xlinux.org

xlinux.org is a domain I registered in 2024 because I like Linux. I also couldn't believe that this domain wasn't already taken. The inspiration behind the domain comes from another one I own, unixf.com. Again, that one was because I wanted a domain with "unix" in it and it was available. I still haven't really done anything with that domain. I just like xlinux.org better.

Site CMS and Design

This site is running CMSMS because I was going to lose it if I launched another WordPress website. Sure I might have to do a little extra work for the design, but honestly, I missed doing that. I actually used to use CMSMS from ~2012 to 2016 when WordPress became my CMS of choice. Lately, it's gotten bloated. It's become a security nightmare. Everything just runs so slowly. Like no wonder PHP has a bad rep... PHP isn't the problem. It's WordPress. Anyways, this site is also running a modernized version of NoProbs from OSWD. This template was released on January 18, 2006 making it over 18 years old and legally able to vote.

Why did I not only install, but modernize an 18 year old theme? First, I'm not a web designer. Back in 2004-2007 era, if I needed a web design for a project, I went right to OSWD. Second, while Bootstrap has been a great framework for making things look okay by people who would rather be writing code, I absolutely am tired of every website looking the same. I don't hate Bootstrap, I just hate cookiecutter sites. Think about it. When was the last time you truly saw a unique web design in the last decade? You haven't. Web designers are afraid of colors (except accent colors) and everything is grey (or really dark grey) text on a white background with the only color coming from images and links. That is why I modernized a template that is about half my age.

It's also important to note that I'm still working on tweaking this template. It's not perfect. It's not behaving properly in all situations. After all, I am not a web designer. Bugs will be fixed slowly. Unless you want to fix one, then feel free to shoot me a fix - travis@xlinux.org.

Technology

While Linux is my passion, I use macOS. This is because while Linux is great, my work obligations have me requiring the use of tools that are only available on Mac and Windows. Plus, you have to admit that nothing comes close to the multi-touch trackpad on a MacBook Pro. My Linux desktop OS of choice is Fedora. My Linux server OS of choice is AlmaLinux.

My primary computing device is a 14" 2021 MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro chip, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB storage. If I recall, it's just the "base model" of the M1 Pro line. Despite being almost 4 years old, it is a great work horse. I'll probably end up upgrading it in the next year or two. I've been eying the new Space Black color introduced with the M3 Pro.

When it comes to programming, I much prefer to stick with C-family languages. For web, I use PHP. For computers, I will use C# (thank you, Microsoft, for open sourcing .NET and getting it to run natively on Linux) and Bash. While I have used Python, I am not a fan of it. Being picky about indents and new lines drives me nuts. In PHP or C#, if I want to write my code all on one line, I can if I please.

I am a big fan of Proxmox VE as my hypervisor. Actually, this website is being served to you via an AlmaLinux 8 VM running on a Proxmox VE node.