I’ll start by plugging Harvard’s free courses catalog as well as Udemy
Edit: Gonna add 2 more I remembered-
Blender - I wish I had more time to learn it, but I did start the infamous “Donut Tutorial” once!
Watch Cartoons Online - Lots of good older stuff!
Learn a little docker and start self hosting stuff! Pihole is a great one to start with, but there are lots of other awesome projects out there:
How do I “learn a little docker”? Where do I start?
Before you start can I ask what experience you have with computers, command line, and have you ever done any programming.
Programming isn’t necessary but it helps me see if you’ve been exposed to the kind of syntax you will see in docker.
Happy to help you learn this though.
I’m on a course to become full stack developer, and I know the command line (basics), have an old laptop running Linux Mint that I want to test to use as a docker, but I have no idea where to start.
You could follow a guide to install portainer, it’s got a web gui to manage docker. It can handle installing most types of docker containers.
When you find a cool project to install, they almost always have a docker compose template you can use to install their container.
The docker compose tells docker which containers to install and how they might rely on each other as well as which ports to run on and where all their config and/or data files should be stored.
Using a docker compose makes things super simple to update by using portainer to repull the images to the latest versions and run those. The new containers running the new versions will have all the same config and see the same data/config directories that you specify in the docker compose.
I run a bunch of containers, some good examples are the ARR stack to download tv shows and movies. Radarr, Sonarr, Prowlarr, Transmission are all defined in one docker compose. Another couple of great containers I run are Actual Budget for budgeting software and Tandoor for saving and managing recipes and grocery lists. Actual Budget and Tandoor have their own docker compose configs.
I am going to be pasting a set of commands to get docker and docker compose set up, but please be wary of people giving commands to run in the terminal. You could use the information I’ve provided to help you find guides to confirm that no weird commands, but I copied this from my guide I use whenever I set up a new VM to use docker.
So the commands below add any dependencies for docker, adds the GPG key to verify and then installs docker and docker compose. I also set up a docker user add them to the docker group so I don’t need to use sudo to run.
I then use docker to create a portainer instance. Portainer allows you to use a webUi to see what you have running and stop start any of your services from there.
After this I have provided a docker compose file which would be named docker-compose.yml. Yaml sucks as it constantly moans about spacing, but essentially you want to use spaces and not tabs and each new line would be indented two spaces unless it’s a sub part of the section above then it would be two more spaces etc.
This docker compose might or might not be what you need, this one first sets up gluetun, which is a VPN layer which I can route other services through as you don’t want to torrent from your IP.
So gluetun is set up using ProtonVPN and you pass the username and password. Username has +pmp for port forwarding.
Then each service under here can choose to use the service:gluetun or bridge network. The former is for the VPN the latter is routed through regular network. Notice how anything routed through the VPN has the ports defined in the VPN service.
The others things you would need to be conscious of is the paths I have used for /mnt/vault/* as these are network attached storage from TrueNAS. Depending on how you want to store things you’ll need to just add the paths to these. The paths look weird but the part before the colon is where it is on your machine and the part after is what it is called inside that container.
You’ll notice that Plex requires a claim key but you can google how to find that.
This isn’t going to get you up and running and you will likely run in to permission errors and other errors along the way. I would suggest coming back here with your errors or giving them to ChatGPT, just don’t blindly copy commands if you don’t know what they do.
Once your docker compose is complete you can run docker compose up -d to spin it up. Then in portainer you can see all the containers and then login to each and do the setup. Docker compose down to stop them all.
When I set this up I did the gluetun and then Radarr. Get that working and then add your next thing and then the next and so on until you have what you want.
As I said this isn’t a complete solution and you will run into roadblocks, but that’s the fun for me and I am happy to help when you get stuck along the way.
Edit: A few more things you should know. The volumes section. The ones starting with ./ means they’re in the directory where the docker compose file is. And as I have perms to 1001 you would need to ensure that is the PUID of the docker user and then for each folder, plex for instance you can run “sudo chown -R 1001:1001 ./plex” and “sudo chmod-R 755 ./plex” which is change ownership and changes permissions for that directory.
### Docker
Install dependencies
`sudo apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common -y`
Add the Docker GPG key to the server’s keyring
`sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/%E2%80%8Blinux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc`
Add the latest Docker repository to the APT sources
`echo “deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/%E2%80%8Blinux/ubuntu $(. /etc/os-release && echo “$VERSION_CODENAME”) stable” | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null`
Update the server package index.
`sudo apt update`
Install Docker
`sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin`
Verify
`sudo docker --version`
Enable the Docker system service to start automatically at boot time.
`sudo systemctl enable docker`
View the Docker service status and verify that it’s running
`sudo systemctl status docker`
#### Install docker compose
`sudo apt install docker-compose-plugin -y`
Verifiy the installation
`docker compose version`
#### Portainer
Create a Volume for Portainer Data
`docker volume create portainer_data`
Deploy Portainer as a Container
```
docker run -d \
–name=portainer \
–restart=always \
-p 8000:8000 \
-p 9443:9443 \
-v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
-v portainer_data:/data \
portainer/portainer-ce:latest
```
Acess Portainer
`https://your-server-ip:9443`
#### Running Docker without Sudo
Add your user to the docker group:
`sudo usermod -aG docker $USER`
Log out and log back in, or restart your system.
Verify by running:
`docker ps`
Below is the docker-compose.yml file.
services:
gluetun:
image: qmcgaw/gluetun
container_name: protonvpn
cap_add:
- NET_ADMIN
devices:
- /dev/net/tun:/dev/net/tun
ports: # These are the qBittorrent ports, I like to use random ports and not the default ports 49152
- 49893:49893 # This is for the qBittorrent WebUI Port
- 6881:6881 # Listening port for TCP
- 6881:6881/udp # Listening port for UDP
- 7878:7878 # Listening port for Radarr
- 8989:8989 # Listening port for Sonarr
- 9696:9696 # Listening port for Proxlarr
environment:
- VPN_SERVICE_PROVIDER=protonvpn
- OPENVPN_USER=USERNAME+pmp # REPLACE with your OpenVPN username (+pmp for port forwarding)
- OPENVPN_PASSWORD=PASSWORD # REPLACE with your OpenVPN password
- VPN_PORT_FORWARDING=on
- SERVER_COUNTRIES=France # These countries must support P2P
volumes:
- ./gluetun:/gluetun
restart: unless-stopped
qbittorrent:
image: lscr.io/linuxserver/qbittorrent:latest
container_name: qbittorrent
environment:
- PUID=1001 # to find your current ID just type “id” in the terminal
- PGID=1001 # to find your current group ID just type “id” in the terminal
- TZ=Europe/London
- WEBUI_PORT=49893 # Must match the port used on gluetun for the WebUI
- TORRENTING_PORT=6881
volumes:
- ./qbittorent/config:/config # this will create the config folder in the same folder as the yml file
- /mnt/vault/Downloads:/downloads # adjust to your desired download directory
network_mode: “service:gluetun” # must match the container name of gluetun
restart: unless-stopped
prowlarr:
image: lscr.io/linuxserver/prowlarr:latest
container_name: prowlarr
depends_on:
- gluetun
environment:
- PUID=1001
- PGID=1001
- TZ=Europe/London
user: “1001:1001”
volumes:
- ./prowlarr/config:/config
network_mode: “service:gluetun”
restart: unless-stopped
radarr:
image: lscr.io/linuxserver/radarr
container_name: radarr
depends_on:
- gluetun
environment:
- PUID=1001
- PGID=1001
- TZ=Europe/London
user: “1001:1001”
volumes:
- ./radarr/config:/config
- /mnt/vault/Downloads:/downloads
- /mnt/vault/Movies:/movies
network_mode: “service:gluetun”
restart: unless-stopped
sonarr:
image: lscr.io/linuxserver/sonarr
container_name: sonarr
depends_on:
- gluetun
environment:
- PUID=1001
- PGID=1001
- TZ=Europe/London
user: “1001:1001”
volumes:
- ./sonarr/config:/config
- /mnt/vault/Downloads:/downloads
- /mnt/vault/TV:/tv
network_mode: “service:gluetun”
restart: unless-stopped
jellyfin:
image: jellyfin/jellyfin
container_name: jellyfin
environment:
- PUID=1001
- PGID=1001
- TZ=Europe/London
volumes:
- ./jellyfin/config:/config
- /mnt/vault/Movies:/movies
- /mnt/vault/TV:/tv
restart: unless-stopped
ports:
- 8096:8096
network_mode: “bridge”
plex:
image: lscr.io/linuxserver/plex:latest
container_name: plex
network_mode: host
environment:
- PUID=1001
- PGID=1001
- TZ=Europe/London
- VERSION=docker
- PLEX_CLAIM=CLAIMKEY
- NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=all
volumes:
- ./plex:/config
- /mnt/vault/Movies:/movies
- /mnt/vault/TV:/tv
deploy:
resources:
reservations:
devices:
- driver: nvidia
count: all
capabilities: [gpu]
runtime: nvidia
restart: unless-stopped…casually just post an entire setup.
I miss my nas.
This isn’t likely to work without some whack a mole with errors though but it should be enough for someone curious enough to be able to get a working solution.
My NAS currently has a sole 10TB HDD and funds are too low to justify an additional one so I am very nervous.
YouTube. Duckduckgo.
Personally I’m running 13 containers for various things. Worth it.
But I googled docker, and only found apps that can be installed. Does it both require something to run the docker apps in?
Docker is a program that runs on an OS, usually Linux, and the docker apps or images are run by docker on the OS docker is installed on.
I’m a rookie, but I run TrueNAS which runs docker images. Previously I ran plain Debian with docker installed to run docker images.
Check out NetworkChuck’s channel on YouTube. He has a bunch of videos on docker and docker compose.
I agree, you can use an old desktop, laptop, or if you don’t have something I had good luck with the local university surplus store.
Closing your eyes, slowly taking a deep breath, and calmly, breathing in, and breathing out, while focusing on the sensations in your body, and how much more relaxed you’re feeling right now
i.e. meditation
Nah. Intrusive thoughts are a bitch.
Let them come, then let them go
" Come on in, take a breath, the oxygen is free! "
thanks now i feel more relaxed on my toilet
It’s great, customizable, I sent a suggestion to the volunteer development team, and they made it happen.
Worth noting: Android only
Let me be perfectly honest: If you like AntennaPod, just stick with it, OK? You’ll save a lot of frustrations and headaches.
I used to use AntennaPod and listened to lots of podcasts.
Then one podcast host mentioned some other app, I tried it, and liked its Web interface, even when it didn’t have all of the AntennaPod features. I think it didn’t have “stop playing a podcast at the end of the episode, even if it’s queued”. (I like to queue stuff and listen to them at no particular order. I’m a whimsical girl like that.) Then I think this app got discontinued/went pay only, I can’t remember.
Went with Google Podcasts. It was a pretty limited and janky experience (also no ability to stop at the end of the queued episode), but it did its job and I hoped it’d get better over years. It didn’t. It got discontinued. Google sometimes can’t do a good thing.
I manually migrated my subscriptions to some other app. (As one last hurrah Google then implemented OPML takeout.) Wasn’t happy with this app. Couldn’t help but notice my podcast listening habits were drying up due to all these minor snags. ADHD thing I’m sure.
Then I remembered AntennaPod and how perfect it was and how happy I was using it. I wanted to export OPML from this other app. It had OPML import but no export of any kind. Shit.
So I imported my subs manually again. And screw me if I ever have to do that again. But I’m happy again and that’s what matters. I don’t think I’ll need to migrate again, I’m glad AntennaPod has nice backup features. (Which I already used to move the app from my tablet to my phone.)
I second this one. Only one I’ll use.
I tried so many other podcast apps, at least 3 of 4 others. The only thing I dislike is that about AntennaPod is that there is no comprehensive removal button that deletes, marks as played, and removes from queue—but all the other apps failed at even consistently downloading eps or playing them back. AntennaPod crushes all competition by light years.
I’ve been using Podcast Addict for years, and when I tried to switch to AntennaPod, I couldn’t figure out how to configure it in such a way that I can listen to the back catalogue of a podcast in chronological order and have the app automatically download a rolling buffer of a small number of episodes. When I looked around online for solutions, I found a forum thread of someone who had the same issue, and the maintainers of the project responded with confusion and dismissal as to why anyone would need that functionality lol. So I’m still on Podcast Addict.
Huh, incidentally, that’s one I haven’t tried! You may end up swaying me over…
Actually, is it closed-source? That’d be a deal-breaker for me, if so, since I’m not that desperate for such a feature as to lose open-source status.
Yeah, Podcast Addict is proprietary and ad driven, unless you pay. I grabbed a lifetime ad-free upgrade years ago when it was like two bucks.
On some level I agree with you, I generally love open source, and if AntennaPod had the feature I was looking for I would have switched, but I also don’t mind paying for software if it’s good and reasonably priced.
In Canada, crown land camping and Christmas trees. You can camp on crown land and cut up to 10 cubic metres of wood a year.
Huh… Can I come? Always hated how free camping isn’t legal in England. Stealth camping sorta is, if you don’t get caught no problem but if you get caught you kinda have to move or you are committing a criminal offence.
Libraries. Most even rent video games, power tools, audio/video hardware, baking utensils…SO MUCH STUFF. All free.
On a whim I googled my city’s library and “tools” and I found a non-profit society that specializes in lending of hand and power tools! This is incredible and I wouldn’t have known about it without this prompt: thank you!
Can you share the name of this non profit society, is it a part of your local public library or it’s own independent thing?.
I need a spanner for like single hex nut and I don’t want to buy one for it to collect dust in my drawer lol
Yeah mine was called the [City Name] Tool Library, and it was a non-profit that was independent of our local library. I imagine that they receive donated tools from contractors and companies around the city.
As an example, I googled a random city name (Calgary) and found one for them as well: https://calgarytoollibrary.org/
There are likely tons of similar organizations throughout Canada (and probably your country as well!)
Thanks I was able to find one in Chicago called The Chicago Tool Library
My local library loans dongles! Now if I can just manage to check one out without snickering …
Even if you don’t go to the actual library the ebook apps are great.
Technically not free, but because so many people think it is it’s a great poster child for proper use of tax dollars and socialist programs. Libraries rock.
Our library loans out state parks passes for a month so you can go to parks for free. It also loans out hiking gear, provides immigration resources, and oddly, a ukulele.
Ours lends them out for all the city museums! And my old local library had a seed library, the deal is that you saved seed from whatever you grew and gave some back.
I have questions
This is amazing, I had no idea.
Adding the library-libby nexus. Most libraries have an eBook collection connected through Libby. I’ve got a Kindle and zero books bought from Amazon. It’s great.
Protip, if you went to any form of formal education (college) then you probably have alumni library account access. My Libby has three library cards logged in. I never wait for a book.
Nope. 15 Euro a year (Freiburg, Germany), which doesn’t automatically renew and it’s a bloody pain.
Yeah, Germany is quite backwards in this aspect.
I once rented a whole reflector telescope.
That is…fucking crazy awesome.
Pretty useful… when one site fails the other usually work.
what is it
A treasure trove of internet
In terms of fully free, obligatory mention:
Your library may offer more than books alone, depending on how well supported they are. Borrow music, movies, sometimes even video games. For music and movies they may also offer these to borrow digitally as well via online services they coordinate with.My library offers art! Like, original art pieces (paintings and sculptures) by local artists which you can borrow for up to three months.
That’s such a great idea!
The library of things is also something many public libraries have now. Not just media, but tools, power tools, cooking pans and equipment, pod casting equipment. Definitely worth a look.
You can borrow fishing rods at ours.
Mine has trekking poles! (Colorado)
In the U.S. they may even offer things like State Park passes.
I moved to a new town in 2022 and I STILL haven’t been to the local library. I need to get on that. I went to libraries so much as a child and in my teens.
You might be able to apply for an account online and not have to go in, unless you just want to meander through their not-book- things available to check out.
My library has a lovely assortment of things. Anything from camping gear to ghost hunting “equipment” like a spirit box or emf meter. My city doesn’t have a fully outfitted maker lab tho, but I am eligible for an account at the neighboring city that does have a kickass maker lab (3d printers, laser engravers, sewing and embroidery machines, Cricuts, and even a professional recording studio).
Our library does audio books, 3d printer, sound recording (like a small studio), and passes to provincial parks. Some can offer a lot!
VLC Media Player
<3 VLC, been using it for decades at this point.
Even better, MPV Media Player. Vlc has bad color reproduction
Interesting. Does it take you back to resume if you closed it halfway through a video?
No
Darn. That’s why I’m with SMPlayer; that time continuity is extremely helpful to the point of being a requirement for me. VLC also has it but it actually makes the jump-to-time prompt vanish if you take too long to click it (which is… a bizarre “feature”).
It’s not enabled by default, but you can configure it to: https://mpv.io/manual/stable/#resuming-playback
I use mpv, but VLC has GUI config stuff that is a lot more approachable.
To add a couple more FOSS programs, OBS Studio and kdenlive are both really robust video production and editing software.
Hah, I used kdenlive in like 2008 to make a 3 minute clip out of a bunch of pre existing material. It was buggy as hell, and crashed every 5-10 operations. But I just saved a lot and got it done. Glad to see it’s still going (and presumably a lot more stable!)
Just used it recently to recut something super simple and it’s pretty good. Worth picking up and learning
Own your own ebooks. Make sure all devices work with whatever format you need.
Good call on that one, calibre is one of my favorite pieces of software. I, uh, acquire ebooks through creative means and use calibre as both an ebook catalog and format converter to then load them onto my kindle.
I try to support publishers that give you the full ebooks like baen library.
Calibre helped me back up my entire amazon library in a way my kobo can now read instead of just kindle. Both are excellent devices, but I wanted a backlight after 7+ years with the same ebook reader. And I’m not about to purchase all those books aain for the privilege of using the kobo bookstore. Plus Calibre makes it so no matter what you get (pdf/ebook/proprietary format) you can get a good old fashion ebook format for future preservation.
You should probably note, the functionality you’re describing now requires modding/plug-ins and not the “search and enable” kind, the download from third party sites and run random install scripts kind. It also since February requires you use your Kindle to download and copy every book you own (a chore if your family buys a lot of pulpy urban fantasy novels)
Your neighbor’s trash. It’s stunning what I find and fix, refurbish, repurpose or sell. Had a friend that used to cruise her hood on trash day, her and her husband would load the truck, sell it back to 'em on a Saturday garage sale. 12-14 hours biweekly work, ~$400 every other weekend.
My wife’s friends dumpster dive at Walmart, though I question how that’s possible. Most big box stores make that impossible. Dunno. In any case, it’s wild what these stores chunk out. If Lowe’s would let me, I’d haul home a pickup full every week.
People think I’m some sort of TV repair wizard but it’s very easy to fix up dumpster TVs if you have a little patience and space. Broken TVs fall into two categories - broken screen or broken board (doesn’t turn on, error screens, flickering). Stick to more popular models and when you find a broken screen, take the board and note the model. When you find a broken board of the same model, just swap it. It usually really is that easy. You can work in the opposite direction too and collect good screens waiting for good boards, but that starts to take up a lot of space quick because you’re storing whole TVs at that point.
You will also inexplicably find a fully working 55" TV sitting at the dumpster 10% of the time.
You will also inexplicably find a fully working 55" TV sitting at the dumpster 10% of the time.
People moving and can’t be bothered / don’t have the time for FB marketplace or similar
Americans: we so poor, every country is ripping us off!
My 55" was thrown out by a neighbor, power issues. $8 in eBay capacitors fixed it, but I did something wrong and shorted it while hanging, lost the magic smoke.
Fine. For $60 I got a new board off eBay. Still have a unit in my bedroom waiting to fix.
On that note, never bring back mattresses, anything upholstered, or anything else that has a lot of unsealed cracks/gaps. Way too big a risk of introducing bed bugs into your home.
So many people just dump seemingly nice mattresses/sofas etc. out on the curb. They’re obviously not going to label these things as infested with bed bugs for a scavenger’s benefit and alert the whole neighborhood to their shame. Do not take these items. It is not worth the potential nightmare you’re setting yourself up for.
I have a pro tip for mattresses! Thrown it down in your driveway, take a box knife and strip it to the bare metal springs. Boom! You now have a plant trellis. First try only took me 20 minutes.
Saw a posh resale store that took twin mattress springs, sprayed ‘em black, hung vertically and spaced 2’ apart over a standing flower bed. Now sure what the plant was but it sure looked cool.
Trying it for the first time this year on the ferns and blackberries on the side of the house. Already have a solid start!
Great resource for really well taught contents on an extensive variety of fields
Free as in FMHY
?
Your local city college may or may not offer free classes (in San Francisco, you just need to show proof that you live in the city with some legal status).
Some public transportation is free for certain groups (youth and folks experiencing homelessness can get free passes here).
“First X of the month” at the zoo/a museum/whatever — lots of venues have free events.
A jog, bike ride, hike — lots of great stuff outside!
Public Transport is always free for everybody.
I live in the Philly area. Senior citizens can use SEPTA (buses and commuter trains) for $1 a ride.
I second the biking … but that shit ain’t free. Even used bikes cost some money to buy and maintain, and brand new bicycles are solidly in the “insane” category these days.
Good point — it is “incrementally free,” although I guess if you count tire wear and tear that’s not even true.