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Stefano Marinelli
Stefano Marinelli
@stefano@mastodon.bsd.cafe  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

I'm running some tests on my old and trusted Raspberry Pi A+.
I've installed Raspbian - latest release, lite version. At the prompt, it's using 92 MB of RAM, mainly due to systemd and NetworkManager. As soon as you use it (even just for apt), it starts swapping and becomes almost unusable. It took 5 minutes just to install Python.

I tried NetBSD (on the same memory card): 35 MB of RAM used (including Postfix!) and it's totally usable.

#RunBSD #NetBSD #Raspbian #Linux #Debian

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0xh4
0xh4
@0xh4@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@stefano You encouraged me to try NetBSD 10.1 on my old Raspberry Pi 2 B. Currently, using it as my home DNS server with a blocklist using unbound and for some simple health checks for local services. Working great so far!

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Stefano Marinelli
Stefano Marinelli
@stefano@mastodon.bsd.cafe replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@0xh4 NetBSD is great, and running fine on those old, low power devices makes it clear that it's well designed

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Jason123santa
Jason123santa
@jason123santa@fosstodon.org replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@stefano Did you ever try dietpi? Its a lightweight debian that comes in at about 28mb with systemd included

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Stefano Marinelli
Stefano Marinelli
@stefano@mastodon.bsd.cafe replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@jason123santa not yet - thank you for the hint, I'll try it!

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Klaus Zimmermann :unverified:
Klaus Zimmermann :unverified:
@kzimmermann@c.im replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@stefano #NetBSD is the best OS for the 1st Gen Pis!

It ran better than Alpine Linux in my Old Computer challenge:

https://kzimmermann.0x.no/articles/old_computer_challenge_2025.html

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Simon Brooke
Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@stefano My first UNIX ARM machine ran BSD in 16Mb of RAM perfectly well, with OSF/Motif on top. A lovely machine; I really enjoyed it. And that's only 37 years ago.

https://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/docs/Mags/PCW/PCW_Aug90_R260.pdf

View (PDF)
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Nazo
Nazo
@nazokiyoubinbou@urusai.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@stefano I wonder if zramswap along with adjusting to less video memory would help any.

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Mike [SEC=OFFICIAL]
Mike [SEC=OFFICIAL]
@mike@social.chinwag.org replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@stefano can confirm NetBSD makes for a great Raspberry Pi model A setup!

https://social.chinwag.org/@mike/112589494524739713

Reminds me, I need to find out where I left that code to drive an LCD panel from it so I can finish my build. It's only been on the to-do list for about 18 months now.

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Jona Joachim
Jona Joachim
@jaj@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@stefano It's really painful. Alpine Linux is nice for this hardware though

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Stefano Marinelli
Stefano Marinelli
@stefano@mastodon.bsd.cafe replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@jaj yes, Alpine is great on small devices

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Pink Panther
Pink Panther
@pinkopanterata@techhub.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@stefano This story always brings me back to this site

https://www.luke.maurits.id.au/writing/why-i-use-netbsd.html

Why I use NetBSD

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Maddie’s All Sorted
Maddie’s All Sorted
@maddiefuzz@masto.hackers.town replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@pinkopanterata @stefano I run NetBSD on a Pentium II with 192MB of RAM and while it can be a bit slow to install packages, it’s quite usable.

NetBSD is the best 💕

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ProprieteDuSage
ProprieteDuSage
@proprietedusage@eldritch.cafe replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@stefano try zram-config, you may spare some swapping.
My raspberrypi pi b+'s cpu was at 100% on apt update/upgrade

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anparker
anparker
@anparker@techhub.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@stefano Every time I fresh install FreeBSD, I run `ps ax` to enjoy how noting is running. :)

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Glitzersachen
Glitzersachen
@glitzersachen@hachyderm.io replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@anparker @stefano

This is great. I think I need to run a netbsd on a Pi zero ...

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Etua
Etua
@etua_en@ieji.de replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@stefano You answered the question I didn't know I had, thanks.

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