Who pays the electric bill? Sounds like it’s in the 50-100USD a month range for those two servers.
Source: had a 486 with 40+120Mb HDDs
(yes, these kids exist)
OP indicated elsewhere here that they’re trying to cover some of the costs with side projects, but €720 anually is a big bill to foot for less affluent parents.
Plus if we're talking about being poor it has two important benefits 1) excellent hours occupied to dollar spent ratio 2) engrossing hobbies typically mean they aren't out there rattling around stirring up trouble (which can get expensive in a hurry)
But if you can afford it, you absolutely should support their passions. The only reason I’m a high salaried software engineer is because my parents generously bought me a computer, allowed me to attend classes (programming in BASIC), etc.
The essay won, but my father began talking about me while I was at the computer, saying I was a zombie who wasn't part of the family anymore.
I was learning to code. I built a bunch of websites, and some projects and schemes that earned me fairly serious money in high school. I learned VB6, html, a little perl, and php, on my own, with no mentor, and an active booing.
I'm not sure my dad has ever seen or visited a website I've built (dozens, maybe over 100). I even have bespoke code deployed right now, serving him, that he does not know exists.
I still don't know why he tried to stand in my way all the time. I often think about where I'd be if I had an active supporter, like many kids have.
Have you directly asked him why he wasn't supportive? Have you been open to his perspective or just assume that you're right and he's wrong? It's easy for us programmer types to try and simulate the mind states of others to avoid difficult conversations (speaking for myself of course).
Maybe he did not try to stand in your way, but was simply worried:
"saying I was a zombie who wasn't part of the family anymore."
He was probably concerned about your familiar relationships. All relationships have an element of reciprocity. Plus he probably just missed you.
In your situation it sounds like he could have benefited by being a bit more curious and accepting.
IMHO as a parent rejecting the authencity of a child cancels out all the loving things you do because then you are not loving the child. You are loving an imaginary version of the child that only exists in your own head.
sooo many parents are guilty of this. Living through your child is unhealthy
I don't think most programmers had any, in the age of 'everyone can code' it might be different but back then, you just read a book
Doesn't matter if you're a highly paid IT professional, if they see you using a computer they assume you're being slack and have suggestions (repeatedly) on better uses for your time.
Yep, this can be very frustrating.
60EUR a month is also pretty cheap for a hobby. If you can't count on your parents for even that level of support you might be better of getting emancipated.
The cost of running a PC 24/7 used to feel insignificant, but not so much any more. I've been running an old PC as a home server for years, but should probably find a more power-efficient NAS box to replace it with.