Thanks to SeaweedFS, I've set up two replicas of the BSD Cafe's media. One is on a backup server (for disaster recovery purposes only, also containing the hourly zfs-autobackup backups), and the other is on a Raspberry Pi 4 running FreeBSD, which is one of my home backup servers - just one meter away from my desk.
I've also configured Nginx in a jail, so when I'm at home, the BSD Cafe's media is served directly from the local replica.
The performance is lightning fast.

#BSDCafe #SeaweedFS #S3 #Mastodon #SelfHosting #Homelab #FreeBSD #RunBSD

Good evening, #BSDCafe
Good evening, #illumosCafe
Good evening, #Fediverse

An Italian masterpiece while reading terrible news - I wish you all a peaceful weekend.

https://song.link/y/VtoGYfAefr8

#Music #MastoMusic #MastoRadio #FediMusic #FediRadio #JukeBox #LucioDalla

Dear friends of BSD Cafe, I've just approved the 500th user for this instance.
That's right, the 500th friend has just joined the BSD Cafe's Mastodon instance.
This calls for a celebration!

EDIT: 500 users are currently registered, not counting those who moved, left, or started self-hosting.

#BSDCafe #FreeBSD #NetBSD #OpenBSD #DragonflyBSD #RunBSD

Good evening, week
Good evening, #BSDCafe
Good evening, #illumosCafe
Good evening, entire #Fediverse!

#Sunset #Photography #Summer #Italy #Weekend

Alt...

The sun sets gently over the still pond, washing the grass and trees in soft gold. The sky glows with the last warmth of the day, whispering that the long, demanding week is finally over. It's okay to pause, to breathe, to let the weight of the days slip away. It's okay to rest.

My friends, I'm so excited and happy to introduce a new project: the illumos Cafe!

The positive and constructive spirit of the BSD Cafe, created and maintained by all the friends who participated from day one in building a strong and friendly community, deserves to spread to other operating systems. Because there are other OSes that deserve attention, certainly more than they're getting right now.

Operating systems based on illumos (like SmartOS, OmniOS, Tribblix, OpenIndiana, etc.) are mature, stable, secure, and perfectly usable for a wide range of tasks. ZFS is native, zones are an excellent method for containerization, and bhyve and kvm coexist beautifully - and so much more, too much to list in a single post.

So from today, the illumos Cafe will stand alongside the BSD Cafe in creating a positive, respectful, and growth-oriented (but also relaxing!) environment, starting right here in the Fediverse with a Mastodon instance and a snac one.

I've written an introductory article about the project, including some technical details. I invite everyone interested to read it: https://it-notes.dragas.net/2025/08/18/introducing-the-illumos-cafe/

Choose your table, take a seat and enjoy your time at the illumos Cafe!

#SysAdmin #IT #BSDCafe #illumosCafe #Community #OpenSource #OSS #illumos #SmartOS #OpenIndiana #ZFS #bhyve #kvm #Fediverse #Mastodon #snac #ITNotes

At EuroBSDCon 2025 in Zagreb: "Liberating the social web using *BSD" by Jeroen - @h3artbl33d - and Stefano Marinelli, see https://events.eurobsdcon.org/2025/talk/PJJLFV/

Schedule at https://events.eurobsdcon.org/2025/schedule/

To register https://2025.eurobsdcon.org/registration.html

#EuroBSDCon #EBC25 #BSDCafe #FreeBSD #NetBSD #OpenBSD #Networking #BSDCafe #RunBSD #Mastodon #Fediverse #OwnYourData #Security #Networking #Community

Dear friends of the BSD Cafe,

This idea has been in my mind since the very beginning of this adventure, almost two years ago. Over time, several people have suggested it. But until recently, I felt the timing just wasn’t right — for many reasons. Today, I believe it finally is.

So I’m happy to announce a new service: The BSD Cafe Journal.

What is The BSD Cafe Journal?

At first, I thought I’d use BSSG for it (I even added multi-author support with this in mind), but in the end, it didn’t feel like the right tool for the job.

The idea is to create a multi-author space, with content published on a fairly regular basis. A reference point for news, updates, tutorials, technical articles — a place to inform and connect.

Just like people in Italy used to stop by cafés to read the newspaper and chat about the day’s news, the BSD Cafe Journal aims to be a space for reading, sharing, and staying informed — all in the spirit of the BSD Cafe.

What it’s Not

• It’s not here to replace personal blogs, or excellent newsletters like Vermaden’s.
• It’s not an aggregator.

What it Is

• A place where authors can write original content.
• A space to share links to posts on their own blogs or elsewhere.
• A platform to publish guides, offer insights, or dive into technical explanations.

Our Guiding Principles

The guiding principles are the same as always: positivity, constructive discussion, promoting BSDs and open source in general.

• No hype: Sharing a cool new service is fine, posting non-stop about the latest trend is not.
• No drama, no politics: The goal is to bring people together, not divide them. To inform, not inflame.
• Respect, tolerance, and inclusivity are key. Everyone should feel welcome reading the BSD Cafe Journal — never judged, offended, or excluded.

Why WordPress?

The platform I’ve chosen is WordPress, for several reasons:

• It’s portable (runs well on all BSDs).
• It has great built-in role management (contributors, authors, etc.).
• And — last but not least — it supports ActivityPub.

This means every author will have their own identity in the Fediverse and can be followed directly, and it’ll also be possible to follow the whole Journal.

Original and educational content is encouraged, but it’s also perfectly fine to link to existing articles elsewhere. Personally, I’ll link my technical posts from ITNotes whenever I publish them there.

The goal is simple: a news-oriented site, rich in content, ad-free, respectful of privacy — all under the BSD Cafe umbrella.

Getting Involved

Content coordination will happen in a dedicated Matrix room for authors. There’ll also be a public room for discussing ideas, giving feedback, and sharing suggestions.

Of course, I can’t do this alone. A journal with no content is just an empty shell.

So here’s my call to action:

Who’s ready to lend a hand? If you enjoy writing, explaining, sharing your knowledge — the Journal is waiting for you!

Alt...

BSD Cafe banner

This afternoon, an acquaintance joined a Mastodon instance and asked me which "celebrities" are present in the Fediverse, as if it were important to determine the value of a social network based on that.

I told him that the most important user in the Fediverse is him. Just as it’s you, reading this. Someone who has decided to interact with others freely. Who has chosen to trust their administrator (or create their own instance) more than they trust those who run traditional, monolithic, centralized social networks.

So, I want to thank all the friends of BSD Cafe, whether local or not, for being here and making this place what it is. And I thank all my friends in the Fediverse, who make my timeline lively, interesting, intelligent, fun, and thought-provoking - every day, at any time.

#BSDCafe #Mastodon #Fediverse #SocialNetworks #SocialMedia #Community #Trust #OpenSource #DigitalFreedom #JoinTheFediverse

🚀 Exciting News from BSD Cafe! 🚀

We're thrilled to announce a new service: myip.bsd.cafe!

Now live, this tool is your go-to resource for checking your public IP address via Telnet, SSH, and HTTP—also perfect for times when you're on a command-line interface without browser access.

Explore more and contribute on our Brew page: https://brew.bsd.cafe/BSDCafe/checkmyip

Whether you're an IT professional or a tech enthusiast, this service is built to make your digital life a bit easier. Set up your own instance or use our public service.
Full instructions available on our Brew repository!

Spread the word and let's make network troubleshooting easier for everyone!

#BSDCafe #BSDCafeAnnouncements #BSDCafeServices #OpenSource #Networking #SysAdmin #PublicIP #TechTools #ITSecurity #DevOps

I want to launch a hashtag where, every Tuesday, I'll post a message and it would be great if it became a habit for many.

In a world full of conflicts, selfishness, and egocentrism, it would be nice to focus on the good that others do, what makes our lives better thanks to the contribution of others.

My first #ThankYouTuesday to the friends of #BSDCafe - both within the community servers and beyond - who have undoubtedly contributed to making my life better, more stimulating, and richer. So, I extend this gratitude to all those who, here in the fediverse or elsewhere, are present and positive, giving me inspiration and motivation.

Truly, thank you!

#ThankYouTuesday #gratitude #positivity #community #fediverse #mastodon

Dear friends of #BSDCafe and the #Fediverse,
since December 2023, snac.bsd.cafe has been operational, initially in an experimental phase but has proven to be stable and reliable.

Thus, Snac2 is now available as a service of BSD Cafe. It is considered one of the best and most comprehensive "lightweight" implementations of #ActivityPub, offering one of the best ways to interact with the Fediverse without the need for the extensive dependencies and components of Mastodon.

It is now possible to request an account on the snac2 instance of BSD Cafe. There isn't an automatic sign-up process (snac2 does not provide one, as it wasn't designed to create large communities).

For information and details, I suggest reading the relevant page on our Wiki: https://wiki.bsd.cafe/snac.bsd.cafe

Have a great week!

#OpenSource #TechCommunity #DecentralizedSocialMedia #snac #snac2

#snac2 #snac #BSDCafe #BSDCafeServices #FreedomOfChoice