diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index 43c6fc2..35e9a63 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -25,3 +25,6 @@
 [submodule "roles/i3wm"]
 	path = roles/i3wm
 	url = https://codeberg.org/ansible/i3wm.git
+[submodule "roles/python3"]
+	path = roles/python3
+	url = https://codeberg.org/ansible/python3.git
diff --git a/group_vars/all.yml b/group_vars/all.yml
index ca5d5f3..0cb38d1 100644
--- a/group_vars/all.yml
+++ b/group_vars/all.yml
@@ -51,6 +51,9 @@ aptcachetime: 3600
 
 local_user: "{{ lookup('env', 'USER') }}"
 
-# note, the default host_restrictions: False inside most of my roles
-# must be overridden to True to work outside my own environment
-host_restrictions: true
+# we use "not (host_restrictions | bool) or <some other test>" and want host_restrictions
+# to act like sort of a filter to avoid the "other test" evaluating and failing because
+# the variable it is testing does not exist outside my own environment
+# host_restrictions should thus be False by default so the first part above evaluates
+# to True and thus Ansible will skip the rest of the evaluation and no errors
+host_restrictions: false
diff --git a/local.yml b/local.yml
index 5fcad12..1143021 100644
--- a/local.yml
+++ b/local.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 ---
 
-- name: Configure your machine
+# do not remove the string "zhutop" from the name - I use it to identify this play
+# in logic statements in the various roles used by this play
+- name: Academic playbook zhutop
   hosts: all
 
   pre_tasks:
@@ -125,7 +127,6 @@
 #     # - { role: picom,                  become: true, tags: [ picom ] }
 #     # pipe-viewer contains interactive step, needs workaround
 #     - { role: pipe-viewer,            become: true, tags: [ pipe-viewer ] }
-#     - { role: python3,                become: true, tags: [ python3 ] }
 #     - { role: qownnotes,              become: true, tags: [ qownnotes ] }
 #     - { role: R,                      become: true, tags: [ R ] }
 #     - { role: radian,                 become: true, tags: [ radian ] }
diff --git a/roles/python3 b/roles/python3
new file mode 160000
index 0000000..5f70626
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/python3
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 5f70626ebbdfc06033d37bef5b82ea8babbdf301