Andrew Hewus Fresh @AFresh1@bsd.network

#TipOfTheDay: do the simplest thing that could possibly work. Then get fancy if you still need to.

Just stumbled on http://bsdsec.net and damn, it’s perfect.All the security advisories & errata from #OpenBSD, #FreeBSD, #NetBSD, #MidnightBSD and the rest… all in one dead-simple page.
👉https://bsdsec.net

Do you want to write manpages but the strange manpage language is just too much? All mysterious looking ".Op Fl v Pf = Ar baz", whatever that means? This is your moment: lowdown v3.0.0, just released, has support to properly convert manpage-like Markdown to idiomatic mdoc.7 and man.7 output. It's described in https://kristaps.bsd.lv/lowdown/mdoc.html. Focus on your code, and let lowdown handle the docs. Full link: https://kristaps.bsd.lv/lowdown

(Salacious intro aside, this has been a long piece of development; and yes, it makes me a little sad, because mdoc.7 is a format I enjoy. But let's face it: sticking to mdoc.7 (or worse, man.7) is a losing battle. We can do better!) #unix #manpages

"Forty-two," said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.
"The Answer to the Great Question, of Life, the Universe and Everything"

#HitchhikersGuide #DouglasAdams #quotes #quote #bot

@mntmn Yes! And also, I'd argue there's a cultural reason.

When I first started using a libre desktop, xscreensaver's customizability, while seemingly unimportant, really helped me *feel* a sense of being able to be part of my computer. I'd argue this feeling and experience and sense of whimsy is actually really important for fostering a drive of curiosity. Screensavers, especially those with lots of little fiddly knobs, are a great low-entry way of getting people to experience that.

Something new: a daily-or-so summary of my #OpenZFS nonsense, direct from the Github events firehose.

https://zfs.house

The "S" in "AI" stands for security!

Hey, I made a Cyberpunk Handle generator on perchance.org - I think it works pretty great! I use it every now and then when I want a random username. #cyberpunk #CyberpunkRED #Shadowrun https://perchance.org/cyberpunk-handle

All of these AI coding advocates talking about creating good docs and APIs, yes, please. Programming in natural language? OK, let my ADHD take you somewhere unexpected.

Larry Wall studied linguistics at Berkeley with the intent of discovering an unwritten language on a Christian mission to Africa and developing a written language for it. For health reasons, he couldn't make the trip and stayed in the US where he joined the JPL and created Perl. I worked with Larry at craigslist and attended many Perl conferences where he spoke. One of the guiding principles of the design of the language was natural language. I'm probably misquoting, but the phrase I remember was, he wanted "a language that mimicked the sloppiness and unpredictability of natural language so it could grow with you." I happen to love Perl because of this. Some of my earliest contributions to perlmonks.org were Perl Poetry [1](https://perlmonks.org/index.pl?node_id=40275), [2](https://perlmonks.org/index.pl?node_id=37997).

What's it got to do with AI? Whenever I hear someone explain to me they want to use natural language to write code, I think of Larry and Perl. I posted this story and asked "Can someone explain to me how using AI generated code is better than Perl?" And now none of the AI people want to talk to me!

#fuck_ai #ai #fuck_with_ai #perl

Blackwater photos of tiny jellies is one of my new favourite activities. Unfortunately they love to congregate in the worst visibility! I have no idea what this one is, nor what its squiggly insides do. But they're so pretty! #underwaterphotography #scuba

Someone said something about ingesting libc and this is what popped into my head

Well now!

https://linuxgizmos.com/esp32-p4-pc-board-from-olimex-offers-hdmi-and-mipi-support/

That gets very interesting at the €24.95 price point. Slap the poe module on and I can ponder oodles of fun to be had...

The #eurobsdcon call for papers is on!

https://2026.eurobsdcon.org/cfp/

We offer pre-submission mentoring, see within!

@EuroBSDCon #freebsd #netbsd #openbsd #freesoftware #libresoftware #brussels #bruxelles

END OF/START OF MONTH SOFT LAUNCH LET'S DO THIS...

The @bsdcan fundraising is going well and tentatively will allow me to sleep this next few months. Thank you everyone who has contributed!

We're discussing optional items like travel grants and please keep it coming!

That said, @bsdtv and I made GREAT progress building out A/V packages and are down to a last camera and lenses to round out a third track worth of equipment. The streaming gear is in-hand and a fourth track/spare is not yet a priority.

If you want to help out, we are looking for around $3,000 USD and ask you to contribute through https://bsdfund.org

This is NOT a 501(c)(3) avenue but businesses can write off their contribution as marketing and your accountant can advise from there.

Thank you!

🤎​

My employer, the Oregon Child Development Coalition, has two temporary, six month general IT tech positions open. These are hybrid roles with three days in the office in Wilsonville and two from home, supporting a largely Windows environment. #GetFediHired #nonprofit #HeadStart

https://www.ocdc.net/careers/

@c0debabe

Ahem.

As the author of the definitive <(cough)only(cough)> book on the topic, it is pronounced: SUH-da!

OK, that works... Quite impressed with @jlc3dp

The PCB with LEDs to go inside is expected tomorrow.

Update: Someone asked me if this image was real, not AI, or proof of concept: FFS, it is a real photograph I took of a real 3D print!

And yes, I am mastodon only now, so bloody well boost 🙂 thanks. Yes, thank you.

P.S. never expected "bloody well boost" to work. Extra cool. Thanks all.

#stargate #openscad #stl

Oh hey, I'm excited to do this talk at Bsides 2026, Feb 28th at 10:30am! Now I need to actually get on ironing out the kinks in it... #BsidesSeattle #BsidesSeattle2026

If anyone is looking for a software engineer with a lot of experience (~20 years) with a dozen or so major programming languages, I've been let go recently in a restructuring. Coworkers often come to me for help because I never make anyone feel stupid for asking questions and will help find a solution if I don't have the answer right away. I can design, implement and deploy backend/distributed systems in any language/stack you want. Portland, Oregon, USA or remote. #GetFediHired

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