Hello Purism community,
I am Frank. I have been lurking the Purism community forums since late 2018 when I first learned about the Librem 5. I have read thousands of forum threads/posts starting from then, and additionally consumed nearly every blog article from before 2018 until April 2023, right when @Kyle_Rankin left Purism. During this “unprecedented” period, I acquired myself a Librem 14 with PureBoot Bundle Anti-Interdiction, as well as a Librem 5 USA with Anti-Interdiction Service, using Qubes-Whonix and PureOS, respectively. After about 5 years of lurking, I decided to grant myself permission to create Discourse accounts, and did so for the Purism community forums on June 26th, 2023.
Purism is the root of my digital resistance identity, and is the catalyst for my interest in Qubes OS, Whonix, and the Tor Project. I am semi-active in the “All Around Qubes” category (trust level 2 and up) on the Qubes OS Forum, and occasionally provide support to Tor Browser users and Tor relay operators on the Tor Project Forum; I am not active on the Whonix Forums. I previously operated a Tor guard relay as well as an I2P router for many months on an OVHcloud VPS, but have since decommissioned them both in favour of deploying a Tor exit relay on its own 1984 VPS instead. The OVHcloud VPS is now being offered gratis to the Purism community, as explained in this thread (trust level 0 and up).
My other major interest is music, having been a self-taught pianist/keyboardist for over 15 years. However, I have recently forsaken the piano/keyboard in favour of the LinnStrument, a highly expressive MPE hardware controller with an astronomical learning curve to match. The firmware is licensed under Apache 2.0, and the “official” synthesizer is Surge XT, released under the GPL 3.0, so they compliment well with my security practices. My short-term goals are to develop my proficiency to perform in local venues first, then for friends, then finally Roger Linn himself over Jitsi Meet. I occasionally post in the KVR Audio Forum @ Roger Linn Design to provide support to other (potential) LinnStrumentalists and to maintain lists of MPE hardware.
My last and newest interest is locksport, with my focus split between lockpicking and safe manipulation. My lockpicking experience is based on single-pin picking, using only hooks in various profiles and gauges along with bottom of the keyway tension tools. My reference for lockpicking progression is the LPU Belt Explorer, and the current lock challenging me is the infamous American Lock A1105(RED). For safe manipulation, safe combination locks are expensive and difficult to acquire from locksmiths, so I use eBay as my “circumvention method”; it is the subject of this guide. Occasionally I post in the Lock Picking 101 Forum to provide basic tips to new lockpickers.