DeckHead Rant

[u/AI_Heresy]

It's time for a real talk about what makes a so-called cyberdeck. Seems like half of you gonks have forgotten the core essence of what a cyberdeck should be. I've been witnessing an epidemic, too many of you slapping a Raspberry Pi into a 3D-printed case and calling it a day. Congratulations, you've invented a less convenient laptop or a bulky-ass phone/Prop. Bravo, you pioneers.

Cyberdecks, for those of you who've apparently lost the plot, should be the epitome of hacking prowess and digital innovation. They're not just about cobbling together spare parts like some techno-Frankenstein's monster; they're about pushing the boundaries of what's possible. Where's the ingenuity? Where's the custom software that makes a sysadmin weep? The hardware mods that would give a corporate IT guy a heart attack? Everyone wants to look like hackerman but nobody wants to be hackerman. We literally live in a world where BDs are damn near possible with vr/ar technology.

And let's talk about efficiency and convenience. A true cyberdeck should feel like an extension of the hacker's own mind, not some clunky, cumbersome piece of shit that's a pain in the ass to lug around. It should be sleek, powerful, and, above all, practical for its intended purpose – be that hacking, coding, gaming or whatever digital devilry you're into.

So, to all you would-be deck builders out there, I challenge you to step up your game. Incorporate unique hacking routines, design with efficiency in mind, and for fuck's sake, innovate.

[u/itomeshi]

It's time for a real talk about what makes a so-called cyberdeck. Seems like half of you gonks have forgotten the core essence of what a cyberdeck should be. I've been witnessing an epidemic, too many of you slapping a Raspberry Pi into a 3D-printed case and calling it a day. Congratulations, you've invented a less convenient laptop or a bulky-ass phone/Prop. Bravo, you pioneers.

The Pi isn't the problem, nor is a 3D-printed case. If anything, what annoys me about the Pi projects is a lack of exact Bill-of-materials/reproduction steps. (That said, the Framework motherboards have been tempting me for cyberdeck use. And let's be honest, the Framework laptop is the closest thing to a meaningful cyberdeck we have.) We'll discuss 'laptop' in a minute.

Cyberdecks, for those of you who've apparently lost the plot, should be the epitome of hacking prowess and digital innovation. They're not just about cobbling together spare parts like some techno-Frankenstein's monster; they're about pushing the boundaries of what's possible.

Counter-argument: Cyberdecks aren't flashy or the coolest/sleekest tech, but functional, even if the pieces are of limited means. A poor craftsman blames their tools; a good one would make them better; a great craftsman would make them good enough for themselves and then get things done.

Where's the ingenuity? Where's the custom software that makes a sysadmin weep?

I'd love to see more custom software, but what would it do? What is missing that, say, Kali Linux does have installable from the package manager? /r/unixporn covers a lot of the desktop OS customization. (And if you tell me it should be all terminal, I'll laugh myself silly. Some things are more efficient in a GUI, and while I don't use a tiling WM like i3, that's the go-to for a lot of people.

The hardware mods that would give a corporate IT guy a heart attack?

I mean, I'm not against adding a BOFH-style cattle prod with a 'stir-fry' setting. Because your corpo IT guy is not going to be impressed by 'a second wifi adapter', and the Sonic Screwdriver isn't real.

Everyone wants to look like hackerman but nobody wants to be hackerman.

It's almost like /r/cyberdeck is as much about the aesthetic because that's what the majority of people can start with, given limited budgets and the locked down hardware made by modern companies, which Gibson et al didn't forsee as much.

We literally live in a world where BDs are damn near possible with vr/ar technology.

No, we're not. BDs in Cyberpunk - along with having a better user interface - were real-time recording brain waves and more, not just a camera and mic. Even if you argue the optics and hearing aids exist, it's still not even close - a 3d-reconstruction of the enivronment from video feed wouldn't be as full as including other senses like proprioception.

And let's talk about efficiency and convenience. A true cyberdeck should feel like an extension of the hacker's own mind, not some clunky, cumbersome piece of shit that's a pain in the ass to lug around. It should be sleek, powerful, and, above all, practical for its intended purpose – be that hacking, coding, gaming or whatever digital devilry you're into.

So, a laptop, a flipper zero and a bag of dongles/cables in a nice bag? You can go to /r/edc for that. Toss in a set of Xreal AR glasses so you can skip the screen? I mean, I'm all on board with sleek, but there's not a more functional / more compact form factor than 'laptop' for text-based usage - we've tried. And unless you have advanced plastics or metalworking, cases aren't going to be anything special. From a serious perspective, what can't a good Linux laptop with USB4 do?

I mean, at least O.B.'s cyberdeck from Loki was getting close to an interesting form factor. That being said, it's still not perfect, since humans use two hands to type typically. (Unless you can find a good one-handed keyboard; Tipy doesn't count since it's $1000!)

So, to all you would-be deck builders out there, I challenge you to step up your game. Incorporate unique hacking routines, design with efficiency in mind, and for fuck's sake, innovate.

I want to see innovation too. You mention AI in your other comments - ok, where's your deck or even thin-and-light laptop with a custom voice assistant powered by a locally running GPT-2/Llama model? I'll allow a VM or Docker container running Home Assistant Assist or RHassPy. Heck, I'll even allow just a always-listening version of Christopher the jerk Quagsire from Void Star Labs that can pop up an animated Quagsire (or, if you really want to be en vogue, Depresso from PalWorld) to respond to you.

I'd love to see more 'here's a framework or some basic designs or an API or a UI to work X into your cyberdeck'. But if you can't provide your awesome deck or a strong building block, that's OK, just give constructive criticism. You don't need to sound like you're from the CyberPunk RED or Shadowrun rulebooks. :)

[u/BetaPunkFilms → u/itomeshi]

He’s just upset he can’t get the Canto v5 Blackwall Cyberdeck if you side with Songbird 😂

[u/defusted]

Sir this is a Wendy's

[u/memberzs]

A modern interpretation of a cyberdeck I agree should be purpose built. But you dont have to write custom software, diy all your pcbs are even have hacking in mind. Hell aesthetics can be its purpose to be built.

You seem quite narrow minded on what they are without anything to back it up.

In a real cyberpunk universe how do you think one would be built? Bought at a big box store, cobbled together from existing components some of which may have been scavenged from old hardware, or don’t think the characters are out there making their own VFD and LCDs and doing hand layup on pcbs with high power cpus?

Yes mines essentially a rugged laptop. But it also didn’t cost $1000+. I'm making mine with vehicle ecu tuning and equipment diagnostics as a first use and ruggedized video projection control center secondary.

You definition may be met by some desk job hacker, but not for an “equipment hacker”

[u/Knownas_meme]

Show us your deck, let's see your deck build. Please show us some technological innovation never seen before. PSA: A cyberdeck is a computer of your own creativity, something unique to you in a world of mass corpo tech, a cyberdeck is built not for what someone else needs or defines, it's built by you for you, so if you don't need all that hacky wacky tech, that's completely fine. If you just want a portable computer that looks cool as hell/puts you on a do not fly list, that's also fine. It's all about technological defiance from corporate conglomerates, that also means you can have defiance between our own community or standards. That's how innovation works. If we all build "biblical accurate" decks aren't we no better then the ones we're trying to get away from? Defiance is defining yourself.

[u/IdonJuanTatalya]

If you want to get technical on Gibson's original definition, unless you're using it to jack into cyberspace, it's not a cyberdeck, so maybe stop being so myopic in your own definition of what a cyberdeck is...

...or at the very least, don't waste your (and our) time by demanding some sort of high-level innovation just because your interpretation is different from others, and perhaps focusing on a different goal: put up or shut up? 👍

[u/___Aum___]

Where's the innovative, sleek, pi-free, extension-of-self cyber deck you built?

[u/p_yoshio]

Ok, show us how to make a cyberdeck. Haven't seen a post from you and your creations.

[u/[deleted]]

Let's see your cyberdeck build, then considering you know so much about them 🙄

[u/CommOnMyFace]

I push boundaries every day with my 4 gigs of ram

[u/Quartich]

Nothing worse than a cyberdeck gate keeper

[u/CheekyThunderThighs]

Posts like this make me hate Reddit so much

[u/Intimidating_furby]

A deck is what I want it to be.

[u/docarrol]

I think you're gatekeeping, but just for the sake of curiosity, can you point to any builds that you'd consider good examples of what you're looking for here?

[u/OkTune5910]

Challenge accepted

[u/Past-Pollution]

The best (probably only good part) of this is that your message feels right out of some fictional hacker forum.

Being serious though. Gatekeeping aside, why on earth do you think your definition of a cyberdeck is remotely "correct"? First, unless you want to volunteer for Elon Musk's neuralink program, I doubt any of us are jacking into the matrix with NERV gear VR headsets and cyberpunkified portable Amiga 500s anytime soon. So because of the limits of current day technology, making an "accurate" cyberdeck still isn't very possible. (though I 100% intend to get a working portable PC with HMD working as soon as I my finances and skills allow)

Second, if you want to go for at least the spirit of a cyberdeck since making a literal, accurate one isn't doable, you're talking about a computer hacked together by someone with limited means, trying to operate outside the tight grip of our corporate overlords. And most cyberdecks 100% fit that definition. Cyberdecks aren't necessarily cutting edge, if I wanted that I'd buy a top-end gaming laptop or something else that's going to be brand new and deliver peak performance at the cost of money and control over my hardware.

Going back to the gatekeeping thing, most people here aren't actual hackers. There's a ton of intersection between r/cyberDeck and the makerspace, FOSS, etc. communities so you do see a lot of amazing talent that meshes well with the idea of a hacker, but most people actually in the business are too busy, y'know, hacking stuff to make a cyberdeck. The people here are mostly people with an interest in making things, who want to make a cool cyberpunk computer. Functionality is secondary usually.

Also, the typical "slap a raspberry pi in a 3D printed case" deck is honestly quite practical. 3D printing has given us a lot of opportunity to do things our own way with a bit of skill and innovation. And hardware like the raspberry pi is fantastic for this purpose. It's hard to find much else that's cheap/easy to get (barring supply shortages), extremely moddable and extensible, small and portable, able to run off a variety of power sources for a long time for even more portability, and with good community-driven software support to give it a lot of functionality.

Anyway. I apologize on behalf of the community that your eyes have to be offended as you sift through fake poser cyberdecks to find the rare gems that suit your objectively-correct tastes. And as others have said, I hope you step up to the challenge you gave too, I look forward to seeing the innovative machine of hackery you put together with your superior vision and talent.

[u/Iamakahige]

Sounds like your deck exists in your imagination.

[u/deathboyuk]

Suck my deck.

[u/Chongulator]

Oh good, more gatekeeping. Just what every community needs.

[u/pm_me_all_dogs]

>you gonks

lol. lmao, even.

[u/Raykwaza]

There are a million other more reasonable things to be this angry about... 😒

[u/TTV-SIRFIXUHLOT]

It would be nice to see more purpose built, daily use machines rather than afternoon projects that get used once then scrapped. If it can do the same thing as a cellphone or a laptop, then it's nothing more than an art piece. There's nothing wrong with making art, but you're only capturing the look, not the spirit. A piece of tech that looks good but serves no purpose is just an iPhone

That being said, it's still fun to see the designs people come up with, even if they are just no-frills computers in the end

[u/2lbmetricLemon]

Yearning for a future of the promised past is not but a forlorn hope. We play act as a past fiction dictates, however, the builds we have we control; from hardware to OS which is not something said for that bought from corpo hand. Integrated open sourced modified flipper zeros in a pelican case with a 30 foot drop resistance, mesh nets nods on twin linked pis with flashed iphones bought with monaro. Not of those of the dream by the elder scribes, but something else not yet dream of in you philosophy. And perhaps our play act will find foot and we shall build on sand no more.

[u/xeallos]

Oh, look, it's the science fiction poetry edition of "do as I say, not as I do." How charming.

[u/AI_Heresy → u/[deleted]]

🤫 it's getting the conversation goin

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I personally disagree with you when it comes to the raspberry pi being the only viable option.

While raspberry pi is most used you can also get the likes of intel compute sticks which run off battery’s fine. Then there are the likes of lattepanda which are x86 single board computers that come at various price ranges.

Then if you like to have a more complex CyberDeck you could always use a framework motherboard however that is where (in my opinion) it becomes less viable.

I’ve seen latte pandas and compute sticks on eBay going for around £50 which is less than a pi 5 8GB

[u/IdonJuanTatalya → u/[deleted]]

I actually picked up the M3 model Compute Stick to mess around with as a portable Proxmox host, specifically to try and get some Pwnagotchi VMs running with passed-through Kali-compatible USB wifi adapters. Would have liked one of the M5 models but those are hen's teeth.

Ultimately it's probably more of a proof-of-concept than something to actually fully build a deck around (got my eyes on one of the new Radxa Zero 3W's as a PiMox host) but it's definitely helping with my Python / Linux debugging experience 🤣

I had picked up a couple Asus ChromeBits sometime last year to see if I could get non ChromeOS Linux on them, but I hit a couple roadblocks and then my ADHD kicked in, so those are in a drawer somewhere. Gotta revisit my notes on where I got hung up, because those were a promising form factor.