🟢 That green light glowing in the dark is a mesh radio, GPS receiver, AI assistant, and emergency communications terminal — all running on battery inside a weatherproof aluminum box I built from scratch.

Meet the Cochrane Device — S/N 001.

After Hurricane Maria knocked out communications across Puerto Rico for months, I wanted a way to keep my family connected when everything fails. No cell towers. No internet. No power grid.

So I built one.

📦 Inside the IP66 aluminum enclosure:
→ Meshtastic LoRa mesh radio — encrypted, 15km range per hop
→ GPS with 3D fix in 18 seconds
→ WiFi hotspot so your phone becomes a node
→ Linux computer running full service stack
→ AI assistant that writes scripts on demand in the field
→ Remote access via Tailscale from anywhere on earth
→ 6-8 hours battery, solar chargeable

This is S/N 001 — the prototype. Every lesson learned here makes the next one better.

🖖

#Meshtastic #LoRa #EmergencyComms #PuertoRico #OffGrid #Linux #Maker #DIY #HamRadio #OpenSource

@stefano Revisiting this post. While I've largely used #ChatGPT and some #Gemini when researching #Linux and #FreeBSD stuff, I'd say #AI has come a long way. Are they perfect? No. Is it a replacement for man pages and the Handbook? No. Can they provide more info, context, and real world examples when the official #documentation falls short? That's a resounding yes.

It's been a while since I've seen AI give utterly incorrect info relating to FreeBSD. I am far from being the FreeBSD god I want to be and even I recognized the incorrect info at those particular times. But this was also a good 1.5 years ago.

I can't speak for #Illumos as I don't use it.

I just came across another upcoming bee game made by another #Linux-based game dev. Looks very cool! #WorldBeeDay
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4106600/Pollinate_or_Die/

I remember reading one for a some time a few years back, but have lost track of it.

If you write a tech blog and have had a post or two on Slackware in the past, feel free to recommend yourself.

#Linux #slackware #blog #TechBlog

Tomorrow, I’ll be doing a drawing for the winner of my weekly computer giveaway.

The model for this week is a ThinkCentre M710q Tiny with Intel i3-7100T processor, 8GB memory and 120GB storage.

Linux will be pre-installed. One of the reasons I am doing this is to bring attention to Linux distros like:

• Artix
• Devuan
• Void
• Slackware
• NetBSD (which is not Linux)

For a chance to win, just be a subscriber of my email newsletter.

https://retroedgetech.substack.com/

#Linux #Lenovo #ThinkCentre #TinyMiniMicro #NetBSD #artix #slackware

[$] openSUSE "terms of site" raise complaints about age restrictions

Many people in the Linux community began using the operating system—and contributing to open source—at a tender age, often well before their 16th birthday. Thus, a rece [...]

https://lwn.net/Articles/1072689/ #LWN #Linux #Debian #SUSE

You charge your laptop to 100%. The applet says “9 hours remaining”. You sit down to work and the thing dies in 4. Sound familiar?

https://forum.linuxrenaissance.com/t/measuring-battery-endurance-on-real-data/46

#Linux #battery #ThinkPad

RAM prices explained.

#RAM #tech #Linux #AI #LateStageCapitalism

Alt...

The reason RAM prices went up 4x is that a massive amount of not-yet-manufactured memory was bought with money that doesn’t really exist to be put into GPUs that haven't been made yet, to be installed in data centers that haven't been built, powered by infrastructure that may never exist, to satisfy demand that isn’t actually there, in order to generate profits that are mathematically impossible.

Ok #linux nerds, I have Ubuntu 24.04, and I'd like to install a virtual machine and potentially install Slackware and OpenBSD. Which virtual machines should I look at?

@ParadeGrotesque

The third major Linux kernel flaw in two weeks has been found - thanks to AI https://zdnet.com/article/third-major-linux-kernel-flaw-in-two-weeks-found-by-ai/#ftag=COS-05-10aaa0j via @ZDNet & @sjvn

#AI is exposing #Linux security holes almost faster than developers can patch them.

How does Flathub even work? The CDN and caching layer

There is one specific way in which the non-corporate open source projects typically document how their infrastructure work: not at all, and Flathub is no different. The full picture likely lives only in my brain, and while it could be sorted out by anyone (especially in this LLM age, yay or nay), why should it only be me thinking at

https://www.osnews.com/story/144978/how-does-flathub-even-work-the-cdn-and-caching-layer/

#Linux

The 4th Linux kernel flaw this month can lead to stolen SSH host keys https://zdnet.com/article/qualys-flags-a-linux-kernel-security-issue-that-could-lead-to-stolen-ssh-keys/#ftag=COS-05-10aaa0j via @ZDNet & @sjvn

Here we go again. Another day, another #Linux bug.

Ok Linux people. I need your help. How the hell do I make it talk! Managed to get Orca installed but it only speaks for a few seconds then nothing. Help! #Linux #blind

Finally people are starting to see the light and seeing that relying on Big Tech is a bad idea. In this case this is about Oslo, but governments all across the world are seeing the same thing. Being reliant on Big Tech is a bad idea and you should move on to smaller companies with better values.

Thus, we at Vivaldi are getting plenty of requests at this time. It is not a fast process, but there is an understanding that it is time and it is urgent!

You should do the same. Your company should do the same. Take the steps you can take. Ready to change OS? Browser? Search engine? Mail provider?

My recommendation is to at least switch to Vivaldi! 😀

#Windows #Linux #Microsoft #BigTech #Google #Apple #Meta #Facebook #Politics #EU #Europa #Norway

https://www.aftenposten.no/oslo/i/Pdv6Be/oslo-kommune-trapper-opp-kampen-mot-it-giganter-usa-styres-av-en-gal-mann

🐞 Linus Torvalds says AI-powered bug hunters have made Linux security mailing list ‘almost entirely unmanageable’

“So just to make it really clear: If you found a bug using AI tools, the chances are somebody else found it too. If you actually want to add value, read the documentation, create a patch too, and add some real value on *top* of what the AI did. Don't be the drive-by ‘send a random report with no real understanding’ kind of person. OK?”
https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/05/18/linus-torvalds-says-ai-powered-bug-hunters-have-made-linux-security-mailing-list-almost-entirely-unmanageable/5241633

#ai #linux

Linus Torvalds says AI-powered bug hunters have made Linux security mailing list 'almost entirely unmanageable' https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/05/18/linus-torvalds-says-ai-powered-bug-hunters-have-made-linux-security-mailing-list-almost-entirely-unmanageable/5241633 😂

FYI, the Linux kernel officially allows AI-assisted code https://docs.kernel.org/process/coding-assistants.html This is all big tech who are members of Linux foundations forced AI assisted code inside the Linux kernel. Now what's the point of crying about it?l

#linux #opensource

Latest 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 - 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲/𝟬𝟱/𝟭𝟴 (Valuable News - 2026/05/18) available.

https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2026/05/18/valuable-news-2026-05-18/

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

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

Latest 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 - 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲/𝟬𝟱/𝟭𝟴 (Valuable News - 2026/05/18) available.

https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2026/05/18/valuable-news-2026-05-18/

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

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

«Je ne donne jamais les clefs du camion à quelqu'un d'autre. Sur les technos critiques dont je ne peux me passer, je m'adjoins des compétences et ressources externes françaises pour former des équipes mixtes : à tout moment je dois être capable, soit de changer d'industriel, soit de me passer de lui.»

Rien à ajouter.

#Logiciellibre : la #gendarmerie a quitté #Microsoft pour #Linux il y a 20 ans, ses économies sont spectaculaires - Les Numériques
https://www.lesnumeriques.com/societe-numerique/logiciel-libre-la-gendarmerie-a-quitte-microsoft-pour-linux-il-y-a-20-ans-ses-economies-sont-spectaculaires-n255825.html

Webブラウザを使って日本語 #Mastodon をするうえで、 #Windows (ここには #macOS #Linux #NetBSD #FreeBSD などが入り得ると考える) が使いやすいという人が居る認識

(log in)
WARNING: a linux kernel update is available
$ uptime
 15:23:05 up 19:53,  1 user,  load average: 0.49, 0.46, 0.60
$ ll -rat /var/log/apt/history.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 18,530 May 16 19:25 /var/log/apt/history.log
$ 

*sigh*

2026 is 2026ing WAY too hard right now.

Thanks a million, slop-"researchers"

#Linux #Kernel #Vulnerabilities #CVE

I'll be speaking at NYC*BUG on June 3. So... show up? You can show up online, no expensive flight to Manhattan needed.

https://www.nycbug.org/

#BSD #FreeBSD #OpenBSD #NetBSD #DragonFlyBSD #Unix #Linux #Solaris #Illumos

Why Germany Is Paying €1 Million to Make #KDE Bulletproof (Hint: It’s Not About #Linux Fans)

https://linuxstans.com/germany-invests-e1m-in-kde-as-big-tech-alternative/

#AI Just Found Another #Linux Zero-Day and Security Researchers Are Freaking Out

https://linuxstans.com/ai-just-found-another-linux-zero-day-and-security-researchers-are-freaking-out/

Debian 13.5 is out! #debian #gnu #linux

Alt...

Debian 13.5 xfce desktop

THE FEDIVERSE САМИЗДАТ MAY 2026

#unix_surrealism #linux #news #art #fediart #veilid @VeilidNetwork #telegram #foss #mastoart #comic #9front @clock

Alt...

THE FEDIVERSE SAMIZDAT: MY SEO GUY TOLD ME NOT TO CALL IT THAT MAY2026 "PETER THIEL LEAKED MY BROWSER HISTORY. I'M WORTH 4.2 MILLION DOLLARS NOW!" 9MM CLASSIC: TO KILL A CONTENT CREATOR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH A 9FRONT DEVELOPER: "lol" EUROPEAN UNION'S WAR ON ELON MUSK: "WE PAID THE SEXTORTION RANSOM AND ALL WE GOT WAS A STUPID T-SHIRT" SOME YOUTUBER: "I WISH I GOT TO FUCK GTK2 WHEN IT WAS STILL YOUNG"

@nixCraft

#LinuxMint isn't boring ... 🤭

#Linux

Debian 13.5 reminds Linux users why boring distributions still win https://nerds.xyz/2026/05/debian-13-5-linux-security-update/

#linux #opensource

My turn to do an #introduction

My name is Erika, and I'm a programmer and general fan of computers. Currently, I'm most interested in all things #kubernetes, #rust, and #linux. I'm an avid Linux ricer, who's fallen in love with #niri and writing my own shell.

In my free time, if I'm not tinkering with my computer, I practice #taekwondo, in which I also have a black belt.

By day, I'm a software engineer working on cloud-native microservice architecture in software supply chain security

Super happy to be part of the fedi!

Just one Go codebase.

Built from Linux.

Targeted Windows, macOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, across multiple architectures.

No dual-boot.
No spinning up a dozen machines.
No installing every target OS just to compile for it.

Go cross-compilation still feels like cheating in the best possible way. 🚀
#linux
#freebsd
#openbsd
#netbsd
#windos
#code
#golang

Linux distros. Which one do you like? #linux #NixOS #archlinux

https://www.hellotux.com/

Alt...

Linux swag

One of Slackware's early developers and co-author of the Slackware book, David Cantrell, on what things were like before Slackware became the longest running Linux distro still standing. Different times. Great watch.

https://youtu.be/t9ivC2eOg1w

#slackware #linux #foss #technology

UNIX/*BSD discussion on Reddit is just weird. Its just a bunch of LLM posts talking past one another and hallucinating things in a way that I don't really see on the Linux subreddits. And then there's the thing where they repost old screenshots from since deleted accounts as their own to get karma. Just...weird. And not fun any more. #reddit #freebsd #openbsd #netbsd #Unix #vintageunix #Linux #reddit #Solaris

@ParadeGrotesque

I think it's "ps -faux"!

#faux #ps #linux #shitpost

Seven years of running FreeBSD on ThinkPads alongside Linux — lessons I'd give my younger self

<https://www.reddit.com/r/freebsd/comments/1tedyva/seven_years_of_running_freebsd_on_thinkpads/>

＂I daily-drive Linux at work and FreeBSD on my personal ThinkPads (T480 & P52 currently). Both laptops and both operating systems, every day. I'm the kind of person who reads freebsd-update output and Phoronix benchmarks in the same hour.

＂Recently saw the "is FreeBSD really that goated" thread and it brought back the timeline of my own journey. Started with a rough —call it version 0.9 — build that barely had X11 working, evolved through five iterations, landed on something I'd call "production-stable personal desktop" around version 2.0 on FreeBSD 15.0 with a heavily customized MATE, ZFS boot environments, BastilleBSD jails for microservices, WireGuard tunnels and PF.

＂If I could send a packet back in time to my earlier self, here's what I'd put in the payload: …＂

The image here is for <https://www.reddit.com/r/freebsd/comments/1tedyva/comment/om1t5mg/> because we can all agree that em dashes make scintillating conversation.

#goated #X11 #Wales #FreeBSD #BSD #Linux #ZFS #OpenZFS #Beastie #daemon #MyLittlePony #unicorn #dolphin #rainbow #IBM #Lenovo #BastilleBSD #WireGuard #AI #purple

Alt...

My prompt to ChatGPT: Draw a unicorn that has been genetically combined with a dolphin. The creature is flying across a rainbow whilst a gentle rain falls on lush green Welsh meadows beneath the rainbow. The sky, in the background, is an unnaturally vivid shade of purple. Below the rainbow: a quaint cottage with a person stood at the front door. The person is the mascot for BSD (Beastie). On the lawn in front of the cottage: a badly broken old IBM ThinkPad. In the sky, to the left of the rainbow: instead of a golden sun, place the FreeBSD logo (a red orb with horns).

What are your plans for this weekend? How about submitting a talk for #SeaGL2026

It's easy: https://seagl.org/cfp

#cfp is open until end of May. First time speakers also welcomed.

#linux #opensource #FLOSS #FOSS #OSS #oshw #free #libre #open #tech #community #event #seattle

Should I replace #Linux on all my computers with #NetBSD?
#BSD

grep/find/sed/awk/make/ssh/git/nvi often compose better than many modern “integrated” environments.

Small programs connected together still scale surprisingly well.

https://repo.or.cz/code-notes.git/blob_plain/HEAD:/notes/Unix_As_An_IDE.txt

#unix #linux #slackware #vi

The 4th Linux kernel flaw this month can lead to stolen SSH host keys https://www.zdnet.com/article/qualys-flags-a-linux-kernel-security-issue-that-could-lead-to-stolen-ssh-keys/ via @ZDNet & @sjvn

Here we go again. Another day, another #Linux bug.

@stefano

"… more likely to happen when dealing with usb attached external interfaces. …"

On the many occasions when I have lost then regained USB connectivity to a mobile hard disk drive that hosts a ZFS pool, and (naturally) it becomes impossible to run any zpool command on the pool:

– there's never an endless freeze.

Restart the OS in the normal way, and be patient. Sometimes very patient.

That was, Kubuntu 25.04 and 25.10 with (OpenZFS-encrypted) root-on-ZFS. I have not yet had an opportunity to play the waiting game with 26.04.

#OpenZFS #USB #Linux #systemd

About that... We now have a fourth vulnerability: ssh-keysign-pwn. Despite the first three letters, this is a Linux kernel vuln. PoC already available.

#Linux #Security #Vulnerabilities #InfoSec

How to force reboot a frozen Linux or FreeBSD machine

https://it-notes.dragas.net/2023/01/08/how-to-force-reboot-a-frozen-linux-or-freebsd-servers/

I've just used this...

#Linux #FreeBSD

One of the most useful Red Hat products I use daily is also one of the least-known: the Red Hat Offline Knowledge Portal (RHOKP).

It is basically a self-hosted, locally searchable mirror of docs.redhat.com + the Red Hat Knowledgebase in a single container image.

Perfect for:

- air-gapped environments
- customer networks with painful proxies
- trains, planes, and terrible WiFi
- anyone who wants docs that still work offline

I wrote up how it works, why I think it matters, and how to run it locally with Podman:

https://blog.hofstede.it/red-hat-offline-knowledge-portal-all-the-docs-air-gapped-on-your-laptop/

#linux #redhat #ansible #openshift #rhokp #docs #devops

KDE Plasma 6.7 Beta arrives with Plasma Bigscreen, new Union theme system https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/05/kde-plasma-6-7-beta-arrives-with-plasma-bigscreen-new-union-theme-system/

#KDE #Linux #OpenSource #Plasma

Habe ich mal erwähnt, dass ich die Entscheidung meinen Router zu virtualisieren in einem Mini-PC extrem abfeiere?
Das System läuft jetzt seit gut 1,5 Jahren extrem zuverlässig, lässt sich per Snapshot sichern, ist extrem flexibel konfigurier- und erweiterbar…
Und wenn i h die Hardware wechseln will brauche ich auch nur die virtuelle Machine zu übertragen und behalte alle Konfigurationen…
#OpenWRT #Proxmox #Linux #Router

My main computer is now runnin @fedora 44 - The update was **almost** painless this time (I had to uninstall nodejs before it worked).
#Fedora #Linux #LinuxDesktop

La gendarmerie a économisé 1/2 milliard d’euros grâce au Libre et Linux en 20 ans - Next

> Le directeur de l’agence du numérique des forces de sécurité intérieure (ANFSI) reconnaît que la gendarmerie avait migré sur Linux « en mode très militaire, un peu brutal ». Il estime a contrario que « la souveraineté se gagne aussi sur le terrain des re…

https://next.ink/237345/la-gendarmerie-a-economise-1-2-milliard-deuros-grace-au-libre-et-linux-en-20-ans/

#Gendarmerie #Linux #Ubuntu #Logiciel_Libre #Argent_Public #Souveraineté_Numérique #FdC #RevueDePresse

Already I am feeling better about XFCE than MATE. The "Ctrl + Alt + t" keyboard shortcut for bringing up a termal works, in MATE it doesn't by default.

Without messing with it too much, it also seems more easily customizable.

Will report more later.

#Linux #XFCE #Artix

Alt...

screenshot of Artix live boot with XFCE

I wont lie.. I've been fascinated with #FreeBSD but also HATING it.

Like, I enjoy the minimalist cohesive way it's put together.. but everything else feels as painful as running Linux in the early 2000s.

Hardware support is trash, you're constantly jacking around with config files, available software is minimal.

I get why you might run a server or router on BSD.. but why would anyone run a desktop with this?

#linux feels 1000x more mature in my experience here

Kavic Marabush's Pocket Guide to Computers

#unix_surrealism #magnetic_nymph #comic #computers #linux #runbsd #foss #programming

Alt...

magnetic nymph: and now that you know how the machine works, you still won't give it up it's admirable really