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Arch Linux operating system …
is known as a leading/bleeding/cutting edge (Wikipedia) and as a rolling release (Wikipedia) distro (Wikipedia). This means that you will receive the updated software very quickly. You don't need to upgrade to another version like Windows 7 to Windows 10 or Ubuntu 16.04 to Ubuntu 18.04 etc.. This can sometimes be painful. Three more good reasons for Arch are:
- The security patches are fixed very quickly because they are always up to date.
- You only have software on your system that you have installed. No Bloatware (Wikipedia).
- Arch wiki is huge and very helpful.
The disadvantage can be an unstable system, because the new software is not tested properly. For this reason, we recommend that you keep to our update interval, which is on the 20th each month (PwOSS). But we've been using Arch for a while and never had any major problems.
Seafile
Seafile is a cloud server like Dropbox, Google Drive etc. (Wikipedia).
Seafile is focused on synchronized files only. Seafile is very solid without any major problems. No missing data, no corrupted data… . It does what it's supposed to do. The synchronization between your devices just works great.
Radicale
Radicale is a server to synchronize your calendar, your contacts and your todo list. (radicale.org). Same like Seafile. It does what it's supposed to do.
WireGuard
WireGuard is needed to reach all your services (server) and to constantly establish an encrypted connection. (Wikipedia).
LUKS
(Linux Unified Key Setup)
LUKS is the encryption of your external hard drive or USB stick. If a burglar steals the hard drive or someone else wants access to your personal data, the only way to use the hard drive without a key or password is to format/delete the entire device. Therefore, keep the key or password safe.
Pikaur
pikaur is a AUR-Helper. What is AUR (archlinux.org)? The helper is needed for a few dependencies, such as the seafile server, downgrade and pi-hole.
Downgrade
Sometimes it is necessary to downgrade software due to an unstable system. The software "downgrade" makes it very easy. Github
MariaDB
MariaDB is a database management tool. This is necessary, for example, to store your access data for your Seafile server (Wikipedia).
DDClient
DDClient is required for your Dynamic DNS (archlinux.org) - noip.com account. Mostly every Internet Service Provider (ISP) changes your IP address (daily, weekly or monthly).
Instead you need a static IP address (which can be expensive), otherwise your VPN connection won't work and your servers won't be reachable. DDClient sends your IP address to your dynamic DNS account.
Cronie
This software is required for DDClient, Firefox Sync Server and raspiBackup. A schedule option to send commands to your system in time. (archlinux.org).
UFW
(Uncomplicated Firewall)
UFW is your firewall (Wikipedia).
New software included: 20.01.2019
Pi-hole
Pi-hole (Wikipedia) is very useful to block advertising on and tracking domains for all your devices. In combination with VPN, you can even block advertising on an iPhone, smart TVs and other IoT infrastructures. It's very interesting to see what each individual device is doing in the background on your network.
Nginx
Nginx (Wikipedia) is your web server (Wikipedia) to operate software like Pi-hole. Nginx is resource efficient and known for its stability.
PHP
PHP (Wikipedia) is a popular general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited to web development.
Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world. Needed for Pi-hole and Adminer.
Adminer
Adminer (Wikipedia) is like phpMyAdmin. Adminer is a tool for managing content in MariaDB databases. Adminer is easy and resource efficient.
Samba
Samba (Wikipedia) is necessary if you need access to your externalHD. Easy access for Windows, Linux, Android etc. Quick solution to store some data from your Android phone, for example.
FreshRSS
FreshRSS (GitHub) is a self hosted RSS feed aggregator. It is lightweight, easy to use, powerful and customizable. If you're tired of reading "everything". Just set up your own RSS feeds on your own server.
FireFox sync server
If you have followed the steps of privacytools.io and archlinux.org, the FireFox Sync Server does the rest. Each history, each open tab, each closed tab, and all your bookmarks are synchronized on your own server. (Wikipedia))))
Fail2Ban
Fail2Ban (Wikipedia) is an intrusion prevention software framework that protects computer servers from brute-force attacks.
Msmtp
msmtp (marlam.de) is a very easy to use SMTP client. This is necessary to get some information about your system by e-mail. Like "raspiBackup completed".
New software included: 20.03.2019
Unbound
Your local DNS (Wikipedia) server.
New software included: 27.04.2019
DNSCrypt
DNSCrypt is preventing any spying, spoofing or man-in-the-middle attacks.
Main website at dnscrypt.info
(Wikipedia)
New software included: 22.05.2019
Etc-update
etc-update is a simple solution to merge pacnew files.