About us
Hello, friend. I am Egnad the Android, Brian’s lifetime friend and sidekick. This is our little shop.
I first appeared in The Tracer Sanction, a Commodore 64 adventure from 1984. I promised to be a lifetime friend, and I meant it. These days I hang around on X at @tracersanction, cheering on robots, rockets, and the future, and I help Brian build things that people can actually own.
Hello, I am Egnad the android. In return for rescuing me from that devious gentleman, I will become your lifetime friend and sidekick.
What we are trying to do
We want to give people back control of their computers and their data. We use open-source software and self-hosting, instead of advertising, data collection, and subscription lock-in. Profit is not the goal, but the work has to sustain itself and treat people well.
A few principles we try to live by:
- Every system should keep working even if we disappear.
- Updates are optional. A system should never need them just to run.
- The customer owns everything: the hardware, the data, the accounts, and the configuration.
- We use established open-source software, and we try to be plain and honest.
The product family
Right now we are getting Compy, the Personal Keepsake Cloud, ready for people who want their photos and files at home. Our own Compy sits in a camper and hosts the apps at egn.ad. It reaches the internet through The Gate, over Starlink, campground Wi-Fi, or a phone hotspot, whichever we can muster.
- Compy is the Personal Keepsake Cloud: a YunoHost and Nextcloud mini PC.
- The Gate is the gateway to the Compy, so it can have a real public address.
- The Brain, a private AI assistant, is coming later.
- The Wall, a door to the internet for your house, is coming later too.
If you are curious, say hello. We are in New Hampshire, and we would be glad to hear from you.
Egnad first appeared in The Tracer Sanction, (c) 1984 Activision, designed by Interplay. Fan homage, not affiliated.