Stefano Marinelli

BSD.cafe and illumos Cafe "Barista", Founder and System Administrator, Unix enthusiast ( #FreeBSD, #OpenBSD, #NetBSD, #DragonflyBSD, #Illumos 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.

Most of my posts will self-destruct after 6 months.

"I Solve Problems" - https://it-notes.dragas.net/2024/10/03/i-solve-problems-eurobsdcon/

Public Key

npub14calwd6xg349ahf3nnhhyqem2w2e3gs66p7zctz2sna74u3tsddq7j0nj8

NIP-05 Address

stefano@mastodon-bsd-cafe.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs2uwlhxaryg6j7m5ceemmjqva489vc5gddqlpv939gf7l27g4cxkspz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsyy4gcx

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub14calwd6xg349ahf3nnhhyqem2w2e3gs66p7zctz2sna74u3tsddq7j0nj8

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Last Notes

2026-08-15 11:49:57 UTC

Today’s tiramisu
#Food #Tiramisu
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/117/099/369/459/835/743/original/71e4d679bcc47a6c.jpg

2026-08-13 07:55:11 UTC

smolBSD by @nprofile…exkn could be a nice docker alternative for #littleFedi
I'll perform more tests and will consider to make it an "official deployment method".
#NetBSD #smolBSD

2026-08-12 09:18:20 UTC

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@nprofile…3z2k @nprofile…zsf8 Thanks, and I really do appreciate the advice. I know it comes from experience, and I agree with part of what you're saying.
Supporting SQLite and PostgreSQL means paying a compatibility cost. Absolutely. And SQLite has limits, especially around concurrent writes. Also absolutely.
But I think we're still looking at littleFedi from slightly different starting points.
SQLite is not meant to run a huge littleFedi instance. The documentation is deliberately quite explicit about that. The small SQLite profile has conservative limits, while larger deployments are expected to move to PostgreSQL. We're not trying to build the next Mastodon on SQLite.
The original goal is much smaller and, in some ways, much more boring: make it possible for someone to self-host a small Fediverse instance on a very small machine, without needing an infrastructure around it.
Not everyone has a Raspberry Pi plus a NAS plus another machine running PostgreSQL. Sometimes the Raspberry Pi is the infrastructure. 😃
Of course the SD card can die. Disks die too. That's why littleFedi has integrated backups, and those backups don't have to live on the same storage. They can go to remote storage, including something mounted over SSHFS. I'd much rather make "please back this up somewhere else" easy than make another database server a requirement for the smallest installation.
If someone wants a larger installation, that's a different problem and PostgreSQL is the right direction.
On JavaScript, I think we're actually closer than it sounds. I'm not saying JavaScript is evil or that littleFedi must contain zero bytes of it. I'm saying that you can use littleFedi without JavaScript. With JavaScript you get a better, enhanced experience. Without it, the basic application still works and you're not excluded.
Yes, that's progressive enhancement. And that's exactly the point. A surprising number of people appreciate that distinction.
I think perhaps the main difference is what we're trying to build.
littleFedi isn't a startup project trying to vibe-code the social network that will replace everything else. We're not trying to win a benchmark, conquer the Fediverse or prove that SQLite scales forever.
It's made by people who want to communicate, for people who want to communicate, and who think that running your own small corner of the network should still be possible without turning your home into a miniature datacenter.
That doesn't mean the architectural warnings aren't useful. They are, especially the point about hostile federation traffic and the permanent cost of supporting two databases. Those are things we should test and keep testing.
So really, thank you. I may disagree with some conclusions, but I definitely don't dismiss the scars behind them. 😉

2026-08-12 07:18:10 UTC

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@nprofile…zsf8 @nprofile…3z2k sqlite is ok for small instances. The "test" instance has more than 30 active users and it's doing great, on a small 2 core VPS.
The no javascript - it's not false. You can use it also via lynx. If you have javascript, it works with it and you have an "enhanced" experience. Without javascript it will work, in a more basic way.
All Postgres would mean dropping the original target: being able to self host a small instance on a SBC like a Raspberry PI Zero W. And dropping that, the entire project wouldn't make any sense.

2026-08-11 15:00:40 UTC

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@nprofile…3z2k like?

2026-08-11 13:41:29 UTC

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@nprofile…08rn I'd call it "ciambellone", I don't know if it has a more specific name

2026-08-11 13:13:21 UTC

I've received quite a few questions about the use of AI in and around #littleFedi.
So, after discussing it within the team, we've decided to update the FAQ and make our position clear.
It probably won't come as much of a surprise to those who already know me and the projects I work on. But littleFedi is reaching people who don't know me, or us, and I think it's fair to explain where we stand rather than assume they already know.
The short version: littleFedi doesn't use AI. No ranking models, no recommendation engines, no language models deciding what you see.
The longer answer, including how I approach LLMs and code contributions, is now in the FAQ:
https://littlefedi.org/faq.html

2026-08-11 08:16:20 UTC

One year ago, today...
#Memories #Food #Breakfast #GoodTimes
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/117/075/875/646/993/267/original/f7c3dfedeec628a2.jpg
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/117/075/876/025/419/041/original/30d33af05a8159ce.jpg

2026-08-11 07:33:16 UTC

obsd01# syspatch
Get/Verify syspatch79-008_npppd.tgz 100% |**************************************************************************************************************************************************| 128 KB 00:00
Installing patch 008_npppd
Get/Verify syspatch79-009_iked.tgz 100% |***************************************************************************************************************************************************| 216 KB 00:00
Installing patch 009_iked
Errata can be reviewed under /var/syspatch
Patching OpenBSD is such a joy!
#OpenBSD #RunBSD #PatchYourSystems

2026-08-09 17:09:50 UTC

It's Sunday evening and something just came to mind.
When you think of the Commodore 64, what is the first video game that pops into your head?
I'll start: strangely enough, Skool Daze came to my mind.
Boosts appreciated!
#C64 #Retrogaming #RetroComputing #Commodore #Commodore64

2026-08-09 13:29:33 UTC

Summer Silent Sunday by the Sea
#Photography #Photo #SilentSunday #Sea #Italy #Italia #Mare #Estate #Summer
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/117/065/784/447/941/483/original/719348ffe3d8b6ba.jpeg

2026-08-07 16:23:13 UTC

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

2026-08-04 15:33:07 UTC

Italian Breakfast
#Food #Coffee #Nutella
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/117/037/960/658/678/393/original/0ccd6748f2a84099.jpg

2026-07-30 09:30:43 UTC

Three years ago, today
#Photography #Photo #ThrowbackThursday
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/117/008/224/751/564/412/original/a2dd2aba2d838ef8.jpg

2026-07-28 22:09:42 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…g5sw the furby! 😄

2026-07-28 18:26:45 UTC

You’re enjoying the evening breeze on the terrace at sunset.
The air gets a bit cooler, gently brushing against your face.
Suddenly, you hear a noise and turn toward the neighbours' house: the septic tank truck is pulling in, as their drain pit unleashes its full olfactory power.
Safe to say, tonight’s breeze is canceled 😆
#SummerEvening

2026-07-28 10:12:08 UTC

A few months ago, a client asked me to shave about €200 a month off our agreement. "We’re trying to cut back on expenses", he said, "to boost our cash flow." I was hesitant, but hey, I agreed.
Fast forward to this morning: one of his team members calls me asking for help because - and I quote - "both Claude and ChatGPT are giving me answers that just don't feel right."
I asked for a little context, only to find out they had upgraded to the top-tier plans for both AIs so they could "solve problems on their own without bothering me."
So, I dropped my client a line: we either revert to our original agreement, or we wrap up this collaboration effective immediately.
Asking me for a discount just to throw far more money at AI subscriptions - only to call me anyway when the bots fail - is, to say the least, a slap in the face.
#IT #SysAdmin

2026-07-27 18:34:13 UTC

I'm writing this post in the exact same place, on the very same computer I used when I launched BSD Cafe.
It might not mean much to most of you, but it means a lot to me.

2026-07-27 11:21:52 UTC

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@nprofile…nkdp WOW!!!

2026-07-27 10:53:06 UTC

One of the best mixed grills I've ever had
Buxton, UK - Oct 2012
#Food #UK #Grill
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/116/991/555/443/431/122/original/bf9be4e5cda49821.jpg

2026-07-27 06:25:47 UTC

Curious: the BBC says Italian children are overweight because of pizza, pasta, and bread.
Too bad Italian kids only started becoming overweight in the last 20 years - right around the time fast food and sugar-sweetened beverage addiction took off here too, and they stopped having bread with olive oil for an afternoon snack, weekend pizza, and pasta for lunch, replacing them with succulent menus of processed food.
The things people will say just to justify the unjustifiable, huh!
#Food

2026-07-25 18:37:03 UTC

Today’s weekend pizza
#Pizza
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/116/982/061/961/239/460/original/3eb1aa3ca39ad689.jpg

2026-07-25 08:22:25 UTC

The Blog Option in littleFedi
...and yes, this is build and served by the Raspberry Pi Zero W, powered by NetBSD
https://rpi0w.stefanomarinelli.it/@stefano/blog/691cb62e-e7a1-434b-ba65-d059ee58ac41/
#NetBSD #littleFedi #Fediverse #SSG #Blogging #OwnYourData

2026-07-24 20:45:10 UTC

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@nprofile…j9f5 I put a repeater in the balcony and a companion inside the house. So the repeater can hear the other repeaters and I can hear my repeater, but bogies seems to hear me.

2026-07-24 20:35:31 UTC

It seems I can hear a lot of repeaters and users, but nobody can hear me 😔
#Meshcore
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/116/976/861/921/719/344/original/0e8b6a5a6fbdd20b.png

2026-07-24 12:38:46 UTC

One more cup of coffee before I go
#Coffee #CoffeeTime
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/116/974/988/031/990/771/original/c1e091cde896fcb4.jpg

2026-07-23 18:11:48 UTC

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@nprofile…2nsa unfortunately it's an old photo 😔

2026-07-23 18:09:39 UTC

Pax
#Food #Millefoglie #Hungry #iNeedATreat
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/116/970/627/280/005/450/original/699b20d2455ce0ad.jpeg

2026-07-23 18:02:00 UTC

Ok, I removed my last message. 🙂
I was just sad, it's been a long week and I badly needed a shower. Now I had it and I feel much better.

2026-07-23 17:41:09 UTC

Dear friends of the #Fediverse,
I'm the barista at the BSD Cafe.
I try to do my best, and I try to moderate as best as I can. In a polarized world, I see reports of all kinds coming in (even against me!).
Often serious and valid, sometimes completely nonsensical.
But please, don't look for political or ideological labels in my moderation.
Just as in FediMeteo I don't decide to include new countries based on political or ideological affinities (but rather on practical ones or simply what's easier for me), I don't moderate the BSD Cafe based on a specific ideology - other than keeping the environment healthy and respectful.
In recent weeks, I've been accused of everything. Fascist and communist, red and black, too lenient or too strict, etc.
Your help is invaluable, and I thank you when you point out something that's wrong or that you think could be improved.
And this, I believe, is an approach that helps all the friends of the bar.
#BSDCafe

2026-07-23 10:45:38 UTC

And that faint, unavoidable numbness, that urge to do nothing at all...

2026-07-22 12:55:58 UTC

The feud is finally over. And it's honestly hilarious.
Recap: Last week, a client forwarded me a request from the CRM company's support to verify the presence and content of a file in a specific directory.
I SSH'd in, ran ls, pwd, and cat on the file, then copied and pasted the output.
That kicked off a back-and-forth demands for "screenshots." The more I explained (through the client) that all the raw text was right there, the more this guy kept demanding a screenshot - becoming increasingly rude, arrogant, and condescending.
Finally, I told the client: "Put me in direct contact with him, I'll handle it."
He did, but the guy, completely unfazed, kept demanding screen grabs from the client, ignoring me entirely.
I refused to give in. In my field, I love working with people who know more than me so I can learn, and with people who know less so I can teach - or at least share my experience. But arrogance combined with stupidity is something I just can't stomach, especially when they come hand in hand.
Finally, this morning, he comes back at it again. My client, completely fed up, takes a screenshot of the text I had emailed him earlier and sends it over.
Only then did the guy notice a typo and suggest how to fix it.
#IT #SysAdmin
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/116/963/728/129/719/975/original/2d12a77f615dae29.jpeg

2026-07-21 11:39:35 UTC

A thunderclap was so loud and unexpected that I dropped my pasta onto my pants, staining them with ragù.
#ItalianProblems

2026-07-20 09:38:33 UTC

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
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/116/951/632/054/215/659/original/c6099cba9dc3dcd5.jpeg

2026-07-19 11:24:35 UTC

Let the fun begin…
“Is there anybody out there?”
#Meshcore
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/116/946/387/936/866/783/original/376a7fe0881c0f32.jpg

2026-07-18 17:41:33 UTC

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@nprofile…n5ag @nprofile…p4p6 exactly. Not Mastodon, but compatible. It's light - but not limited and can scale (multiple workers, PostgreSQL and s3 if needed, etc).
It's not available, yet.

2026-07-17 13:51:36 UTC

A software vendor's sysadmin asked me to verify whether a configuration file existed and whether the path was correct.
I had already sent this:
root@server:/home/application/WEB-INF/classes/initscripts# ls -l
...
-rwxr-xr-x 1 app app 56 Jul 13 12:03 Security.config
root@server:/home/application/WEB-INF/classes/initscripts# cat Security.config
m_currentAuthentication=authenticationuser.Authenticate
The reply was:
> Could you send me a screenshot, so I can check whether the path is correct and the file is there?
The shell prompt contains the full path.
ls shows that the file exists.
cat shows its contents.
One would have thought this was reasonably conclusive, but apparently plain text remains an unverified hypothesis until photographed.
At this point, a modern AI would probably hallucinate less.
#IT #SysAdmin

2026-07-17 12:42:28 UTC

It's 22:53
At 22:53, I move through space and time, between my home, my memories and the people I love. Then, at 22:55, I return. Here, now.
https://my-notes.dragas.net/2026/07/16/its-2253/
#MyNotes #Blogging #Memories #TimeTravel

2026-07-16 16:41:35 UTC

Yesterday’s extremely severe weather caused a great deal of damage.
#Thunderstorm
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/116/930/646/489/981/410/original/da4bbfa6fe0cd29e.jpeg

2026-07-16 11:32:14 UTC

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@nprofile…yxth yes, both streaming and recordings

2026-07-16 11:13:15 UTC

On 10 March 2021, I had only just fallen asleep when my phone started buzzing. Then another notification, and another. In a matter of minutes, 142 of my servers went up in the clouds. And not the cloud-computing kind.
Most of them were physically going up in a column of smoke in Strasbourg.
My wife looked at me and asked if I wanted a coffee. I nodded. It was going to be a very long day.
At EuroBSDCon 2026, I won't be giving a theoretical lecture on high availability. Instead, I’m going to tell the raw story of that night: the emergency recovery, the architectural choices that actually saved us, and the ones that crumbled under pressure (because we rarely talk about what fails).
Most of all, I’ll explain why that night changed my perspective, and why I’ve come to see BSD systems not just as operating systems, but as essential, practical tools for building simpler, more resilient infrastructure.
The official schedule is now live. If you want to hear a real-world post-mortem, join me on Saturday, 12 Sept at 11:15 (Room D.0.02).
EuroBSDCon Full schedule: https://events.eurobsdcon.org/2026/schedule/
See you there! ☕️
#FreeBSD #NetBSD #OpenBSD #DragonFlyBSD #RunBSD #EuroBSDCon #SysAdmin #SelfHosted #IT #EuroBSDCon2026 #BSDCon

2026-07-15 15:56:35 UTC

The sky is dark and the clouds are green...

2026-07-15 12:08:43 UTC

There is an extreme weather alert for this afternoon.
The current temperature is 38°C, and record-breaking winds of up to 160 km/h and potentially destructive hail are expected later today.
I'm going to cram all my outdoor activities into the next two hours, and then lock myself inside the oven I call home.
#Weather

2026-07-13 20:33:27 UTC

I might be a nerd, but I'm fascinated by the thought of the journey my data takes inside my house.
The router is downstairs and is connected via a 10 Gbps fiber link to the upper floor, and to an access point whose cable goes directly upstairs (a relic of old telephone lines that I ripped out during the Covid lockdowns). It’s powered via PoE by the router itself.
Upstairs, on the other end of the fiber, there is a 2.5 Gbps switch. Connected to it are another access point in the same room, various devices, and a cable going into the attic, where the temperature is exceeding 40°C these days. Up there is a PoE switch installed in 2020. For years it was powered via PoE and in turn powered another access point; now I've put a power supply up there, and it distributes the network to other parts of the house, as well as to another access point (which it powers via PoE) in another corner of the medium floor.
In the garage, far away from everything, there's a device without Wi-Fi that I need to reach. Also back in 2020, I set up a MikroTik mAP lite acting as a station and router, allowing the device to be reached.
Right now, I can connect to the device downstairs: I'm on the access point that goes straight into the router, so down one floor, from there it goes up to the switch in the study, up one floor, which in turn goes up to the switch in the scorching hot attic, upper floor, from there it goes back down to the other access point on this floor, and the device in the garage gets its signal from there. Effectively, it's just a few meters from the router, same floor, but it travels through the entire house.
Yes, I'm a nerd, and I'm proud of it.
#IT #Networking #Cabling

2026-07-13 18:02:31 UTC

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@nprofile…g9yv you can! And using only 65536 GB of ram! A bargain!

2026-07-13 17:13:20 UTC

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@nprofile…g9yv at last! 🙂

2026-07-12 11:33:34 UTC

Evergreen
#SocialNetworks #OwnYourData #Meme
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/116/906/784/721/690/276/original/addc1d18223b4690.jpeg

2026-07-12 10:53:18 UTC

I'm full of bugs.
I need to ask my mom if I was just vibe-conceived.

2026-07-11 19:26:47 UTC

My mind is concentrating on things I shouldn't be doing. But hey...it is what it is.
Today I finished this.
https://stefanomarinelli.it

2026-07-11 18:50:27 UTC

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@nprofile…cr8g I like it. It's so clean!

2026-07-10 20:45:00 UTC

I was thinking about forking ActivityPub and calling it ActivityCafe.
It will natively only support 'ristretto' connections, and the only allowed emoji is 🤌.
#Humor #Fediverse #Joke

2026-07-10 13:36:45 UTC

Summer Vibes
#Summer #Italia #Italy
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/116/895/945/241/447/755/original/a2a4b5091352a20a.mp4

2026-07-08 20:24:54 UTC

How many instances must an admin spin up
before you can call it a fediverse?
The answer, my friend, is pinging in the wind,
The answer is pinging in the wind.
#Fediverse

2026-07-08 19:55:57 UTC

Suddenly a combo came to my mind: inn+suck and slrn
If you know what I’m talking about, boost this post. You probably have a few gray hairs too.
#IT

2026-07-08 06:17:11 UTC

This morning, I believe I'll find the answer to all the universe's questions in my email.
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/116/882/892/731/623/266/original/ef43438ef47b03bd.png

2026-07-07 06:52:29 UTC

I've received a strange e-mail, likely related to my latest IT Notes blog post:
--
Hi Stefano,
I was looking at the Mastodon reverse proxy caching setup, especially the decisions around what to cache and what not to cache.
I'm curious if you have found any good way to make project-specific decisions available to agents?
--
Agents? Gosh, why - WHY - are people trying to "agentify" everything? Agentify...what?
I vant to make coffee. I don't want an agent to do it for me.

2026-07-06 14:10:01 UTC

Sometimes it's actually funny.
I set aside an hour to do a job, and the client drip-feeds me the materials. I stop. I wait.
6 hours pass.
They send me a single piece of data. Ten minutes later: "Are you done yet?".
For some of them, I'm just a creature that lives in front of the monitor 24/7 and must always be there, especially the exact moment they send me something.
Could that really be the case? 😆

2026-07-06 13:42:02 UTC

It's not so much the 2.5 Gbps of the new FTTH that makes a difference for me (honestly, except for rare cases, I don't even notice it), but the upload speed: going from 20 Mbps to 1 Gbps makes a huge difference.
#FTTH

2026-07-06 11:44:55 UTC

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@nprofile…5f7a here I’m using the slow SD card. A raspberry pi 3 would surely give excellent performance.
The code isn’t ready to be distributed, yet. But I think it won’t be too long.

2026-07-06 08:15:36 UTC

I promised it, so here it is. This is a recording of littleFedi running on a Raspberry Pi Zero W on NetBSD.
Everything is on the SD card, the database is SQLite, and caching is enabled.
Personally, I won't comment on responsiveness or anything else; I'll just say that when I use it (both via the web interface and with apps like MastoBlaster or IceCubes), I find it hard to believe what kind of hardware it's running on.
Users' sessions (by default, a maximum of 8 users but configurable) are kept "warm" with every interaction or federated activity for 15 minutes since the last login; after that, the server enters "low power mode" and simply processes incoming data without activating the (users' timelines, etc.) cache.
We don't need to get ripped off for more powerful hardware, which comes with outrageous costs these days.
We just need to optimize and build efficient software.
Abundance led to waste.
#littleFedi #NetBSD #RunBSD #OwnYourData #Optimize #ScreenCapture
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/116/872/001/341/735/758/original/5d7d88ee59c1f670.mp4

2026-07-04 14:58:18 UTC

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@nprofile…c2r0 @nprofile…v2v2 in today's world? Adding complexity, definitely.

2026-07-04 14:39:16 UTC

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@nprofile…v2v2 I totally agree.
I think it's related to scale (how many techs per server/datacenter?) and complexity.
In my experience, (unnecessary) complexity usually lowers the uptime.

2026-07-04 14:14:42 UTC

I managed an e-commerce server for about ten years. It grew from a small local shop into a major national business, even handling international orders. They expanded to the point where they reduced their local brick-and-mortar store hours because the bulk of their revenue was coming from online sales.
Then one seller came along and convinced them that switching to Shopify would be the key to growing even further. Apparently, their €130/month bare-metal redundant setup - which boasted a calculated uptime of 99.995% over 10 years - just wasn't cutting it anymore.
They’ve been on Shopify for about six months now, and every now and then, I still get the alerts. I left the monitoring active via Uptime Kuma and ran the numbers. Over the last six months, their uptime dropped below 98%.
In other words, in just six months, they’ve been down for almost as many hours as they were during the entire previous decade.
I contacted the client - not because I want to take over the hosting again, but just to understand what on earth happened (we're on excellent terms). Their response was: "We don't know, but if it happened on Shopify, it means it was bound to happen anyway."
As long as we keep swallowing the lie that "the cloud" and "tech giants" are always the right solution for us, we completely deserve the cloud and the tech giants.
#IT #SysAdmin #OwnYourData

2026-07-02 20:42:27 UTC

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@nprofile…vza8 it’s a normal “home” subscription, not a professional one so kudos to them for providing all those goodies

2026-07-02 20:41:06 UTC

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@nprofile…vza8 public static exposed ip address

2026-07-02 19:17:04 UTC

For the first time in my life, my home internet is faster than the connection on my datacenter servers. For once, the bottleneck isn't here, it's there.
Meaning, I can self-host stuff right here at the same speed as over there.
And I already have a couple of ideas on WHAT to host, on top of what I'm already running (and more efficient backups, obviously).
It's just a shame about the quality of the installation work. Seriously, unbelievable. Outside, the fiber cable wasn't even properly secured; it's just dangling off the wall with a couple of zip ties in the most pathetic way. If someone walks by on the inner pavement, they could easily snap it.
I'll have to take some time and try to fix it myself... but overall, the outcome is still extremely positive.
And finally, I have native IPv6, without needing any more Tunnel Brokers.
#FTTH #ipv6 #WeNeedMooarIPV6

2026-07-02 17:49:39 UTC

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@nprofile…vza8 Dimensione - they also provide a /48 ipv6 class

2026-07-02 11:45:49 UTC

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@nprofile…002p @nprofile…7rt6 they do, when needed. But here a short ladder was enough

2026-07-02 10:28:20 UTC

At last!!!
#FTTH
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/116/849/906/232/286/514/original/91f4728ef84f96d9.png

2026-07-02 06:52:28 UTC

He’s here! He’s here!
#FTTH

2026-07-02 06:38:35 UTC

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@nprofile…7rt6 they have to climb, etc. But you know, they only need a small excuse to delay. Again 🙂

2026-07-02 05:59:39 UTC

Will they finally come?
Of course, it's not been raining for months. Of course, it's raining now.
#FTTH

2026-07-01 07:47:07 UTC

Make your own Read-Only Device with NetBSD
https://it-notes.dragas.net/2024/09/10/make-your-own-readonly-device-with-netbsd/
#ITNotes #NetBSD #RunBSD #Repost

2026-06-30 07:16:47 UTC

Great news! My presentation for #EuroBSDCon has been accepted!
Expect a mix of disasters, horror stories, recoveries, BSDs, and one very, very long day.
Stay tuned!
#EuroBSDCon2026 #BSD #RunBSD #FreeBSD #NetBSD #OpenBSD #Linux

2026-06-28 19:01:44 UTC

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@nprofile…3uyc @nprofile…f02f Oh, so I'll have tiramisu all day?

2026-06-28 18:07:43 UTC

I've just deleted the SilentSunday photo.
I didn't want to do it.
It's time for dinner...

2026-06-27 11:51:40 UTC

Today, I couldn’t resist
#Food #Tiramisu
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/116/821/923/158/545/480/original/995ae5a885b49071.jpg

2026-06-27 08:17:33 UTC

The arcade from my childhood had turned almost entirely into a slot machine parlour.
Now, they've gotten rid of the slots and started bringing back some 80s and 90s coin-ops. Brilliant.
If they were to bring back Daytona USA, I'd already know exactly what to do. One phone call and just a single phrase: "Fancy a quick afternoon race?". And I’m sure that, even after 31 years, we'd find ourselves right out front at 16:30, our bikes chained to the nearest pole, getting hyped at the words "Gentlemen, start your engines!"
DAYTONAAAAA!
#Memories #Gaming #RetroGaming #ArcadeNostalgia #CoinOP #Daytonaaaaa

2026-06-25 17:42:02 UTC

Dental hygiene session done.
Now the result needs to be tested.
Pizza?

2026-06-22 14:07:59 UTC

"Dear customer, although we have already scheduled and canceled your appointment three times, we regret to inform you that the technician who was supposed to drop by today between 14:30 and 16:30 has encountered an unexpected issue and will not be able to make it. In other words, would you accept an appointment in 15 days?"
I bit their heads off. I am absolutely furious. This is the third time I've had to cancel work commitments just for them to pull this. The sheer mediocrity of how this whole thing is being managed is irritating, to say the least.
#FTTH

2026-06-20 10:34:31 UTC

Nice: netcup is already providing a FreeBSD 15.1-RELEASE iso!
#RunBSD #FreeBSD #netcup

2026-06-18 12:02:28 UTC

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@nprofile…3z2k As of today, we have an issue sourcing hardware at decent prices. I am experiencing this firsthand in my own business. And yes, everything you are saying is true, but as of right now, I find it difficult - very difficult - to reach those levels while respecting people's privacy, creators' rights, and everything else, as well as having an adequate supply of hardware.
We need real competition, and I’m glad to see open-source models being released to provide an alternative.
True AI must be local. If using AI means depending on one or more tech giants (of any kind - even an Italian one), there will always be someone who can control it and dictate its use.
The President didn't say we should be against AI. He is against the concentration of AI in the hands of a few. That is very different. And he said it at an AI event.
Regarding the point that if Italy were the most advanced country, the President wouldn't have made those remarks: he probably would have just stayed silent. But Italy, unlike many other countries, wants to live, not "dominate the world." Otherwise, we would stop the rest of the world from making tiramisu and force everyone, thanks to the power of the G7, to import it only from Italy. 😉

2026-06-18 09:17:10 UTC

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@nprofile…3z2k why?

2026-06-17 19:45:54 UTC

Today, the President of the Italian Republic, in a public speech, said that one of the main problems of AI is its impact and the concentration of overwhelming power it generates in the hands of a few.
He’s not a tech guy, but even he is pro-OwnYourData. We should invite him to the BSD Cafe.
#BSDCafe #OwnYourData

2026-06-17 17:10:57 UTC

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@nprofile…k04d some markdown is supported. Not all, but enough for me 🙂

2026-06-16 21:38:21 UTC

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@nprofile…mqwp I use it to clean the keyboard. That specific paper goes between the keys and removes all the dust

2026-06-16 21:37:38 UTC

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@nprofile…g5sw I agree. It’s the thing I miss most when I leave Italy

2026-06-16 20:15:13 UTC

I can assure you, it’s not what it looks like…
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/116/761/616/116/778/951/original/6a4d3e75e5695810.jpg

2026-06-15 16:20:30 UTC

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@nprofile…phs2 @nprofile…ls5x they destroyed our water pipe. Then the FTTC connections for almost three weeks. Now we deserve it

2026-06-15 15:52:15 UTC

After "only" 23 months of waiting time...on Friday morning they'll come to install the 2.5G/1G FTTH! 🎉 🥳
#FTTH #Connectivity

2026-06-14 16:11:26 UTC

A quite relaxed Sunday evening in Ferrara
#Italy #Ferrara #EmiliaRomagna
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/116/749/332/472/378/106/original/63a4021bcdff8e8c.mp4

2026-06-14 12:05:36 UTC

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@nprofile…q6qh absolutely. And there’s no bread in that bag but two slices of torta tenerina: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenerina

2026-06-14 11:53:11 UTC

Silent Sunny Sunday
#SilentSunday #Photography #Ferrara #Italy #Italia
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/116/748/315/556/962/585/original/9d0f4432241ef328.jpg

2026-06-14 11:26:08 UTC

Announcing BSSG 0.41.0
Caching is now working, several fixes are in and you can now hide the header menu, the estimated reading time and other things.
https://blog.bssg.dragas.net/2026/06/14/announcing-bssg-0-41-0-several-improvements/
#BSSG #SSG #Bash #OwnYourData

2026-06-14 08:57:49 UTC

Sunday mission: poking myself in the eye with the temple of my glasses... done! Ouch!
#Clumsy

2026-06-13 14:02:02 UTC

This morning, after dealing with two emergencies at once, on a Saturday, yay, I decided to go out for a short walk.
I was walking close to the wall when someone who lives nearby hit my arm with their car's side mirror while speeding past.
It's not the first time something like this has happened. They've hit the low wall outside my house more than once, and once they almost rear-ended me after ignoring a stop sign. They're one of those people who take the car even to go 100 metres, and are always in a rush.
I had already spoken to them politely, asking them to slow down, especially between the houses. This morning they stopped and started yelling at me, as if it were my fault for walking near my own home instead of driving. I was pressed up against the wall. They had all the room in the world to pass.
I almost lost my temper, but still calmly told them that, in my view, walking 250 metres is more normal than taking the car, speeding around, and risking hitting someone. Especially for completely pointless errands, though I didn't say that part out loud.
At that point they snapped, shouting that I'm the idle one because I "go for walks" and clearly have nothing better to do with my life. Then they suggested, provocatively, that I should find some interests like theirs: they were going to "check that there wasn't any dog poop along the country lane".
Something useful, apparently.
I told them they were right. Maybe I should.
I’m (probably) so bored!
#SaturdayFun

2026-06-13 10:24:52 UTC

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@nprofile…jknr reindex launched 🙂

2026-06-13 09:52:28 UTC

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@nprofile…jknr hi, Elastic exploded and started to fill up all the ram (OOM). I'll look into it later today.

2026-06-12 12:30:26 UTC

The insurance company will pay half of the estimate. Even though the contractor kept their quote higher precisely in anticipation of this, it won't fully cover the costs. Therefore, we have reduced the scope of the work, accepting a lesser result.
The floor - it was perfect - but it’s 20 years old. So, they won't pay for a "remake" but rather for a "refurbishment" which will, undoubtedly, still leave visible marks.
Just to add more detail, there's no telling when they will pay and - lo and behold - since the damage was suffered by a business, the money they give us will be fully taxed.
In other words, we either spend it all on the restoration, or it gets taxed. But the whole amount won't be enough for the work anyway, so we will still have to pitch in extra money ourselves.
I spoke with a neighbour - who is a lawyer - and he talked me out of taking legal action. Thousands of euros in legal fees, years of waiting to get, if all goes well, a thousand or two thousand euros more.
So, we move forward and lick our wounds. In an hour, I'll be there to coordinate the final phases of the restoration.
But from this day forward, no matter what happens, I will even claim compensation from the insurance company for the bleaching of my arm hair caused by the sun coming through the car window.
That is a promise.
#Crapturday #Office

2026-06-12 12:01:19 UTC

One year ago today.
Canadian sun at its best
Memories of last year’s BSDCan
#BSDCan #Ottawa #Canada
https://media.bsd.cafe/bsdmmedia01/media_attachments/files/116/737/023/991/794/537/original/7eb137cd11bc8ab8.jpg