[TriLUG] recommendations for on-line Linux VM

[Stephen Wiley via TriLUG]

I think the reason most of these companies push you towards
kubernetes/GPU instances/managed hosting is because VMs are really a
commodity. So you're probably going to see similar behaviour everywhere.
I'm not saying that makes it good but it's just part of living in the
world with other people.

Also, again, droplets are exactly just a VM. There's no extra value add
or management or anything. I don't know why they call them that but it's 
what you're looking for. Looking at Digitial Ocean they told me how much
their cheapest droplet was with one click. That's pretty close to how I
remember linode being.

--Stephen

On Wed, Feb 12, 2025 at 11:51:33AM +0000, Joseph Mack NA3T via TriLUG wrote:
> On Tue, 11 Feb 2025, Joseph Mack NA3T wrote:
> 
> > I want a Linux machine on-line, that I can logon at the command line,
> > like I do with my home machines, and pilot. I want it to run a lightly
> > used a website. I also want to be able to install and remove files at
> > will had not have any blocked ports.
> 
> Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
> 
> This is quite a morass. I just want a VM I can spin up and do what I want
> with, like I do at home. The VM will be running my azimuthal equidistant map
> generator, which has been making maps for 30 years now. It makes a couple of
> maps (maybe 5mins of CPU) a day. I don't need performance - eg nvmeSSDs and
> multiple CPUs. If I wanted performance, I would be hosting it myself.
> 
> Many years ago, Linode just offered VMs. That's what they did. Now their
> webpage is a blizzard of bullshit (yes I can find their VMs, but you have to
> search, indicating that VMs aren't really their business any more). Others
> are offering Linux VMs, but don't tell you the distribution they're using.
> Other people offer things that aren't VMs, like droplets. If they were
> selling cars, what would they call them? When I have to contact them, they
> aren't going to be talking my language - no thanks. Other people (hertzner)
> are offering webservers with webFTP - I don't control that machine -
> accessing it will be like peering through a keyhole. Then there's
> paravirtualisation, which I'd never heard of, where the host and the VM talk
> to each other, which I would have thought is the opposite of what you want.
> Other providers hide their offerings and are only interested in telling you
> how great they are. Some won't tell you want they've got till you sign up.
> Clearly most customers aren't looking for just a VM anymore.
> 
> I'm not planning on having my own e-mail server, although it would be nice
> to have one. It would seem that the big tech companies are making sure that
> only they can do e-mail, by squeezing out the small players by assigning
> reputation in blocks. I would have to take them on and deal with their
> requirements. I'm reassured to find that I have the same understanding of
> the problems of setting up e-mail as Scott Blaydes (an opinionated person,
> which is what I was hoping for) has.
> 
> Linode had a break-in about a decade ago, that resulted in a crypto-heist,
> which involved poor security on their part (it seems a compromised admin
> machine was able to get into the customer's machines) and they never
> compensated (even partially) the people who were affected. This doesn't look
> good. However they are the people who are the nearest to talking my
> language.
> 
> It would be nice to find a provider like Linode was 10 years ago, who had a
> webpage that said "here are our VMs" and just left it at that. I expect I'll
> have to wrestle what I want out of even Linode.
> 
> Thanks
> Joe
> 
> -- 
> Joseph Mack NA3T EME(B,D), FM05lw North Carolina
> Don't upgrade a working machine - it won't work any
> better - it could work worse; it may not work at all.
> Homepage http://www.austintek.com/ It's GNU/Linux!
> 
> -- 
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