I grew up in the 90s. I remember using dos commands and installing a cdrw drive in our family’s compaq pc so I could burn cds with music I found on Kazaa. Somehow, I didn’t learn what I needed to in order to set up what I’d like to have privacy wise.
Posting here before I just start getting computer science textbooks, looking for any resources to increase my knowledge and ability with computers, networking, and connectivity. Podcast, video content creators, books, anything. I’m going to make time to do some online learning for python. My current programming knowledge is limited to excel/VBA
What I want to have:
Linux mini pc connecting to tv for torrents/streaming. I’ve heard about using a mini pc before the isp modem to filter dns and tracking- I do not understand this, but I have heard of flashing routers with different os
As safe and private a phone as possible that can still be moderately convenient- probably going to get a used pixel with graphene using Wi-Fi only/no sim
Security cameras with secure, private storage- need to learn about self-hosting
Below are the topics I’d like to be able to study on my own time. I’m grateful for any advice but I’m stubbornly curious and need to understand the underlying concepts- not just a step by step.
Internet protocol; I get the gist of things like dns is a phone book for ip addresses; vpn is a not a magic bullet, it’s just a shifting of trust; cell phones are pretty much unable to be completely anonymous without tremendous work and sacrifice.
Computer/network systems; troubleshooting Linux problems, editing boot loaders defaults (I have a pc w dual boot windows and Linux, tried to remove the Linux to try another distro, couldn’t get it). Flashing Wi-Fi routers and associated troubleshooting, setting up self hosting- plex jellyfish, backup data. Performance figures for computers and what that means for various applications, like you’d need x gb for this, and an ssd of x for that
Purchasing and scrubbing used devices- I like the idea of reducing e waste and picking up a dell optiplex from a thrift store.
I’m also aware I’m in that space where I don’t know what I don’t know yet; so I’m probably missing topics.
What am I missing? Where should I look?
I get very few privacy vibes from this post. It seems like you are more interested in tinkering. Which is fine, but has very little to do with privacy directly.
Examples, you don’t need to know how the IP stack works in order to have privacy. You know that a VPN is just a shifting of trust and something like the tor network would probably be better.
You mentioned flashing routers and DDWRT is open source router firmware and you should be able to add DNS blocks like a pi-hole or equivalent block list into that kind of software in order to stop ads and online tracking.
That’s totally fair; this is less privacy and more technical/tinkering. I feel like I don’t have the skills to do the tinkering needed to continue on my privacy goals.
And I do like to tinker- but only on certain things. I want my stuff to work unless it is a particular project.
Idk I just feel a large void of ignorance when I’m deciding what to do next in terms of my personal tech. Maybe it’s just a lack of confidence and experience.
Should I just do internet searches for these things? Like “flashing ddwrt to asus router”
And I don’t need to know the ip stack- but I’d like to have a better understanding