I run infrastructure like it owes me money. Four-node Proxmox cluster, three Portainer VMs, split-horizon DNS, HAProxy with CrowdSec bouncing at layer 4, appsec on every inbound proxy, and a central LAPI that remembers every offense for 72 hours. The stack is AlmaLinux (SELinux enforcing, obviously), Cockpit on every VM, and anything that doesn't have a WebUI gets containerized or replaced. If it runs on Linux, I have probably tried to break it.

I got into tech the same way a lot of us did: it was the only place that made sense. Reading documentation for fun, finding the logical holes, figuring out how things actually work under the hood. Fiction never held my attention, but a well-written man page? That I could read for hours.

What I'm running:

• GitLab — version control, CI/CD, the usual
• Vaultwarden — passwords stay on my hardware
• Navidrome — music, self-hosted
• Minecraft servers — because uptime practice should be fun
• Monitoring & alerting — if something breaks, I want to know before the users do
• Gamja — custom container for the WPLUG web IRC client (not dockerized upstream, so I fixed that)

What I believe: Linux is not a niche skill. It is the backend of the entire internet. Every website you visit, every service you us, at some point, is just a Linux distro on a computer, in a datacenter, sending you your content. The goal is to show people that this is not magic. It is logic, documentation, and persistence. The WPLUG's first lab will probably be something dead simple: “How to Block Ads for Your Entire Network.” Pi-hole or AdGuard Home. Twenty minutes, and suddenly your whole house has fewer ads. An excellent gateway drug.

Contact:

• Email: [email protected]
• IRC: iroh on irc.wplug.net
• GitHub: realgeneraliroh
• Blog: Coming soon™

Why WPLUG: My partner told me I needed a hobby I would actually get in trouble for neglecting. The WPLUG bylaws say we must hold meetings. If we do not, the group dissolves. Therefore: I have a hobby with consequences. Perfect.

“It's time for you to look inward, and start asking yourself the big questions. Who are you? And what do you want?” — General (Uncle) Iroh