*** New article ***

Haunted by Demons: A guide for installing and configuring FreeBSD on a notebook

https://darkblueproject.com/sites/articles/freebsd-hbd-setup-2610.php

#darkblueproject #freebsd #tuxedocomputers #tuxedo #bsd #runbsd #opensource #freesoftware

Alt...

A desktop screenshot of Xfce running on FreeBSD 15.1-RELEASE-p4 on my TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro AMD Gen9

Everything seems to be working fine on my NetBSD laptop, but yesterday I realised that the microphone isn’t working (although it is recognised)!
It’s not a big problem as I never use it, but I’d still like to sort it out.
I’ll look into it over the next few days... 🧐

#bsd #netbsd #bsdunix #unix #unixITA #unixitalia #guuf #guufxmpp #guufITA #linux #linuxITA #linuxitalia

@MsDropbear42 @c64whiz @dwarmstrong

I might recommend [NomadBSD].

I don't know if it's actually still active as a project, but it's a persistent live USB image for #FreeBSD with an xfce DE. It's pretty nice to get your feet wet without actually "losing" your main machine. :D

I know the FreeBSD guys are working on a full [KDE installer]. I'm not sure what the status is, at the moment, but they're definitely making good progress.

#NomadBSD #BSD #RunBSD

Input on *BSD? I need to start investigating more seriously.

#FreeBSD #OpenBSD #NetBSD #BSD

@as400 @astra_underscore

It's a bit clunky, but I found a script to handle it:

https://github.com/dr3mro/battery_ctrl

source:

https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/how-to-set-battery-charging-thresholds-on-laptop.79807/page-3

It seems to keep the setting after a reboot, as well. Even after a cold boot, IIRC.

#FreeBSD #BSD #RunBSD #Battery #ChargeThreshold #ChargeThresholds #threshold #thresholds

#boxybsd #vps #bsd

Somewhat late to the party, I've learned that boxybsd is no longer in operation.

I'm really sad to learn of this.

A few years ago, it was invaluable to me in keeping #gameoftrees portable as it allowed me access to a wealth of machines.

Does anyone know why boxybsd has ceased, and are there plans for a successor at all?

Cc: @stefano -- can you shed light on this?

Should I add journaling to the filesystem in #NetBSD?

https://www.netbsd.org/docs/misc/index.html#journal-options

#BSD

I feel like poking the hornet's nest.

Hey #Unix #Linux #BSD

I've currently got weak, incel /bin/sh on my FreeBSD server

Should I switch to Bash, or Zsh? Why?

Free liqour and canes over on the right there.

So, my move to a BSD isn't going as quickly as I would like, and I wanted to get off of Debian since the whole vote to go pro-AI debacle. I figured moving to a Linux distribution that has a very strong anti-AI policy would be the right choice until I can get a BSD installed properly on my desktop or extra laptop. More than a year ago, I tried @elementary. It's an awesome project but I could never get my workflow working with the desktop environment. Most definitely not the fault of Elementary. I just have a weird workflow. Earlier today, I decided to give the latest release another try. I'm going to keep it on here and actually work with the desktop environment, instead of giving up after a day.

The project is staunchly anti-AI. And that is important to me. I know the Linux kernel is tainted but unless we want to fork the kernel from a version prior to Torvalds allowing the use of AI, we're just going to have to deal with it. I don't like it, but I'm no developer and who in the world would want to take on a forked project as big as the Linux kernel? Yikes!

Anyway, I'm really liking how I have Elementary setup on my ThinkPad T14 and I'm going to keep using it for now. Who knows? It might keep me on Linux with one piece of my hardware even after moving to BSD.

#linux #bsd #elementary_OS #noAI

I'm currently writing a review article about a BSD system on a TUXEDO notebook with a window manager setup. It will be published in the next days on the Dark Blue Project website

Follow @darkblue for the announcement and all future reviews and articles ;)

#darkblueproject #tuxedocomputers #bsd

As many of you know, I've been getting back into running BSD after 20 or so years away from it. I'm wanting to get NetBSD running, mainly because of the no-AI policy, but I've been struggling and its frustrated me a bit. Well, to be honest, quite a lot. To get BSD running on my desktop, laptop, and small server, and so I can move away form Linux, I'm going to go ahead and get FreeBSD up and running on my hardware. I know that they have a questionable AI policy but this will get me over to BSD and then I can move from there. Plus, FreeBSD has some really, really good documentation to get me started.

#freebsd #netbsd #bsd #noAI

@joel @chadmccullough

This normie had a BSD workstation in 2006! But that was thanks to PC-BSD.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TrueOS

I've never tried a "straight" BSD.

Hoping someone comes up with a PC-BSD-style normie-friendly version of NetBSD (preferably Xfce)

#BSD #FreeBSD #NetBSD #PCBSD

Okay, tomorrow I will be back to work trying to get @netbsd installed either on my desktop or laptop. I took a break for a week but I really need to get this done. After 30 years, I think I am done with Linux. I'm struggling to move on, but I know it's the right thing to do.

For my small home server, I'm not sure what to install on it just yet. I know that I can get FreeBSD going rather quickly but there's the AI issue. Would NetBSD be a good option for the server, as well?

#netbsd #bsd #noAI

New #blog #post: Gratitude Day 19: UNIX Shell

https://rldane.space/gratitude-day-19-unix-shell.html

1228 words? Maybe? I dunno.

Umm, I didn't sleep well, so my apologies if this one is kind of confusing, rambly, and info-dumpy. 😁

cc: my wonderful #chorus: @joel @dm @sotolf @thedoctor @pixx @orbitalmartian @adamsdesk @krafter @roguefoam @clayton @giantspacesquid @stfn @golemwire

(I will happily add/remove you from the chorus upon request! :)

#rlDaneWriting #blost #SeptemberTheme #SeptemberBloggingTheme #SepThemeBear #SeptemberGratitude #gratitude #thankfulness #unix #linux #bsd #shell #unixShell #POSIX #bash #Scripting

RE: https://mastodon.sdf.org/@ParadeGrotesque/117226122230983789

I'm one of those folks that's looking into NetBSD "for reasons" and I'm finding new joy in computing. I don't have it running on my laptop or desktop just yet (not for lack of trying), but I have been learning a lot and having a lot fun in this journey. I am going to donate because not only is the project deserving of our support, but learning more about NetBSD, and BSDs in general, has sparked new excitement in computing for me. I've been a Linux user for more than 30 years and AI has pretty much ruined most of what made me fall in love with Linux and many Open Source projects.

#netbsd #bsd

OpenComputeDesign boosted

Parade du Grotesque 💀 » 🌐 2026-09-06
@ParadeGrotesque@mastodon.sdf.org

If all of you all (you know who you are) currently exploring #NetBSD (for, uh, reasons*) would donate a little bit of money to the NetBSD Foundation, I am sure that sad little gauge under the logo would look a lot better.

https://www.netbsd.org/donations/#how-to-donate

Because right now, it stands at about 12K out of a goal of 50K and it makes me sad. 😔

Donate! 💶 💵 💷

(* good reasons, I might add)

Linux is exempt from age verification requirement of California users as long as it is distributed under the GPL, MIT, BSD, and Apache licenses
https://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/News/Linux-Exempt-from-California-s-Age-Verification-Law?utm_source=mlm
#Linux #OS #AgeVerification #GPL #BSD #MIT #Apache

Alt...

Linux Magazine News

A new article about a BSD adventure will soon be published at Dark Blue covering the setup of a BSD system as an authoritative DNS server.

Psst... I won't name names, but Puffy will be part of the article 😉

#bsd #darkblueproject

I run gkrellm everywhere. Even on closed Source operating systems. The dashboard is designed in such a way that I can just glance and know if something is wrong, if some process pulls way too much, and then I get in with htop to granularly see what's going on

@rl_dane

#gkrellm #Linux #BSD #freeBSD #OpenSource #win64 #dashboard

@nixCraft Linus Torvalds, the best press agent for #BSD who ever existed

#TIL that ln -s doesn't require a destination. It assumes . if none is given.

rld@prometheus:applications$ ln -s ../../../backups/applications/iamb-flatpak.desktop 
rld@prometheus:applications$ ll -rat
total 16,384
-rw-r--r--  2 rld rld   264 Jun  4 17:43 sncli.desktop
-rw-rw-r--  1 rld rld   215 Jun 14 15:33 tut.desktop
lrwxrwxrwx  1 rld rld    46 Jun 14 22:43 tootuser.desktop -> ../../../backups/applications/tootuser.desktop
drwx------ 15 rld rld 4,096 Aug 22 16:44 ..
lrwxrwxrwx  1 rld rld    50 Aug 25 08:00 iamb-flatpak.desktop -> ../../../backups/applications/iamb-flatpak.desktop
drwxrwxr-x  2 rld rld 4,096 Aug 25 08:00 .
rld@prometheus:applications$ 

DESCRIPTION
       In  the  1st form, create a link to TARGET with the name LINK_NAME.  In the 2nd form, create a link to
       TARGET in the current directory.  In the 3rd and 4th forms, create links to each TARGET in  DIRECTORY.

🤯

(Confirmed it behaves the same on all three major BSDs, as well)

#Unix #Linux #BSD #StillLearning

I forgot to set up the keybindings for the external monitor.
Now I can mess around with two monitors even on NetBSD 🤣

If anyone is interested (replace --output parameter if necessary)

# xrandr keybindings for external monitor

bindsym $mod+Ctrl+s   exec --no-startup-id xrandr --output DP2 --primary --mode 1920x1080 --left-of  eDP1
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+d   exec --no-startup-id xrandr --output DP2 --primary --mode 1920x1080 --right-of eDP1
bindsym $mod+Shift+s  exec --no-startup-id xrandr --output HDMI2 --primary --mode 1920x1080 --left-of eDP1
bindsym $mod+Shift+d  exec --no-startup-id xrandr --output HDMI2 --primary --mode 1920x1080 --right-of eDP1
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+o   exec --no-startup-id xrandr --output DP2 --off
bindsym $mod+Shift+o  exec --no-startup-id xrandr --output HDMI2 --off

P.S. Thanks, xrandr!

#bsd #netbsd #bsdunix #unix #unixITA #unixitalia #guuf #guufxmpp #guufITA #linux #linuxITA #linuxitalia

Alt...

A laptop and a monitor on a wodden table

#POLL Results:

44 people are in deep denial about their existential dread, and should consult a counselor and read #Kierkegaard immediately 😁
139 people like teh pretty tings, and can't be bothered
188 people have started down the path towards enlightment
354 people are cool_kids
92 people are very_cool_kids
55 people laugh at your inadequate security model
27 people can run a server on a bit of bailing wire and a microcontroller from 1987 — fear them.
26 people are keeping Gassée's dream alive, and are plenny cool in my book
4 people are totally cool, and totally in a class by themselves
and 21 people kinda scare me, but I'd like to know more. 🤣

#humor #humour #houmor #houmour

#Windows #MacOS #Linux #CommandLine #BSD #RunBSD #FreeBSD #OpenBSD #NetBSD #Haiku #HaikuOS #BeOS #Amiga #Workbench #AROS #AmigaOS #Plan9 #9Front #TempleOS

P.S., wherever you find yourself, you're awesome. This is all for fun.

Do mini PCIe hardware security modules or standalone cryptographically strong pRNGs exist? If they do, where can I get one? NetBSD is complaining about low entropy (laptop from 2011) & suggests I keysmash, use an entropy file, or get a USB pRNG. I would prefer to have all of my USB ports free.

I have no idea where to find such a thing & I can't even find USB HSMs besides the one that YubiCo sells. The closest thing I have found is a bunch of TPM2 chips with SPI headers on them & I don't think I have any free SPI connectors in the laptop. For now I'll use an entropy file but I would rather do something better like using a proper RNG device.

I think people watching these tags might know more than I can find with a search engine. Thank you.

#Security #BSD #NetBSD #Linux #Cryptography

@samd

Crazy thought: On X11, you could totally do a gradually changing day-and-night bitmap wallpaper using a #1Bit xbm wallpaper and manually, gradually setting the foreground and background colors with a script throughout the day. Basically, 1-bit color with palette manipulation

With the right image, that would look pretty badass, IMHO.

#X11 #BSD

With Apple phasing out AFP in macOS 27 and Time Capsules officially reaching end-of-life, it's time to move network backups to proper SMB.

If you run a FreeBSD server, you can build a fast, rock-solid, and secure Time Machine target powered by ZFS and Samba - neatly isolated inside a FreeBSD jail using Bastille.

https://it-notes.dragas.net/2026/01/28/time-machine-freebsd-jail/

Keep your macOS backups running smoothly via SMBv3 (with full vfs_fruit support) and full dataset quota control on ZFS!

#FreeBSD #macOS #TimeMachine #ZFS #BastilleBSD #Samba #SysAdmin #Backup #OwnYourData #SelfHosted #BSD #RunBSD #OwnYourData

Unfortunately, for of my university mail account, I have to use Microsoft Outlook (I know, I know! Luckily, I’ve set up a redirect, so I hardly ever have to use it).

Tonight I tried using Firefox on NetBSD, but “Something went wrong.”

When I changed the user agent and set it to "Firefox on Linux", everything works fine, no problems, nothing "was wrong"!

In short, I think “Microsoft loves open source" but not NetBSD 😆.
One more reason to keep using it 😈

(Forgive the corny joke, I know MS doesn’t actually love open source at all 😆)

#bsd #netbsd #bsdunix #unix #unixITA #unixitalia #guuf #guufxmpp #guufITA #linux #linuxITA #linuxitalia

Mission accomplished, it seems!
I must have messed something up during "sysupgrade etcupdate" because my user was no longer in the "wheel" group, but luckily it wasn't a big deal (thanks usermod 🤣)

Then I updated pkgsrc with "cvs update -dP"  and edited /usr/pkg/etc/pkgin/repositories.conf to change the release number.

I hope that’s correct!
The update of all packages was successful, so I’m assuming it is.

Is it normal that "pkgin upgrade" re-download and reinstall all packages, even those that are already the same version?

I'd say the overall experience has been very positive.

P.S. i3status gives me an error if I use UTF-8 "icons" (it worked with 10.1), but it's not really a big deal.

#bsd #netbsd #bsdunix #unix #unixITA #unixitalia #guuf #guufxmpp #guufITA #linux #linuxITA #linuxitalia

Alt...

my NetBSD desktop with a terminal emulator (alacritty) and macchina output result.

It's time to try sysupgrade 🤣
🍀🍀🍀

#bsd #netbsd #bsdunix #unix #unixITA #unixitalia #guuf #guufxmpp #guufITA #linux #linuxITA #linuxitalia

This is the umpteenth time I've tried this, starting with version 1.6.1 😅

Could this be the definitive? I hope 💪

Now I have to config automount for external disk/USB keys and I need to find a way to encrypt my external disk and use it both in GNU\Linux and NetBSD.

CGD (I never tried it on Linux and I didn't find anything online)?
ZFS? Anyone have an idea?

I know I can use OpenSSL or GPG but I think it's better and more confortable to encrypt the full drive...

P.S. I love NetBSD but pkgin is really slow 😅 (It's probably not a problem with pkgin, but rather my Wi-Fi card.)

#bsd #netbsd #bsdunix #unix #unixITA #unixitalia #guuf #guufxmpp #guufITA  #linux #linuxITA #linuxitalia

Alt...

My new NetBSD with i3wm, Alacritty terminal emulator with "macchina" output (top-right) and Alacritty with text "Hello Fedifriends" (Ascii art, figlet output, bottom left). The wallpaper is a black and white rappresentation of a scene from the book/movie Iron Giant.

Found out I needed to install mozilla certs for pkgin to work. Installed those, now running pkgin update

Gotta say, installing packages from #BSD #Ports is STUPID easy. Never had to do it before.

#NetBSD

All #BSD and #ZFS wizards alert

Please focus all your mojo on helping the people who posted the ZFS/BSD admin job that I just applied for to see that I am their dream come true.

NetBSD 11.0 RC7 available!

July 23, 2026 posted by Martin Husemann

The NetBSD project is pleased to announce the seventh release candidate of the upcoming 11.0 release, please help testing!
See the release announcement for details.

The netbsd-11 release branch is nearly a year old now, so it is high time the 11.0 release makes it to the front stage.

https://blog.netbsd.org/tnf/entry/netbsd_11_0_rc7_available

#bsd #netbsd #unix # runbsd #guufxmpp #guuf #guufITA @guuf_italia @livellosegreto.it

Today is a special day! It is the BSD Cafe's birthday!

Exactly three years ago today, I was rather timidly announcing this project to the world. It was an idea that had already been in my mind for some time, but had not yet become reality.

Three years later, I am proud to say that the BSD Cafe is sailing at full speed towards the uncertain horizons of the modern world.

We are here to talk about BSD, Open Source, projects, conferences, freedom, pizza and tiramisu, but above all about passions, interests, discoveries and knowledge. We are here among friends who share interests and passions, without geography or borders, apart from those defined by mutual respect.

Your Barista is more energised than ever.

During the past year, he had to retire one of the services, BlendIT, our Lemmy instance, but he also added several new ones: Journal, based on WordPress, Billboard, running on NodeBB, the Delta Chat relay, and more.

He also had to withdraw from BSDCan, with enormous regret, but he is now ready for EuroBSDCon. And for other new things that will gradually follow.

For example, here is a small preview: I have been experimenting with MeshCore.

My dream? One or more BSD Cafe services that do not use the Internet at all. I already have a few ideas, so I shall not disclose anything more for now 😉

And I will never grow tired of repeating that the BSD Cafe is a success because of you.

I am just the Barista, but a place like this is nothing without the friends sitting at the bar. And the friends of this bar are wonderful people who, every day, help make my days calmer, happier and more interesting.

So thank you for these three years, and thank you for being here.

We shall continue sailing together towards the future, with smiles on our faces and passion in our hearts.

https://journal.bsd.cafe/2026/03/31/im-just-the-barista/

#BSDCafe #BSDCafeBirthday #Celebrations #RunBSD #BSD

Alt...

The Amerigo Vespucci ship, with the BSD Cafe logo

I think the time is right to follow Torvalds advice 😅 and finally "upgrade" my laptop to NetBSD.

I was trying to figure out whether to stick with stable or current, and also whether I should encrypt the entire disk or just /home and then the swap partition via rc.conf (if I understand correctly, that’s possible, right?).

Current is "solid" enough for daily use? Any advice? It's not my first time on NetBSD but I'm not an expert 😆

Found these tutorial online:

https://www.dwarmstrong.org/netbsd-encrypt-install/
https://vsis.online/posts/2024-05-27-uefi-full-disk-encryption/

#netbsd #bsd

If you are looking to financially support a #BSD, #NetBSD has the most humble budget of the three big ones and is rather behind on its yearly goal.

I think it's a good and reputable place for your donation dollars, and yes, I have put my money where my mouth is.

@rl_dane and #9front is #BSD? I like this decade!

@peteorrall

You have to remember that in #BSD, the base OS isn't included in that count. So even X11 and all of its related programs aren't included there. The base system has like a dozen packages are so, but the packages are huge tarballs and they're not included in that count.

Sorry for the word-soup-y dictation text. 😄

@bpl

make

(insane errors)
gmake

Is the sudo make me a sandwich of #BSD. 🤣

(Or alternatively, "Tricorder" (...) "Medical tricorder!")

👿 FreeBSD 15.1 Released With Updated WiFi Drivers, Better C23 Support & Other Improvements https://www.phoronix.com/news/FreeBSD-15.1-Released

#freebsd #bsd #unix #opensource

What automation tool do you use? When do you go against the flow and choose something other than Ansible?

#python #ansible #rakulang #sparrow #perl #rex #salt #chief #ruby #puppet #linux #bsd #sysadmin #devops #automation

#Mastodon tip: There is a way to use only part of a word as a hashtag!

For example, you might want to say the word “toots”, but use the hashtag “toot”.

To do this, place a U+2060 WORD JOINER before the “s” in “toots”. Example: #toot⁠s.

If you're using #X11 or #Wayland (i.e. #Linux or #BSD desktop), you can add the following line to ~/.XCompose to give yourself a keyboard shortcut:

<Multi_key> <w> <j> : "⁠" U2060 # WORD JOINER

Then just type Compose, then W, then J.

SkiftOS : https://skiftos.org/

It's not a *NIX!

"skiftOS isn’t POSIX. It’s a fresh API and userland inspired by Plan 9, Haiku, and Fuchsia. Familiar ideas, different contracts."

Problem: the GPL is poison. It has polluted Linux and the Linux userland software so that only large corporations can afford to monetize it. BSD License or MIT License would be much better allowing small players to produce unique work without then being forced to share their source code with the AI hegemony racket.

#SkiftOS #Tech #Linux #OS #Plan9 #Haiku #Fuchsia #Computing #SoftwareFreedom #AIHegemony #GPL #License #BSD #MIT