the social contract that allows the web to exist at all is literally collapsing in real time
https://people.kernel.org/monsieuricon/creepy-crawlies

As of today, I believe NetBSD is one of the most important operating systems to consider for your deployments.

With hardware costs rising dramatically, portability and efficiency have become more important than ever. If prices do not come down, we will probably have to adapt and create new kinds of hardware, at lower cost. And NetBSD, by its very nature, will be very easy to port to that hardware.

Does it run on your modern PC? Maybe. Maybe not.

But it runs on your server. On your VPS. On your SBC. On your old computer, which may still have a lot to give, especially if you want to keep ownership of your own data.

And I know something about old hardware still having a lot to give:
https://it-notes.dragas.net/2023/08/27/that-old-netbsd-server-running-since-2010/

No jails or containerisation? smolBSD has already shown that a reduced NetBSD kernel can be so small that it can be started in milliseconds, while also adding the security benefits of virtualisation. A different concept, certainly. But one that already exists and can already be used.

Linux itself has opened up to AI. That is a choice I will not comment on.

But from now on, for those who do not want LLM-generated code in their operating system, there are essentially two options: fork Linux (!!!), or choose something different.

And NetBSD is that something different.

Already in 2024:

“...code generated by a large language model or similar technology (e.g. ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot) is presumed to be tainted (i.e. of unclear copyright, not fitting NetBSD's licensing goals) and cannot be committed to NetBSD.”

#NetBSD #RunBSD #smolBSD #IT #SysAdmin #OwnYourData #ModernTech

Since I'm glad to finally be able to do this, and wanna get this hardware in as many interested hands as possible, I am discounting the eater-deluxe 6502 based personal computer DIY kit down to USD 151.74, that's EUR 131, up until Friday, September 3rd!


#mos6502 #6502 #eater #diy #electronics #retrocomputing

"responsible LLM usage" is the "clean coal" of the tech world

｢ What LLMs in Debian development will do, I fear, is eliminate any incentive to scrap boilerplate or reform policies that require a lot of other senseless human effort. If I had had access to LLMs 30 years ago, I might have just had them generate the rules files, replate with complexity. So they will make Debian even more firmly what it is, and ever less likely to explore what it could become ｣

https://joeyh.name/blog/entry/Debian_and_the_sirens/

#debian #llm #aislop #vibecoding #opensource

Earlier today the #kicad library team did merge the 'kicad-library-utils' repository into the 'kicad-footprints-generator' repo. While at it, we also renamed it to 'kicad-library-tools' (KiLT) and changed the default branch to main.

We want a mono-repo for all tooling to simplify maintenance. A few years back we did a similar thing with the 3d-generator.

There still a lot of open tasks. This was just the first step, now the cleanup commences.

so, we have a winner, it seems: Proposal E

I actually am rather surprised while at the same time being not surprised: this is the option that says "keep the status quo but call whatever you do 'responsible'". A very #Debian thing, indeed.

It even mentions that slop is probably breaking copyright (while at the same time carefully wording to not even actually state that).

(edited to add: if you look at the Graphviz result, you’ll see that, after this option, the pro-slop ones have landed over the pro-art ones; this (it’s preferential voting) makes me sad)

So, what does that mean?

No rage-quitting, at least. (This is very much in the interest of the users.) But also no improvement. But also no official sanctioning of slop.

I cannot believe I am saying this, but I’m actually rooting for… Helene Fischer, the GEMA, and the german Medienanstalten… to save us, by getting courts to recognise these issues.

I cannot believe I am writing the above. This timeline is bizarre.

The bubble is also already bursting, but not fast enough, which is raising the collateral damage each minute it has not yet burst. (Here I mean financial, trust, etc. but for #FOSS specifically, it also means that LLM-extruded digital asbestos gets added to more and more codebasēs in growing quantities, which will be hard to recover from.)

What I would like to know is why such an important topic has, what, under 40% voting participation. smh

(the preliminary automated report by the voting tool does not give the numbers; the project secretary will do so within days, so this is a guesstimate)

Practically, what can we do?

Pretty much only this:

Ride out trixie without rsyslog (and without backports) until the end of its #ELTS, grudgingly installing kernel security updates. Avoid LPNs (npm, composer, pip, cargo, go get, etc.) at all cost (this is not new but now more important than ever). Use third-party repos only after manually checking for slop policies for both the repo and the softwares contained within (I had to split my own repo, I added a non-free component for ensloppified tomcat9 but kept the last one from before in the component with the main policy).

Check out unensloppified OSes as alternatives in parallel (seems to have only NetBSD as contender, among OSes capable of running similar enough use cases). Prepare to switch to unensloppified OS at any time, around 2035 at the latest. Do not hope that by then all the slop will be reverted from core system components (if it is, I will be pleasantly surprised, but right now, #Linux is dying).

Reduce computers and compute in your life.

And, if you can, fight this on useful levels. Not copyright licences, they ignore these and consent anyway. But: On a political level, up to and including guillotines, if you must. On an educational level, with friends, family, and even pupils/students. The younger generations are not lost. Make a worthwhile future, including human art, craft, crocheting, knitting, music, painting, woodworking, what have you. Doesn’t matter if it’s not good: it’s yours. Read books (from before 2020 or so). Go out, make train trips, cycle, garden, including fruit and vegetables. Care for your cats and other loved ones. And say no to fashtech.

to add insult to injury, the text of the winning proposal is already slop 🤮

I totally missed that in the mailing list volume, thanks @BetaRays for noticing. I am extremely disappointed. I am Not Amused. Even if it is, ultimately, a status quo choice that means faschos will continue to use the slop machine and call it "responsible" while sensible people will continue to consider slop nōn-free. Couldn’t even have the decency to write it himself (and let the l10n-en team, which does exist, look it over if he was concerned about writing in a foreign language), but noooo… fashtech is more convenient. I hate this, all of it.

At least I tried. Numerous times. That’s all I can say.

RE: https://doesstuff.social/@lety/117169378281971732

I was educated about neo(reactionary)vim after someone boosted this. Thanks for the heads up e-girl

Bummed about nvim, but at least it's only one of many vims.

RT: https://doesstuff.social/users/lety/statuses/117169378281971732

the british home secretary has the power to deny entry through UK customs to any non-citizen, including members of the french far-right, and i hope that they do: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/28/french-far-right-leader-jordan-bardella-address-reform-uk-party-conference

fuck nazis. it wouldn't be the first time. in 2009, the then home secretary denied entry to the netherlands' own Geert Wilders, another neo-nazi:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/feb/12/far-right-dutch-mp-ban-islam

let's hope that the labour party of 2026 has as much or more guts as the one that existed in 2009. calling the french national rally neo-nazis isn't even theoretical, they were literally originally the national front; they once shared a platform with the UK's erstwhile BNP (british national party).

yes, i want nazis to be prevented from, you know, existing. fuck nazis.

if governments just openly denounce nazis like they did in 2009, and openly denounce nazi ideology like they did in... 2009, instead of sucking up to them like they do in 2026, then maybe we might, you know, send nazi ideology back where it belongs: 1945.

we'll see.