LINUX Unplugged 659: Truth Trapper Keepers
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Mar 23, 2026 A self-hosted calendar tool that turns multiple iCal feeds into one source of truth. A DIY PiBox build for a portable Jellyfin media server with provisioning, filesystems, and kiosk display talk. Discussion of deployment tradeoffs, Nix-based setups, and a new systemd birthDate field for age gating. Picks include fq for binary inspection, FileFridge for cold storage, and sigrok with PulseView for hardware reverse engineering.
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Found A Compact PiBox With Built In SATA Storage
- Chris and the team discovered a PiBox (CM4 carrier with 2x SATA slots) in the studio and dusted it off as a travel media/server device.
- The box includes a CM4, Noctua fan, HDMI, USB-C, gigabit Ethernet, and room for two 2.5" SATA SSDs.
Make A Travel Media Server That Always Presents One SSID
- Build a portable media server that presents one SSID and local Jellyfin so devices auto-connect and playback is consistent across Airbnbs.
- The team's goal: media NAS plus AP that extends or uses LTE so they avoid host Wi-Fi quirks and passwords.
Phone Based Server Failed At Airbnb Test
- Brent tried deploying a Linux phone as a travel server at an Airbnb and it failed: long Wi-Fi setup and stability problems made it unusable.
- That failed experiment motivated the team to try the PiBox approach instead.