Add Jag's interview and portrait

posts/jag.talon.markdown

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+---
+title: Jag Talon
+summary: Product designer, developer, activist
+date: 2024-07-20
+categories:
+- activist
+- bsd
+- designer
+- developer
+- linux
+---
+
+### Who are you, and what do you do?
+
+Hey! My name is [Jag Talon](https://jagtalon.net/ "Jag's website."), and my pronouns are he/him. I was a product designer at [The Tor Project][tor] and [DuckDuckGo][] working on privacy and censorship circumvention tools, but right now I'm taking a break from tech and involving myself in mutual aid (such as [Food Not Bombs](https://foodnotbombs.net/ "A non-profit rescuing leftover food.")), Palestinian, and abolitionist movements.
+
+I'm still doing some computer stuff when I have the time like [contributing to OpenBSD ports](https://jagtalon.net/hypha/contributing_to_openbsd "Jag's page about contributing to OpenBSD."), [toying with small programs](https://jagtalon.net/hypha/making_a_lightweight_diary_in_decker "Jag's page about making a diary out of Decker."), and [running a little server for friends and family](https://aangat.lahat.computer/mediawiki/Main_Page "Jag's wiki-based community."). You've caught me at a transitional point in my life to be honest since I'm taking a break from work. The tools that I've been using are more personal and tend to be lightweight since I'm using older machines. I'll talk more about that below.
+
+### What hardware do you use?
+
+The computer that I've used the most is a [Dell XPS 17][xps-17] from 2020 that unfortunately guzzles way too much power and that's too heavy to lug around comfortably. It's great for doing design work especially when I'm using resource-hungry apps like [Figma][], but it's not so great when it comes to portability or my electric bill. It's not comfortable to use even at home, but I got it for free at work so I'll be using it for as long as I can.
+
+Because of the issues that I have with the Dell and the fact that I don't have to use Figma right now, I've been using an [Asus Eee 1000H][eee-pc-1000h] from 2009 more and more these days. It's what I'm using right now to answer these questions, actually! I think it's part nostagia since I used a netbook when I was in university, but it's also part curiosity: I want to see how much I can get out of this 15-year-old laptop. I got it on eBay for $30, and I'm really enjoying the size of this machine. I got an aftermarket battery for it as well so that I can use it longer (yes, people still sell batteries for it!), and I also got a Wi-Fi adaptor for it since the internal Wi-Fi seems to have died.
+
+Other than that, I have a [Pixel 5a][pixel-5a] as my phone, a [Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX10][lumix-dmc-lx10] camera for traveling, a [Ploopy trackball][ploopy-classic-trackball] for mousing, and a trusty [Brother HLL2370DW printer][hll2370dw] that I got on Craigslist.
+
+### And what software?
+
+I'm fascinated with [OpenBSD][], so both my laptops, [my Tor relay](https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#details/5BC56646F05946B893CEA284E62B1FFF70CF99F1 "Tor metrics for Jag's relay."), and my personal website all run on it. I've been keeping track of [my experience on my wiki](https://jagtalon.net/hypha/openbsd_on_a_laptop "Jag's post about running OpenBSD on a laptop.") mostly so that I could use it as a reference for myself in the future.
+
+Because I'm attempting to use an old machine, I've been using lightweight tools more often. Right now I'm using [aerc][] as my email client and [Remind][] as my calendar. It takes a while to get used to, but they're unbelievably fast compared to [Thunderbird][]. For to-do lists, I'm using [Taskwarrior][], and I journal using [jrnlc][]. To sync my files between my computers I use [Syncthing][], and I backup my files using [Tarsnap][]. [BadWolf browser][badwolf] and [NetSurf][] run wonderfully on this small machine, too. I've also been toying with [Decker][] for making small programs and ezines in my spare time.
+
+On my phone, I run [GrapheneOS][] and the main apps that I use are [AntennaPod][antennapod-android] for podcasts, [YNAB][ynab-android] for budgeting, [Signal][signal-android] for keeping in touch with comrades, [Tor Browser][tor-browser-android] for browsing, and [Magic Earth][magic-earth-android] and [Organic Maps][organic-maps-android] for navigation.
+
+Finally, I have an OpenBSD server running [Mycorrhiza wiki][mycorrhiza] for my website, and a [Debian][] server running [FreedomBox][] that I share with some friends.
+
+### What would be your dream setup?
+
+I think my dream is to have a more communal setup where people freely share their tools with each other. There's a lot of [waste and consumerism in the computer industry](https://permacomputing.net/ "A movement to introduce permaculture concepts to computer gear."), so I think I'd love for us to [collectively apply mutual aid concepts](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PopmGAvsggg "A video hoted on YouTube explaining mutual aid.") when it comes to our computing resources. I'd like to see people collectively owning server space, gaming consoles, printers, laptops, mics, or drawing tablets instead of owning it individually.
+
+Right now I'm able to do that a little bit with my small circle of friends, but I'd love for it to be more normalized in our culture.
+
+[aerc]: https://git.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/aerc "A command-line email client."
+[antennapod-android]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.danoeh.antennapod "A podcast manager and player."
+[badwolf]: https://hacktivis.me/projects/badwolf "A web browser."
+[debian]: https://www.debian.org/ "A Linux distribution."
+[decker]: https://internet-janitor.itch.io/decker "Software for making hyperlinked multimedia sticky notes."
+[duckduckgo]: https://duckduckgo.com/ "A new search engine."
+[eee-pc-1000h]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asus_Eee_PC#Eee_PC_1000_series "A 10 inch netbook computer."
+[figma]: https://www.figma.com/ "A collaborative design prototype service."
+[freedombox]: https://www.freedombox.org/ "Software for easily self-hosting software at home."
+[grapheneos]: https://grapheneos.org/ "An open-source mobile OS compatible with Android."
+[hll2370dw]: https://www.brother-usa.com/products/hll2370dw "A black and white laser printer."
+[jrnlc]: https://github.com/thexhr/jrnlc "Command-line journaling software."
+[lumix-dmc-lx10]: https://shop.panasonic.com/products/lx10-digital-camera-24-72mm-f1-7-2-8-lens "A 20.1 megapixel digital camera."
+[magic-earth-android]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.generalmagic.magicearth "A map app."
+[mycorrhiza]: https://mycorrhiza.wiki/ "Wiki software."
+[netsurf]: https://www.netsurf-browser.org "A web browser."
+[openbsd]: http://www.openbsd.org/ "An open-source operating system emphasising security and cryptography."
+[organic-maps-android]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.organicmaps "An offline maps app."
+[pixel-5a]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_5a "A 6.34 inch Android smartphone."
+[ploopy-classic-trackball]: https://ploopy.co/classic-trackball/ "A trackball."
+[remind]: https://dianne.skoll.ca/projects/remind/ "A simple cross-platform, open source calendar app."
+[signal-android]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.thoughtcrime.securesms "A private chat app."
+[syncthing]: https://syncthing.net/ "Self-hosted file syncing software."
+[tarsnap]: http://www.tarsnap.com/ "An online backup system, aimed at *nix-based computers."
+[taskwarrior]: https://taskwarrior.org/ "A command-line to do manager."
+[thunderbird]: http://web.archive.org/web/20070322094547/http://www.thunderbird.net:80/ "An open-source cross-platform mail client."
+[tor-browser-android]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.torproject.torbrowser "A private web browser app."
+[tor]: https://www.torproject.org/ "A software and network package for protecting your anonymity."
+[xps-17]: http://web.archive.org/web/20190506095815/https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/cty/pdp/spd/xps-17 "A 17 inch PC laptop."
+[ynab-android]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.youneedabudget.evergreen.app "An app for managing your finances."