FreeBSD patch level table
A useful resource:
https://bokut.in/freebsd-patch-level-table/
33 publicly visible posts • joined 15 Jan 2008
> … the normal freebsd-update command is no longer enough to update your machine, …
This is true for any desktop environment, with any method of installation. (Not only for the DEs that can be installed with desktop-installer.)
> … you'll need to use the menu-driven auto-admin command instead.
auto-admin is smart, however it's not a necessity. It's a runtime requirement of desktop-installer:
https://www.freshports.org/sysutils/auto-admin/#requiredby
Use of desktop-installer can be followed by normal use of 'pkg upgrade' (without auto-admin).
freebsd-update(8) is for updating FreeBSD alone.
For clarity: Lumina (pictured, as "FreeBSD's own native desktop") is not FreeBSD's desktop.
There's the TrueOS history – and more – to Lumina, so I do understand why people might think of it as a FreeBSD thing, but really, it's not.
https://www.freshports.org/x11/lumina/
13.1 not dramatically different from 13.0, 13.2 not dramatically different from 13.1 …
… true, however (as a doc repo committer) it saddens me, slightly, that we don't make more noise about the leaps ahead in compatibility. Graphics, Wi-Fi, and hardware support were uppermost on the FreeBSD Foundation technology roadmap in 2021; these things are, happily, far better now than when the map was first published.
Graphics: loosely speaking, much of the work on graphics is currently committed to the ports repo, not the src repo. There's no shortage of graphics-related work in the src area, however it sort of flies under the radar when the time comes for (src) FreeBSD release notes and the like.
Wi-Fi, and more general hardware support: from what I can tell, iwlwifi(4) in 13.2 is greatly improved, compared to 13.1. I know less about rtw88(4), but I get the impression that this is another smart move. Throw in the 13.1 improvements to amd64 UEFI boot (quiet, but huge impact) and a few more ingredients: end result, a simpler decision-making process for people who are wondering about using a new or old laptop, or desktop, with FreeBSD.
https://freebsdfoundation.org/blog/technology-roadmap/
> … I tested FreeBSD + ZFS in VB and it works fine. …
Other people report the same. No problem installing FreeBSD 13.1-RELEASE to ZFS (the default) in VirtualBox.
I wonder why Liam Proven chose i386 for the guest. Maybe that was a factor.
(Was the host not amd64? I wonder.)
It's easy enough to make KDE resemble Mac OS X, visually.
A quick search with Google found, for example:
Making Linux look like macOS with these easy tweaks! ▶ Making KDE Plasma looks like macOS
https://tipsmake.com/making-linux-look-like-macos-with-these-easy-tweaks#mcetoc_1dd28saph8
More exotically, although BackSlash is not recently updated:
Familiarizing with the Desktop | Docs
https://docs.backslashlinux.com/desktop.html
> … MacOS Big Sur …
Mac OS X Mavericks was the end of the line for me, after twenty-something years.
Apple span no small amount of bullshit around Yosemite. Too much of this BS was swallowed with glee by the unquestioning masses – this included the massed audience at WWDC.
A web browser that can no longer show the title in its title bar? No, thank you, Safari. Goodbye, Mac.
> Honestly we really do not need another macOS clone. …
Honestly and more accurately, helloSystem is "Not a clone of anything, but something with which the long-time Mac user should feel instantly comfortable.".
https://github.com/helloSystem/hello#hello
> … link the menu to the currently live window? …
If you'd like to find/raise an issue for the global menu not showing the name of the application: I'll up-vote.
In parallel:
Make Chrome work with the global menu · Issue #29 · helloSystem/Menu
https://github.com/helloSystem/Menu/issues/29
Make Firefox and Thunderbird work with the global menu · Issue #37 · helloSystem/Menu
https://github.com/helloSystem/Menu/issues/37
An application's window should be in front following use of the global menu for the application · Issue #50 · helloSystem/Menu
https://github.com/helloSystem/Menu/issues/50
System tray (notification area) not working for some applications · Issue #96 · helloSystem/ISO — https://github.com/helloSystem/ISO/issues/96
> Makes me think of https://xkcd.com/927/
… which makes me think of this, which referenced the same cartoon:
ActivityPub - one protocol to rule them all? - Dennis Schubert
https://schub.wtf/blog/2018/02/01/activitypub-one-protocol-to-rule-them-all.html
– and the 2019 follow-up, which I just discovered.
> … labelling …
+1 to useful metadata.
Here with KRunner in KDE Plasma, seeking 'image' presents 'GNU Image Manipulation Program' and other relevant applications, with their icons.
-1 to misrepresenting the name or icon. I dislike that using Falkon in helloSystem 0.4.0 (0D26) does not present the name or icon of Falkon in the dock – this might have been mentioned in chat, but there's not yet an issue for it.
Also, the absence of the application name from the global menu.
> … It doesn't take much imagination to see the tech press headlines coming: …
OK, Register, I'll bite. Don't forget existing copy:
> … Legacy extensions … cause stability problems …
With respect: that's a lazy generalisation.
https://twitter.com/grahamperrin/status/925522450410037249 1,200 tabs a few days ago.
Now, whilst writing this comment:
- 1,400 tabs
- eighty-five extensions enabled, more than half of which are legacy
– and the vast majority of those legacy extensions are tried, tested, trusted, mature and stable. Certainly my own environment is stable, the presence of forty-eight legacy extensions is not detrimental. I'm aware of, and can easily avoid, just one stability-oriented bug.
Was JANUS (uppercase) an acronym for something mobile-related?
Or was it a reference to Janus, the two-faced ancient Roman god of beginnings and transitions?
There's also Janus One (comparable to Light Phone) but this February 2015 article in The Register appears to predate the KickStarter projects for both Light Phone and Janus One – and Janus One has one face.
ODI global network announced (2013-10-28)
Thirteen nodes; the open source ODI Charter. You can follow the development of the ODI Charter and Nodes via Github.
Data
At this time, I should not expect the ODI itself to publish the data of other organisations. See below …
Aims of the Institute
In two paragraphs:
"The Open Data Institute will catalyse the evolution of an open data culture to create economic, environmental, and social value. It will unlock supply, generate demand, create and disseminate knowledge to address local and global issues.
"We will convene world-class experts to collaborate, incubate, nurture and mentor new ideas, and promote innovation. We will enable anyone to learn and engage with open data, and empower our teams to help others through professional coaching and mentoring."
Also, the ODI will "… help organisations who are using data be aware of which data they can and can’t use and to help organisations who want to publish data to make that data sharable, structured, reliable and traceable …"; "… demonstrate, encourage, promote and develop the use of open data by the private sector …" (emphasis added by me).
Open Data Partnership for Development
Both the Open Knowledge Foundation (OKFN) and The World Bank are well-established and reputable, so I should expect good to come from partnerships such as these.
1) Can anyone tell whether the 2008 suite still suffers incompatibility with WebDAV volumes?
2004 and prior versions of the applications tended to fail through, for example, requirement to write to the root of server volumes.
2) Historically, AFP and SMB/CIFS have offered better compatibility with Office.
Does anyone know whether such workarounds (for writing to root, when that's impossible) tend to be client-side (afpfs.fs and smbfs.fs) or server-side?
TIA for any advice.
Graham Perrin — CENTRIM — http://www.brighton.ac.uk/centrim/