I’ve got some thoughts I just feel like sharing. Perhaps there are some insightful opinions out there.
The last few days I’ve been trying to set up a raspberry pi as a hotspot for my machines, going to the local maker faire. I’ve been planning to use an old android phone and tether mobile broadband to the pi, that would function as an AP and router. Using the guest wifi isn’t always a good idea, if they block interaction between devices on the same net.
I’ve done this before, but I didn’t do notes, so I’ve forgotten how. I’ve googled around, and found MANY guides on how to do it. None of them worked, even when using legacy raspberry os (Bullseye).
I tried using chatGPT to get a functional walkthrough, but it mish-mashed different solutions.
So - deep down in a comment thread I found a comment that said "none of this works on Bookworm (current raspberry os, based on debian 12), try this:
And it worked like a charm! One command line, and it’s up and running. None of the complicated step by step setups. A great relief to get it up and running, but super annoying that the information out there is so outdated and chaotic! No-one says what os version or what hardware is used, and Google is not able to do this sifting.
chatGPT is based upon the resources that are out there, so that tool also comes short.
So - my I’m wondering: how could this process be improved? Is it back to pre-google days, I just have to find the right and knowledgable people - and ask them??
Remember when there were forums and user groups where reliable information could be had? Ahhh wait…
Perhaps I’m showing my age, but the new fangled ChatGPT is no different from all those YouTube influenzas. It gives you a consensus not a technical argument. Those who use it are being beige-washed.
You can’t get operator manuals in any form, the internet is full of lies and half truths, perhaps it’s a sign that we are nearing the end. Maybe " planning to use an old android phone and tether mobile broadband to the pi, that would function as an AP and router." is another sign!
In the good old days you could just turn up with a sharp knife, a couple of goose feathers and a carbon black solution and you could sign bits of parchment all weekend long!
Oh!! The nurse is here to help me into my pyjamas…
So at work we were installing duck duck go on everything and i searched for something that just the week prior i had found, but no matter how/what i searched for, i just could not find. turned it off. Went to google it came up first try!! I am not sure what google does, but i tried this a couple times and my google searches were always better, more pointed to (me, i think). Scary but it just works!
If you knew how many times during a week I’m thinking that «I should ask the v1e-forum about this», you’d be suprised! I’m trying hard to hold off spamming Ryans precious community This is part reason for why I’m trying to establish some kind of maker community here in Tromsø. Asking people in person is definately best, but not always possible…
When it comes to raspberry pi os, it’s a mess! I wish it was mandatory to specify what os and hardware the guide is concerning…
I just went through this very thing, so if you’d asked here, I’d have been able to answer that one.
I’ve also seen the decline of search results across multiple search engines.
Communities are defined (in my opinion) partly on the willingness of the community members to help each other. That’s part of why the signal to noise ratio is very high here. Makerspaces that work also do this. I’ve seen spaces that don’t work. It goes back to the culture of helping being present (or not).
There are several sides to this. The most obvious is how amazing it is, to have so many helpful and skilled people aiding each other. I don’t want to overuse people’s friendliness. On the other hand, I sometimes get stubborn and want to figure it out on my own. Too bad I’m losing several hours of my life fighting with outdated instructions…
I have this stupid idea that information technologies should be able to solve such (relatively) simple tasks, but perhaps we never can exclude the human factor. (Thank God for that!!)
Be sure that the local Makerspace is going to be a place for sharing and helping out! We have already talked about what values we want to base the association on. We want exploration, fun, creativity, sharing, community, etc. not business startup-get rich quick -schemes.
RaspAP is what I installed on v1pi. It has a web ui for setting up a hotspot on the pi.
Search Engine Optimization has been broken for a long time. And the way raspberry names their stuff is not helping. I have an easier time searching for linux help by searching with ubuntu. Ubuntu releases stable releases every 2 years in april. So searching “ubuntu 24.04 wifi hotspot” will give you relatively new information about it.
There have always been a ton of people making money in the internet by just posting mid content, hosting ads, and trying to get the results into every search response. That is part of why google has been so aggressive with getting the best results. But it is an arms race. Someone posts garbage about which camera to buy in 2024 and google tries to filter it out compared to actual experts weighing in. Then the website adds interactions and bot content and it gets further up in the list
SEO is also why you see a blog post at the top of every recipe and why tidbits on bike maintenance are hidden behind a 10 minute video. Content where people engage for longer with more comments and clicks is rated higher by google. It is designed to make places like stack overflow more findable. But it results in someone telling you all about how their grandmother used to make these cinnamon rolls.
AI is going to just give those web creators a fire hose to make new stuff. It is already happening. The really creepy stuff is youtube AI videos. Occasionally I will search for a specific topic on YT and get these videos that clearly have their text written by AI, the voiceover performed by AI and either images or the entire video created by AI. It is annoying now, but as it gets better it will be dangerous and hideous. It can’t be put back in the box. The only reaction is to train people to recognize the BS and have good AI bots get better at filtering and weighing that stuff appropriately. It is changed and the change is permanent.
Feeling helpful is a powerful drug. I much rather help than ask for help! If someone doesn’t want to or can’t, they don’t have to.
Don’t go super hard on this, lean that way but do not exclude it. I used to service printers at one that did well for a while. The “Hardcore” users were there for questions and could use all the machines, but the startup dreamers brought in money to pay for the extra classes and larger lockers and stuff that really helps pay the bills.
Plus, that supercharged creative energy is awesome, even if you know it is all about the money. This year at RMRRF was like this, I have never heard so many people talk about making money at a RRF. It used to be debates about parts and styles, and sharing what you made. So I do get it, sharing what you made if far more interesting than hearing about financial stuff as well.
As for AI, we are in trouble. Forums are a fairly safe space, when we can’t easily filter out spam AI bots these will go to crap as well.
I spent days trying to do that. I eventually gave up and bought a GL.iNet device that does the same thing. I plug my phone into the USB3.0 on the back and it tethers it for data, or you can login to the device and tell it to go through any available WiFi in the area. It also has a WAN port you can use if you have a hardwire internet connection.
The device is pretty cool in that it will test the speed of any available internet connection and switch between them depending on which one is faster.
Hey, I really don’t think anyone here feels overused I come here everyday to see what others are doing, projects they have, troubleshooting with others with common interests.
I have to add, your posts are always interesting!
Thanks! You are right (as always). The term “raspberry” has lost is usefulness. Ubuntu(being debian) with specific version might be wiser.
I know that money has to be a part of the equation. I just get a little turned off when people seems more interested in the business side of it, rather than the creative.
All in all, the reason for this post wasn’t that I’m afraid to spam this forum with all my major and minor worries. I feel like I’m able to regulate myself sufficiently enough It’s more that I’m suprised and annoyed by how difficult it’s to find quite simple information out there! There was a news story from Google recently, where central figures admitted that quality of the search has faltered because of increased demands for higher margins. Perhaps places like this forum will be even more important in the future!
The v1e-forum: approved by real people who are found of bbq, complaining about weather, and having serious garage-gnome tendencies
Shoot. Too short time. Packing up for tomorrow morning now. Hmm, let’s see what our new overlord chatGPT says:
I think it seems reasonable! I’ll try it out.
Edit: shoot. No AP still.
No sudo for chmod! I redid it all with sudo chmod, still no magic. systemctl shows that script hasn’t loaded and nmcli shows wifi is disconnected. OKAY - JEFF - YOU WIN. RASPAP IT IS
So, now that all is in order, and I’m ready for tomorrow - to end up my whole thought process in a simple conclusion:
WHY DIDN’T I ASK JEFF FROM THE START?!
RaspAP is a neat project. They added me to some insiders thing in github without me asking. I haven’t given them any useful feedback. But they are clearly paying attention to their users.
Interesting things, these travel routers! But when I have a bunch of unused rpi’s, and old phones - I feel in the wrong to buy something that I already have. (my father-in-law used to work with fiber broadband. In their old centrals they used rpi to get a serial connection into the hardware. When older hardware is phased out, they have a bunch of pi’s not being used for anything. Nice for the garage-gnome!)
This is part reason for why I’m trying to establish some kind of maker community here in Tromsø. Asking people in person is definately best, but not always possible…