There must be a way to make this work.
It usually does. Occasionally it takes ten guides, twelve opinions, a restart and the realisation that the crucial checkbox was right in front of you all along.
Practice over sales pitches
Technology as it really happens
Dogtruck collects experiences with Linux, computers, servers, backups, hardware, Python, websites and AI. Not from a manufacturer's laboratory, but from the desk — where a small change sometimes actually stays small. Sometimes.
Detours, failed attempts and solutions that only start making sense on the third try belong here too. That is not a fault in the documentation. That is the documentation.
What is it about?
Linux Mint is a focus, but not the boundary. Windows and macOS, hardware, NAS and servers, virtual machines, backups, Python tools, websites and whatever wanders between them in everyday life belong here too.
GUI or terminal? Both. A button is not automatically bad just because you can do the same thing with 83 characters in a terminal.
- Linux Mint
- Hardware
- NAS & servers
- Backup
- Python
- Websites
- Virtual machines
- AI
More than reading
Theory is useful. Sometimes a file, a script or a program that actually does the work is even more useful. That is why Dogtruck has three practical starting points.
Downloads & GitHub
Here you will find programs that grew out of a specific problem and eventually reached the point where they could reasonably be shared with other people.
The programs are published through GitHub and are expressly intended to be used and shared. Source code is included, of course. Otherwise, “open source” would be a somewhat creative description.
Available now: Checkweb for local and online website checks, and showipmac for an overview of devices on the local network with IP and MAC addresses.
Scripts
Not every problem needs an entire program with a window, settings and a version number that looks more important than it is.
Sometimes a few sensible lines are enough. The first script will have its place here; more practical helpers can join it later.
Blog
This is where the stories from all those hours we have spent at the computer end up — voluntarily, mostly.
Updates, troubleshooting, new hardware, Linux, servers, Python, AI and those famous projects that began with “I'll just quickly change this one setting.”
“It depends.”
That is not an excuse. With computers, it is surprisingly often the right starting point. The sensible solution depends on the computer, operating system, experience, goal and sometimes how much troubleshooting you feel like doing.
Dogtruck therefore does not claim that there is always just one correct solution. What matters more is understandable options, their advantages and disadvantages, and experience of what has actually worked.
And when it does not work?
Then the next story for the blog probably begins.
There must be a way to make this work.