The latest articles on DEV Community by David “Moodge” Higgins (@hostityourdamnself). https://dev.to/hostityourdamnself https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4050327%2F4167729d-4353-4c4f-9ee7-84a87508367d.jpg https://dev.to/hostityourdamnself en David “Moodge” Higgins Fri, 31 Jul 2026 10:04:41 +0000 https://dev.to/hostityourdamnself/revive-your-old-laptop-turn-it-into-a-free-home-server-33nl https://dev.to/hostityourdamnself/revive-your-old-laptop-turn-it-into-a-free-home-server-33nl <p>You’ve got a dusty, forgotten laptop sitting in a drawer. It’s slow, the battery lasts about as long as a sneeze, and you’re pretty sure it’s running a version of Windows that hasn’t seen a security update since the Obama administration. You’re about to throw it in the e-waste bin, or worse, pay someone to take it off your hands.</p> <p>Stop. Right there.</p> <h3>Want to read the rest of this guide?</h3> <p>This is just a preview! To see the full tutorial, hardware recommendations, and deeper technical details, head over to my official blog.</p> <p>👉 <strong><a href="https://hostityourdamnself.com/revive-your-old-laptop-turn-it-into-a-free-home-server/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Read the full article on Host it your DAMN self</a></strong></p> tutorial selfhosting David “Moodge” Higgins Fri, 31 Jul 2026 10:04:05 +0000 https://dev.to/hostityourdamnself/linux-for-normal-people-the-free-private-os-they-dont-want-you-to-know-about-4co2 https://dev.to/hostityourdamnself/linux-for-normal-people-the-free-private-os-they-dont-want-you-to-know-about-4co2 <p>You’re probably reading this because you’re fed up. Fed up with apps that spy on you, with operating systems that force updates down your throat at the worst possible moment, and with the sneaking suspicion that your "free" email service is actually the product. You’re not a programmer. You don’t speak in code. You just want a computer that does what <em>you</em> say, not what a corporation in Silicon Valley dictates. If that sounds like you, then it’s time to talk about Linux.</p> <p>Here’s the big secret the tech elite don’t want you to know: you don’t need to pay for an operating system, and you don’t need to surrender your privacy to use one. There’s a free, incredibly powerful alternative that has been running the world behind the scenes for decades. It powers the servers that host the internet, the supercomputers that predict the weather, and the Android phone in your pocket. Yet most everyday users have never touched it because they’ve been told it’s "too hard." That’s a lie. It’s time to pull back the curtain on Linux, understand where it came from, and see why switching might be the single most empowering decision you make for your digital life.</p> <h3>Want to read the rest of this guide?</h3> <p>This is just a preview! To see the full tutorial, hardware recommendations, and deeper technical details, head over to my official blog.</p> <p>👉 <strong><a href="https://hostityourdamnself.com/linux-for-normal-people-the-free-private-os-they-dont-want-you-to-know-about/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Read the full article on Host it your DAMN self</a></strong></p> tutorial selfhosting