astr-hal

hal

@astr-hal

thank you cohost

  • he/him but anything works honestly

21 🇵🇭 🇹🇼 bi tme transmasc
i like drawing ocs

18+

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tumblr
hal-astr.tumblr.com/
ko-fi
ko-fi.com/astrhal
carrd (has twitter & instagram)
astr-hal.carrd.co/
bluesky
bsky.app/profile/astr-hal.bsky.social
neocities (work in progress)
astr-hal.neocities.org/
pillowfort
www.pillowfort.social/astr-hal

posts from @astr-hal tagged #save

also:
astr-hal
@astr-hal
waterfromleaves
@waterfromleaves
exodrifter
@exodrifter

self-hosting is exciting

I have grown dissatisfied with some of the software and services I use on a daily basis. Even when attempting to use VPS services to host the things I want to use, I have often found that the VPS's that are offered do not match my needs. This is because I often need a server that doesn't have a lot of computational power because I'm more or less the only user but does have lots of storage because I have a lot of data I want to save.

Aside from the price and logistics, there are also privacy concerns I have. So, I have been looking into self-hosted alternatives and found myself with some potential solutions for the things that I use. Recently, I remembered that I could self-host my own server without exposing it to the public internet by using a VPN. This made me really excited, to the point that I even did a stream where I built an insane NAS configuration and I've been talking about or researching self-hosting more or less all day the last few days.

At the suggestion of a user on my Discord server, I will document all of the prospective tools I have chosen and why I have chosen them below.

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astr-hal
@astr-hal
Tanuki-Computing
@Tanuki-Computing
slimelia
@slimelia

i love software i love tools i love utilities. show me your favourite free and/or open-source software that people might not have heard of that you love

slimelia
@slimelia

ok fine i'll start

NameDescription
Chris Titus Tech's Windows UtilityTweak Windows settings, install/update a wide range of useful software from a single screen (including some software featured on this list), run O&O Shutup directly, and has a feature to create super-small Win11 ISOs (which didn't work last time I tried it lol). Runs directly from a single command in PowerShell.
CondutionTask management software with all the standard features you expect from a modern To-Do list application.
DeblurVery fun tool to deblur a blurred image. Not particularly useful as it cannot do so accurately, but fun!
EverythingVery fast filesearch for Windows.
JERNCommand-line journaling tool, intended to be used on a USB drive. Encrypted using AES-128 encryption.
JetUMLFast, simple, free UML diagram designer.
jPDFtweak"Swiss Army Knife" for PDF files. Has a lot of incredibly useful PDF utilities.
JRNLA cute daily journaling tool with fun themes and options for daily notifications.
KDE ConnectConnect your PC to your phone - share files, links, clipboard data, notifications, remote control input, run commands, and more.
magic-wormholeCommand-line tool to send files from one machine to another by providing human-pronouncable keywords.
NiniteInstall and update all your programs at once. Chris Titus' Winutils has a similar feature & includes more software, but this is far more beginner-friendly. No command lines here! Also not that useful if you know how to install software using Winget/Scoop/Chocolatey, but again - beginner-friendly and idiot-proof!
O&O Shutup10++Windows tweaks - primarily disabling telemetry and unwanted bloat from Microsoft. Lets you switch off all the AI bullshit in Win11! This tool can also be opened from within Chris Titus' Winutils.
PlayniteGames library for your games libraries - consolidate GOG, Steam, Itch, and just about everything into one application where you can search & filter your library.
QOwnNotesMarkdown note-taking software. Simple and lightweight without the overload of bloat and features competitors like Obsidian or Notion have.
QTodoTxt To-do manager - a GUI frontend for the todo.txt plaintext format.
RetroSharePeer-to-peer chat, file sharing, mail, forums, channels, boards, and more - almost like a self-contained peer-to-peer social network.
StacherGUI frontend for yt-dlp - a downloader for YouTube videos and also many many other websites. (I use it to get Twitter videos!)
tldr pagesCommand-line tool for simple manual pages - has basic usage and examples for many popular CLI applications.
Winaero TweakerAllows you to make various miscellaneous changed to Windows
Zim - A Desktop WikiPersonal Wiki software with ability to publish files to HTML. Can be minimalist or feature-rich depending on how many plugins you enable.

i have more installed on my home desktop PC that i'm surely forgetting but it was 33°C yesterday so i was NOTTTT turning that computer on

edit: 2024-08-13 @539 - added Winaero Tweaker, O&O Shutup, CTT Winutils, Ninite and Stacher

funbil
@funbil
NameDescription
WinDirStat A program that visualizes all the space being taken up on a hard drive to make quick and easy work of disk cleanup. File types are organized by color and larger files/groups of files take up physically more space in the diagram. The ultimate in maintaining hard drive space.
JDownloader A download manager which makes downloading a simple "set and forget" endeavor. It automatically detects all downloads on a webpage and gives you the choice of which to download and where they should be downloaded. Easily pause and resume downloading large file collections or those from websites with slow connection speeds without needing a browser tab active. My typical use cases include browsing the Internet Archive or bypassing arbitrary paywalls.
Foobar The best music library software. Have complete control over the organization, presentation, and playback preferences of your music collection. Unparalleled in the customization of your music listening experience. Also has Discord integration!
Dark Audacity A community-managed open source branch of the best freeware audio recording/editing software. I personally switched to this when the main branch was under suspicion of security risks and disagreeable management. I don't remember exactly what came of that, because I never felt the need to return to it since this community-maintained branch is much easier on the eyes and free of any possible corporate meddling. Simply a better Audacity.
Jellyfin Similar to Playnite mentioned in OP, this is a user interface for your general media library. Video files (TV shows, movies, etc.), audio files (music, podcasts, etc.) and PDFs (ebooks, manga, etc.) can all be accessed and shared across multiple devices (including being shared with friends!) through this intuitively streamlined interface. Needs to be set up with a server (I recommend Tailscale; here's a guide for this exact setup (If I can do it, you can too!)), but I reckon the average Cohost user won't be too scared off by that.
Libreoffice A complete and fully functional replacement for Microsoft Office and the Google Drive suite. For documents, spreadsheets, and slide presentations, there's really no reason to use anything else anymore. Linux users will know her well.
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@astr-hal
Gyro
@Gyro
DeusExBrockina
@DeusExBrockina
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echosoul
@echosoul

this shit has really been burning me out on jungle lately. i will love it forever but seeing it coopted into this bullshit has been so depressing. seeing this shit get turned into buzzwords by people like me like... jungle is one of the most revolutionary art forms in music history.
if youve never engaged with the first wave of jungle i encourage you too, this documentary is a good place to start:

you should also know there is huge revival scene bringing back the og sounds. people and labels like Tim Reaper/futureRETRO, Green Bay Wax, Scientific Wax, Deep Jungle, Infrared (to name a few among many many others) have been holding it down for years now. i may be like autistic but searching this shit out is not hard. jungle old and new deserves your respect. and it makes me mad that i have to tell you all this. it is much more than "peshay studio set 1996" and far far more than any number of youtube ps1 jungle compilations. that music is good and great but treating it as the be-all-end-all turns this art form into a meme. and it deserves far more than that.

samanthaistyping
@samanthaistyping

just popping in to plug my girl 1.8.7 aka Jordana LeSesne

if you don't know what Jordana did for jungle, or the price she paid for being Black and trans in the 90s, i got some history for you! (there's even an easter egg about this track in there~)

she's rejoined the seattle scene in the past few years and that alone brings me so much joy i cannot express it.

lushspirits
@lushspirits

adding onto this with other trans junglists that i think more ppl should give a listen to (+links to my fav releases from em)

Tee Vera

DJ Asexual
(she primarily makes techno music but more recently has been venturing into Jungle ("part-time junglist," in their own words))

andrea_andrea

Qube Honey

Jungle and by extension Drum n Bass would not be what is without its black and queer artists like Jordana. The scene is alive and thriving and I hope more ppl can get acquainted with what the scene has evolved into~

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astr-hal
@astr-hal
caro
@caro
smokeronthebalcony
@smokeronthebalcony

ik i'm preaching to a choir here but-

LEAVE SPOTIFY you can literally just leave, it isn't hard to download music and it is so easy to listen to music on bandcamp or soundcloud or youtube (with ublock origin on firefox setting it up takes 5 minutes but after that you're good). it's not any harder than setting up a spotify account and you won't have to fucking beg for the privilege of skipping songs or fucking reading lyrics and you won't have to listen to ads. please i'm fucking begging you they are bleeding you dry you don't have to take this indecency. there are so many other podcast apps. there are so many other ways to make playlists. you can spend that 10 dollars a month on supporting small artists. i will personally help you with finding solutions to fill the spotify-shaped hole in your life if you need it but god i hate spotify so much.

if it really means that much to you then i'm sorry for yucking your yum, it's not the worst thing in the world i guess, but if you're just on the app because of inertia i implore you to explore other options

PC36
@PC36

miss spotify wrapped? use last.fm + web scrobbler + your spotify replacement of choice

pleonasticTautology
@pleonasticTautology

also please borrow CDs from your public library

i can also tell you for certain that if you borrow CDs and they don't work and you go in and tell them, they'll order a replacement and offer to hold it for you

so like. ripping library CDs is a public service kinda!

nex3
@nex3

Can't recommend iBroadcast highly enough, it's a perfectly straightforward music service where you upload your own music and listen to it wherever. Good web app, good mobile app, nothing fancy. One of those services I subscribe to despite not using any of the premium features just because I want it to keep existing.

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