MISC · Building your own

One working setup, and the reasoning behind it.

The hardware, the software and the choices of one roofing rep with no background in programming — written down as a worked example, not advice about what to buy.

You do not need to be technical. You do need to be able to say what good looks like in your own work. That is the real prerequisite, and it is not a technical one.

01 · What is here, free

What it is, why it is there, and how to choose your own.

1 · The machine

One tower, in our own building. Why a specific physical computer we can point to is the whole idea of local-first.

2 · The operating system

What an operating system actually has to do here — and the one thing that is not negotiable.

3 · The model runtime

The three pieces that do the running, the models, and how they are actually used day to day.

4 · The services

Why a database instead of a CRM subscription, why search runs in-house, and how other people's pages get read.

5 · The tools

No drawing application in the loop, version control that is not optional, and the laptop that travels.

6 · What we do not use

No cloud storage for project data, no CRM subscription, no paid AI service for the routine work — and why the absences matter.

7 · How to choose your own

Name the job first. Size the model to the job, then the machine to the model. Prefer boring and supported. The part numbers date; the order does not.

02 · What we teach

The wiring, the order, and the troubleshooting.

The order things are installed in, how they are secured, how they talk to one another, and what to do when they stop. It is not withheld to be coy: it is the part that is genuinely difficult, it is specific to your machine and your network, and it is the part we teach in person.

Learn the method

Sessions on the wiring, the order and the troubleshooting — the parts with no tutorial.

Built for you

If you want the outcome over the build, we will build it. We would still rather you built it yourself.

Get in touch through the Contact page, or sign up for the newsletter to follow the build as it happens.

Nothing here is an endorsement: no product, vendor or component is recommended or reviewed.

MISC · Material Industrial Sales & Consulting