions struggle when rendering modern web applications on decade-old CPUs.

A 2007 machine browsing modern JavaScript-heavy websites experiences a fundamentally different workload than it did originally.

Web site use became computationally expensive.

 

Modern Linux Is Carrying the Weight of the development of Tech and Internet industry

A contemporary Linux desktop is no longer just:

  • X11
  • a window manager
  • a browser
  • a terminal emulator

Modern systems now run dozens of background services (as people run into complexity more and more instead of minimalism). Even a basic Linux install often runs by default things such as:
telemetry collectors, hardware abstraction layers, sandboxing frameworks, package management daemons, web server management platforms, indexing systems, GPU compositors, browser engines that resemble miniature operating systems and even with some specific distros embedded containers.

A typical desktop session environment on Linux today often includes as a base a bunch of software that is not always necessery such as:

  • systemd
  • dbus-daemon
  • pipewire
  • wireplumber
  • NetworkManager
  • xdg-desktop-portal
  • gvfsd
  • tracker-miner
  • udisksd
  • polkitd
  • bluetoothd
  • ModemManager
  • cupsd
  • flatpak-session-helper

Many younger users won't  never notice the burden of having those services running all time on the hardware as hardware today is mostly powerful and modern PC and notebooks often ship with 16GB or even some gaiming machines have 32 GB of memory.

As the default amount of memory on a laptop PC has become so abundant as 16GB RAM has become  "normal / standard ",  so software developers stopped aggressively optimizing memory consumption, plus the inclusing of AI vibe coding today and the abundant resource makes things with program optimization even more bloated.

The result of all this is more and more software entropy (the tendency of software systems to become more disorganized, complex, and harder to maintain over time).

The older UNIX philosophy no longer remembered by newer developers is completely forgotten. The old unix thinking was "Do one thing well.",
the new is "use everything no matter the efficiency if that would save you time"

As a result modern desktop applications instead ship entire browser engines for  simple things as displaying buttons.
This is exactly where Linux desktop gets heavily loaded and cause for whole system to work sluggish even on newer hardware. 
Very large part of those ineffiicient developed is caused by Electron:

Electron Framework for building Desktop apps worsened Linux performance

One of the largest reasons modern Desktop Linux / Windows systems is Electron (a framework for building desktop applications using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS).

Electron bundles essentially with:

  • Chromium
  • Node.js
  • V8 JavaScript engine
  • application runtime
  • UI rendering engine

and this is used in …inside many of the third party applications, which unfurtunately has to be used also on Linux, few examples that has heavy electron use are:

  • Discord client
  • Slack client
  • VS Code
  • Element 
  • Spotify
  • Visual Studio Code
  • Discord
  • Signal Desktop
  • Postman
  • Countless App launchers part of extra packages that one needs to use on Linux Desktop

…are frequently separate Chromium instances or use large part of chromium libs pretending to be native applications.

1. Finding top resource hungry Apps on Linux

To get a list of most memory heavy Apps on a Linux system:

# ps aux –sort=-%mem | head

 

You may discover that “lightweight desktop apps” and background services are consuming much more RAM than imagined.

Measuring Real Resource Usage Properly

Many users misunderstand Linux memory reporting.

Linux aggressively uses RAM for:

  • filesystem cache
  • buffers
  • inode caching

Note! Unused RAM is wasted RAM.

# free -h

Focus on:

  • available memory
  • swap activity
  • sustained pressure

Better command tools to optimize OS include:

htop
btop
smem
iotop
vmstat

Systemd  Useful but running default unused services

Mentioning systemd still starts wars on Linux forums.

Reality is nuanced.

Systemd solved real problems:

  • dependency management
  • predictable service startup
  • cgroup integration
  • journal logging
  • parallel boot
  • service supervision

However, it also dramatically expanded the scope of PID 1 responsibilities.

Leading to many Linux-es to now launch numerous services laying around, not known by the users and never (intially needed).

If you want to check and optimize systemd ecosystem to improve performance

2. Check systemd OS boot chain and disable unnecessery services

# systemd-analyze blame

And inspect active systemd units:

# systemctl list-units –type=service

Many Linux distributions has by default setup of unused:

  • printer services on systems without printers
  • modem services on desktops without modems
  • Bluetooth stacks on machines without Bluetooth devices
  • indexing daemons nobody uses

Disable unnecessary services carefully:

sudo systemctl disable –now ModemManager
sudo systemctl disable –now bluetooth
sudo systemctl disable –now cups


This alone will reduce memory usage and boot time.
A common set of unused Apps on Desktop and servers goes like this:
 

# Printing system (disable if you never use printers)

# systemctl disable –now cups.service cups-browsed.service

# Bluetooth support (disable if you don’t use Bluetooth devices)

# systemctl disable –now bluetooth.service

# Mobile broadband / modem support (disable if no 4G / 5G dongles)

# systemctl disable –now ModemManager.service

# Network discovery (AirPrint, LAN service discovery; disable if not needed)

# systemctl disable –now avahi-daemon.service

# Location services for apps/browser geolocation (disable if not used)

# systemctl disable –now geoclue.service

# Ubuntu crash reporting services (safe to disable for privacy/no reporting)

# systemctl disable –now apport.service whoopsie.service

# Desktop search indexing (GNOME file search; disable if you don’t use fast search)

# systemctl disable –now tracker-miner-fs.service tracker-extract.service tracker-store.service

 

For deeper analysis check out systemd cg groups use:

# systemd-cgtop

Or inspect slab allocator usage:

slabtop


3. Avoid using Flatpak and Snap for extra Apps

Flatpak and Snap Increase Isolation, provides many modern Apps that are not default shipped by Debian / Ubuntu / Fedora OS  etc (Deb / RPM) repos and keeps packages easily at latest but also puts great worthless overhead on system.
 

a) Modern packaging systems like Flatpak and Snap (Pros) prioritize:

  • sandboxing
  • dependency isolation
  • reproducibility
  • cross-distribution compatibility

This is good for security, however it comes at a cost.

b) Use of Flatpak and Snap pack. managers downsides

Flatpak applications frequently duplicate:

  • runtimes
  • libraries
  • graphics stacks
  • helper services

Snap packages compress applications into loop-mounted filesystem images which increase startup overhead and general memory fragmentation.

Inspect mounted Snap filesystems

# mount | grep snap


Inspect Flatpak runtimes:

# flatpak list


Considering that, traditional native packages remain significantly leaner in many cases.

4. Use Minimalistic GUI Desktop environment to reduce resource and use of complexity on Linux

Being mimimalist nowadays in a world of abundancy is considered wrong. However minimalism has its well known provent benefits. 

Wayland Is Efficient,  but X11 env with Minimalist GUI is better

Wayland itself is not inherently bloated.

However, modern compositors increasingly rely on:

  • GPU acceleration
  • animation pipelines
  • texture buffering
  • fractional scaling
  • HDR rendering
  • Vulkan / OpenGL abstractions

This improves:

  • smoothness
  • latency
  • security
  • multi-monitor support

…but increases baseline GPU and memory usage and still for performance cautious desktop users it is most likely not the best option.

For example, try to compare CPU / Mem / Disk use of:

  • Openbox on X11
  • KDE Plasma on Wayland with effects enabled

The performance difference is dramatic.


If you want to be a Linux Minimalist (benefit) and get astonishingly low resource usage try:

  • dwm
  • i3
  • bspwm
  • Openbox
  • Wmaker
  • XFCE
  • IceWM

Switching to one of those Linux ecosystem instead of the default heavy GNOME or KDE permits even further optimizations on Graphical environment level,  if users intentionally choose it. The downsides of that is twitching it will take you usually longer but if you setup one and the same desktop with the basic minimalist environment and you keep using it for daily work / development for years, invested time is worth.

5. Use browser extensions, habits or a lightweight  browser. 

Web browser a common source of slowness 

Web Browsers, became nowadays a fully featured Operating Systems. On many machines they are the largest consumers of RAM on Linux systems and on old computers main source of slowness. On older PCs try to use other small browser alternatives

A single browser tab may include:

  • isolated sandbox process
  • JavaScript runtime
  • GPU process
  • extension subsystem
  • video decoder
  • site isolation sandbox
  • service workers

a) Inspect Chromium process trees

# ps -ef | grep chromium

b) Inspect Firefox process trees

about:processes

 

A few “simple” tabs can easily consume several gigabytes.

The modern web itself is bloated:

  • gigantic JavaScript frameworks
  • endless analytics
  • autoplay video
  • AI scripts
  • tracking engines
  • real-time rendering

Shamefully, many websites today consume more RAM than entire operating systems from the early 2000s.

If you have to work on a PC with 4 or 8 GB with Linux maybe you can try to use a GUI browser only when necessery and for general reading and stuff use a minimalist version of browsers such as using a text / console web  browser and ones that are capable to support ncurses and javascript partially, a good candidate for a real console maniac or an old school hacker will be some of below:

  • Lynx (lightest, pure text)
  • w3m (text browser but supports javascripts partially)
  • Links / Links2 (fast, ultra-lightweight web browser works in both text and gui modes)
    NetSurf (graphical web browser built from scratch with its own independent layout and rendering engine, performs poor with javascript)
  • Browsh (can be often used instead of fully functional browser but buggy)

xlinks2-graphical-mode-lightweight-browser-linux

c) Use Lightweight Browsing Habits

Extensions matter enormously.

Block:

  • ads
  • trackers
  • autoplay
  • unnecessary scripts

uBlock Origin (free and open source browser block extension) alone can dramatically reduce CPU and RAM consumption.

Final words; the modern computing efficiency degredal

What a paradox, Modern hardware is unbelievably powerful, yet modern software consumes resources at almost the same rate hardware improves.

This phenomenon is partially explained by:abstraction layers, developer convenience, use of cross-platform frameworks, increased security isolation, the web technologies heaviness and reduced optimization pressure.

Even though the degredal in perforamance on old hardware, Linux itself remains extremely efficient at the kernel level.

The bloat largely exists and widens though in:

  • userland
  • desktop ecosystems
  • browser-centric software culture
     

The computing as we know it changed.

What once was: terminal-centric, native, lightweight,locally optimized, inter-dependent

turned over  last 10 years: browser-centricm, all time cloud-connected, sandboxed, abstraction-heavy, outer dependent

The good news is that GNU / Linux still gives users freedom, even though the freedom has reduced.

Even though the performance reduced,  Linux still remains one of the few environments where users retain meaningful control over their data and system complexity in the AI, Clouds era

 

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Posted in Curious Facts, Educational, Hacks, Linux, Linux and FreeBSD Desktop, Performance Tuning, System Administration, System Optimization | No Comments »

How to Create the Latest Windows 10 / 11 Installation Media from Linux OS

Monday, April 20th, 2026

create-a-windows-installation-flash-drive-from-linux-logo-howto-create-windows-media-os-installer

Creating a Windows 10 installation USB from a Linux system is entirely possible and surprisingly straightforward once you know the few steps process and using few Linux tools. Whether you're preparing a dual-boot setup, fixing a broken Windows machine OS onplace, or re-installed Windows, installing fresh from scratch, is an useful skill every self-respecting sysadmin should be aware of.

Why Create Windows Installation Media from Linux ?

Even a hardcore Linux sysadmin / Desktop users need Windows for specific software, gaming, or troubleshooting, or for deployment of Windows installs for non-IT professionals, friends or company environments.
Having a Windows installable ISO by downloading and using Windows Media Creation Tool is an easy trivial task for those with Windows but is a problem especially for GNU / Linux users like me who don't own a computer with Microsoft Windows, but have Debian / Ubuntu / Fedora in place. 
Microsoft’s official media creation tool is made to only runs on Windows OS, fortunately there is a few ways to have an installable USB drive prepared even on Linux.

The main challenge lies in properly formatting the USB flash drive and handling large Windows image files, especially the install.wim, which can exceed FAT32 file size limits.

What You’ll Need

Before starting, make sure you have:

  • A USB drive (at least 8GB sized recommended)
  • A Linux system (Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch Linux etc.)
  • The latest Windows 10 ISO file (downloaded locally)

1. Download the Windows 10 ISO

Go to Microsoft’s official website and download the latest Windows 10 ISO. You can do this directly from Linux using your browser.

  1. Go to the Official Windows 10 Download Page.
  2. On Windows: Press F12 (Dev Tools), click the Device Toolbar icon (mobile/tablet icon), and refresh the page. This tricks Microsoft into thinking you are on a Mac or Linux machine.
  3. Select the edition and language, then click Confirm.
  4. Right-click the 64-bit Download button and select Copy link address.
  5. In your terminal, use wget. Note: You must wrap the URL in double quotes because it contains special characters:


Use wget with  a direct copy of download link like for example:

$ wget https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows10.iso -O windows10.iso

Make sure the ISO is fully and correctly downloaded before proceeding further.

2. Install Required Tools

On Debian / Ubuntu deb-based distros. You’ll need few utilities:

# apt update # apt install wimtools ntfs-3g p7zip-full

On Fedora:

# dnf install wimlib ntfs-3g p7zip

These tools help extract and handle Windows image files properly.

3. Prepare the USB Drive

Insert your USB drive and identify it:

# lsblk

Look for something like /dev/sdb (be careful, as this will erase all data on the drive).

Partition and Format

Use fdiskor parted:

# fdisk /dev/sdb

  • Create a new partition table (GPT or MBR)
  • Create one primary partition
  • Set type to NTFS or FAT32

Then format it:

# mkfs.ntfs -f /dev/sdb1

 

NTFS is recommended because it supports large files.

4. Mount ISO and USB

Create mount points:

mkdir ~/winiso mkdir ~/winusb

Mount the ISO:

# mount -o loop windows10.iso ~/winiso

Mount the USB:

# mount /dev/sdb1 ~/winusb

5. Copy Files of ISO to Flash drive

Copy all files from the ISO to the USB:

# rsync -avh –progress ~/winiso/ ~/winusb/

This may take several minutes.

6. Handle Large install.wim File (If Needed)

If you formatted your USB as FAT32 and encounter issues with large files:

Split the WIM file:

# wimlib-imagex split ~/winiso/sources/install.wim ~/winusb/sources/install.swm 4000

Then remove the original:

rm ~/winusb/sources/install.wim

This step ensures compatibility with FAT32 file size limits.

7. Safely Unmount

Once everything is copied, make sure to:

# umount ~/winiso # umount ~/winusb

Now your USB is ready.

! NB ! Ensure Boot Files Exist

Double-check this path exists (on the new created Flash stick):

/EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi

If this file is missing, the USB will fail to boot Windows 11 OS Installer.

8. Boot from fresh created USB drive

Insert the USB flash drive into the target machine, reboot, and enter BIOS / UEFI (usually by pressing F2, F12, DEL, or ESC).

Select the USB drive as the boot device / Save settings, reboot and the Windows OS installer screen should appear.

9. Troubleshooting Tips and Common Pitfalls (Especially with Windows 11)

  • USB not booting ? – Ensure your system is set to boot in UEFI mode if your USB is GPT formatted.
  • Missing drivers ? – Try recreating the USB using NTFS instead of FAT32.
  • Secure Boot issues ? – You may need to disable Secure Boot in BIOS.

9.1. USB Not Booting

  • Try use FAT32 instead of NTFS

  • Ensure UEFI mode is enabled

9.2. “File Too Large” Error

  • Very likely you forgot to split install.wim (as prior described)

9.3. Installer Refuses to Continue

  • Windows 11 require:
    a.TPM 2.0
    b. Secure Boot

10. Alternative GUI Linux Tools to use WoeUSB-ng / Ventroy

If you prefer Linux GUI tools for preparation of Installation USB drive Media , consider downloading WoeUSB or Ventroy:

  • WoeUSB – specifically designed for creating Windows bootable USBs from Linux
  • Ventoy – allows you to copy multiple ISOs to a single USB and boot from a menu

10.1 Install WoeUSB-ng

Easiest and perhaps most straight forward way is to install it via git and pip python.

$ git clone https://github.com/WoeUSB/WoeUSB-ng.git

$ cd WoeUSB-ng

$ sudo pip3 install .

10.2. Install Ventroy and deploy Windows installer on USB Drive

 

a) Prepare the USB Drive in Linux

b) Add the Windows ISO 

c) Install Windows ISO

1. Download it : Get the ventoy-x.x.xx-linux.tar.gz file from the Ventoy website.

2. Extract : Open a terminal and extract: tar -xvf ventoy-*.tar.gz.

3. Locate USB: Run lsblk to identify your USB drive (e.g., /dev/sdb).

4. Install: Run the script (replace /dev/sdb with your drive):

# sudo ./Ventoy2Disk.sh -i /dev/sdb

 

Once installed, the USB will have a large partition named "Ventoy".


5. Copy, paste Windows ISO file: (Windows 10 or 11) onto this USB drive. 

 

6. Insert the USB,  into the target computer.

7. Reboot PC:  and enter the BIOS/boot menu (e.g., F2, F12) to boot from the USB.

Sum it up

Creating Windows 10 installation media from Linux might seem tricky at first, but with the right approach, it’s completely manageable, it is also a nice one if you need to create multiple flash drives, and you need to automate the process of Windows installable USB drive creation for multiple windows setups that needs to get reinstalled on place simultaneously.
Once you’ve done it once, it becomes a quick and reliable process you can reuse anytime.

Whether you're a Linux enthusiast or just working across systems, this method ensures you're never stuck without a Windows installer at hand, even without owing a Windows OS.

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Posted in Educational, Everyday Life, Linux, Windows | No Comments »

Automatically Re-plug all USB devices on system resume on Debian Linux using systemd

Thursday, March 26th, 2026

automatically-replug-all-usb-devices-on-system-resume-on-Debian-Ubuntu-Linux
Lets say you’re like me and you have an old but gold USB device like USB joystick Maxfire G-08XU (i've described how to configure Joystick / Gamepad on Debian Ubuntu easily), an USB flash drive stick or even some obscure USB keyboard model, that are not among the most compatible device on earth for linux. The result is in device plug and Sleeping the system or Hibernating it for a while (when go to bed) you end up with USB device being undetected by the system. Once you recover the Laptop / PC from being in Sleep mode / hibernate, the device becomes undetected by system, even though, even though the Linux kernel recognizes in lsusb. That weirdity continues until you do the manual hard workaround, which is to manually unplug the device cable and replug it again.
Though Linux has advanced much with this stuff over last years still this problems can occur every now and then. Thanksfully there is a quick fix to that. You can create a small script that reloads all the USB devices on PC
want the script to run automatically after your Debian laptop wakes up from suspend/hibernate. On Linux, the way to do this is using systemd sleep hooks. Here’s how to do it properly by using a small script + systemd.

1. Create a systemd sleep script

Create a new directory and file: 

# mkdir -p /etc/systemd/system-sleep

# vim /etc/systemd/system-sleep/usb-replug.sh

Add this content: 

#!/bin/bash
# Only run on resume (wake up)
case "$1" in
    post)
        # Replace '1-3' with your USB bus-port ID
        echo '1-3' | tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usb/unbind
        sleep 2
        echo '1-3' | tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usb/bind
        ;;
esac



If


If you need script logging use instead this small script:

 

#!/bin/bash

case $1/$2 in
pre/*)
# before suspend: you can put commands here if needed
;;
post/*)
# after resume: run your USB replug commands
echo "$(date) – Running USB replug script" >> /var/log/usb-replug.log
# Example command: trigger USB rescan
for bus in /sys/bus/usb/devices/*/authorized; do
echo 0 | sudo tee $bus
echo 1 | sudo tee $bus
done
;;
esac

2. Make it executable and reload systemd services

# chmod +x /etc/systemd/system-sleep/usb-replug.sh

Once you’ve created the script in /etc/systemd/system-sleep/ and made it executable, systemd will automatically call it on suspend/resume.

To make sure everything is recognized, you can:

  1. Reload systemd units (optional but recommended) 

# systemctl daemon-reload

  1. Test it manually by suspending and resuming your machine 

# systemctl suspend

After resuming, your script should run automatically and you should see the missing devices that you had to physically unplug and plug back to normal.
Hooray ! 🙂

3. How it works (systemd respawn)

  • systemd runs scripts in /etc/systemd/system-sleep/ on suspend and resume.

  • $1 is either pre (before sleep) or post (after wake).

  • The script unbinds and rebinds your USB device right after the system resumes.

Tip: You can also use usbreset instead of unbind/bind if you prefer, just replace the echo lines with:

# usbreset /dev/bus/usb/001/005

Alternatively you can use one time a simple one liner script that does the job like this:
 

# cat replug_usbs_linux.sh
#!/bin/bash

# one liner script to replug all USB devices like you have physically replugged all USBs useful if for example some of USB devices stuck after linux computer sleep

# for example my old maxfire g-08 usb joystick does mess up and i have to physically replug it (to work around this i simply run this script

d=$(lsusb -t | grep -m1 'Driver=' | sed -E 's|.*Port ([0-9]+):.*Bus ([0-9]+).*|\2-\1|') && echo $d | sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usb/unbind && sleep 2 && echo $d | sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usb/bind

 

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Posted in Curious Facts, Educational, Everyday Life, Linux and FreeBSD Desktop, Linux multimedia, Linux on Laptops | No Comments »

How to add Bulgarian language to GCompris Kids education software on Debian 12 GNU / Linux installing gcompris via flatpak next generation package distribution tool

Monday, January 26th, 2026

https://www.pc-freak.net/images/install-gcompris-on-linux-via-flatpak-package-distribution-sandboxed-framework.png

As I have a small currently 5.5 years old Kid Dimitar at home and i'm doing my best to make him learn new things and advance in different areas of life and knowledge.

Today Decided to introduce him to Linux4Kids gcompris a KDE educational set of games for small children.
Once installed with simple

# apt install gcompris-qt


It works fine and default version installable from default Debian distribution is fine, except it does not support Bulgarian.

That is again not a nice suprise, as even some pseudo languages like Belarusian are there to set but Bulgarian missing on the default installable pack:

# dpkg -l |grep -i gcompris
ii gcompris-qt 3.1-2 amd64 educational games for small children
ii gcompris-qt-data 3.1-2 all data files for gcompris-qt

After some tampering and unable to find a native .deb port of the latest release and my undesire to move from debian 12 (bookworm) Desktop Linux laptop at the moment to Debian 13 Trixie, i've finally found a way to install it via flatpak:

For those who never used snap package ecosystem or flatpak, here is a shortly synthesis on it:

Flatpak is an open-source, next-generation framework for building, distributing, and running sandboxed desktop applications on Linux.
It enables developers to package apps once and run them on any Linux distribution by including all necessary dependencies.
Flatpak improves security by isolating applications from the host system. 

Flatpaks are containerized applications. They require more space because the bring along their own versions of their dependencies instead of relying on system versions.

While a single application will have greater space requirements, the base images [and potentially overlays] will get shared between them and each successive flatpak will potentially require less overhead.

The pros to using them is that flatpaks are often more current than their distribution packaged versions and they are somewhat isolated from the base system. The cons are that they're not managed with the rest of your system packages, can have slower start times, occasionally have permissions issues, and take up more space.

In some cases, flatpak is a better choice. Sometimes, it's not, and there's no way we can really determine that for you.

Tried up to my best to install the newest version of gcompris which as of time of writting this blog post is gcompris 25.1

 # apt info flatpak|grep -i 'descr' -A8 -B8

WARNING: apt does not have a stable CLI interface. Use with caution in scripts.

Recommends: ca-certificates, default-dbus-system-bus | dbus-system-bus, desktop-file-utils, hicolor-icon-theme, gtk-update-icon-cache, libpam-systemd, p11-kit, polkitd | policykit-1, shared-mime-info, xdg-desktop-portal (>= 1.6), xdg-desktop-portal-gtk (>= 1.6) | xdg-desktop-portal-backend, xdg-user-dirs
Suggests: avahi-daemon, malcontent-gui
Conflicts: xdg-app
Replaces: xdg-app
Homepage: https://flatpak.org/
Download-Size: 1,400 kB
APT-Manual-Installed: yes
APT-Sources: http://ftp.debian.org/debian bookworm/main amd64 Packages
Description: Application deployment framework for desktop apps
 Flatpak installs, manages and runs sandboxed desktop application bundles.
 Application bundles run partially isolated from the wider system, using
 containerization techniques such as namespaces to prevent direct access
 to system resources. Resources from outside the sandbox can be accessed
 via "portal" services, which are responsible for access control; for
 example, the Documents portal displays an "Open" dialog outside the
 sandbox, then allows the application to access only the selected file.
 

 

# apt install flatpak

# flatpak remote-add –if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
# flatpak install flathub org.kde.gcompris
# flatpak run org.kde.gcompris


If you have sound glitches of gcompris on Older laptops install all necessery for pipewire run it like that:

# apt install pipewire pipewire-audio-client-libraries pipewire-pulse
 

Try to run it manually with:


# env PULSE_LATENCY_MSEC=60 ; flatpak run org.kde.gcompris

If still sound glithches are present a workaround is to tune PipeWire buffer/quantum size:

PipeWire buffer/quantum size too aggressive?
 

Many crackling issues come from too small quantum. Create ~/.config/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d/99-custom.conf

# vim ~/.config/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d/99-custom.conf
and add:textcontext.properties = {
    default.clock.rate = 48000
    default.clock.quantum = 1024
    default.clock.min-quantum = 512
    default.clock.max-quantum = 2048
}

#systemctl –user restart pipewire pipewire-pulse
 

Create a new wrapper script to run you gcompris easily
 

# vim /usr/local/bin/gcompris.sh

#!/bin/bash
# little hack script to make music streamed via pulseaudio to not have severe glitches when running gcompris latest release on debian 12
# through flatpak
# if not working run cmd
# systemctl –user restart pipewire
LANG=bg_BG.UTF-8
SDL_AUDIODRIVER=pulseaudio
#flatpak run –device=all –socket=pulseaudio org.kde.gcompris
flatpak override –user –env=SDL_AUDIODRIVER=pulseaudio org.kde.gcompris
flatpak override –user –filesystem=~/.config/pipewire:ro org.kde.gcompris
LANG=bg_BG.UTF-8 flatpak run –socket=pulseaudio org.kde.gcompris

# chmod +x /usr/local/bin/gcompris.sh


Hence I run the wrapper script and let the kid enjoy the nice educational stuff while I enjoyed the nice kiddish peaceful music !

# /usr/local/bin/gcompris.sh


install-gcompris-on-linux-via-flatpak-package-distribution-sandboxed-framework

P.S. ! If you get issues with pipewire (if you're using one instead of pulseaudio as I do with my Mate desktop environment you can restart it and relaunch the gcompris nice addition to  tux4kids (see my previous article Tux for Kids (Tux Math, Tux Paint, Tux Typing) 3 games to develop your children Intellect):

# systemctl –user restart pipewire

Enjoy Gcompris !
 

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Posted in Educational, Games Linux, Linux, Various | No Comments »

How to Easily Integrate AI Into Bash on Linux with ollama

Monday, January 12th, 2026

Essential Ollama Commands You Should Know | by Jaydeep Karale | Artificial Intelligence in Plain English

AI is more and more entering the Computer scene and so is also in the realm of Computer / Network management. Many proficient admins already start to get advantage to it.
AI doesn’t need a GUI, or a special cloud dashboard or fancy IDE so for console geeks Sysadmins / System engineers and Dev Ops it can be straightly integrated into the bash / zsh etc. and used to easify a bit your daily sys admin tasks.

If you live in the terminal, the most powerful place to add AI is Bash itself. With a few tools and a couple of lines of shell code, you can turn your terminal into an AI-powered assistant that writes commands, explains errors, and helps automate everyday Linux tasks.

No magic. No bloat. Just Unix philosophy with a brain.

1. AI as a Command-Line Tool

Instead of treating AI like a chatbot, treat it like any other CLI utility:

  • stdin → prompt
  • stdout → response
  • pipes → integration

Hardware Requirements of Ollama Server

2. Minimum VM (It runs, but you’ll hate it)

Only use this to test that things work.

  • vCPU: 2
  • RAM: 4 GB
  • Disk: 20 GB (SSD mandatory)
  • Storage type: ( HDD / network storage = bad )
  • Models: phi3, tinyllama

Expect:

  • Very slow pulls
  • Long startup times
  • Laggy responses

a. Recommended VM (Actually usable)

This is the sweet spot for Bash integration and daily CLI use.

  • vCPU: 4–6 (modern host CPU)
  • RAM: 8–12 GB
  • Disk: 30–50 GB local SSD
  • CPU type: host-passthrough (important!)
  • NUMA: off (for small VMs)

Models that feel okay:

  • phi3
  • mistral
  • llama3:8b (slow but tolerable)
 

b. “Feels Good” VM (CPU-only but not painful)

If you want it to feel responsive.

  • vCPU: 8
  • RAM: 16 GB
  • Disk: NVMe-backed storage
  • CPU flags: AVX2 enabled
  • Hugepages: optional but nice

Models:

  • llama3:8b
  • codellama:7b
  • mixtral (slow, but usable)
 

Hypervisor-Specific Advice (Important)

c. KVM / Proxmox (Best choice)

  • CPU type: host
  • Enable AES-NI, AVX, AVX2
  • Use virtio-scsi
  • Cache: writeback
  • IO thread: enabled

d. If running VM on VMware platform

  • Enable Expose hardware-assisted virtualization
  • Use paravirtual SCSI
  • Reserve memory if possible

e. VirtualBox (Not recommended)

  • Poor CPU feature exposure
  • Weak IO performance

Avoid if you can

f. Local AI With Ollama (Recommended)

If you want privacy, low latency, and no API keys, Ollama is currently the easiest way to run LLMs locally on Linux.

3. Install Ollama

# curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh


Start the service:

# ollama serve

Pull a model (lightweight and fast):

# ollama pull llama3

Test it:

ollama run llama3 "Explain what the ls command does"

If that works, you’re ready to integrate.

To check whether all is properly setup after installed llama3:

root@haproxy2:~# ollama list
NAME             ID              SIZE      MODIFIED
llama3:latest    365c0bd3c000    4.7 GB    About an hour ago

root@haproxy2:~# systemctl status ollama
● ollama.service – Ollama Service
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/ollama.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Mon 2026-01-12 16:43:30 EET; 15min ago
   Main PID: 37436 (ollama)
      Tasks: 16 (limit: 6999)
     Memory: 5.0G
        CPU: 13min 5.264s
     CGroup: /system.slice/ollama.service
             ├─37436 /usr/local/bin/ollama serve
             └─37472 /usr/local/bin/ollama runner –model /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models/blobs/sha256-6a0746a1ec1aef3e7ec53>

яну 12 16:45:34 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: llama_context: Flash Attention was auto, set to enabled
яну 12 16:45:34 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: llama_context:        CPU compute buffer size =   258.50 MiB
яну 12 16:45:34 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: llama_context: graph nodes  = 999
яну 12 16:45:34 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: llama_context: graph splits = 1
яну 12 16:45:34 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: time=2026-01-12T16:45:34.959+02:00 level=INFO source=server.go:1376 msg="llama runner>
яну 12 16:45:34 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: time=2026-01-12T16:45:34.989+02:00 level=INFO source=sched.go:517 msg="loaded runners>
яну 12 16:45:35 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: time=2026-01-12T16:45:35.000+02:00 level=INFO source=server.go:1338 msg="waiting for >
яну 12 16:45:35 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: time=2026-01-12T16:45:35.001+02:00 level=INFO source=server.go:1376 msg="llama runner>
яну 12 16:55:58 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: [GIN] 2026/01/12 – 16:55:58 | 200 |    3.669915ms |       127.0.0.1 | HEAD     "/"
яну 12 16:55:58 haproxy2 ollama[37436]: [GIN] 2026/01/12 – 16:55:58 | 200 |   42.244006ms |       127.0.0.1 | GET      "/api/>
root@haproxy2:~#

4. Turning AI Into a Bash Command

Let’s create a simple AI helper command called ai.

Add this to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_aliases:

ai() {

  ollama run llama3 "$*"

}

Reload your shell:

$ source ~/.bashrc


Now you can do things like:

$ ai "Write a bash command to find large files"

 

$ ai "Explain this error: permission denied"

$ ai "Convert this sed command to awk"


At this point, AI is already a first-class CLI tool.

5. Using AI to Generate Bash Commands

One of the most useful patterns is asking AI to output only shell commands.

Example:

$ ai "Give me a bash command to recursively find .log files larger than 100MB. Output only the command."

Copy, paste, done.

You can even enforce this behavior with a wrapper:

aicmd() {

  ollama run llama3 "Output ONLY a valid bash command. No explanation. Task: $*"

}

Now:

$ aicmd "list running processes using more than 1GB RAM"

Danger note: always read commands before running them. AI is smart, not trustworthy.

6. AI for Explaining Commands and Logs

This is where AI shines.

Pipe output directly into it:

$ dmesg | tail -n 50 | ai "Explain what is happening here"

Or errors:

$ make 2>&1 | ai "Explain this error and suggest a fix"

You’ve just built a terminal-native debugger.

7. Smarter Bash History Search

You can even use AI to interpret your intent instead of remembering exact commands:

aih() {

  history | ai "From this bash history, find the best command for: $*"

}

Example:

$ aih "compress a directory into tar.gz"

It’s like Ctrl+R, but semantic.

8. Using AI With Shell Scripts

AI can help generate scripts inline:

$ ai "Write a bash script that monitors disk usage and sends a notification when it exceeds 90%"

You’re not replacing scripting skills – you’re accelerating them.

Think of AI as:

  • a junior sysadmin
  • a documentation search engine
  • a rubber duck that talks back

9. Where Ollama Stores Its Data

Depending on how it runs:

System service (most common)

Models live here:

/usr/share/ollama/.ollama/

Inside:

models/

blobs/

User-only install

~/.ollama/

Since you installed as root + systemd, use the first path.

See What’s Taking Space

# du -sh /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/*

Typical output:

  • models/ → metadata
  • blobs/ → the big files (GBs)

10. Remove Unused Models (Safe Way)

List models Ollama knows about:

# ollama list

Remove a model properly:

# ollama rm llama3

This removes metadata and unreferenced blobs.

Always try this first.

11. Full Manual Cleanup (Hard Reset)

If things are broken, stuck, or you want a clean slate:

Stop Ollama

# systemctl stop ollama

Delete all local models and cache

# rm -rf /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models

# rm -rf /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/blobs

(Optional but safe)

# rm -rf /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/tmp

Start Ollama again

# systemctl start ollama

Ollama will recreate everything automatically.

Verify Cleanup Worked

# du -sh /usr/share/ollama/.ollama

# ollama list

You should see:

  • Very small disk usage
  • Empty model list

Prevent Disk Bloat (Highly Recommended)

Only pull small models on VMs

Stick to:

  • phi3
  • mistral
  • tinyllama

Remove models you don’t use

# ollama rm modelname

Set a custom data directory (optional)

If /usr is small, move Ollama data:

# systemctl stop ollama

# mkdir -p /opt/ollama-data

# chown -R ollama:ollama /opt/ollama-data

Edit service:

# systemctl edit ollama

Add:

[Service]

Environment=OLLAMA_HOME=/opt/ollama-data

Then:

# systemctl daemon-reload

# systemctl start ollama

Quick “Nuke It” One-Liner (Use With Care)

Deletes everything Ollama-related:

# systemctl stop ollama && rm -rf /usr/share/ollama/.ollama && systemctl start ollama

API-Based Option (Cloud Models)

If you prefer cloud models (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.), the pattern is identical:

  • Use curl
  • Pass prompt
  • Parse output

Once AI returns text to stdout, Bash doesn’t care where it came from.

12. Best Practices how to use shell AI to not overload machine

Before you go wild:

  • Don’t auto-execute AI output
  • Don’t run AI as root
  • Treat responses as suggestions
  • Version-control important scripts
  • Keep prompts specific
     

AI is powerful — but Linux still assumes you know what you’re doing.

Sum it up

Adding AI to Bash isn’t about replacing skills.
It’s about removing friction.

When AI gets easy to use from the command line it is a great convenience for those who don't want to switch to browser all the time and copy / paste like crazy.
AI as a command-line tool fits perfectly into the Linux console:

  • composable
  • scriptable
  • optional
  • powerful

Once you’ve used AI from inside your shell for a few hours, going back to browser-based AI chat stuff like querying ChatGPT feels… slow and inefficient.
However keep in mind that ollama is away from perfect and has a lot of downsides and ChatGPT / Grok / DeepSeek often might give you better results, however as ollama is really isolated and non-depend on external sources your private quries will not get into a public AI historic database and you won't be tracked.
So everything has its Pros and Cons. I'm pretty sure that this tool and free AI tools like those will certainly have a good future and will be heavily used by system admins and
programmers in the coming future.
The terminal just got smarter. And it didn’t need a GUI to do it.

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Posted in AI on Linux, Automation, Educational, System Administration, Various | No Comments »

Why Self-Hosting Still Matters in 2025: Taking Back Control in a Cloud-Centric World

Saturday, October 18th, 2025

whyy-self-hosting-services-matters-in-2025-self-hosted-vs-cloud-hosted-centric-world
In 2025, we live in a world where almost every service – from email and calendar to file storage and even our journals – is run by someone else, stored on someone else’s servers, governed by someone else’s terms of service. Big Tech has normalized it. Most users don't even ask where their data lives.

But among all this convenience and delegation, a quiet movement continues, the so called self-hosting.
Running your own services, on your own hardware, under your control.

Some call it old-school and waste of time. Others call it paranoid and mania. But if you ask those of us who've tried it, there’s something deeply normal in human sense about owning your digital home.
Something that inspires and gives you energy to be against the flow, feels good. 
But anyways,

Why Bother Self-Hosting?
 

1. You Own Your Data

It’s not locked in a black-box “cloud” with no export button. When you run your own email server, Nextcloud, or RSS reader, the data lives on your disk, not theirs.

2. You Learn More About "the Stack" and get better insight on software

Spinning up a VPS and running a full LAMP/LEMP stack teaches you more than any AWS console ever will. You learn:

  • How DNS, SMTP, TLS actually work
  • Systemd, firewalls, fail2ban
  • Troubleshooting logs, performance, backups

You’re not clicking buttons—you’re building.

3. Privacy by Design embedded

Even with GDPR and privacy policies, hosted services scan your data, log metadata, and track usage. With self-hosted services, your metadata isn’t leaked. There’s no hidden analytics tracking when you log into your calendar.

4. Resilience & Independence in the more and more dependent world

When a cloud service goes down (remember Gmail outages? GitHub DDoS attacks?), your digital life halts.

Self-hosters can:

  • Access data even when offline
  • Control redundancy and backups
  • Choose their own update cycles

5. It’s a Form of Digital Homesteading

You can think of the cloud as the urban city- efficient, busy, and surveilled. Self-hosting is the countryside. It’s quieter, harder, but it's yours.

“A home server is not just a computer. It’s a statement: I choose to build, not just consume.”

What Can You Realistically Self-Host in 2025?

Thanks to maturing open source projects, you can run nearly everything yourself with minimal resources. Below some examples:

Service Type

Recommended Self-Hosted Option

Email

Mailcow, Postfix + Dovecot

Cloud Storage

Nextcloud / OwnCloud

RSS Reader

FreshRSS, Miniflux

VPN

WireGuard, PiVPN

Git Repos

Gitea, Forgejo

Notes

Joplin Server, Standard Notes

Password Manager

Vaultwarden

Monitoring

Uptime Kuma, Prometheus + Grafana

Media Server

Jellyfin

You can run most of these on:

  • A Raspberry Pi
  • ​A low-end VPS (~$5/month)
  • A home NAS or old laptop with Linux
     

Security: Not Optional

Let’s be honest: self-hosting adds responsibility. You become the sysadmin. That means:

  • Keeping software up to date
  • Setting up TLS with Let’s Encrypt
  • Hardening SSH, using fail2ban
  • Setting up backups—ideally offsite
     

But that’s not a burden—it’s a privilege. When you’re in control, you get to choose how secure, private, and robust your system is.

You’re not trusting a SaaS company’s security—you become the security. 
Well of course the down side of it is things, can often become so complex and big that you cannot manage it yourself and you have to find a sysadmin buddy to help you maintain your thing
or even hire someone to help you.

A Philosophical Note: Against Digital Apathy that rules sysadmin minds

Most people have accepted a world where they can’t even host their own blog without five different cloud accounts. But it wasn’t always like this. The early internet was filled with homepages, shell accounts, FTP servers, personal IRC bots.

In that spirit, self-hosting is not just about tech—it’s about reclaiming agency.

It’s a quiet rebellion. A return to DIY computing. A form of digital asceticism that resists the consumerist mindset of “pay someone else to do everything.”

Like growing your own food, even if it’s harder, it makes you more alive.

How to Start Today

If you’re curious about self-hosting, here’s a no-fear path:

  1. Start small – Host a local file server or wiki.

  2. Use Docker – Tools like Portainer or Yacht simplify managing containers.

  3. Use a domain – Get a .net or .org domain and point it to your IP.

  4. Set up a reverse proxy – Like Nginx or Traefik, for managing HTTPS and access.

  5. Don’t host what you don’t understand – Learn before you expose things to the internet.

Final Words

In 2025, it’s easy to feel like everything is owned, managed, and decided by corporations. But it doesn’t have to be.

Self-hosting isn’t dead—it’s rising quietly. In homelabs, in student dorms, in off-grid locations. It’s how many of us reclaim computing not just as a tool, but as a craft. Something we shape. Something we own.

 

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Posted in Educational, Everyday Life, Rant, Various | No Comments »

Life of the Holy Martyr Confessor Acacius Serski (of Asvestochori, Thessaloniki) The Bulgarian

Wednesday, July 9th, 2025

1-ви май свети преподобномъченик Акакий Серски | Facebook

 

Short  Biography of Saint Acacius Serski (of Asvestochori, Thessaloniki)

He was born with the name Atanas in 1792 in the Bulgarian village of Novo Selo near Thessaloniki.
When he was nine years old, his family moved with him to the town of Syar,[1] where he was taken as a foster child by the local bey as an infant and became a Muslim.
His parents, embittered, returned and settled in Thessaloniki.[5] Slandered by his stepmother for wanting to rape her, Atanas was expelled by the bey at the age of 18 and went to live with his parents.
Realizing the sin of his apostasy, he repented and was tonsured a monk at the Hilendar Monastery on Mount Athos, where he was accepted back into the bosom of the church.
After a year, he withdrew to the Iveron Monastery, where the monks Euthymius and Ignatius had recently suffered. Upon learning of their martyrdom, Akakiy decided to follow their example and publicly declare his renunciation of Islam, even though he knew that he would be sentenced to death for it.

On April 1, he departed by ship from Mount Athos and arrived in Galata, a district of the capital Constantinople, on April 23. On April 29, Saturday, Akakiy appeared before the Turkish court, recounted his renunciation, and publicly cursed Muhammad, calling him a false prophet.
The Ottomans began to try to persuade him to remain in Islam with exhortations and torture, but Akakiy refused and was condemned. On May 1, 1816, he was beheaded at the place of his forehead called Parmak Kapi.[10] His body was bought for 800 groschen and taken to Mount Athos.

His holy relics were placed first in his cell, and then in the newly built church in honor of the martyrs Euthymius and Ignatius who had suffered before him. The head of Saint Akakiy is today in the Russian Athos monastery "Saint Panteleimon".

The Bulgarian saint Akakiy of Sersky is commemorated on Mount Athos on the day of his martyrdom, May 1, together with the martyrs Euthymius (March 21) and Ignatius (October 8), for which a common service of the three saints was composed.

Sant Acacius is not to be mistaken with Sant Acacious of Byzantium.
Saint Acacius (Greek: Ἅγιος Ἀκάκιος; died 303), also known as Agathius of Byzantium, Achatius, or Agathonas to Christian tradition, was a Cappadocian Greek centurion of the imperial army, martyred around 304.)

Biography Source: 
https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/
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Светците Акакий, Евтимий и Игнатий

Life of the Holy Martyr Akakiy (Syarsky) according to Living of Saints

The Holy Martyr Akakiy (Acacius), in holy baptism Athanasius, was born in the Bulgarian village of Novo Selo (Greek: Neochori) nowadays Asvestochori, Thessaloniki near the city of Thessaloniki.
Due to poverty, his parents moved to the city of Serres. 
When he was nine years old, they send him to learn the trade from a shoemaker.

But the shoemaker beat the boy so severely every day that once, on Good Friday, he could not stand it and ran away in tears into the street.
Unfortunately, two Turkish women met him, flattered him, took him into their home, fed him, and so bewitched him with their beautiful words that they convinced him to renounce Christ.
Then the city bey (local area governor) took him to himself, performed the rite of Mohammedan circumcision over him, adopted him, and loved him and his wife as his own son.

After Athanasius had lived in the Bey's house for nine years and had already grown to manhood, the Bey's mistress changed her love for him from maternal to carnal and – like Potiphar's wife – tried to entice him into sin.
The chaste youth – like the wonderful biblical Joseph – fled from her, but she, embittered, slandered him through her husband that he allegedly wanted to defile herself with her.
Believing his wife false accusations, the Bey expelled him from his home and granted him complete freedom to go wherever he wanted.

He went to his parents, who after his renunciation returned to Thessaloniki. They were very happy about his return and especially about his desire to return to the Church of Christ.
But his wise mother warned him that he who voluntarily renounced Christ must wash away the sin of his renunciation with his own blood. He took his mother's advice deeply to heart, withdrew to the Hilendar Monastery on Mount Athos, confessed to the priest of the Xenophon Skete, and was restored to Christianity through chrism. Hearing of the exploits of the recently martyred Athonite holy martyrs Euthymius and Ignatius, he went to their former mentor, Hieromonk Nicephorus, with a request to prepare him for martyrdom. The priest explained to Athanasius all the difficulty of this feat, but he agreed to take him under his guidance.

After a little hesitation, Athanasius quickly advanced in the spiritual life – he labored with love, and his eyes, from heartfelt tenderness, became springs of incessant tears.
Seeing his perfection in virtue and steadfastness in thought, the clergyman tonsured him into monasticism with the name Akakiy ( Acacius ) and after some time blessed him to set out on a martyr's journey, for which he gave him as a companion the same elder Gregory, who at one time accompanied the venerable martyrs Euthymius and Ignatius.

Soon after that, they left the Holy Mountain and went to Constantinople.
On the day of the journey itself, Akakiy partook of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, dressed as a Turk and, shedding tears, accepted the last blessing of the venerable Gregory for martyrdom.

Having arrived at the High Ottoman Gate, he threw off his green turban from his (a sign for belonging to Islamic faith) head and began to trample it with his feet, confessed Christ and cursed Muhammad.
Having failed to persuade him to remain a Mohammedan with exhortations, the judges ordered him to be beaten and thrown into prison.
The next day, Akakiy was brought before the vizier himself, but this also proved to be useless, which is why the sentence of beheading followed.
On the eve of the execution of the sentence, the holy martyr communed with the Holy Mysteries.

saint_Akakius-the-Bulgarian-of-Asveotochy-village-near-Thessaloniki

On May 1, 1816, the Turks beheaded the holy martyr Akakiy in a place called Parmak-kapi.
With money collected by Christians, the monk Gregory bought the body of the holy martyr from the soldiers-guards and took it to Mount Athos.
His holy relics were first placed in his cell, and then he was buried in the newly built church in honor of the holy martyrs Euthymius and Ignatius, who had suffered before him.
The head of Saint Akakiy is now in the Russian Athonite monastery “St. Panteleimon” on Holy Mount Athos.

On the day of his martyrdom, his memory on Mount Athos is honored together with that of the venerable martyrs Euthymius (March 21) and Ignatius (October 8), because a common service has been composed for the three saints, and there is no separate service for St. Acacius.

Source:
© Lives of the Saints. Synodal Publishing House, Sofia, 1991, edited by Parthenius, Bishop of Levkiy and Archimandrite Dr. Athanasius (Bonchev).

Let by the Holy Prayers of Saint Akakiy Serski God have mercy on everyone !

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Saint Barbara of Bulgarian Origin, Spring that came by her prayer situated in a Bulgarian village Eleshnica

Wednesday, December 4th, 2024

A sensational legend, prooved by modern Theologist to be a fact is the famous Great Martyr Barbara (Varvara as known in Slavonic realm) is of Bulgarian origin and her martyrdom has occured in country territory of contemporary Bulgaria.

Saint_Barbara-tower-orthodox-christian-icon

Saint Barbara and her famous Tower where her father kept her imprisoned

From very ancient times Saint Barbara is highly venerated in both Eastern Church and Western Church. The Barbara is a common baby name till this very date, there are countless hospis and hospitals, and institutions all arount the world in her name. Her Living has been an inspiration for the civillized world for many centuries, she is
After the Church Schism in 1054, when Roman-Catholics seperated from the Church and the Pope started to claim rulership over the whole church heresy and many other erronous, believe slowly the great veneration for Saint Barbara, started to deteriorate especially in the early 20th century in Pan-Roman Calendar in the 1969 revision after the Second Vatican assembly although she remains on the list of saints of the Catholic Church, her veneration in Catholicism fade away with claims, there is not enough historical data to proove the living of the saint is not just a pious legend.

Saint Baraba is well known for being the protector of young Children and all people who are in danger of sudden and unexpected death.
Saint Barbara feast day is always celebrated on 4th of December.


For that reason, the representatives of the most risky professions like:
miners, gunners, firefighters, sappers, pyrotechnicians – celebrate December 4, when it is the feast of the Great Martyr, all over the world.

The personality of the saint is shrouded in mystery. Her appearance on the historical scene came too late, nearly five centuries after her martyrdom.
That is why it is not surprising that in our country a village keeps an ancient early Christian legend about the saint.

вяра - ВЯРА: Извор на Св. Варвара лекува край Елешница

The old chapel place of St. Barbara and the rebuild chapel built on the site

Those legend tells us, she wandered the lands near Razlog, where she lived and where she was martyrdom.
There on those martyrdom place is built a chapel in honor of the saint and a miraculous spring called by local citizens for ages "the Myrrh".
It is believed that whoever washes with the medicinal water in it can be cured of any disease.

According to a fascinating study by famous Bulgarian Theologian researcher Doctor. Vencislav Karavalchev, St. Varvara was not born in Nicomedia (Bythinia) in the 3rd century, as her life dictates, but the actual location for that historical place is in the village of Eleshnitsa (near Blagoevgrad), which in ancient times was called Iliopolis (Ilioupoli). Her father Dioscorus was a high-ranking administrator. Because she was of fabulous beauty, out of jealousy he locked her in a tower. When he was away on state affairs,
Barbara (Varvara) converted to Christianity.

The martyr was sentenced to death by beheading by her father and the governor of the city. They cut off her head in front of the baths, and her blood turned into healing mineral water. Locals say that the water started gushing out where her blood soaked into the ground.

Today, the gushing spring has a temperature of 57-58 degrees. The Myrrh is lined with stones, and people come from all over the country and abroad for healing baths.

Prayer-in-from-of-Saint-Barbara-Chapel-entry-in-Eleshnica-Village-near-Blagoevgrad-Bulgaria-martyrdom-place
Church Akathist Service in honor of saint Barbara in her Chapen , who is honored in Eleshnica on the fourth day after Easter.

It is assumed that there was a pagan sanctuary near the healing spring, which later grew into a Christian shrine. It can be seen near the built chapel. The entire area has long been known by the name of St. Barbara. Large stones can be seen above, piled up like a herd.
It is assumed that these are the remains of the tower in which the saint stood, who paid with her head for the acceptance of the Christian faith.

It is believed that the legend that Varvara was born here started from a Russian monk from Mount Athos, who was treated in the spring near the village of Eleshnitsa. In 1856 in Moscow, the memories and notes of monk Parthenius were published in several volumes, who, as he himself wrote, did so at the request and with the blessing of Bishop Athanasius. In four voluminous volumes, Parthenius set forth what he saw and heard during his travels and residence on the Holy Mountain, as well as in Russia, Moldavia, Turkey, Jerusalem, and the Holy Land. The fourth volume of these memories contains the information that confirms the legend of St. Barbara living in Eleshnica.

Here is what the Russian Monk Parthenius writes back then:

"I will announce something else, which for us, Russians, is very important, but its credibility has not yet been proven, it has not been investigated, and therefore causes confusion in me. And this thing is the following: the Bulgarians affirm that the great martyr Varvara was more Bulgarian by birth, Slavic by language, from the Macedonian side. That's what Bulgarian monks told me in our Russian monastery on Mount Athos, not one and not two, but more than twenty people.And they received this tradition from ancient times and from their forefathers.

They say thus: In Macedonia there is a city of Nevrokop, six days' journey from the Athonian woods; and from the city of Nevrokop there is a village one day's journey, in Bulgarian called Leshnitsa (Eleshnitsa – b.r.), and in Greek – the former Iliopolis. In this village there is a bathhouse, next to the bathhouse flows a strong source of hot water, which has healing powers, and when it cools, it becomes sweet and delicious like milk. This bath is called Dioskorova, after the father of St. Barbara; and it would be better to say – banya sv. Varvara. On the day in which the memory of the saint is celebrated, a large number of people, Bulgarians, gather here, and a prayer is performed and a great celebration takes place, and they drink from the water and bathe there in the font. There is also a ruined tower in the same village; they say that St. lived there. Barbara and that the tower was built by her father'.

According to the official biography, these events took place in Nicomedia.
The belief says that God's retribution overtakes Varvara's father and the governor of the city – they are both struck by lightning.
The young woman was buried by the Christian Valentine, and her tomb became a source of miracles of faith. In the 6th century, the relics of Saint Barbara were transferred to Constantinople. In the 12th century they were moved to the Mikhailovsky Zlatoverkh Monastery by Svyatopolk II, and from 1930 rest in the Patriarchal Cathedral "St. Vladimir" in Kyiv. Fragments of the miraculous relics of the saint can be found in the Transfiguration Church in Sofia. In the Troyan monastery "Assumption", along with the miraculous icon "The Virgin of Troeruchitsa", relics of St. Varvara.

Saint-Barbara-depicted-on-United-States-Artillerymen-coins

The saint is of the Order of the United States State Artillerymen.

Protectors for Artillery man and Gunners

Every year on December 4, artillerymen in the armies of a number of Christian countries honor their patron – the holy great martyr Barbara. In the French Army, this day has been celebrated since 1671. during the reign of Louis XIV with the creation of the Regiment of Royal Fusiliers, the first commander of which was the King himself. In the West, the saint is called Barbara. In the US Army, this day is usually accompanied by an official military dinner with the solemn presentation of orders established in the name of St. Varvara. Orders can be awarded not only to military personnel, but also to civilians for services to the artillery corps. The saint was called upon to assist in accidents resulting from the explosion of the first samples of artillery guns. That is why, at the dawn of artillery, the ancient gunners, addressing their prayers to St. Varvara, they accepted her as their patron. The history of the cult of the saint goes back to the time when China invented gunpowder. As expected, the first cannons began to be produced soon. They made their way from Asia to Europe, and the fear of the new weapon proved just as sinister as the fear of the wrath of St. Varvara. The cannon killed suddenly and from a distance like the lightning that pierced the murderers of the Christian martyr. But there was something else. In the initial period of its development, fire artillery was very far from perfection. The first guns were made of iron. When fired, it was distorted in the body, and some of the elements of the projectiles were soldered to the channel of the cannon. A frequent phenomenon under these conditions was instead of firing the projectile, its spraying, which struck not the enemy, but its own soldiers. In such cases, the artillerymen looked for hope, protection and protection in such misfortunes from St. Barbara, patroness of lightning and thunder. Over time, the artillerymen had the feeling that they were always under the protection of the saint. Miners in Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany celebrate the saint's day. Even in faraway Australia, miners honor her with an annual parade.
 

old-picture-of-traditional-Eleshnica-village-Assembly-on-saint-Barbara--martyrdom-place-near-Razlog-in-Eleshnica-village

Since ancient times, a feast assembly is held in the area of ​​St. Varvara, near Razlog (Razlozhko).

Cities and early Medicine tranquility Pills bear name in her honour

Barbiturates, one of the oldest sedatives group of medicines used in medical practice, are named after the saint known in the West as Barbara.
The story goes that in the distant 1864 the chemist Adolf von Bayer entered a tavern. He had just discovered a group of substances acting on the central nervous system in a wide range from sedative to anesthetic.
An artilleryman celebrated his holiday there. In his honor (knowing saint Barbara is protector of artillerists), for providence reason the chemist decided to named his discovery after the saint.

Many cities and temples all over the world bear her name. Today, part of the California coast, now occupied by the city of Santa Barbara, is named after the saint. It was named in 1602 after the sea explorer Sebastian Vizcaino survived a storm at sea just before her feast day. Other Spanish and Portuguese settlements named Santa Barbara were established in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Venezuela, and the Philippines.

Source of Research prooving Saint Barbara of (Bulgarian origin):

St. Barbara of Iliopol – following the trail of a legend (Research in Bulgarian by Ventzislav Karavylchev)

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