Russ Sharek
and 1 other
boosted
Stefano Marinelli
boosted
@stefano This is indeed a great post. Refreshing to read - the author didn't distro-bash but instead highlighted how needs were met.
I have been leaning toward #FreeBSD after 20 years on #Debian, which has a special place in my heart. However, FreeBSD's *consistency*, elegant design, and better documentation are driving factors and I just can't look away.
Over these two decades, Linux has definitely changed. It's no longer what it once was: a #Unix clone. It's evolved into its own thing. Software does that and that's OK. But a lot of the changes or "improvements" have been needlessly reinventing the wheel with a worsening user experience and convoluted results. The audio subsystems (ALSA -> PulseAudio -> Pipewire and of course the mess that is/was JACK) and #SystemD are two big examples.
On SystemD, I don't disagree that Linux needed a modern init system. SystemD is faster, but from a human perspective it's worse. I am now typing *more* characters to manage services. Is there a reason why it couldn't be designed to manage services like:
> $SERVICE start/stop/restart
Instead, we are left with:
> systemctl $SERVICE start/stop/restart
But I digress.
#TBT I fell in love with FreeBSD when I first started my Linux journey in the mid-2000s, but only dabbled in it as it was never in any production environment I managed.
I have a FreeBSD VM sitting in my lab somewhere but due to other factors rarely do I get to it. I'm thinking it's time I grab a spare laptop, load it up, and use it as a daily driver to really force myself to learn it.
RE: https://mastodon.bsd.cafe/@gumnos/115551343732704834
This is a great post.
It's not "against" something - it just explains why Tim prefers to use the BSDs.
@stefano This is indeed a great post. Refreshing to read - the author didn't distro-bash but instead highlighted how needs were met.
I have been leaning toward #FreeBSD after 20 years on #Debian, which has a special place in my heart. However, FreeBSD's *consistency*, elegant design, and better documentation are driving factors and I just can't look away.
Over these two decades, Linux has definitely changed. It's no longer what it once was: a #Unix clone. It's evolved into its own thing. Software does that and that's OK. But a lot of the changes or "improvements" have been needlessly reinventing the wheel with a worsening user experience and convoluted results. The audio subsystems (ALSA -> PulseAudio -> Pipewire and of course the mess that is/was JACK) and #SystemD are two big examples.
On SystemD, I don't disagree that Linux needed a modern init system. SystemD is faster, but from a human perspective it's worse. I am now typing *more* characters to manage services. Is there a reason why it couldn't be designed to manage services like:
> $SERVICE start/stop/restart
Instead, we are left with:
> systemctl $SERVICE start/stop/restart
But I digress.
#TBT I fell in love with FreeBSD when I first started my Linux journey in the mid-2000s, but only dabbled in it as it was never in any production environment I managed.
I have a FreeBSD VM sitting in my lab somewhere but due to other factors rarely do I get to it. I'm thinking it's time I grab a spare laptop, load it up, and use it as a daily driver to really force myself to learn it.
I can't seem to get #FreeBSD poudriere to use pre-built packages (I don't have the exact error message, something like "failed to update repository"), and so it tries to build Rust, which fails with a non-meaningful exception in bootstrapping after 5 hours of building.
It's kind of frustrating, especially since this means I can't update libQuotient and nheko -- because Rust is in their dependencies path.
Michael Dexter
boosted
#FreeBSD users behind a proxy who also use #Poudriere: what are your tips for configuring an HTTP/HTTPS (non-SOCKS as far as I can tell) proxy for package builds?
I can't seem to get #FreeBSD poudriere to use pre-built packages (I don't have the exact error message, something like "failed to update repository"), and so it tries to build Rust, which fails with a non-meaningful exception in bootstrapping after 5 hours of building.
It's kind of frustrating, especially since this means I can't update libQuotient and nheko -- because Rust is in their dependencies path.
Having answered the question a number of times, I decided to finally document¹ why/how I ended up using BSDs instead of Linux, taking a page from @vermaden's playbook².
tl;dr: a bit of push from Linux, a bit of pull from the BSDs.
RE: https://mastodon.bsd.cafe/@gumnos/115551343732704834
This is a great post.
It's not "against" something - it just explains why Tim prefers to use the BSDs.
Thinking to move this (low-end) laptop away from Linux…
Options:
I can use #NomadBSD to check compatibility hardware with FreeBSD but I am not aware of any "live a la Linux" ISO version for the other two…
Another thing that is confusing me is: I know that FreeBSD uses a partition table similar to Linux, while OpenBSD and NetBSD by default create a lot of partitions; NetBSD also uses letters as MS-DOS for partitions and I am not used anymore to handle partitions this way.
Any recommendation or suggestion is welcomed!
Thanks... 🙏
@ricardo I think discord.
@stefano @ricardo the article mentioned the FreeBSD subreddit and The FreeBSD Forums.
Yorick Peterse shared his post in the sub, where it was very well-received. Pictured: insights that are not visible to the public (I very rarely share such things, doing so seems harmless on this occasion).
No mention of Discord, Twitter, or X.
Also pictured: the wiki for FreeBSD Discord very recently cautioned that the FreeBSD Community Code of Conduct can not be enforced. I do not imagine that this caution relates to any recent misconduct there …
<https://www.freebsd.org/internal/code-of-conduct/>
<https://wiki.freebsd.org/Discord/DiscordServer>
#FreeBSD #Reddit #forums #Discord #community #conduct #misconduct
Caution: The FreeBSD Discord server is managed entirely by volunteers unaffiliated with the FreeBSD Project. The FreeBSD Project has no way of enforcing its code of conduct on the server. The text below was written by the server administrators, not by Project members or officers. …
Screenshot: a moderator view of insights for the post by Yorick Peterse. 95% up-voted.
Stefano Marinelli
boosted
So… what browser are we supposed to be using in this the age of enshittification?
Firefox? Forcing unwanted AI on us
Chrome? Same, plus, it’s Google
Brave? No thank you for many reasons
So, what browser is safe and compatible?
Aside from Jails, what is your go-to, must-have feature in the FreeBSD ecosystem?
Is it ZFS? The PF firewall? Maybe Capsicum?
Let us know what you can't live without in the comments!
Stefano Marinelli
boosted
Happy Friday #FreeBSD
Hisham
boosted
The Bee-Link ME Mini has arrived and #FreeBSD is installed. Sonic is helping it buildworld and monitoring CPU temps.
Stefano Marinelli
boosted
I've taken the time to read this IT notes Story where we are reminded to use Open Source Code in the diverse way it's intended
I can give you an example regarding the _if tools_
**ifconfig** is in my _muscle memory_ the things that I need executed from this program just fly out of my fingers in reflex mode
I've been using the if tools ever since we needed to _compile everything_ ourselves, when we wanted to run an Open Source Environment, where the kernel was written and delivered in source code only.
If this is the first toot you read by me, I've been with the Open Source community on the Linux side since the alpha versions were coded and distributed through Usenet, in comp.os.unix.*
In that period you were grateful when a task set that you needed to execute, had a program, which would either make your task easier or better manageable, than doing everything by hand in a laborious manner
Ever since the beginning there are different GNU programs, written in the Richard Stallman period, that can do similar things. All you need to do is choose what you like and stick with it
If you do not like the way it works, you can fork it & change the code, if you don't know how to write a line of code, there are _manual pages_ available which you can use as teaching methods to learn how to code yourself
All you need to be for that is an _autodidact_
You have the power of the **Source Code** readily available right in front of you
At a certain point in time _Bram Molenaar_ did not like the way VI worked; he want it more than vi offered. At this point in time Bram Molenaar programmed vim on the _Amiga_ computer. Since the true Open Source form was followed vim was also distributed in Source form and was happily adopted by others who were thinking in a similar manner as Bram Molenaar and they started to contribute to that program.
vi is a vital program on UNIX systems. What Bram has made, is create a _choice_ for people who want it more than what vi offered.
# vim & vi happily coexist!
## This is the beauty of Open Source
At a later point in time this is also what happened with the programmer who wanted more than what the if-tool set offers. Thus the command set of _ip_ was programmed. Similar to vi and vim they happily coexist.
### However on the distribution level something changed.
After a couple of decades I noticed that traditional tools, that have been tried, tested, stable and have withstood the test of time, were dropped from the base installations. You have to go and fetch them yourself. It was even done with _critical tools_ like the if tool set. It's not just one distribution that's doing it but different distributions.
I was busy with an installation; at a certain point I needed **ifconfig** to work on my network interface devices; I needed to configure something on the fly. Imagine my facial expression when I detected that ifconfig wasn't in the base installation!
The machine was in a _chicken egg_ situation because I had &no access to the network_ I had to stop, go to another place fetch the if tools separately, find out that they were dropped for reasons which were totally irrelevant to my work, go back to the machine, install them separately and in the process waste many valuable minutes of time.
It was then that I started to notice the pattern a pattern of **polarization** removing tools which are critical to base installations without leaving a warning
I had to _change_ my setup routine which has been working for decades in a _flawless_ manner, because someone somewhere decided that a good tool set became obsolete.
This polarization is not only in the choice of what commands are chosen to be in the base installation of a distribution, it's in many different sections of the open source community which is what Stefano has shed some light upon.
Polarization because of diversity is totally unnecessary, happy and peaceful coexistance is key
* You can love vim yet cherish vi
* You can glorify emacs yet admire vim
* I can love XCFE cherish LXDE, admire KDE & like GNOME all simultaneously
Depending up on what I'm doing, what machine I am working on (SBC server embedded system), what is needed on the task at hand, I simply adapt and work with the diverse tools available for free.
There is absolutely now need for polarisation or Toxic behavior in the Open Source ENV:
Another example is the direction that Gnome went many years ago.
In that period I used Enlightenment, Gnome, KDE and FVWM simultaneously on different machines. All WM are working in a manner that I like. When however the Gnome programmers decided to strip configuration features of the Desktop Environment, I didn't go on a rant, I didn't bother to fork, because of the massive amount of work involved.
I just left in Peace
Diversity is Vital. GNOME is Vital! We need them all
🦋💙 #Lobi 💙🦋
#Story #Stefano #Programming #FVWM #LXDE #OpenSource #BSD #freeBSD #Linux #POST #X86 #technology #SBC
Stefano Marinelli
boosted
@stefano Great post! I've been using #Linux #FreeBSD for about two decades and want to share my experiences. For context, Linux became my daily driver and I dabbled in FreeBSD on the side.
As a newcomer to both the #technology and #culture of #Linux and the BSDs, *back then* there was more toxicity. And by toxicity I mean abrasive and unhelpful responses ("RTFM!") or some kind of "l337" attitudes in various mailing lists and forums. This, of course, was before YouTube and Reddit, where the former mediums were more prevalent.
Some Linux distros were friendlier than others. In those days, the #Debian mailing lists and forums were a rough place for newcomers and it drove a lot of people away. I left the forums because of that. I rarely post to the mailing lists but for other reasons.
At some point, there was considerable effort to improve the etiquette in said mediums, particularly the mailing lists. Sure, some fiery disagreements can take place but overall people are friendly and welcoming.
FreeBSD, on the other hand, has been a more positive experience. Yes, there are people who are vocal about their contempt for Linux, but they aren't disrespectful to other people.
Having witnessed both communities grow and change over the years, there's definitely less toxicity and FreeBSD is still a more welcoming community.
#FreeBSD users behind a proxy who also use #Poudriere: what are your tips for configuring an HTTP/HTTPS (non-SOCKS as far as I can tell) proxy for package builds?
So… what browser are we supposed to be using in this the age of enshittification?
Firefox? Forcing unwanted AI on us
Chrome? Same, plus, it’s Google
Brave? No thank you for many reasons
So, what browser is safe and compatible?