After over a decade of using various note-taking software: Evernote, Notability, and Apple Notes. I decided to try out a new format. This is called Markdown.

What is it?

Markdown is a plain text system developed in 2004. Essentially basic text with code mixed in for formatting purposes.

The great part is that markdown is a universal file and can be read via a multitude of editors. I also like the fact I can make modifications to the text easily on the keyboard.

As an example: if I was using Microsoft Word, in order to bold text, I would need to select the text and hit the bold button or ctrl-b. With markdown, setting up bold is as easy as adding two sets of asterisks (**) outside the text. I don't even need to move my hands off the keyboard or use my mouse. When you are doing a lot of typing and formatting, this stuff adds up over time.

Why not Apple Notes

I use primarily Apple products: Macbook Pro, iPhone, iPad so I do have the ability to sync multiple devices and could use Apple Notes.

I haven't been a fan of it visually. Not being able to tweak the fonts plays a factor. Just even typing this blog post in Ghost's minimal markdown editor feels so much more clean and less distracting.

My choice: Typora

I tried a couple of markdown editors and I am pretty happy using Typora on my MBP as my main editor and to a lesser extent, Bear on mobile.

Let's start with Typora.

Typora, is a nice and clean markdown editor. I am definitely a fan of it. It just feels comfortable. It has a nice set themes that everyone could enjoy. I like how snappy and simple it looks. I am currently using this for both my work and personal note-taking.

If you are in the market for a new way of taking notes and note-taking system, I recommend checking out markdown.

As noted in my initial post, I have bought into Docker and its function. It's been great to use containerized software in a way where I can test/try out and completely remove all trace should I decide it's not something I want to use.

Going back to my first working docker container, I setup Tautulli to monitor Plex viewing on my home network.

It has been running for 25 days at this time. I was able to transfer all the logs & viewing data from a prior instance of Tautulli I used. This is the beauty of Docker.

Portainer

Another must have is Portainer. It enables management of Docker via GUI. I can get by using command line, but having a quick & easy to use web interface has saved me a lot of time & grief.

Reverse proxy / Let's Encrypt

There's a few services I want open to the internet. However doing so via http unsecured is a bad idea. With that, there's a few ways to go about setting up both a reverse proxy and SSL certificates to switch over to https.

After trying out Caddy & Traefik, I settled on linuxserver/letsencrypt. From their description:

Letsencrypt sets up an Nginx webserver and reverse proxy with php support and a built-in letsencrypt client that automates free SSL server certificate generation and renewal processes. It also contains fail2ban for intrusion prevention.

For now, this covers everything I need to setup & started. At some point in the future, I may try to work with Traefik as I've heard many good things.

This is where the options are near limitless to find a self-hosted alternative to really any service.

It's been about 4 weeks since I learned about Docker (February 2020). Since then, I was consuming posts, sites, instructionals, & blogs about Docker. And it has been a wild (and eye-opening) time.

I had seen posts mentioning Docker, but didn't understand what it was or why I would need to use it. If anything, at the onset, Docker seemed more complicated to me than my paradigm at the time regarding software.

I come from a Windows background, starting with Windows 95. Then grew up through the years to utilize Windows 98, ME, XP, Vista, before settling on Windows 7 for the better part of 8 years & later switching fully to OSX in 2017.

I was accustomed to automated installers for software, though curious about other methods while not really caring about the method as long as it was running.

In February 2020, I saw a few posts in /r/selfhosted regarding Docker and that was where it all began.

Experiencing Docker

Using Docker had two-fold purpose for me.

As someone who self-hosted a suite of various software, I wanted to rid myself of a few that ran via terminal on my Hackintosh home server. I had three programs open at all times in the terminal, both to let it run and to monitor the logs.

I also had on my to-do list for the better part of a year to revamp my wife's business website/portfolio. My options were to use the existing Wordpress hosted site or start up my own using free server software (this started with Ghost and ended with self-hosted Wordpress).

It took me a while to grasp the concept of Docker. For the initial three weeks, I was running commands I didn't understand. Using the boilerplate template commands without even modifying the default code. Nothing was working as I thought & it frustrated the heck out of me. At some points, I was near about throw up my hands & give up. That's when it struck me of the beauty of Docker. I can destroy a container program and recreate it like nothing ever happened.

This was my first successful code (generic copy used):

docker create \
  --name=tautulli \
  -e PUID=1000 \
  -e PGID=1000 \
  -e TZ=Europe/London \
  -p 8181:8181 \
  -v <path to data>:/config \
  -v <path to plex logs>:/logs \
  --restart unless-stopped \
linuxserver/tautulli

This is the docker create command for Tautulli, which is a monitoring software for Plex. Prior, I had installed per standard OSX instructions, which was setup in my Applications directory. Assuming I corrected the settings specific to my setup & the volumes point to the appropriate config files & logs, Tautulli via Docker can be up & running like nothing happened (really any dockerized software).

Embracing Docker

It was like winning 1st place at something. I am not a programmer nor does my dayjob relate anything to development, so this was a big deal. That proverbial light bulb turned on for me.

This led me to branch off into learning more about other aspects related to the docker containers I wanted to use. Ghost blog and various wiki software led me to learn more about markdown language. I spent an absurd amout of time learning more about HTTPS & TLS protocols, reverse proxys, & general website security. I even learned how to setup a VM offsite. None of this was my intention at the time.

At this point (March 2020), I am running nine docker containers on my home server with two hosted VM servers solely running an additional eight docker containers.

It has allowed me to be more open to trying new software without worry it'll break my machine or create a wasteland of deprecated software & conflicts. Overall, I look forward to further refining my utilization of Docker.