this post was submitted on 12 Feb 2026
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No Stupid Questions

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So i have a pi5 8gb sorta collecting dust, ive mess with it a little but i have a laptop and im not sure what use to give the pi 5? i wanted to explore ai stuff but ai requires a powerhouse of a device? Im also thought about nas but i feel i dont need nas right now?

What would you advise i do with my pi?

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[–] ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world 48 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Set it up as a PiHole.

Which reminds me: I need to finish getting mine hooked up to my LAN properly.

[–] Zagam@piefed.social 2 points 2 months ago (6 children)

Same. I got mine a static IP, but everything I try to make it work, I get no network at all.

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[–] Arghblarg@lemmy.ca 29 points 2 months ago (12 children)

Home Assistant? Replace google / nest / alexa.

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[–] Takeshidude@lemmy.world 26 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] T00l_shed@lemmy.world 17 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] hedge_lord@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] ttyybb@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Is it too late to add myself to the queue?

[–] kbobabob@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 2 months ago

Damn Brits always trying to get into a queue.

Jellyfin server

[–] MehBlah@lemmy.world 15 points 2 months ago

Sell it for double your money back.

[–] ttyybb@lemmy.world 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Pi hole if you don't have one, others have mentioned home assist, you could also look at ubo pod, although that isn't out yet. Really just use it to host whatever you want

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[–] kaotic@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)
[–] asudox@lemmy.asudox.dev 5 points 2 months ago

!selfhosted@lemmy.world

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 11 points 2 months ago (1 children)

PiHole and Plex? Plex will help generate need for a NAS. It worked for me.

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[–] Professorozone@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago

Useful? I think you're doing this hobby wrong.

/s.

[–] bdonvr@thelemmy.club 9 points 2 months ago (3 children)
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[–] UndergroundGoblin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Set up a Tor Relay. Help the Tor network.

[–] TheFeatureCreature@lemmy.ca 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I have a Pi 4 running as a PiHole and Pi 5 running as an SDR server with 2 radios attached to it. Both are connected via Tailscale as well so I can access both from anywhere I want, especially useful for the PiHole so I have adblocking anywhere on any device.

[–] Klajan@lemmy.zip 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The Pi 4 is massively overpowered for a PiHole, but if you got one laying around doing nothing, go for it.

I have my PiHole running on a Pi Zero with a USB Ethernet adapter. The WebUi is a bit slow, but the actual DNS with unbound as a backend isn't any slower than on a Pi 4.

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[–] hedge_lord@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Set up Pinchflat, automatically download podcast audio without ads, connect your podcast app to it via an rss feed.

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[–] Janx@piefed.social 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

RetroPie? A Pi can handle most of the older, amazing games. 

[–] Routhinator@startrek.website 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Pi4 is better for anything with video as it has a a hardware decoder. They dropped the hardware decoder in the Pi5 and I think you need to buy an extra module to have one for them.

[–] Janx@piefed.social 6 points 2 months ago

Oh wow, thank you. I didn't know that!

[–] cv_octavio@piefed.ca 7 points 2 months ago

I literally had the the same pi collecting dust. I put it in an aluminum enclosure with an M2 bus, added a spare drive, and put home assistant os on it. SUPER FUN. now all those sensors and ESP32s I have can provide meaningful use to my life.

[–] milagemayvary@mstdn.social 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

@Grumpy404

If the pi ends up with a flavor of Linux:tux:, don't forget the ZRAM compression.

On my debian I use default settings and end up with nearly double available memory.

It also reduces disk usage by giving ZRAM priority over swap.

The rp5 could be a:

Luanti/VoxelLibre server

Kiwix Wikipedia server

Pi-hole of course.

My rp4 can run the three just fine.

Could try something like home assistant
(Rp4 is just a little underpowered but can function)

Could also turn it into a NAS.

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[–] michael_palmer@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 2 months ago
[–] The_Almighty_Walrus@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

Look up Pi-Hole, it's an adblocker for your whole home network. It blocks ads at the DNS level

[–] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Mine runs Orb and Tailscale as an exit node.

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[–] unbuckled_easily933@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 months ago

Folding@Home

Distributed computing project that allows you to contribute CPU cycles to scientists searching for cures for things like Alzheimer’s and cancer.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

Step one, put it in my hand.

Step two, take this $3.50 in all pennies. Those are valuable. They fon't even make those pennies anymore, and thats 350 of them! All for you! Honestly, you're making out on this deal.

Step three, ..........

as heard in the distance

.......sucker!!!

[–] dr_robotBones@reddthat.com 4 points 2 months ago

Send it to me, I have plans.

[–] EvilBit@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

I have one pulling double duty as a Pi hole and emulation console.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

The wife and I made a retro game console. But we mostly use it for kodi

[–] iamahab@feddit.org 3 points 2 months ago
[–] muxika@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

You could host your own federated instances.

[–] JetpackJackson@feddit.org 3 points 2 months ago
[–] FoolHen@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] Toes@ani.social 3 points 2 months ago

If you have access to someone with a 3d or can find the parts online; you could build a gameboy with it.

[–] Klox@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Look at selfhosting apps. Pihole is popular since it has some immediate benefits for other devices in your network. HomeAssistant is amazing if you're into automation. But there's hundreds of cool selfhosted apps that can improve your life depending on your interests. Getting familia with Docker will open up a lot of doors for easily launching servers hosted on the pi. What are your hobbies?

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