From 07a297f8186bcf775efdbf807bd16a4108d61a2c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: ducoterra <git@ducoterra.net>
Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2025 13:43:23 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Add better intro to README

---
 README.md | 83 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------------
 1 file changed, 64 insertions(+), 19 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5470593..f2ca4d8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,13 +1,34 @@
 # Homelab
 
-A project to store homelab stuff.
+Welcome to my homelab!
 
-Just here for the Arch distoolbox?
+This repo is an in-flux collection of my personal notes, docs, and tutorials of
+things I find interesting and self-host.
 
-[Arch Distoolbox](active/software_distoolbox/distoolbox.md)
+Take a look around!
 
-![Arch Toolbox
-Status](https://gitea.reeseapps.com/services/homelab/actions/workflows/distoolbox.yaml/badge.svg?branch=main)
+- "Active" projects (/active) are in use today and generally fall into these
+  categories:
+  - `aws_` is for aws notes
+  - `device_` is for hardware
+  - `kubernetes_` is for helm charts or other kubernetes hosted software
+  - `os_` is for operating system setup guides and notes
+  - `podman_` is for containerized projects
+  - `software_` is for cli tools, projects without a specific way to host them,
+    or other misfits
+
+All active projects will have a markdown file named after the project. This is
+for quick access via shortcuts like `ctrl + p` in vscode. For example, I want
+to check my notes for `virsh` so I would type `ctrl + p` "virsh" to open
+"virsh.md".
+
+"Retired" projects (/retired) is a graveyard of things I didn't want to delete.
+
+"Template" projects (/templates) are quick templates for creating new active
+projects with sane defaults.
+
+I keep my GPG and SSH keys in `keys` if you want to add those to your keyring
+or give me access to your servers.
 
 ## Table of Contents
 
@@ -18,6 +39,7 @@ Status](https://gitea.reeseapps.com/services/homelab/actions/workflows/distoolbo
     - [inputrc](#inputrc)
     - ["find ." shortcuts](#find--shortcuts)
     - [tmux](#tmux)
+    - [bash](#bash)
   - [SSH Setup](#ssh-setup)
   - [Git GPG Commit Signing](#git-gpg-commit-signing)
   - [Important Dates and Times](#important-dates-and-times)
@@ -62,6 +84,40 @@ find . -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
 - Even Vertical Distribution: ctrl + b + alt + 2
 - Swap pane order: ctrl + b + : -> swap-pane -t 0
 
+### bash
+
+<https://tecadmin.net/bash-special-variables/>
+
+Here are some handy references for default bash variables
+
+```text
+$0 – The name of the script being executed.
+$1-$9 – The first nine command-line arguments.
+$# – The number of command-line arguments.
+$* – All command-line arguments as a single string.
+$@ – All command-line arguments as an array.
+$? – The exit status of the last executed command.
+$$ – The process ID of the current shell.
+$! – The process ID of the last background command.
+$- – Shows the current shell options or flags. 
+```
+
+And here are the meanings of the shell options
+
+```text
+h – Remember the location of commands as they are looked up
+i – Interactive shell
+m – Job control is enabled
+B – Brace expansion is enabled
+H – History substitution is enabled
+```
+
+So to check if you are in an interactive shell:
+
+```bash
+[ $- == *i* ]] && Some command here
+```
+
 ## SSH Setup
 
 Generate a key (password protect it!)
@@ -176,12 +232,10 @@ All projects will be prefixed with one of the following categories:
 
 - `device_`
 - `os_`
-- `cloud_`
-- `systemd_`
+- `software_`
 - `podman_`
 - `docker_`
 - `kubernetes_`
-- `software_`
 
 Note, some projects will be named with just the prefix. These are projects for
 configuring the underlying technology. The `podman` project, for example, will
@@ -203,24 +257,15 @@ be prefixed with the cloud's name, not the word "cloud". So AWS services will
 be prefixed with `aws_` and azure would be `azure_`. This should make them more
 searchable.
 
-`systemd_` projects are designed to be installed with ansible and run via
-systemd on a linux VM or other linux hardware.
+`software_` projects record configuration for common software agnostic to
+operating system or linux flavor.
 
 `podman_` projects are either designed to be run as quadlets or as podman
 containers outright.
 
-`docker_` projects are either docker-compose or some form of docker run
-command.
-
 `kubernetes_` projects are helm, kustomize, kubectl, or some other kubernetes
 compliant deployment.
 
-`software_` projects record configuration for common software agnostic to
-operating system or linux flavor.
-
-`security_` projects record security best practices and might reference other
-projects, but are usually just best practices and how-tos.
-
 ## Active Project Requirements
 
 - [ ] Installation is documented