Random Updates from a Late Winter

Servus from my offline outpost!

I’ve been meaning to share an update for a while. My perfectionist side kept hoping for a well-structured post, but the longer I waited, the less likely it seemed I’d actually publish anything. So, here are some random updates instead.

Three Months Off the Grid

Today marks three months since I disconnected from “the grid”. Several things happened in my life that led me to abruptly step away from the online world in November 2024. It wasn’t an easy decision. I still miss some people dearly, but the challenges of being online outweigh the benefits.

That said, I haven’t completely vanished. I still rely on the public Internet for work, email, and essential tasks like banking and grocery shopping. But beyond that, I’ve minimized my online presence to only what’s strictly necessary for work.

Rediscovering Permacomputing and Retro Programming

Lately, I’ve come to appreciate the core values of Permacomputing even more, especially the focus on keeping things small, extending the lifespan of hardware, and prioritizing an offline-first approach. While I wouldn’t call myself a developer, I’ve been tempted by retro programming and have been exploring Pascal and COBOL.

I might write more about this in a future post, but for now, suffice it to say that these languages appeal to me because they produce compact binaries with minimal dependencies and run on a variety of platforms, including FreeBSD, IBM System i (formerly AS/400), and IBM MVS 3.8j (which is freely available).

Slow but Steady Progress on My Lab

I haven’t made much progress on my lab setup. I previously mentioned that I was refurbishing a second Dell R710 stored in my unit. I’ve done some work, like replacing the HBA and cables, but I haven’t finished yet. It’s simply too cold, and my hands go numb easily due to some health issues. So, I’ve decided to wait for warmer weather.

In the meantime, I’ve promoted my Disaster Recovery site (the colocation) to my Primary site. My existing Dell R710 now serves as the primary data store, allowing me to shut down the QNAP that has faithfully served me for nearly a decade. I plan to reuse its disks to upgrade my HP N40L, which hosts an online ZFS replica of the R710’s data.

Tiredness and my overall situation have limited what I can do, but I still have a box of x86 MiniPCs and ARM NanoPIs sitting beside my desk, waiting to be put to use - sooner or later.

FOSDEM 2025: A Breath of Fresh Air

Last week, I returned from FOSDEM in Brussels, which was, as always, an amazing experience. It’s one of the few places where I truly feel the spirit of open source, where people care more about ideas than titles. This kind of environment restores my hope in a better future filled with good people.

On Saturday, I attended niche talks on modern email, ham radio, and (of course) FreeBSD. I was thrilled to meet like-minded people who share my passion for decentralization and was particularly excited to learn more about HAMNET in Germany. More about HAMNET in German here or some old slides in English here.

Sunday was all about Kubernetes, KubeVirt, and OVN/OVS as a CNI. It’s funny how the topics I gravitate toward reflect my personality of an in-betweeener. On one hand, I appreciate the simplicity of things like email and FreeBSD; on the other, I’m fascinated by the complexities of hyperscaling and distributed computing.

Taking to the Skies (Again)

Switching topics, I’ve been trying to get back into flying since my seaplane and land qualifications are due for renewal this year. Unfortunately, the weather has been far from ideal, giving me few chances to fly.

Apparently, my seaplane instructors have turned it into a competition to see who can squeeze the most takeoffs and water landings into a single hour. My personal record stands at 12 takeoffs and landings in an hour, which means one every four minutes, including the time for a standard approach back to the airport.

I haven’t had the chance to fly the Airbus 320 since Christmas, but I hope to get back to it as soon as possible.

Wrapping Up

I’ll leave you with a photo of me reading a COBOL book while sipping tea in a cozy hotel on Christmas Day 2024. Because, well, that sums up my winter pretty well.