swap out those mechanicals windows for mechanical linux and then we'll talk
this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2026
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I use Arch BTW.
Like just huge arches instead of windows or even doors, Arch is all you need.
I thought Emacs is all you need?
I agree when it comes to most "smart" home devices. However, I wired an ESP32 to my heat pump for remote control and automation, which has been absolutely fantastic. Also, I use a ton of ZigBee and zwave, since those are not "smart" by themselves and are local-only.
It's the cloud bullshit that always breaks and spies on users that I hate.
Yeah home built and programmed smart devices are the way to go. I'm addicted to the rush of making dumb appliances automated.
The smartphone controlled aircon for $150 extra? Slap a $4 Esp in that. $400 to get sleek control of your central heating? $4 Esp. Turn on the ice maker on the commute home? You guessed it, $4 Esp.
internet thermostat i dont even use mines remote
Homeassistant is cool though. Also most of my stuff would work without it, they just works better with it.
None of the devices I bought for it talk to the internet! Home assistant can control and even update the Shellys completely over the local network.
i've worked with highly competent programmes and sysadmins whose houses are entirely connected. they do exist.
I work in IT, been a software developer for decades.
I have a full on smart home, all the smart tech you can imagine. All connected and running locally via home assistant.
Smart tech isn't bad, shitty tech is.
as a hardware iot security person, that is possible but too much attack surface to manage
ZigBee, Z-wave and Thread have virtually 0 attack surface from an IoT perspective, and even then what are they gonna do, do radio hacking to turn off and on my lights? It's not like they can be used in a botnet.
Locks is a bit more risky as an endeavor, but again, it's probably easier to pick the lock than hack it... Actually with the quality of many smart locks, smashing them is easier still.
Smart TVs are way more problematic devices for example, as soon as they stop receiving updates, you have a bunch of high-speed internet connected devices with unresolved exploits just sitting there waiting for the right chance.
ive used smart light bulbs in a botnet before. and if you do a teardown on one of those locks you can probably get the firmware and uart to get the unlock function which you could use theoretically to unlock every single one
In Spanish, we have a saying: "En casa de herrero, cuchara de palo".
A rough translation would be "in the blacksmith's house you'll find wood spoons". It's not a new thing, it's been like that since ancient times.
Is that the same thing? The impression I get is that OPs post is about the IT worker actively distrusting smart tech. While I assume your example is more that the blacksmith doesn't bother with making metal spoons for himself and using what ever he had already, which would be more comparable to a network engineer still using the ISPs shitty router.
Wooden spoons are better for cooking with cast iron pots and pans, which a blacksmith, being knowledgeable about metal, would be vey aware of.
Just as the it person is way more aware of the pitfalls of smart tech than your average person
I thought it was just teflon that is too weak to handle metal tools.
Metal tools also scrape the bottom lining that forms over time off, which is a big no no when cooking with cast iron.
The seasoning? I seriously doubt that. People seem to think cast iron is more vulnerable than it is. You can wash it, too, just dry it off after.
Whatever man, the wooden spoons taste better i guess, that's the reason now
Exactly.
My first personal e-mail way back in the 90s was with my ISP. Then I changed ISPs and saw the problem with that. So I moved to Yahoo.
Some years later, in the 00s I just decided to get my own, paid for, Internet domain and have my e-mail there, even though I could've carried on using Yahoo or get Google Mail (very popular amongst techies back then) for free. The main reason was that I realized I must made sure the e-mail address was MINE, not actually owned by somebody else with me allowed to use it under their conditions.
Twenty years later and guess it was pretty wise to not have my e-mail in the claws of "Definitelly Do Evil" Google.
Experience using and living with Tech, mainly once your understanding of it reaches the level of understanding systemic elements, naturally informs ones choices in Tech, and that often means chosing something else than the mass marketed "popular" stuff that's designed to lock you in, sell you stuff or sell your attention to others and eavesdrop on you and sell your data.
Another perspective. You got lucky that the dependencies you're working with haven't gotten as bad as the ones for Gmail and the like. Sure you've got a domain, but you've also got a domain registrar you're dependent on. Yeah, you've got your own email server, but it's dependent on open source software, and the monopolists allowing it to still connection, though that's getting iffy. You're also dependent on the kindness of a number of people continuing to contribute to Linux, and it not being compromised in some way.
I made a different choice 25 years ago, and went with Gmail, but the idea that you're smarter because your dependencies didn't turn to sh*t is as much luck as skill. 25 years is several eternities in tech, and there are no guaranteed outcomes.
Literally the worst that can happen to me if I'm really really unlucky is end up tied down to a single provider, same as you.
There were already 100s of registars back then (and as of 2024 there were over 2000) along with a standardized process for moving a domain to another registar, all regulated by an international regulator, ICANN.
Given that ease of migration is guaranteed by ICANN, making the market highly competitive, the only real risk that this entire system end up "consolidated" is if ICANN is totally subverted, a pretty tall order considering it's in the interest of every single country in the World and millions of businesses (who also have domain names) that it is not, so that's highly unlikely.
Meanwhile Google is just one and has always been just one. From the very start there was NEVER any perspective of there being more than one provider of gmail addresses so there was NEVER any perspective of being able to move away from Google and still keep your e-mail address if Google screwed you in some way. As for all your e-mails, those were always freely accessible to Google and they could always do whatever they want with that data.
In simple terms, you chose to be Google's bitch and hope that they don't screw you over too badly, whilst I, maybe, if I'm really really unlucky and an entire international system for domain name regulation is subverted against the interests of all countries in the World and most businesses, might one day at worst end up in the same situation as you.
I'm afraid your face-saving risk "analysis" on this is hilariously bad.
Literally the worst that can happen to me if I’m really really unlucky is end up tied down to a single provider, same as you.
No, there are a lot more risks you're running that I am not. Since you control your infrastructure, you're also responsible for it. Current penalty under CAN-SPAM act is up to $53,088 per email. So, no the worst thing that can happen to you if you're really unlucky is to die penniless after being sued into oblivious for operating a spam operation.
Before the worst happens, it's getting increasingly more likely that your domain will end up in a blacklist at Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook, for which there is no formal appeal process. All that would require would somebody hacking your domain, and sending spam, or just sharing an ip address with a spammer.
That's before we get into the things that you're already lost: time and effort maintaining the system, which I have not.
Anyway, I was just being polite, but since you're incapable of doing so, and need to resort to ad homenium attacks, I think we're done here.
You're assuming I'm using my domain to send spam or am operating the e-mail server myself. That's a pretty wild assumption.
Further, I don't live in the US nor do I have assets in the US, so that act means shit for me.
You can pay a company that hosts e-mail to do it for you, and pretty cheap too.
Which I do.
Like the registar, one can change that provider too, and if do that I get to take the e-mail address with me as well as all my e-mails (all data is fully exportable), unlike with Google were the e-mail address is theirs, not yours.
Try again.
This isn't humor, and most tech people have some of this shit. 3/10.
Ive been gifted a few IoT things over the years. They stay on their own network / VLAN or are unplugged entierly when not in use. The meme about keeping the firearm near the one thing I cant reasonably make myself is not innacurate. Tech workers are aware of the vulnerabilities and issues with cheap insecure IoT nonsense. As part of one of my nerds cyber security learning we hacked a smart cat feeder to snoop on wireless networks and allow a back door (we had their permission, it was a gift that was unneeded so they let us take it apart).
Edit: also a ton of that junk phones back to AWS, and usually pretty lazilly, if your learning pen testing or cyber security its a fun exercise to get this cheap crap and find out how it works.
Cool but you're not even close to 'most tech people'.
Guys, gals, non binary pals; I can't emphasize this enough. The average tech worker Isn't some Linux guru working for a VC sending pics of their thigh highs. It's a middle aged millennial with kids who just wants his shit to work.
"no smart home crap" Yeah... That's just a choice. I have two homegrown smarthome solutions that are amazing and complex without creating security holes.
You can tell it’s an IT guy’s home assistant if there’s no hardware that requires someone else’s cloud.
My home automation philosophy is that everything in the house should work with or without internet. It’s going well so far.
Good recommendation for light bulbs?
Don't do the lightbulbs (unless you rent). Do the power to the sockets.
Smart lightbulbs are a fucking rort
One benefit of smart lightbulbs is being able to control the colour temperature
Which is great if you do that on the reg
There’s a great automation integration in home assistant that uses the suns position and time of day to automagically set the color temp throughout the day. It’s super nice to have the color temp get warmer as the sun sets.
do not
The fact these companies can release a $200 router or a $1000 smartphone and completely stop all security updates after only a few years is insane.