Posts by Graham Perrin

De-duplicating the desktops: Let's come together, right now

Not that I'm prejudiced, but …

Speed-reading https://www.linfo.org/vi/clones.html (five seconds) I saw "ffer" and read "suffer". Oops.

FreeBSD 15 trims legacy fat and revamps how OS is built

> GNU was in fact tested to have the lowest error rate and highest reliability of any known OS; https://www.gnu.org/software/reliability.en.html

With the link to ftp://ftp.cs.wisc.edu/pub/paradyn/technical_papers/fuzz-revisited.ps which my preferred web browser can neither open nor download, the three options are (1) Chromium, (2) Falkon, and (3) the browser that's already directing me to use an alternative applications. Opting for Falkon opens Chromium with an empty tab, because Chromium can not open the ftp:// link.

That's on Linux, by the way. I'd like to interject; GNU\Linux.

FreeBSD 15 installer to offer minimal KDE desktop

Documentation

> … BSD's in general … the docs (specifically man pages) are so good.

I can't comment on BSDs in general, but for FreeBSD, part of this might be of interest:

External contributions to FreeBSD : freebsd

A translator observed that "… Approximately 30% of the Handbook content is outdated, …"; and so on.

On the plus side, listen to what's said about documentation, interactions with the Foundation, and so on, in the very recent video that's linked from Core Team Update – June 2025 FreeBSD Developer Summit : freebsd

Xfce OOTB on FreeBSD

> … reckon it should have been something smaller and simpler, such as Xfce …

Probably not so good OOTB for people with non-US keyboard layouts.

Xfce: with system defaults, the keyboard layout is wrong and cannot be corrected : freebsd

Preconfiguring the OS to have a working desktop environment from the outset

> … Yes, you can install pkgs from the FreeBSD installer. No, it doesn't result in a fully X11/XFree/XOrg GUI desktop after you exit installer and reboot. …

With a little extra effort, including the two commands below, it's possible to have SDDM ready for a Plasma (X11) session with the first boot of the installed system.

service dbus enable && service dbus start

service sddm enable && service sddm start

A third and final command might be sysrc, to specify which kernel module to load for graphics.

Internet connectivity

> … at present, once you complete this and reboot, … Then you have to connect to the internet, …

An Internet connection that was gained whilst running FreeBSD Installer should be regained automatically when you first boot the installed OS.

You should find relevant lines in:

/etc/rc.conf

Down = up, and vice versa

I'm always amused by the up arrow counting down when setting the time.

Dialogues

Alfonso's two sets of dialogues might appear identical at a glance, however there's at least one significant difference.

Old and new:

https://gitlab.com/alfix/desktopconfig/-/raw/main/screenshots/screenshot-end.png

https://gitlab.com/alfix/kde-installer-dialogs/-/raw/main/screenshots/4_img.png

Where previously the routine concluded with direction to use the command line to modify the video group, now there's a dialogue for group membership.

An existing bsdconfig groupedit dialogue (FreeBSD 14.3-RELEASE):

https://i.imgur.com/hQ1eRTq.png

Arch Linux users told to purge Firefox forks after AUR malware scare

Freddie Starr ate my fox

> … bites heads off bats …

You get my upvote for reminding me that Freddie Starr ate my hamster.

The headline grabbed a nation's attention, and was believable – in the same way that it's exciting to read about Mozilla being anti-privacy, regardless of the truth.

The truth: he didn't eat a hamster.

Brave is not the answer

On what planet does Brave browser protect the Arch User Repository from malicious uploads?

Forked-off Xlibre tells Wayland display protocol to DEI in a fire

Go!

Day one, I am the forty-ninth up-voter of:

"Vaccines don't cause autism; they cause adults."

Poor wording: clarification (and the poor wording remains)

"It seems like the DEI quote was perhaps poorly worded, and is being taken out of context here. The *very next sentence* is: "Anybody who's treating others nicely is welcomed."

– I agree. Thanks.

Wednesday 2025-06-11, Enrico Weigelt wrote:

"… Just in case somebody's curious: the whole "non-DEI" means nothing more that I'm not doing any DEI things whatsoever. Just welcoming anybody who likes to work on X11. No need for any speech police that's banning people for picking a wrong word or not using somebody's personal pronouns correctly. We're all adult people and know how to get along with each other gently. That's it. …"

That's it, apparently, however it's also apparent that his team has chosen to the not tone down the poor wording. https://github.com/X11Libre/xserver/blob/24e978b1f19b78e1dae8cfdf672142e3209cc812/README.md today is as troublesome as when he first described DEI as discriminatory.

Oh dear.

Yesterday's post proceeded to mention Red Hat (again), and him not complaining, because the publicity for the team – "yes, we're already a whole team, not just me alone" – was great.

Oh dear.

Perhaps stubbornness prevents his team from toning down the part of their front page that wrongly describes DEI as discriminatory.

In any case, I'll note that a great amount of publicity should not be confused with great publicity.

Last but not least: if I'm the speech police, no-one can blame Red Hat for my policing.

DEI, not to be confused with a potentially bad employer

From the previous comment, it sounds as if the prospective employer had the wrong idea of DEI.

IMHO that should make you sceptical about the employer, not about DEI initiatives.

KDE targets Windows 10 'exiles' claiming 'your computer is toast'

Discover

The modern Discover application is smart.

FreeBSD fans rally round zVault upstart

Origin of the screenshot

> a screengrab

Liam, you might like to add the origin: https://github.com/zvaultio/Community/issues/8#issuecomment-2781854709

Smart move by iXsystems

> Dumb move by iXsystems

In 2022, the co-founder of FreeBSD wrote:

"… The last mistake that I'll own up to is not pushing much much harder for Linux as our base OS much earlier, …"

SCALE in TrueNAS Forums

> … overrun with Linux users who seem unable to read documentation or FAQs before asking questions, lowering the signal to noise ratio significantly.

https://forums.truenas.com/tags/c/truenas-general/4/scale

Without judging the quality: I would not describe a few posts a day as "overrun".

Jordan Hubbard (jkh) on Corral, TrueNAS, and Linux

jordanhubbard comments on RE-Evaluating TrueNAS from the Historical Perspective... (August 2022):

https://www.reddit.com/r/truenas/comments/wfevxe/reevaluating_truenas_from_the_historical/iivy6ea/

Security

There are any number of ways to prevent takeover of a Linux host. Think about how many servers use Linux.

Zorin OS 17.3 takes the Brave step of changing its default browser from Firefox

> AC abuser / luser.

Air conditioning?

I'm so confused.

Sincerely,

60 in Twickenham

Cloudflare's bot bouncer blocks weirdo browsers

All the little babies

Won't somebody please think of the children?

For giggles:

https://i.imgur.com/o2fLWnz.png

More worthy, since the original topic is no longer available:

https://web.archive.org/web/20250221101720/https://community.cloudflare.com/t/access-denied-to-pale-moon-desktop-browser/764330

From PlayStation to routers, you've probably been using FreeBSD without knowing it

adnauseamd

> … systemd.

>

> BSD has nothing to do with that horrendous pile of shit.

I'm slowly switching from KDE Plasma on FreeBSD, to Plasma on Linux. Ubuntu for root-on-OpenZFS, then I use SDDM and Plasma instead of GDM and GNOME.

Horrified? No, I'm not horrified.

I have little or no time for systemd commentary. Ad nauseam.

History of FreeBSD and macOS

> … userland of macOS.

>

> yes, xBSD OSs …

macOS is not based on FreeBSD. Please see the pinned comment here:

June 2022 FreeBSD Developer Summit: Special Session: Fireside Chat with Jordan Hubbard – YouTube : freebsd

FreeBSD 14.2 wants to woo Docker fans, but still struggles with Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi related firmware present during installation

14.2R/errata: news: inclusion of Wi-Fi firmware by grahamperrin · Pull Request #442 · freebsd/freebsd-doc

GhostBSD

> … it Just Worked. … Your mileage may vary, and probably will at least somewhere.)

The recent failure outlined at https://old.reddit.com/r/freebsd/comments/1gsixxi/hp_elitebook_650_g10_i5_first_impressions/lykf0fo/ is extraordinary.

Very different mileage, from yours, with an HP EliteBook 650 G10, i5. I'll follow up in the proper place.

NomadBSD

> … fell in a heap which is the reason I have not written about it. …

For me, NomadBSD recently succeeded (to run, post-configuration) where GhostBSD failed (non-installable (stalled at the loader screen)), so I'll assume a hardware-specific quirk in your case.

You're warmly invited to kick the ball around in /r/NomadBSD, with a little technical detail. As if you have nothing better to do with your time before or after Christmas. Whenever; the offer's there.

GitLab going away

For clarity: do you mean that you'll cease to use GitLab?

I rarely follow the news, and https://www.startpage.com/do/dsearch?query=GitLab&cat=news (at a glance) I don't see an ending.

Re: 'Upgrades are so safe they're almost boring'

> a new package,

Can you be specific?

> cross your fingers, and hope.

Absolutely not.

Outputs from pkg commands are normally quite specific.

If you prefer options such as --quiet (to not know) or -y (to proceed without regard to specifics), then that's carelessness, not finger-related.

Double BSD birthday bash beckons – or triple, if you count MidnightBSD 3.0

RavenPorts

https://search.theregister.com/?q=RavenPorts … nothing found …

Opening up the WinAmp source to all goes badly as owners delete entire repo

Winamp really whips open source coders into frenzy with its source release | Page 2 | Ars OpenForum

I think, the comment at Hackaday is a quote, not the original comment.

https://arstechnica.com/civis/threads/winamp-really-whips-open-source-coders-into-frenzy-with-its-source-release.1503409/post-43214470

Switching customers from Linux to BSD because boring is good

Stop calling me Shirley.

> Shirley SystemD will do all that …

Re: FreeBSD predates Mac OS X

Sorry, some misunderstanding:

"… I was running Mac OS X 10.0 …

"It predates Windows NT, Linux, FreeBSD/NetBSD/OpenBSD, … (And a fairly ugly GUI it was, especially compared to the beauty of NeXTstep.)"

I took the "It" to mean Mac OS X, not NeXTstep.

FreeBSD predates Mac OS X

Nit (sorry): Mac OS X did not predate FreeBSD.

FreeBSD originated in 1993.

https://freebsdfoundation.org/freebsd/timeline/

https://freebsdfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/FreeBSD_timeline.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS_version_history#Releases

Rationality

> stupid

You haven't seen the true rationale.

Germany's Sovereign Tech Fund throws cash at FreeBSD and Samba

zzz

"systemd"

What's that? I never heard of it.

Is it related to snore(d)?

In any case, I look forward to funded improvements that will benefit users of zzz(8).

Oh my goodness

「As for describing ANY version of windows as “good” or (sorry - give me a moment to stop laughing) “very good” just highlights that you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about (not an accusation I throw about lightly by the way)」

Welcome, time traveller. What news bring you from 1970?

I use FreeBSD, iPadOS, Windows, Android, and so on, with a twenty-first century ability to recognise goodness.

「… an opaque GUI application that doesn’t do what you want and (increasingly often these days) decides that it knows better than you and “just does stuff” without asking or even warning」

If that was intended to bring balance to the commentary, it didn't.

The countless GUI applications that I use are quite unlike what you describe.

Nvidia's next Linux driver to be… just as open

NVIDIA legacy and future

If future drivers will be as good as legacy x11/nvidia-driver-470 on FreeBSD 15.0-CURRENT, I'll be happy.

Things are pretty much rock-solid for me with a GK107GLM (Quadro K1100M).

No offence to porters, but prior experience with i915kms was occasionally flaky.

I don't own NVIDIA, I'm not a shareholder, I'm an end user, it's not my place to complain about closed source firmware if the firmware works as required.

Re: What he said ...

Text, please.

AI hallucinates software packages and devs download them – even if potentially poisoned with malware

For Thomas: better than the generic blog address,

https://www.lasso.security/blog/ai-package-hallucinations

TrueNAS CORE 13 is the end of the FreeBSD version

Persistent removable L2ARC

L2ARC is a minor miracle.

Re: the caching services zfs requires

Not exactly all that it can, but it's a fair comment.

IIRC defaults on FreeBSD differ slightly from defaults on Linux.

Re: the caching services zfs requires

Not just min and max. Better, please, familiarise yourselves with things such as:

vfs.zfs.arc_free_target

vfs.zfs.arc.sys_free

– or their Linux equivalents.

Context

It's not one person's preference. Commentary in Reddit is worth reading; Liam has provided highlights.

The Land Before Linux: Let's talk about the Unix desktops

There's no place like …

> not even written by Liam

Double-click your heels three times, and say, "…

Like magic! He'll appear, or you'll be there, or something. Works for me, every time, and I'm not even wearing my ruby slippers.

RIP: Software design pioneer and Pascal creator Niklaus Wirth

A transcription of Niklaus Wirth's “Closing word”, transcribed by Douglas Creager on 2024-01-05:

Closing word at Zürich Colloquium

Data-destroying defect found after OpenZFS 2.2.0 release

Integrity of original data

"… corrupted data from the bug is then check-summed, written elsewhere, and then appears good on disk. …"

If I understand correctly, original data is unaffected. I mean, the bug may bite when data is written elsewhere i.e. copied; not before (not with the original).

The first four words of openzfs/zfs issue15526:

some copied files are corrupted

ZFS in FreeBSD

Strictly speaking: maybe truer to say that ZFS is in FreeBSD base (not entirely part of the kernel).

Re: ZFS here we go again

How does "here we go again" apply to something that's extraordinary/unique?

Maybe it's "here you go again".