you absolutely need a stratum proxy if you intend on mining on a pool. no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
you can also solo mine without a stratum proxy, but who solo mines these days?
I need to have my own local stratum proxy? The stratum on the pool is not enough?
May it run on another machine (Mint) in my local network under the same router or...?
I've read a lot that blades can run simply under the router, they're a bit less efficient but they work. What about this?