SumGuy's Ramblings
The art of wasting time.
Docker, self-hosting, AI/LLM, Linux, and DevOps — explained by someone who learned the hard way. No fluff, no enterprise jargon, just practical stuff that actually works on real hardware.
Recent Posts
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The Free AI Stack: What $0 Gets You
A capability map of what's genuinely free from AI providers in 2026: chat, APIs, image generation, speech tools, and coding help, with the real quotas.
13 min read -
dbt-core for Self-Hosters: SQL With Tests, Without dbt Cloud
Run dbt-core free with Postgres, DuckDB, or ClickHouse. SQL transformations, tests, docs, and star schemas without the dbt Cloud price tag.
10 min read -
Ditch Your ISP Router for MikroTik
Your ISP's box doesn't have to run your network. How to find bridge mode, dodge double NAT, and hand real routing duty over to a MikroTik router instead.
13 min read -
SigNoz vs Grafana LGTM Stack
SigNoz gives you logs, metrics, and traces in one ClickHouse-backed app. The Grafana LGTM stack gives you four. Here's how to pick the right one.
13 min read -
Incus: LXD's Community Fork, Two Years In
Two years after Canonical's LXD CLA grab, Incus is shipping in Debian/Fedora/NixOS. Here's what changed, what works, and when to use it.
9 min read -
Audiobookshelf vs Booksonic: Self-Hosted Audiobooks
Audiobookshelf vs Booksonic: which self-hosted audiobook server wins? ABS takes it for most homelabbers. Here's why, and when Booksonic still makes sense.
8 min read -
Agentic Browsers: Browser-Use & Skyvern Reviewed
Browser-Use and Skyvern let LLMs drive real browsers via natural language goals. Here's what they can actually do, where they break, and when Playwright is still the right call.
9 min read -
Steam Deck as a Homelab Toolkit (Yes, Really)
SteamOS 3.x is Arch Linux under the hood. Here's how to turn your Steam Deck into a portable sysadmin console for SSH, Tailscale, IPMI, and more.
9 min read -
Devbox vs Devenv: Nix Without the Pain
Devbox and devenv both tame Nix for reproducible dev environments without needing a PhD first. Here is which one will not send you reading a 40-page manual.
11 min read -
systemd-homed: Portable Encrypted Home Directories
systemd-homed turns your home dir into a portable LUKS-encrypted blob. Move it between machines, unlock with FIDO2, and own your own data.
9 min read -
Topgrade: One Command Updates Everything
Topgrade runs every package manager and update tool on your machine in one single command. Stop juggling apt, brew, flatpak, pip, cargo, and gem separately.
9 min read -
Local Voice Assistant: Whisper + Piper + Home Assistant
Ditch Alexa and Google Home. Build a fully local voice assistant with Whisper STT, Piper TTS, and Home Assistant using the Wyoming protocol.
10 min read
