SteamOS 3.9 is the closest thing to a perfect desktop Linux I've ever used
…There’s also the obvious question of trust and support when you’re not using the official path. In my case, that mattered because getting SteamOS 3.9 onto my gaming mini…
Search
Free Claude and Perplexity almost killed my ChatGPT Plus subscription
…into building PCs for friends and family, fostering a passion that would ultimately take shape as a career path. Besides being the first call for tech support for those close to him…
My Raspberry Pi is doing a better job at gardening than I ever did
Jeff Butts Mar 23, 2026, 11:00 AM EDT Jeff's been involved in the IT industry since before the Internet and spent more than 20 years working in technical support, system…
I've stopped recommending Plex to newcomers, because Jellyfin is ready for families now
…Jellyfin expanded and refined its QSV support to allow users with Intel hardware to transcode media far more efficiently, reducing CPU load significantly. Not quite. While NVENC is NVIDIA's encoder and…
I tried to make my Steam Deck a real server, and it’s better at it than it has any right to be
…I spun up a basic file browser container, pointed it to a directory, and within minutes I had a clean interface for uploading and sharing files across the network. It also supports…
The services you ignore are quietly breaking your home lab
Jeff Butts May 17, 2026, 7:30 AM EDT Jeff's been involved in the IT industry since before the Internet and spent more than 20 years working in technical support, system…
Proxmox's real advantage isn't the platform, it's what the community built around it
Jeff Butts Apr 24, 2026, 5:30 PM EDT Jeff's been involved in the IT industry since before the Internet and spent more than 20 years working in technical support, system…
Your home lab probably falls apart for the wrong reason, and these tools fix it
Jeff Butts Apr 20, 2026, 4:30 PM EDT Jeff's been involved in the IT industry since before the Internet and spent more than 20 years working in technical support, system…
Windows File Explorer is outdated, and these alternatives fit how you actually use your PC
…plugin support, and a level of tweakability that genuinely borders on obsessive. But unlike OneCommander's guided, modern look and feel, Double Commander throws you into the deep end and trusts you…
High availability doesn't require matching servers — my three different mini PCs proved it works anyway
Jeff Butts May 12, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT Jeff's been involved in the IT industry since before the Internet and spent more than 20 years working in technical support, system…