A wave of fake profile registrations is currently underway.

Many are easy to spot, others less so. The risk is that some (but credible) fake profiles might slip through, while some legitimate friends might go unnoticed, lost in the chaos of new signups.

If you have submitted a request, are a real person, and are genuinely interested in joining BSD Cafe, please contact me privately.

#BSDCafe #BSDCafeAnnouncements

The #BSDCafe Brew instance (Forgejo) has been updated to 11.0.15

#BSDCafeServices #BSDCafeUpdates

Dear friends of the BSD Cafe,
One of the principles this place was built on has always been free communication. Whether on the Fediverse or on Matrix, the goal is the same: open, secure, private, decentralized tools. Because we know, from experience, that anything centralized will sooner or later come to an end.
Matrix is great, and we like it. But it's tied to its server - you can't migrate away (easily). It does its job well, yet sometimes it asks for more than a conversation should: heavy to host, hard to leave.
So when my friend @outofcreativity brought it up again at EuroBSDCon, I decided to give Delta Chat another try after many years. And yes - its philosophy fits mine, and the Cafe’s, well.

For a few months we ran a relay - a chatmail server - but it was on Debian, and I didn't want to make an official service that runs on Debian. Not because it doesn't work: it works perfectly. But because it wouldn't be in the spirit of this place.

Thanks to @feld 's excellent cookbook recipe, I also kept a private relay of my own running for months, just to test it. It held up beautifully. So yesterday, with the help of some friends in the cookbook chat, I migrated the Debian server to FreeBSD - accounts and data included - and I can finally call it a stable, official Cafe service.

Our chatmail relay - https://chatmail.bsd.cafe - runs on FreeBSD, in a jail. Which means it gets everything the other services get: hourly backups via zfs send and receive, FreeBSD's security, and all the rest.

I'd encourage everyone to try Delta Chat. Secure, decentralized communication built on protocols we already know and trust: the ones behind email. And the development is moving fast. Multi-relay is no longer a promise - it's here, and it's solid: a single profile can use several relays at once, so your account and your reachability survive even if one of them goes down and disappears. That's real resilience. The real decentralization, the one we love.

Because Signal is great. But Signal, too, is centralized. And we happen to like the true spirit of the Internet.

#BSDCafe #BSDCafeServices #BSDCafeAnnouncements #DeltaChat #ChatMail #Communication #OwnYourData

A new BSD Cafe service will be officially announced tomorrow morning (CEST)

It’s about communication, freedom and…powered by a BSD.

Stay tuned!

#StayTuned #BSDCafe #ComingSoon #OwnYourData

Aggressive caching for a Mastodon reverse proxy: what to cache, what to never cache, and why content negotiation will eventually betray you

The same URL serves HTML to browsers, JSON to apps, and ActivityPub to remote instances. Here's how I cache Mastodon with nginx without betraying any of them.

https://it-notes.dragas.net/2026/06/05/aggressive_caching_for_a_mastodon_reverse_proxy/

#ITNotes #nginx #Caching #IT #SysAdmin #Mastodon #Fediverse #BSDCafe

# barista-update -r 42.42-RELEASE upgrade

coffee component not installed, skipped (already in the cup)
Looking up bsd.cafe mirrors... 1 mirror found (it's always the same counter).
Fetching metadata signature for 42.42-RELEASE from bsd.cafe... done.
Fetching metadata index... done.
Inspecting barista... too much hair found, skipped.
Preparing to download files (and tiramisu)... done.

The following components of barista seem to be installed:
patience/base listening/world caffeine/generic
sarcasm/light long-term-memory/dbg

The following components of barista do not seem to be installed:
diplomacy/lib32 vacation/base regular-sleep/lib32-dbg head/hair

Does this look reasonable (y/n)? y

The following components of barista will be upgraded:
patience -> patience-42.42 (improved handling of difficult spam bots)
caffeine -> caffeine-42.42 (new backend: ZFS - Zero Faulty Sips)
listening -> listening-42.42 (now supports silences too, but being Italian it will be hard)

WARNING: This barista is running a custom kernel ("stubborn"), which is
not a configuration distributed as part of BSD Cafe. Proceeding anyway, as always.

To install the downloaded upgrades, run "barista-upgrade install"
and please offer the administrator a coffee.

#BSDCafe #Jokes

The #BSDCafe #Mastodon instances have been updated to v4.5.11

#BSDCafeServices #BSDCafeUpdates

Friends of the #BSDCafe, #illumosCafe and the #Fediverse,
Good morning and have a great Tuesday!

#Photography #Photo #Sunrise #Picture #Pic #Sea

Alt...

This image depicts a serene sunrise over a calm sea, with the sun casting a warm glow on the clouds and the water. In the foreground, silhouettes of palm trees and street lamps line a quiet esplanade, adding to the peaceful ambiance of the dawn. The light from the sun reflects off the wet sand of the beach and a road, enhancing the golden hues of the morning.

The time is probably right.

Back in 2022, when I was still using iOS, I wasn’t completely happy with the Fediverse apps that were available. I was mostly using Akkoma, and the interface I liked the most was actually its web UI, even on mobile. So I started playing with Xcode and put together the foundations of an app tailored to my needs.

A lot has changed since then and today we have great alternatives like IceCubes, Mona, Ivory, etc. Each one has strengths and weaknesses though, so I picked up my old project again and kept pushing it forward.

So I’m happy to announce that my app will finally see the light: I’ve been using it for the past few days and, in my spare time, I’m fixing bugs and adding missing features. I’m building it around my own needs, so it doesn’t have to “appeal to everyone”. I wouldn’t call it opinionated, but it’s definitely targeted.

The app will have one key trait: #snac2 support will be a first-class feature, not an incidental one. Many apps, especially on iOS, support snac as a side effect, but the experience is often not optimal. In this case, the choice is deliberate and it strictly follows the Mastodon API support implemented by snac. So snac will work properly (within the limits of the platform, of course).

Among the features already implemented: the app is minimal and lightweight (under 10 MB, including debug code), easy on RAM, and privacy-first (for example it strips EXIF data from media before posting, so the server will never see it). On snac it also cleans up the "Boosted by Aoderelay" messages that appear when using a relay, removes the character limit, and supports posting in Markdown.

I also added support for Apple Intelligence to generate alt text, both for the media I post and for media posted by others that is missing alt text.

Everything is processed locally through Apple APIs and only on supported devices. The results aren't amazing, Apple Intelligence is extremely limited, but in my opinion it's the only privacy-friendly and ethical way to approach it. And of course, you can disable it.

On Mastodon it supports all the main features: lists, quote posts, granular notifications (you can choose what you want for each category), notification grouping, multi-account support, and it works.

It's still missing a few things (block, etc.) and has some bugs, which I’m spotting as I keep using it.
As soon as it's stable enough, I'll invite a few people to test it. I still haven't fully decided how I'll distribute it: an Apple Developer account has a yearly cost, and I hope to reuse it for other projects too. So this app might be paid, with a trial period, but if possible (I still need to check what’s feasible) I'd like it to be free if you connect to one of the BSD Cafe instances, illumos Cafe, or any snac instance, including your own.

I don't know how long it will take before it's ready... but I can already tell you what it will be called.
It already has a name, and it's... MastoBlaster.

This name was chosen for personal reasons, and also because of its similarity to Master Blaster by Stevie Wonder, which even today feels relevant and fitting for the Fediverse.

Stay tuned!

#MastoBlaster #Fediverse #Mastodon #iOS #FediverseApp #Announcement #Apple #snac #snac2 #BSDCafe #illumosCafe

Alt...

MastoBlaster, showing my profile on my phone

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

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

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

#snac2 #snac #BSDCafe #BSDCafeServices #FreedomOfChoice