@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

stefano

@stefano@bsd.cafe

BSD.cafe "Barista", Founder and System Administrator, Unix enthusiast ( #FreeBSD, #OpenBSD, #NetBSD, #DragonflyBSD, and #Linux ), with a keen eye for everything happening in this world and the fascinating beings that populate it. I enjoy #music, #photography, and, of course, #technology.
I'll be sharing posts about my interests. I'll also boost the posts from https://mastodon.bsd.cafe/@announcements.

Also https://blendit.bsd.cafe/u/stefano

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

stefano, (edited ) to fediverse
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

We just reached the 14 million milestone of Fediverse users.
Not a single ad displayed.
Not a single algorithm suggestion.
Nobody pushing hate speech.

Happy milestone, #Fediverse !

Addendum: By "nobody is pushing hate speech," I mean that no company, owner of the Social Network, can deliberately and aggressively force posts with hate speech onto users solely for the purpose of selling more ads. This does not imply that there is no hate speech - unfortunately, this is a problem that also spreads in the Fediverse, and the tools are not always adequate.

#SocialMedia #Community #Mastodon #OSS

stefano, to fediverse
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

15 million users in the Fediverse, now.

No ad-blocker needed.
Zero ads.
My data stays on my server.
Interactions are genuine, driven by people's desire, not an algorithm pushing for conflict to boost engagement (and ad sales).
Nobody's here just because it's trendy. If you're here, you want to be here.
The best social media experience I've had in years.

Thank you to all of you, among these 15 million accounts, who have helped make this a wonderful place to be.

stefano, to fediverse
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

Many users of the Fediverse joined around a year ago, right around these days.

Many of us arrived on tiptoe, but in no time, we felt at home.

To all of you who have stayed, thank you for being here and happy anniversary!

#Fediverse #Anniversary #ThankYou #CommunityLove #OneYear #MastodonAnniversary #Mastodon

stefano, to tech
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

This morning, a VPS hosting a small e-commerce site (powered by WooCommerce on Ubuntu 22.04) experienced another out-of-memory issue. A colleague (one of the developers) urgently called me, asking to upgrade the VPS due to excessive load.

I pointed out (again, as has often happened in recent weeks) that a VPS with 32GB of RAM (!!!) and 16 dedicated cores (!!!) should not run out of memory with just five simultaneous visits to a small e-commerce site. We host much larger and busier websites on much smaller VPSs. There's likely a WordPress module with a leak, or some interaction between modules causing this issue.

The response: Okay, but just add more RAM and power to solve it.

The illusion of "infinite resources" in the Cloud has led to poor development habits. Sometimes I wonder how much energy and resources we waste (and pollution we generate) due to a lack of basic optimization.

#Tech #Development #CloudComputing #Optimization #WebHosting #WooCommerce #Ubuntu #WordPress #Sustainability #TechRant

stefano, to FreeBSD
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

Today, something odd happened to me, slightly concerning but which, fortunately, ended on a positive note and with deep reflection.
They're doing some renovations in my office, so I sat down at a café table to work. I had with me an old HP laptop running FreeBSD. Ferrara is generally a peaceful city, but lately, some groups of youngsters have been causing trouble, going around bothering people, and in extreme cases, starting fights.
Today, it was my turn.
As they roamed around trying to provoke others, two of them approached me and began touching my laptop. They mocked me, jesting (not so playfully) about how ancient my computer was and how "they needed a computer," picking it up and examining it. Politely, I told them I needed it for work and it had all my files, so I couldn't just hand it over. It was broad daylight, but no one else was around at that moment. One of them noticed something unusual - "Where's the Windows menu? Is this Linux?"
"No, it's FreeBSD. Have you ever heard of it?" Their surprised expressions said it all. The entire group gathered, sat on the ground, and listened intently for about 15 minutes. I stalled, hoping for other people to arrive, so I wasn't alone.
Eventually, they got up, told me I was "old" but cool, and that they would immediately try out the BSDs (they were particularly intrigued by OpenBSD's security features - which they didn't grasp fully but saw as "professional hacker stuff"). They gave me a high-five, peacefully, without bothering anyone further.

Now, I'm left wondering: did they leave me alone because they learned something intriguing from me, because other people arrived, or are they just bored teenagers causing issues to pass the time - and got engrossed in something new, hence shifting their focus temporarily? All I know is I was relieved to get back to my office and from there, hear the rain outside, which usually deters these boys from troubling others.

I can say that today, FreeBSD saved me from very different problems than it usually does 😃

stefano, to linux
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

25 years ago today, Google was founded.
On the same day, I wiped Windows 98 off my computer, believing that Debian Linux (which I had been using for a while but still kept Windows on another partition) could do everything I had been doing with Windows until then.

Since that day, many installations of Linux, *BSD, MacOS have graced my computers, but Windows has remained, on a few occasions, only an occasional (unwelcome) guest.

In the spirit of a typical support group phrase, I can joyfully say:
'Hello, I'm Stefano, and I haven't been using Windows as my primary operating system for 25 years.'

Please boost and share your experience!

stefano, to photography
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

Above us only sky

#Photography #Photo #FensterFreitag #WindowFriday #Pic #Picture #Ferrara #Italy

stefano, to androidapps
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

I've long believed that all apps (at least on Android) should start supporting UnifiedPush[1]. Tools like ntfy could serve as a central hub for notification distribution, allowing anyone to have their own notification server to connect apps and mobile devices. This would ensure greater privacy.
This is also why I developed NotiMail: we shouldn't have to rely on the 'big players' for our notifications and data.

[1] https://unifiedpush.org/

stefano, to FreeBSD
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

One of the most fundamental yet little-known features of FreeBSD is its ability to be used in read-only mode very easily. By installing the system on a UFS file system, you just need to modify the fstab file, change "rw" to "ro," and reboot. On the next boot, the system will automatically create mount points in RAM for the main directories (/tmp, log, etc.), and it will run perfectly.

This was the main reason why, many years ago, I chose FreeBSD for almost all my embedded systems. Even today, on my Raspberry Pies, I keep the SD cards in read-only mode and use external storage in read-write mode. This ensures that, in case of an unexpected poweroff, the system will come back up, and there will be no wear on the memory card.

#FreeBSD #EmbeddedSystems #RaspberryPi #ReadOnly #SysAdmin #Tech #OpenSource

stefano, to opensource
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

Dear Open Source software developer,

First of all, let me assure you that I truly appreciate your work. Releasing software under a free license is a gift to us all. It shows that you care about the widespread adoption of your project, and that's quite commendable. However, I have a humble request – please, pretty please, don't release it with the statement, "compiling it is so complex and full of dependencies that the way to use my program is 'docker compose up'."

By doing this, you're limiting access to your software for those who can't use Docker or those who can't/won't use Linux. It's almost like telling someone to click on 'Install.exe.' Surely, you can do better than that.

I trust you'll consider my request. Thanks again for your hard work!

#OpenSource #SoftwareDevelopment #UserExperience #Linux #Docker #Request #Humor #OSS #BSD

stefano, to photography
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

Half blue, half blue

Can you hear it? Look better and I’m sure you will hear it.

stefano, to opensource
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

Every time I look at the drawers of 'put away' items, especially old cell phones and tablets, I see still-functioning devices that could continue to serve a purpose. Take, for example, the old Motorola phone my mother discarded due to years without security updates. I believe it's no less efficient than an old Raspberry PI - it even has a screen, good built-in WiFi, various sensors, a camera, etc. Yet, this Android terminal has been abandoned since 2018, and I feel quite insecure running software on it.

The European Union, often too focused on bureaucracy and not enough on the real world, did make progress with USB-C. It would be wonderful if they could mandate manufacturers to open up their devices once they are abandoned. I dream of being able to install an updated OpenSource OS (not necessarily *BSD, but at least Linux) detached from Android, or at least an AOSP version of Android, without resorting to questionable binaries from XDA.
Essentially saying: 'You've bought my device, I won’t update it anymore, but since the hardware still works, you're on your own but you can keep it running.'

My drawers are full of high-quality, still usable but abandoned devices. I'd rather use my old Huawei as a surveillance camera (which now has outdated and unupdated software) than any device sending my images to obscure clouds in countries with questionable laws.

I'm considering starting a petition – not sure if there are any yet, will do some research – but I'm fairly certain it won't lead to much. Planned obsolescence is a concept too ingrained in today's technology, and there are too many interests behind it.

#TechSustainability #OpenSource #RightToRepair #PlannedObsolescence #EuropeanUnion #DigitalRights #Technology #OSS

stefano, to photography
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

Monday, sunset during a tranquil walk through the countryside to relax my body and mind.

stefano, to fediverse
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

Dear friends of and the ,
since December 2023, snac.bsd.cafe has been operational, initially in an experimental phase but has proven to be stable and reliable.

Thus, Snac2 is now available as a service of BSD Cafe. It is considered one of the best and most comprehensive "lightweight" implementations of , offering one of the best ways to interact with the Fediverse without the need for the extensive dependencies and components of Mastodon.

It is now possible to request an account on the snac2 instance of BSD Cafe. There isn't an automatic sign-up process (snac2 does not provide one, as it wasn't designed to create large communities).

For information and details, I suggest reading the relevant page on our Wiki: https://wiki.bsd.cafe/snac.bsd.cafe

Have a great week!

stefano, to photography
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

Silent Sunday

stefano, to KindActions
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

I want to launch a hashtag where, every Tuesday, I'll post a message and it would be great if it became a habit for many.

In a world full of conflicts, selfishness, and egocentrism, it would be nice to focus on the good that others do, what makes our lives better thanks to the contribution of others.

My first to the friends of - both within the community servers and beyond - who have undoubtedly contributed to making my life better, more stimulating, and richer. So, I extend this gratitude to all those who, here in the fediverse or elsewhere, are present and positive, giving me inspiration and motivation.

Truly, thank you!

stefano, to fediverse
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

I've just updated my article about the Fediverse software, including a description of snac2:

Deploying a piece of the Fediverse

https://it-notes.dragas.net/2023/01/15/deploying-a-piece-of-the-fediverse/

stefano, to sysadmin
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

That Old NetBSD Server, Running Since 2010

https://it-notes.dragas.net/2023/08/27/that-old-netbsd-server-running-since-2010/

#NetBSD #Xen #Virtualization #SysAdmin #Containers #BSD #BSDs #IT

stefano, to linux
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

"How it all began"

I saw an ad for this CD set at a very low price in a computer magazine. I decided to give it a try, enticed by the low cost and this 'alternative solution to Windows', and in late 1996 I ordered this set.
When it arrived, I was fascinated (having never used a Unix or Unix-like system before) but a bit daunted by the lack of support for the main applications I knew. A few months later, though, I decided to give it another go and from that point, I never looked back. Whether it was Linux, one of the BSDs, or something similar (but Unix or Unix-like), I was not going back to systems like Windows.

My today is probably one of the most significant in my computing life.

This is a photo of the back cover of the "InfoMagic LINUX Developer's Resource CD-ROM" case. The cover lists the contents of the 6-CD set, including distributions like Red Hat 3.0.3 "Picasso", Slackware 3.1, Debian GNU/Linux 1.1.4, and others, with various kernel sources up to version 2.0.12+. It mentions the inclusion of a "QuickStart" installation guide and additional software like X-Free86 Version 3.1.2, with references to online resources. There's also information about the included on-line documentation like "Installation & Getting Started Guide" by Matt Welsh and "Network Administrators Guide", as well as file format details. Contact information for InfoMagic, including telephone, fax, email, and web address, is listed, along with the company's address in Flagstaff, AZ. A barcode is present on the bottom right. The text indicates the product is from 1996, providing a glimpse into the distribution of Linux software in the mid-1990s.

stefano, to random
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

Second phone call of the day: "Help, the server is no longer reachable, and the internet connection is down! We're completely stuck!"
Knowing the location and type of their server room, I asked, "Have you sent someone to check?" They replied, "Not yet, but we're sending a colleague right away." Five minutes later, their colleague called, embarrassed: "Sorry, the cleaning staff were in the room, and to clean better, they UNPLUGGED THE SERVERS FROM THE OUTLETS (the UPS units are in another room), to lift the cables and clean better."

Problem solved 😆

stefano, to Matrix
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

A few months ago, I persuaded a client to abandon an external cloud system and use Nextcloud on their own server instead. Powered by FreeBSD and ZFS, it has already demonstrated its strengths on a couple of occasions (such as in the case of a snapshot rollback). This morning, they expressed the desire to abandon the various WhatsApp groups they use for coordination and to use a solution "all on their servers." I was inspired and quickly installed both an ejabberd and a Matrix server (Synapse) - which they will probably prefer, according to the latest news they sent me - on two FreeBSD jails.

Today, we have the awareness and experience of what it means to give our data to large companies, completely losing control over it. We have the tools, so why not use them?
And I'm really happy when someone like them, thanks to their willingness to try "new" solutions, realizes the alternatives to the colorful, advertised, warmly recommended (by salespeople) "proprietary" solutions.

stefano, to FreeBSD
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

Escape the cloud: Own your e-mail.

Make your own E-Mail server - FreeBSD, OpenSMTPD, Rspamd and Dovecot included - Part 1

https://it-notes.dragas.net/2024/03/08/make-your-own-email-server-freebsd-opensmptd-rspamd-dovecot-part1/

stefano, to Kubernetes
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

Typical modern software stack:

  • They only provide a Dockerfile because it's so convoluted and patched together that it would be impossible to create a decent guide on how to make this stuff work without revealing just how much it's all held together by duct tape. Still, taking a peek at the Dockerfile will clearly reveal the chaos at play.
  • Everything runs in separate containers, as it should, and they have automatic restarts, as they should. But then they're so tightly bound together with, you guessed it, duct tape, that when one of them fails, the container just restarts automatically, leaving the user wondering why everything failed, with only a cryptic error message.
  • The main container is controlled by Supervisor - which is necessary because everything crashes very often, but the end user doesn't notice because Supervisor restarts the services. To outsiders, everything works fine (but occasionally throws some errors).

In short, the current trend is to sweep the dirt under the rug. A trendy rug, though!

stefano, to history
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

Evolution of problem-solving throughout the ages! to

stefano, to mastodon
@stefano@bsd.cafe avatar

Every morning, an instance administrator wakes up knowing they need to keep the infrastructure running smoothly for their users, ensuring a good and free social experience.
Every morning, a Fediverse user wakes up knowing they will find many people eager to socialize and interact, who strive to keep the Internet a place for the free exchange of ideas and opinions, away from the dynamics of closed protocols and Big Tech monetization.

It doesn't matter if you are a server administrator or a Fediverse user, thank you for being here and for contributing every day with your efforts to keep the Internet a free place.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • JUstTest
  • mdbf
  • ngwrru68w68
  • tester
  • magazineikmin
  • thenastyranch
  • rosin
  • khanakhh
  • InstantRegret
  • Youngstown
  • slotface
  • Durango
  • kavyap
  • DreamBathrooms
  • megavids
  • tacticalgear
  • osvaldo12
  • normalnudes
  • cubers
  • cisconetworking
  • everett
  • GTA5RPClips
  • ethstaker
  • Leos
  • provamag3
  • anitta
  • modclub
  • lostlight
  • All magazines
    •