FriarTech

3 months agodiscuss

I had read this in my youth, and carried its memory for many years. Sharing my knowledge of the story with no one, for no one I knew was a big Asimov fan.

Later, while attending college, I decided to take an astronomy course as a general education class. I discovered my teacher was a big Asimov fan. He had remembered a story that he had read and shared its theme with us but had forgotten its name. I raised my hand in class and said, “Eyes do more than see.”

And for a brief moment - two Asimov fans nodded at each other.

Back then - I wasn’t a remarkable student. I was lost in many thoughts.

But I do remember this:

On the final exam for this class - for extra credit - he asked “What is answer to the Last Question?”

I smiled - then wrote my answer. The only answer. And I knew I got at least one question correct on that exam.

FriarTech

11 months agodiscuss

Was in the same boat as you a couple of years ago. Now I use both daily. eMacs for GTD and vim for coding. I don’t like using a system without both installed :)

FriarTech

last yeardiscuss

From the author on r/selfhosted: Ever set up a bunch of services, then completely forget how your network is configured a month later? I got tired of boring documentation - cause I didn't do it, and I built Network Chronicles - a "game" that turns exploring your infrastructure into solving the mystery of a missing sysadmin. The rest of this I summarized with the bot from my game:

The game hooks into your shell and turns normal Linux commands into game actions:

    Run ip route → "You've discovered the network gateway! +25 XP"

    Check log files → Find cryptic messages from the missing admin

    Run nmap on your network → Unlock a new area in the mystery

As you explore, the game builds documentation of your setup while advancing the story. Everything is represented with retro terminal UI - no graphics, just ASCII art and styled text.

What it looks like in practice:

    You get mysterious messages from "The Architect" (the missing admin)

    Your shell prompt shows your level and current quest

    Running normal commands sometimes triggers discoveries

    An in-game journal records everything you learn

    Challenge scripts create puzzles that teach Linux skills

The core idea: What if documenting your homelab felt like playing Hacknet or Uplink instead of writing a technical manual?

The real magic: It actually integrates with your REAL infrastructure. If you have services on specific ports, the game will incorporate them into the story and challenges.

This is a personal project I've been working on - not publicly available yet, mostly due to hardware constraints on running multiple models simultaneously; but I'd love to know: Would something like this motivate you to better understand and document your setup? What features would make it valuable to you?

EDIT/UPDATE: How do I stress that this is way way under-developed and in development and not advisable for you to install just yet? I guess the best way is to provide a link. https://github.com/Fimeg/NetworkChronicles

This is CONCEPT. Its what I always wanted my tech to do. It's hardly feature complete - at best alpha 0.0.4 To gain a FULL understanding of what this might be - see the premise file: https://github.com/Fimeg/NetworkChronicles/blob/main/premise...

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Count Your Blessings

A game of learning your homelab into a cyberpunk mystery adventure

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