SearXNG
Why Drew self-hosted SearXNG as a private search engine instead of relying on proprietary search providers.
"The purpose of computing is insight, not numbers." — Richard Hamming
The Terminal
RSSThe Terminal is where the digital side of life lives.
It gathers code, systems, self-hosting, AI workflows, and the craft of building technical infrastructure that actually serves a human life. The aim here is not technology for its own sake, but technology made answerable to human judgment, independence, and use.
How to use this realm
You are inside one room of the archive. Read the featured pieces below if you want the fastest feel for this section, follow Trails if you want a cross-realm path, or go back to Start Here if you want the archive-wide overview first.
Featured in The Terminal
RSS-Bridge
Why Drew set up RSS-Bridge for himself, and how it helps reconnect the web by generating feeds for sites that refuse to provide them.
2026
Tailscale Has Become Foundational Infrastructure
How Tailscale turned Jellyfin and local AI into private services I can securely access from anywhere.
Adding Analytics Without Becoming the Product
Why I chose small, self-hosted, privacy-respecting analytics for The Drew Archive.
Hardening The Drew Archive
How I upgraded, hardened, and built a tested disaster recovery system for The Drew Archive.
Setting Up Email for The Drew Archive
Why I chose Fastmail for The Drew Archive instead of returning to the work of running my own mail server.
Why I Added AI Disclosure to The Drew Archive
How a conversation about AI slop, human intent, and Substack inspired a practical AI authorship disclosure system for The Drew Archive.
Comments Are Now Live on The Drew Archive
Why I added a self-hosted Remark42 discussion section to The Drew Archive, and how email login, Resend, Hugo, and a little production hardening brought it together.
How Hermes Agent Used $10 of OpenRouter Credit in One Day
How one day of moderate Hermes Agent use consumed nearly $10 in OpenRouter credit, and why I switched its main model from Claude Sonnet to DeepSeek.
Running Hermes Agent Alongside OpenClaw on My Mac Mini
How I configured Hermes Agent alongside OpenClaw on a Mac mini, with task-specific cloud models and a local Qwen model through Ollama.
Building a Hybrid AI Agent Setup with OpenClaw, Ollama, and a Local Qwen Model
How I set up a hybrid OpenClaw workflow with Codex as the primary model and a LAN-accessible local Qwen model over Ollama for constrained agent tasks.
2025
We Are The New Media, It's Time to Start Creating
A short manifesto on moving from passive consumption into independent creation and publication.
2022
2021
Calibre
A note on self-hosting Calibre and Calibre-Web to make Drew's digital library browsable and available across devices.
Jitsi
A note on self-hosting Jitsi as a private video-conferencing alternative to centralized services like Zoom.
RSS-Bridge
Why Drew set up RSS-Bridge for himself, and how it helps reconnect the web by generating feeds for sites that refuse to provide them.
Related systems nearby
Related in The Library
Drew's Personal Library
A chronological shelf of books Drew owns, has read, and hopes to read.
Related in The Watchtower
DuckDuckGo to Begin Censoring "Disinformation"
Why DuckDuckGo's move toward curated results changed the trust equation for privacy-minded users.
Related in The Workshop
Shopsmith
A look at the Shopsmith as a multi-purpose workshop tool and what makes it appealing for a home shop.