(sorry in advance for the long post)

What I'm looking for:

Basically, without a lot of work to setup and maintain a Domain/Kerberos server, what's the best way to provide consistent logins and remote folder/share (from a server) access across various Linux desktops

I've configured domain controllers using Samba. I've also configured Linux systems as domain-joined hosts. Between the two I tend to find that keeping talking - especially for systems that are only on infrequently - can be a bit troublesome. Updates sometimes break the Samba server, tokens expire, etc etc

I've also used NFS of various versions, but found v4 with the Kerberos implementation a bit finicky (for similar reasons to the SMB based implementation). NFSv3 of course is fairly fast and efficient, but lacks the user-level authentication and relies on IP's for access-control.

Now it's been awhile since I've given a shot at this except for some NFS shares between VMs and SSHFS for desktops, it would be nice to have a consistent but easily maintainable way to provided common shares for larger files (videos, albums, 3d models, and projects etc) without having to constantly troubleshoot. Maybe the domain/NFS route had gotten easier but it still seems to be fairly manual at times.

One of the problems with having switched over a number of relatives to Linux is that I'm "the guy" when they have issues, and I can't always get over to help them in a timely manner. A lot of the time most stuff is working just fine and it's just a matter of popping into the desktop and fixing a bad link or a naughty plugin that's slipped into Chrome etc, but it DOES require being able to see what they see.

Windows has a system where you can "request assistance" and then provide a code for access at which point it shares your desktop. There are similar systems where one can get a link in email and click it for support.

I'd like to find a system that I can host myself to allow users to queue up for support at which point I can pop into their system, without needing to open ports on their routers or using something hackish like forwarding a VNC port to an SSH server etc

Has anyone seen anything in terms of locks that could be used for smaller doors etc. For example, a drawer/cabinet style lock or something that might work for bifold closet doors etc. Also setups that could be used to automatically slide out a drawer.

I'd like to create some "secret drawers" as well as be able to lock out stuff like the "candy/snack drawer" as certain members of my household have poor impulse control and like snitch candy then not easy their dinner

(Yes I've tried hiding it, putting it up high etc, but they're sneaky and automation is more fun)

Does anyone use X11 forwarding with Android devices, so that they can access their UI apps remotely?

If so, what apps do you use and what issues have you run across?

There's a "MobaXterm ssh" app and while I do love that app on other OS's it doesn't seem to be made by the same company so I don't really trust it

While I quite like the ability to broadcast TTS, media, and other such things to Google Nest or Amazon Alexa devices, I'm trying to rein in my HASS setup so that it doesn't send data to our require cloud services.

Does anyone know of or recommend a wireless speaker service that can accept broadcast/streamed/sent audio without needing an internet connection. Bonus if it has a microphone that can integrate with something like a local Genie instance for accepting voice commands (without cloud processing)

Can anyone recommend a good place to get parts for a homebrew system (available to Canada, at a reasonable price).

Full disclosure, I'm actually looking to build a large 3D scanning system but in terms of movement of the camera heads, I've been looking at my printer and thinking that it could use a similar configuration though on a slightly larger scale (rails, with a wheeled+track system for horizontal and large spiraled cylinder for vertical) , but I have no idea where to source these sort of parts.

Any ideas?

Does anyone know where to find some good measurements of performance differences between common distros (with like hardware and config).

I'm interested to see if some perform better than others due to optimization etc

I'm looking for a wall switch that I will take Tasmota firmware (so a ESP82XX chipset generally) but can get easily sourced and aren't a huge pain to reprogram.

I'm totally cool with soldering some serial jump points from the board of the appropriate Rx/Tx/GRND/3.3V and pin0 are readily available, but try to avoid stuff that requires soldering the chip itself.

I used to be able to get Globe etc dimmers from Costco that were flashable via the old OTA Tuya-Convert method, but that seems to be a thing of the past and I just need a regular ol' non-dimmer switch which is easy to find and access the required pins these days.

If there are switches which take 110VAC but don't output power, that's even better as some I'm just looking to supplement devices already have power but are inconvenient to access

Kevin Mitnick - the world's first famous "hacker" - has died at age 59 after succumbing to pancreatic cancer.

Mitnick gained fame for his hacking skills and eventual arrest on hacking and wire fraud charges. After his release from prison, he went on to release various books and speak at conferences on the topic of cyber security/hacking. He is the founder of "Mitnick Security Consulting" which provides cyber consulting and penetration testing services.

Kevin's influence on the world of cyber security is undeniable, as is his almost legendary reputation in the field.