Notices by Stefano Marinelli (stefano@mastodon.bsd.cafe)

Today, we're introducing three things.

The first one is a forum. A real forum - with categories, threads, and actual conversations that don't disappear in a timeline after six minutes.

The second is a Fediverse platform. Fully federated, ActivityPub-native. Your posts go out, the world's posts come in. No walled gardens, no algorithms, no tricks.

The third is a Bar. A place to sit down, talk to strangers who happen to care about the same weird things you do, and stay as long as you want.

A forum. A Fediverse platform. A bar.

Are you getting it?
These are not three separate things. This is one thing.

And we're calling it Billboard.

https://billboard.bsd.cafe

And no, we checked the calendar. We know. This is not an April Fools' joke.

We're just really bad at timing.

#BSDCafe #BSDCafeServices

I'm (silently) witnessing something that's filling me with joy. My wife is working. The point isn't that she's working, but that she has quietly managed to start doing it again.
The recovery, though slow, seems steady.

There is a subtle, almost sadistic pleasure in what I’m doing right now: I open boxes of brand-new ThinkCentre PCs, unpack them, hook them up to a monitor, keyboard, and network cable. I boot from USB and replace the preinstalled Windows 11 (never even started) with my Debian 13 golden image, using Clonezilla.

As of today, the setup is based on Debian 13, but I’m already working on a variant based on FreeBSD and jails.

#Linux #FreeBSD #Clonezilla #LiberatingPCs

@rayslava @mitra not yet - but I’ll check it

The amusing thing about the connectivity outage is that it's been going on for 22 hours now, and local groups are full of heated arguments. The angriest and most impatient? People over 75 (still active, not stuck at home), who admit they use "only a smartphone" but complain that "the phone connection is slower, they need to hurry up and restore the fiber! Facebook videos take seconds to load!"

When I chimed in as well with "Yeah, let’s hope they fix it soon, I'm having trouble managing work and backups like this", the reply was: "What are you complaining about? You’re young, you can do a thousand other things."

By the way, they're the same people who blocked the activation of a new 5G base station that would perfectly cover the (flat) area, just 1.5 km from here, because "5G is harmful, all these waves". Of course, they saw it in videos.

I’m starting to think more and more that one of the problems of modern society is boredom.

I read that Chuck Norris is dead. Impossible.
Death is probably Chuck Norris!

#ChuckNorris

EnshittifAIcation

Three episodes, one week. AI bots that hallucinate VPN requirements, recommend Apache configs on nginx servers, and suggest replacing 128 GB of RAM with a cloud VPS. A field note on the cost of mistaking confidence for competence.

https://it-notes.dragas.net/2026/03/20/enshittifaication/

#ITNotes #NoteHUB #AI #Hosting #Server #SysAdmin #IT

I just finished an amazing call.
The person I was talking to was trying to explain to me that Docker is an entire operating system, so he doesn’t want Linux or any of the BSDs, but Docker. I explained that, in order to run Docker, you need a kernel.

"No, you don't. Docker does everything on its own. If you think that, then you don’t really understand operating systems."

I told the guy that I couldn’t help him, since I'm not experienced enough with operating systems. He was a bit disappointed, but we said goodbye on friendly terms.

I'm used to recognizing when I'm too ignorant for the person I'm talking to, and I'm happy to step aside.

#IT #SysAdmin

This year I am not having much luck with drains. After the #Crapturday in the office, a kitchen drain got clogged. I decided to rush to the rescue with my drain snake. I dismantled and cleaned all the local pipes, then inserted the five-meter snake and, after some persistence, managed to get through. In other words, I was quite satisfied.

After putting everything back together, I realized I had actually solved nothing. So I armed myself with two bottles of liquid drain cleaner and poured them down the drain. Then I prepared a small pot of boiling water to pour in afterward. As soon as I poured it, it started gurgling (as expected) and going down.

Just as I was about to celebrate victory, some sort of explosion happened, spraying all the drain cleaner back at me. Needless to say, since I had not expected anything like that (and it was an unplanned operation), I was wearing a pair of trousers and a shirt I care about.

The result: trousers and shirt permanently stained with drain cleaner, and the drain even more clogged than before.

Now both the shirt and the trousers are in the washing machine with dye. They will become blue 🙂

Alright, here we are. The decline is accelerating.
An IT manager at a client company, someone capable I've been collaborating with for years, recently hired three new developers. However, he asked me for a Linux server instead of the usual FreeBSD because "that way the devs can move faster, AIs can't produce valid results for BSD systems".

Given our relationship, I called him and told him I disagreed. Somewhat bitterly, he replied that these guys had been "imposed on him". They're polite and willing, but completely lacking any real programming principles. They are "experts in vibe coding", and for management that's more than enough.

In other words, we're not supposed to build a working and efficient server anymore, but a vibe-coding-friendly one.

My instinctive reaction was to ask him whether, when a data breach eventually happens, because sooner or later it will if the people writing the code neither write nor read code, they'll be able to tell the authorities that the data controller was an AI.

He didn't say anything else and thanked me. Maybe, and I stress maybe, management will understand that.

#IT #SysAdmin

FreeBSD 14.4-RELEASE Announcement

The FreeBSD Release Engineering Team is pleased to announce the availability of FreeBSD 14.4-RELEASE. This is the fifth release of the stable/14 branch.

https://www.freebsd.org/releases/14.4R/announce/

#FreeBSD #RunBSD

@forgetpassword hello! This is currently running on Debian (that's why I'm not promoting it as an "official" BSD Cafe service) but I've had good results with the @feld script to install it on FreeBSD: my secondary server is doing great. When I'll have enough time, I'll migrate the BSD Cafe one to FreeBSD 🙂

In the countryside, there are rituals that have endured for hundreds of years, unchanged.
This elderly woman, her body bent by time and hard work, walks each day to meet her chickens - who roam freely across a vast open space.
She gathers a few branches and leaves, then returns to fetch the food she’ll give them, to complement what they’ve already foraged in nature.

The chickens, friendly and orderly, follow her all the while.
And watching them, I’m reminded of people who are no longer here - people who were part of my life for a long time, who lived those same rituals, even if hundreds of kilometers away.

Even as everything around us changes, there are places that never do.

#Photography #ThrowBackThursday #Countryside #Time

After quite some time, I’m finally ready to share this.

MastoBlaster is now available in public testing on TestFlight.

It is a lightweight, privacy-first Fediverse client for iOS, built around a simple idea: fast, small, predictable behavior, and first-class support for snac.

What makes it different:
• snac-first by design, not "compatible by accident"
• Works with all Mastodon API compatible software, including Mastodon, snac, GoToSocial, Akkoma, and others
• EXIF stripping on upload (HDR and orientation preserved)
• Optional on-device alt text generation via Apple Intelligence for your uploads and for images in your timeline
• Markdown posting for snac
• Granular notifications, grouping, multi-account
• Blocking and moderation tools
• Very small footprint, very low RAM usage

Alt text generation happens entirely on device via Apple APIs on supported hardware. Nothing is sent to external services.

It is built around my own workflow and priorities. It may not be for everyone, and that is perfectly fine.

Important note:
MastoBlaster will always be free for BSD Cafe users, illumos Cafe users, and for anyone connecting to a snac instance, including self-hosted ones.

The app is already usable, but this is still a test phase. I am looking for feedback, bug reports, and real-world usage insights.

TestFlight link:
https://testflight.apple.com/join/Pkxa5R1k

Stay tuned.

#MastoBlaster #iOS #Fediverse #Mastodon #snac #snac2 #Akkoma #GoToSocial #ActivityPub #OwnYourData

EDIT: the person I contacted replied and the new posts have the correct attribution. So the problem is solved.

There is a Mastodon instance that publishes content from its own PeerTube instance. These contents are narrated aloud, likely by an AI, in several languages, and are based on articles that appear online. Today this happened with an article I shared from my blog.

The problem is that there is no attribution to the original author and or the original source site. On the contrary, it gives the impression that the content was produced directly by whoever runs that site or instance.

This is completely detached from the idea of properly sharing information. Taking inspiration is a wonderful thing. Claiming someone else’s work as your own is not.

I contacted the account in question this morning. I have not received any reply, even though other content has been published in the meantime. A short while ago I also contacted the instance administrator.

I will wait until tomorrow morning. If I do not receive a satisfactory response, I will publicly disclose the instance and the related content and block the entire domain. There are additional details that I prefer not to reveal at this time which further worsen the situation.

This is not how we act in the Fediverse.

In the Fediverse we respect one another.
Let us avoid bringing improper practices here. You are free to use my posts as you wish. You can even make money by applying my advice.
Just do not take away my attribution.

#Fediverse #FediBlock #FediAdmin #HeadsUP

Just received an email from my mail server administrator. They sent me a link to change my password because it's 'insecure'.

My mail admin is so efficient...

...hey, wait a minute... I AM my mail administrator! 🤦♂️

#Phishing #SelfHosting #SysAdminLife #SecurityFail #InfoSec

For years, I watched without understanding why my wife's iPad could sit in standby for weeks and still hold a charge, while mine would drain in two days without even being used. This went on for years - both are 2020 models and lightly used.

A week ago, by chance, I stumbled upon a post from someone mentioning that keeping the Pencil and Magic Keyboard attached, even when not in use, kills the battery in just a few days. I had never made the connection. Over a week ago, I disconnected everything and put the iPad in standby, connected to Wi-Fi, with 78% battery. I just turned it on: 54%.I can only think about how much I’ve needlessly ruined the battery over these six years out of ignorance (or was it inefficiency?).

#IT #BatteryLife #Inefficiency

This one beats them all and it’s going to make me laugh until tonight:

“I’ve been assigned to carry out a penetration test on a server you manage. The test will be performed from the outside, since the perimeter security needs to be assessed. In order to perform the test, I therefore ask you to disable any firewall, protection, blacklist. If any of these are in place, the server might not be reachable and could prevent the assessment.”

I had to read it three times just to make sure I’d understood it properly.

#IT #SysAdmin #HorrorStories

This afternoon, I took advantage of the rain to tidy up and clean my desk, as well as part of the cabinet to my right, which houses the switch and the Raspberry Pi 4 (powered by FreeBSD) that I use for various services.

I came across my old laptop again: a 2019 16" MacBook Pro, the last Intel model. I think it was one of the worst devices I’ve ever owned: sluggish, fans always loud, and the case 'polished' down quickly just from my hands. I used it for about a year, then passed it to my wife when I got the M1 Pro MBP - which I’m still using - in early 2022. By comparison, the Apple Silicon model feels brand new, even after four years of fairly intense use.

My wife had to stop using the 'old' one because the battery, despite having very few charge cycles, is practically dead. It doesn’t hold a charge, but that wouldn’t even be the biggest issue. The real trouble is that without a functional battery, it has become incredibly slow, with the fans constantly blasting, making it unusable. I tried turning it on again, but it even struggles to launch the macOS installer. I’m stuck: replacing the battery would cost 289 euros (from what I’ve read, the entire top case needs to be replaced), but I hate to leave it like this, as the hardware and screen still have a lot to offer.

I’ve thought about selling it as-is, but I think it would be difficult - an inexperienced buyer wouldn't understand that the slowness is caused specifically by the battery issue.

Any advice?

#Laptop #Apple #MBP #MacBookPro #Battery

Memories of a walk in nature, 13 years ago, in search of a Silent Sunday, a bit of peace in a tumultuous and turbulent period of my life that would soon come to an end, although I didn't know it yet.

This photo holds a profound significance, known only to me.

#Photography #Photo #Picture #Pic #Pics #NaturePhotography #SilentSunday #Peace