BombOmOm

Linux instructions:

Relevant commands:

• nordvpn settings - lists out settings
• nordvpn set [SettingName] [NewValue] - sets the relavent setting
• nordvpn whitelist add subnet [Mask] - whitelists the specified subnet to allow in traffic originating there
• nordvpn d and nordvpn c - to disconnect and connect
• ifconfig - gets your current IP

Bringing it all together:

1. Run ifconfig to get your current IP. It’s most likely 192.168.1.xxx

2. Run nordvpn whitelist add subnet 192.168.1.0/24 to add your subnet to the whitelist (change the first three sections of the subnet to match what your IP is in the first command if it is different)

3. Run nordvpn settings to view all settings and verify they look right, you should see your subnet in the whitelist section now

4. Run nordvpn c to reconnect and apply your new settings

Now LAN connections can reach your computer, even while it is connected to the VPN. For incomming WAN connections, verify port forwarding is setup on your router to point to the computer.

Optional:

5. Run nordvpn set analytics disabled to disable analytics

NordVPN can be set to allow LAN traffic through. So, if you setup port forwarding on your router, which it sounds like you already did, it will then allow that LAN traffic in.

You don’t really need one that is specifically Linux based, as you can format a windows box to Linux at will. Really any 10" laptop you find on cragslist or ebay should do.

Honestly, the only difficult requirement will be the 10" part. 12"-13" are much more common for small laptops.

How do they pay for the service?

Free VPNs are simply a bad idea.

What are they getting from you that allows them to pay for the ‘free’ service? It certainly isn’t a monthly sub, and there is only one other thing you are sending them…your data.

Try out LibreOffice, been using it for years.

It’s a constantly moving target. Yeah, you might block everything today, but then a windows update comes along and, poof, a bunch of the data harvesting is back on. I hope you were checking the detailed patch notes every time an update installs!

Getting the real requirements nailed down from the start is critical, not just doing the work the customer asked for. Otherwise, you get 6 months into a project and realize you must scrap 90% of the completed work; the requirements from the get-go were bad. The customer never fundamentally understood the problem and you never bothered to ask. Everyone is mad and you lost a repeat customer.

AI mostly seems useful when you don’t know a specific concept and just need the base ideas. That said, given it’s often confidently wrong and doesn’t involve humans actively steering you toward better ideas, I still find Stack Overflow more helpful. Sometimes the answer to your problem is to stop doing what you are trying to do and attack the problem from a different angle.

In Germany, NL, you can just plug it into socket and it works somehow.

This is incredibly dangerous as it will feed power into the grid even when the grid is down. You might say ‘that is great!’, yeah, well, the line technicians who cannot work on damaged cables because you are energizing them think otherwise.

One of the reasons home solar grid-feeding systems are expensive in the US is they have extra equipment to disconnect the system from the grid if the grid goes down. Your house can still have local power, but you won’t be energizing powerlines technicians are trying to fix.

BYD is heavily subsidized by China. Tariffs to offset the Chinese subsidies are reasonable.

Apple still has it as Gulf of Mexico.

Not everything is politics. Enjoy some football!

I second your idea of going with Pi-Hole. It is purpose-made for this and easy to setup.