Some time ago, in my post “From Mistrel to Heretic”,1 I wrote about my journey to digital independence. I received several questions about my tech stack afterwards. A fair question I’m happy and willing to answer: I rely on free solutions with GNU/Linux Debian2 as foundation. Stable3 runs on servers and critical systems, while unstable or “sid” powers my daily drivers. For me, the ideal balance between robustness and up-to-date software. Read more

Part II - Please Refuel and some new Bumpers Just in time for the new year, the revived Apple Macbook Pro with Debian from the first part is back on my desk. It served well in December. Now, it’s time for a pit-stop: Would you refuel and change bumpers, please? Battery Replacement after 12 years I was way off the mark with the expected endurance: I wrote something about 1.5 hours last month. Well this may have been 7 years ago when I last worked with it. Today the battery doesn’t last for even half an hour. Over Christmas at home on lockdown this is not a problem, though it is a nuisance as it was carefully but clearly pointed towards me. Read more

Rescue-Ops before Christmas Eve What is the worst-case scenario right before Christmas during a Corona Lockdown? Let’s leave zombie apocalypses, too little toilet paper or slow internet connections aside for a moment. Right! A broken laptop. Exactly such a call for help came to me this afternoon from my own circle of friends. I was asked if I had a spare notebook available shortly. Coincidentally, yes. An old mid-2009 Macbook Pro 13" has been hanging around in the corner for years. Too valuable to be thrown away, technically perfectly okay, but unfortunately no longer supported by Apple. There she is again, the planned obsolescence1. Read more