Cage is not what I want from a kiosk. I want window management, I just want a few fixed windows in fixed positions. Sometimes I want to rotate between a few windows. I’m running Magicmirror now which gives what I want, but it is too slow and too locked into the everything is a web app model.

I’m sure the likes of Bambu will never support this, but lots of other makes likely will. Some will jump all in right away (it is cheap and a useful feature for their customers), others will jump in when forced. Some of the cheap ones will never jump in because that is $.50 they don’t want to spend.

I have a pi3 with a 20" touchscreen that I’m using. Raspbian booting to magic mirror. It works, but Magic Mirror is slow bloated/slow that I’m not happy with it. I’m about ready to make my own QT based signage - I suspect it will be much more performant as well as more flexible. Still it is a lot of work and so I hesitate to bother (even if version one could be done in a day - I have enough other projects).

FreeBSD - it won’t be easy, but I’ve been a BSD guy at heart for decades… You will learn a lot and eventually be able to create better systems, but it will be years before you should risk putting anything important on a system - as a noob you have a lot to learn the hard way. Once you think you know FreeBSD you should try the other BSDs, and things like gentoo linux: you will really learn how this works.

You can follow the advice of the others and get a system going sooner. It isn’t a wrong choice, but you won’t learn as much and if something doesn’t work the way you want you are stuck since you can’t dare change anything. As such I have to advice against it despite all the time/effort my advice will cost you.

You can start with used but modern x86 - the n100 line - has very low power usage and will long term be a better investment. A pi is about the same cost once you get the accessories needed and uses as much power to get work done, but can do less work. (If the computers are idel the pi wins)

I had found that. A lot of projects are early releases that have not been touched in years - is that because they are stable or because the author gave up before making them useful? Which is why I want not a list but an opinion from someone else doing this.

I have enough of a machinist background to doubt the threads are anywhere close to perfect. However if you are saying more than good enough I will agree.

Or is it better to save a few bucks now and save it for next year when something new comes out that is faster anyway. Maybe there is a new codec that matters in 3 years but nothing today supports: so either way you are forced to replace your server.

There is no right answer, you are taking your chances when planning for the future. There are many computers more than 10 years old still working just fine in the world, and it is possible that whatever you buy today will be as well. We get enough press releases that we can predict what will happen next year close enough, but in 5 years we have much less information. There is no way to know if saving money is a good choice today or not. I can come up with scenarios either way.

Look at power use. Often last generation hardware uses more power for the things you do today and so the few dollars you save today are made up with in the power bill over the next couple years. (though if you use that new hardware to do something the old couldn’t do the new will use more power!)

If there is only a few dollars difference in price go for the best. However when there are hundreds or even thousands of dollars it becomes a harder decision.

Everything will degrade should be your defaut assumption. The question is how long, and that feeds into the ecconomic question of how much is a given level of quality worth.

i can’t answer your question, but hopefull this helps you understand why you didn’t frame is quite right and in turn figure out the correct answers for you-

Perfection requires x-rays or tearing the wall down.

a rule of thumb is the middle third is for pipes nd wires, the outside thirds are for screws. This doesn’t always hold (it isn’t physically possible in all cases), but tradesmen try for it.

Gfci or rewire.

If you put in a gfci I’d connec the ground to the metal box - wood is not a great ground but with the gfci doing safety purposes wood is enough for some things that want ground (that is a shield). If you can get a ground wire to enough places connected to enough different points it will fool most ground testers - remember that this is only useful if a gfci is providing safety and your goal is to fool the other reasons you want a ground.

Asbestos is normally in the texture under the paint, not the paint itself. (Not that it can’t be in paint but the texture is a different thing)

I don’t find this surprising or useful as a statistic. People tend to spend their money no matter what their income is. I know doctor couples easily making more than half a million per year who have to be careful near the end of the month because they spent everything. I know people who work entry level jobs who likewise have to be careful. The lifestyle of the two groups is overall very different, but both a rationing the same things because there are only a few things that can be rationed - most spending are bills that you can’t change anymore (rent, insurance, car payment…) and that leaves energy for both groups because you can not make a trip, adjust the thermostat…

Of course the doctors in the above pair likely is maxing out their 401k, has a much nicer house they are making those payments on - they will have a better future - but that is money they cannot touch today. They also are spending a lot more money and so have a lot nicer lifestyle. However in the moment they are rationing energy use just like everyone else despite being much richer than everyone else.

I’m not sure the above is even bad - you can’t take it with you - even in most religions (including atheism), and you almost never know how long you will live. Even if you save for a “rainy day” don’t save too much as you could die tomorrow - may as well enjoy it today and if tomorrow comes ration energy then.