Considerations on the loss of the old ways, from FOSS to OSS to "Subscription as a Service"

https://prose.winterschon.com/on-foss-oss-and-give-me-money/

#linux #freebsd #thecloud #foss #oss #surveillanceCapitalism

Read the original announcement: https://www.slackware.com/announce/1.0.php

#Slackware #Linux #FOSS #HappyBirthdaySlackware

Alt...

(Photo: Patrick Volkerding at a Linux event in the early 2000s)

Back in my very early and nerdy days of running Linux and FreeBSD, I used Mutt for my email. Those were good days. I've been thinking about setting it up again or maybe even checking email in Emacs again. I just read a great blog post on the aerc mail client. This one is new to me but has really piqued my interest in checking email from the CLI again. Compared to Mutt and Emacs, it looks way easier to get setup and running, too.

Sorry to keep sharing your blog posts, @markpitblado, but they really are good reads.

https://www.markpitblado.me/blog/email-from-the-terminal-with-aerc/

#linux #cli #email

Sometimes Debian is just what you want. Oh whats that? I should drag that Debian server running a bunch of weird stuff from 10 to 12? Yeah go on, oh everything just works.

Thanks everyone involved in its long history for making something that's really remarkably just kinda there in the best background manner.

#Linux #Debian

Today's #Debian amusement was reading @amckinstry's README warning that we should be prepared for a package to be deleted come the arrival of Debian "Etch".

https://sources.debian.org/src/console-data/2%3A1.12-9/README/

#Linux #kbd

The good news is that I now have functional Debian 12 and NetBSD 10 machines with #nosh service/system management, various #djbwares services running in addition the basic ones, and with user-space virtual terminals on the attached display and keyboards/mice in place of the kernel virtual terminals.

There are a couple of niggles that need sorting. I also need to re-test that the #NetBSD/#Debian #Linux work hasn't broken #FreeBSD, too.

But I can sit at the machines and do regular TUI stuff.

Added 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝟭 - 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗢𝗦 [UPDATE 1 - Network Information on macOS] to 𝗖𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗕𝗦𝗗 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗸𝗶𝘁 [Crucial FreeBSD Toolkit] article.

https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2025/07/08/crucial-freebsd-toolkit/

#verblog #freebsd #linux #mac #macos #macosx @apple

Latest 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 - 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱/𝟬𝟳/𝟭𝟰 (Valuable News - 2025/07/14) available.

https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2025/07/14/valuable-news-2025-07-14/

Past releases: https://vermaden.wordpress.com/news/

#verblog #vernews #news #bsd #freebsd #openbsd #netbsd #linux #unix #zfs #opnsense #ghostbsd #solaris #vermadenday

Latest 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 - 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱/𝟬𝟳/𝟭𝟰 (Valuable News - 2025/07/14) available.

https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2025/07/14/valuable-news-2025-07-14/

Past releases: https://vermaden.wordpress.com/news/

#verblog #vernews #news #bsd #freebsd #openbsd #netbsd #linux #unix #zfs #opnsense #ghostbsd #solaris #vermadenday

Dear friends of the BSD Cafe,

This idea has been in my mind since the very beginning of this adventure, almost two years ago. Over time, several people have suggested it. But until recently, I felt the timing just wasn’t right - for many reasons. Today, I believe it finally is.

So I’m happy to announce a new service:
The BSD Cafe Journal - https://journal.bsd.cafe

At first, I thought I’d use BSSG for it (I even added multi-author support with this in mind), but in the end, it didn’t feel like the right tool for the job.

The idea is to create a multi-author space, with content published on a fairly regular basis. A reference point for news, updates, tutorials, technical articles - a place to inform and connect.
Just like people in Italy used to stop by cafes to read the newspaper and chat about the day’s news, the BSD Cafe Journal aims to be a space for reading, sharing, and staying informed - all in the spirit of the BSD Cafe.

What it’s not:
It’s not here to replace personal blogs, or excellent newsletters like @vermaden ’s. And it’s not an aggregator.

What it is:
A place where authors can write original content, share links to posts on their own blogs or elsewhere, publish guides, offer insights, or dive into technical explanations.

The guiding principles are the same as always: positivity, constructive discussion, promoting BSDs and open source in general. No hype (sharing a cool new service is fine, posting non-stop about the latest trend is not), no drama, no politics. The goal is to bring people together, not divide them. To inform, not inflame.
Respect, tolerance, and inclusivity are key. Everyone should feel welcome reading the BSD Cafe Journal - never judged, offended, or excluded.

The platform I’ve chosen is WordPress, for several reasons: it’s portable (runs well on all BSDs), has great built-in role management (contributors, authors, etc.), and - last but not least - supports ActivityPub.
This means every author will have their own identity in the Fediverse (like: @stefano ) and can be followed directly, and it’ll also be possible to follow the whole Journal.

Original and educational content is encouraged, but it’s also perfectly fine to link to existing articles elsewhere. Personally, I’ll link my technical posts from ITNotes whenever I publish them there.

The goal is simple: a news-oriented site, rich in content, ad-free, respectful of privacy - all under the BSD Cafe umbrella.

Content coordination will happen in a dedicated Matrix room for authors. There’ll also be a public room for discussing ideas, giving feedback, and sharing suggestions.

Of course, I can’t do this alone. A journal with no content is just an empty shell.
So here’s my call for action:
Who’s ready to lend a hand? If you enjoy writing, explaining, sharing your knowledge - the Journal is waiting for you.

#BSDCafe #BSDCafeServices #BSDCafeUpdates #BSDCafeAnnouncements #RunBSD #FreeBSD #NetBSD #OpenBSD #illumos #Linux #OSS #OpenSource #BCJournal #BSDCafeJournal

Dear friends of the BSD Cafe,

This idea has been in my mind since the very beginning of this adventure, almost two years ago. Over time, several people have suggested it. But until recently, I felt the timing just wasn’t right - for many reasons. Today, I believe it finally is.

So I’m happy to announce a new service:
The BSD Cafe Journal - https://journal.bsd.cafe

At first, I thought I’d use BSSG for it (I even added multi-author support with this in mind), but in the end, it didn’t feel like the right tool for the job.

The idea is to create a multi-author space, with content published on a fairly regular basis. A reference point for news, updates, tutorials, technical articles - a place to inform and connect.
Just like people in Italy used to stop by cafes to read the newspaper and chat about the day’s news, the BSD Cafe Journal aims to be a space for reading, sharing, and staying informed - all in the spirit of the BSD Cafe.

What it’s not:
It’s not here to replace personal blogs, or excellent newsletters like @vermaden 's. And it’s not an aggregator.

What it is:
A place where authors can write original content, share links to posts on their own blogs or elsewhere, publish guides, offer insights, or dive into technical explanations.

The guiding principles are the same as always: positivity, constructive discussion, promoting BSDs and open source in general. No hype (sharing a cool new service is fine, posting non-stop about the latest trend is not), no drama, no politics. The goal is to bring people together, not divide them. To inform, not inflame.
Respect, tolerance, and inclusivity are key. Everyone should feel welcome reading the BSD Cafe Journal - never judged, offended, or excluded.

The platform I’ve chosen is WordPress, for several reasons: it’s portable (runs well on all BSDs), has great built-in role management (contributors, authors, etc.), and - last but not least - supports ActivityPub.
This means every author will have their own identity in the Fediverse (like: @stefano@journal.bsd.cafe ) and can be followed directly, and it’ll also be possible to follow the whole Journal.

Original and educational content is encouraged, but it’s also perfectly fine to link to existing articles elsewhere. Personally, I’ll link my technical posts from ITNotes whenever I publish them there.

The goal is simple: a news-oriented site, rich in content, ad-free, respectful of privacy - all under the BSD Cafe umbrella.

Content coordination will happen in a dedicated Matrix room for authors. There’ll also be a public room for discussing ideas, giving feedback, and sharing suggestions.

Of course, I can’t do this alone. A journal with no content is just an empty shell.
So here’s my call for action:
Who’s ready to lend a hand? If you enjoy writing, explaining, sharing your knowledge - the Journal is waiting for you.

#BSDCafe #BSDCafeServices #BSDCafeUpdates #BSDCafeAnnouncements #RunBSD #FreeBSD #NetBSD #OpenBSD #illumos #Linux #OSS #OpenSource #BCJournal #BSDCafeJournal

Ok, any #video folks out there who know how to do what I want to do? I don't know what words to search for because I don't know what this technique is called. Boosts welcome, suggestions welcome.

I have a pool cleaning robot. Like a roomba, but for the bottom of the pool. We call it poomba. Anyways, I want to shoot an MP4 video with a stationary camera (a GoPro) looking down on the pool while the robot does its work. So I will have this overhead video of like 3-4 hours.

I want to kinda overlay all the frames of the video into a single picture. So the areas where the robot drove will be dark streaks (the robot is black and purple). And any area the robot didn't cover would show the white pool bottom. Areas the robot went over a lot would be darker. Areas it went rarely would be lighter.

I'm just super curious how much coverage I actually get. This thing isn't a roomba. It has no map and it definitely doesn't have an internet connection at the bottom of the pool. (Finally! A place they can't get AI, yet!) It's just using lidar, motion sensors, attitude sensors and some kind of randomizing algorithm.

I think of it like taking every frame of the video and compositing it down with like 0.001 transparency. By the end of the video the things that never changed (the pool itself) would be full brightness and clear. While the robot's paths would be faint, except where it repeated a lot, which would be darker.

I could probably rip it into individual frames using #ffmpeg and then do this compositing with #ImageMagick or something (I'm doing this on #Linux). But 24fps x 3600 seconds/hour x 3 hours == about 260K frames. My laptop will take ages to brute force this. Any more clever ways to do it?

If I knew what this technique/process was called, I'd search for it.

This is a much more interesting article than you’d expect from the headline.

I would have called it, “four decades of graphics on Unix and related OS” but that’s probably a worse headline.

Worth reading if you enjoy reading the same things I enjoy reading.

@lproven @theregister #Linux

I have a theory about 6-month Linux and BSD upgrades having their own kind of "stability" because there's not as far to go between releases https://zola.passthejoe.net/blog/six-month-stability/

#Linux #Fedora #Silverblue #OpenBSD #Debian #Ubuntu

I'm a Debian user and supporter and have been for longer than many of the folks I follow here on Mastodon have been alive. Yeah, I'm old. Shut up! 😂

Anyway, this blog post by @markpitblado is great and hits on many of the reasons why I've been a Debian user for so many years.

https://www.markpitblado.me/blog/one-year-in-debian-feels-like-home/

#linux #debian

The Framework 16 laptop detects when it's booted partially assembled. It boots into a special mode to walk you through completing the assembly. The screen updates to reflect your progress and prompt the next step. This requires no tools to complete. Impressive! Watch:

@frameworkcomputer

#Framework #FrameworkLaptop #Framework16 #Linux #Video

@robpumphrey

man dmesg

That said, I think that this is a KERN_EMERG level message.

"There is nothing that I can do about it, and I just do not want to know." is a good summary of what the message is saying.

#Linux

I do wish my terminals did not get spammed with this kernel message:
kernel:[4967650.370357] Uhhuh. NMI received for unknown reason 31 on CPU 2
kernel:[4967650.370362] Dazed and confused, but trying to continue

There is nothing I can do about it, and I just don't want to know.

I wonder if there is some magic to suppress these messages?

#Linux

Anybody using #Rsyslog? You may want to reconsider.

"rsyslog Goes AI First — A New Chapter Begins"

https://www.rsyslog.com/rsyslog-goes-ai-first-a-new-chapter-begins/

#Linux #AI #LLM

Finally managed to properly install Caesar III under #Linux, to run under the open source re-implementation of the gaming engine, #Augustus. It wasn't as straightforward under Linux due to case sensitivity on files, and a special tool to unarchive shielded .cab files, but it worked at the end thanks to the wiki. Bear in mind, the game requires the original artwork from 1998 (easily found online).

#opensource #foss #game #games #gaming #strategy #caesariii #linuxmint #mint

Alt...

Ceasar III running under Linux Mint and the Augustus engine

When the Windows laptop regularly drove my computer-hating wife to tears of rage, I got her a cheap mini desktop machine from System76 with #Linux (PopOS) pre-installed. Took just a few minutes to set up.

It’s been a couple of months of daily use and… she’s been happy! Hasn’t even had a question for me. It was that easy. She likes the office suite better than what MS Office has become. No pestering to use AI or to put her stuff in the cloud or to install apps she doesn’t want or need. Peace!

#vendorlockin door #minezk:

Om mee te doen aan een Europese aanbesteding moet je #Adobe gebruiken.

#pdf #Linux #opensource #aanbesteding #UEA #overheid #digitaleonafhankelijkheid #DigitaleSoevereiniteit

Alt...

Screenshot met de tekst: "Voor het invullen dient het UEA te zijn geopend met Acrobat Reader."

'... the only thing we both seemed to really fundamentally agree on in that discussion was "we're done". Linus'

#linux #bcachefs

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The most interesting man in the world recommends: "I don't always watch dramas, but when I do, I check #bcachefs"

Systemd has been a complete, utter, unmitigated success

The year is 2013 and I am hopping mad.

systemd is replacing my plaintext logs with a binary format and pumping steroids into init and it is laughing at me. The unix philosophy cries out: is this the end of Linux (or, as many are calling it, GNU plus Linux)?

The year is 2025 and I’m here to repent. Not only is systemd a wort

https://www.osnews.com/story/142741/systemd-has-been-a-complete-utter-unmitigated-success/

#Linux

I switched to Kubuntu with root-on-ZFS:

― https://www.reddit.com/r/freebsd/comments/1lr4ayi/switched/

FreeBSD is not entirely abandoned:

― https://www.reddit.com/r/freebsd/comments/1lr4ayi/comment/n1cnfy2/?context=1

Pinned (seeking guidance):

― https://mastodon.bsd.cafe/@grahamperrin/114640816892663471

#FreeBSD #Linux #KDE #Plasma #OpenZFS #ZFS #bemgr #zectl #ZFSBootMenu

Alt...

Screenshot: KDE Plasma, Discover, Dolphin, Firefox, GKrellM, htop in Konsole, Remmina, Spectacle, Synaptic, Bluetooth, VirtualBox, Visual Studio Code, Zotero …

Strong suspicion I could swap out #macOS for #Linux, do better with #Minecraft and most everything else, and not do much worse at macOS-specific stuff like #GarageBand and Messages under #OSXKVM (https://github.com/kholia/OSX-KVM).

Anyone done this, or something similar?