An introduction!

Hello world! This is my introduction post. I am SysadminRiley; Riley, an aspiring sysadmin. Lofty goal, huh? I consider myself a technologist with a wide range of interests. First and foremost: Linux! But also *BSD and UNIX in general. I am always curious and I love to learn. I am interested in both PC hardware (repairing, upgrading, and building PCs) as well as software (currently running openSUSE Tumbleweed on my main machine!) Naturally, I am interested in retro computers as well and would love to own a Bondi Blue iMac G3 one day. I am not much of a programmer or developer; however, my main (and only) strength is Bash. I know a little HTML & CSS and Python, and I am learning some C. Despite being not much of a programmer, I have lots of thoughts and opinions on mechanical keyboards (the louder, the better, right?)

I am super interested in networking too, and I am self-hosting some things. Hoping to get my own website up and running soon! Weird architectures also excite me: I am typing this from an x86_64 box, but I have ARM (Pi 5) and RISC-V (VisionFive2) SBCs sitting on my desk! So, gadgets and doodads in general. Beyond computers, I am also really interested in mobile phones. Things in the Android world are not as exciting as they were 15 years ago, but it is fun to keep up with. I also play video games occasionally, usually ARPGs, Rogue-li{k,t}es, and Survivors-likes. Beyond computer stuff, I love coffee. French press has been my go-to for years, and I will get a proper espresso machine some day. I like to read, but I read non-fiction almost exclusively (on an e-reader!) Music is a huge part of me as well, and I tend to gravitate to more extreme ends.

Usually Dubstep, Brostep, Tearout, Riddim, Gabber, Uptempo, and Speedcore, and occasionally Ambient, Noise, and Chiptune. (Gladde Paling, MARAUDA, Kobaryo, Skxlvtor, KAIFU, Digitist, Zhnoi, Loompaskettee, Mikkerj, Bejalvin, Gaiyu, JoeB, randy!, reallerr, viwiv, wawawa...) I am interested in photography, but I could not take a good picture to save my life. I like to bake when I have the time, and I like to think I can make some pretty decent cakes! I enjoy gardening and tend to some houseplants to keep things spring-y and green during the dark winter days. I read a lot of blogs (Akregator has been my RSS reader of choice for years) and I listen to a TON of podcasts! (Used gPodder for ages, but switched to PocketCasts recently.) I listen for a little over 6 hours per day, although I do listen at 2x-4x speed depending on the host.

Everything in the Late Night Linux family (with 2.5 Admins being a particular favorite), Changelog News, Dual Boot Diaries, Waveform, the WAN show, 9to5Mac Daily, This Week in Linux, Lingthusiasm, Destination Linux, PC Perspective, Programming Throwdown, and more! I am currently following 74 shows, and I am always on the lookout for more. Feel free to recommend some! I also love spicy foods and hot sauces. Languages and linguistics are super fascinating to me too, but I won't claim to be a linguist. I also have an interest in calligraphy and astronomy. I know barely anything about those last two, but feel free to reach out if any of that sounds interesting! And especially if you want to teach me something. I am always trying to improve, in every aspect! 😄☕