Michael Dexter @dexter@bsd.network
Dexter's Law: Only proprietary software vendors want proprietary software and only fascists want fascism. Toots are my own. Self-employed. Father of three.
I aim to keep this to technical topics relating to bhyve and OpenZFS, and the occasional humor and Latvia.
Joined Apr 2018
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Dexter’s second law: The pendulum that swings twice as high lasts half as long.
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Having spent days making PkgBase easy on #FreeBSD…
The (highly opinionated) Sum Total of computer history:
0. BSD Unix
1. Macintosh
2. Packaged Base in Red Hat 5.2
3. Squiggly underline spell check
4. FreeBSD Jail to manage the fustercluck that are RPMs on Red Hat
5. Two-finger scrolling
6. Hardware-assisted virtualization
7. ZFS v28
8. NVMe
TCP/IP is taken for granted, as it is not vendor/platform-specific.
Flat screen displays are a TV crossover technology, as are WiFi, GPS, and fancy batteries.
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Call For Testing: Major #OccamBSD updates
occambsd.sh - More-consistent syntax
propagate.sh - Propagate PkgBase installs
imagine.sh - Image boot images from the others and upstream
sideload.sh - Push (much of) a #FreeBSD configuration to a new installation
rc.local.sh - Semi-idempotently configure basic aspects of a system
They’re never done, never perfect, but they do exactly what I have envisioned in various ways and given talks about for 20+ years.
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Emerging observations on how lockdown was great for #opensource:
Work from home was blessed as a valid thing
Sci-fi-like casual video conferencing without hesitation around the world is now the norm for some of us, only limited by time zones and languages.
Group video chat is equally familiar and commonplace, with excellent self-policing of audio quality and behavior.
Events are focusing on quality over quantity, complimenting the above.
Basically, the “open source seems to be where drunk guys pinch your butt while mansplaining you” factors were globally nipped in the bud.
Good work everyone!
These are delightful times!
❤️❤️❤️
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Repost: It took time, but #bhyve #hypervisor development is back to a robust pace on both #FreeBSD and #illumos with a good balance of new features and subtle refinement.
I have begun posting recordings of the weekly Jails/Zones, #OpenZFS, and bhyve Production Users calls:
https://youtube.com/@callfortesting
The running minutes documents are linked from https://callfortesting.org
Heads-up: There are many ways to participate and lots to do!
Michael Dexter
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Oregon coast town celebrating 56th anniversary of the exploding whale this month
https://www.oregonlive.com/living/2026/11/oregon-coast-town-celebrating-56th-anniversary-of-the-exploding-whale-this-month.html?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into things to do in portland & oregon @things-to-do-in-portland-oregon-TheOregonian
Michael Dexter
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databases are a good example of software where the correctness depends on a lot of factors that are not easily observable externally. you cannot build software like this by filtering random output through a set of e2e tests. you *have* to design the internals very carefully
Michael Dexter
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Been saying this sort of thing would happen 😩
New Data Centers in the US Set to Wipe Out 15 Years of Greenhouse Gas Reductions
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/data-centers-us-greenhouse-gas-reductions-emissions
Michael Dexter
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Since being diagnosed with lupus, my biggest symptom is post exertional malaise. Only that's not a symptom of lupus - it's a symptom of long covid. This week I pressed both my rheum and my kidney doc for answers.
My rheum shrugged away the question, but my kidney doc's answer blew my mind: "It's because you had long covid when you first came in. Your lupus is a manifestation of long covid, and you have symptoms for both."
#lupus #longCovid #Covid #autoimmune
1/2
Michael Dexter
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@dexter I think a policy of LLM attribution in commits should be the first step for several reasons and it’s such a softball. A ‘I am human and I understand this change’ checkbox for PRs should be close behind, and again this is IMHO very unjudgey and merely enforcing a baseline of sanity and the barest of transparency.
The more weighty decisions on where/when/how/if LLMs should be used in the project should follow and I Have Opinions but seems premature without the above established.
I was worried that the tech industry had created a lifetime supply of villains but there you go. The innovation continues.
Michael Dexter
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you ever write code so inefficient you have to start complaining about the global allocation of RAM
Michael Dexter
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November 1st, 2026 is an historic day in Latvian diplomatic history as for the first time ever Latvia will hold the presidency of the UN Security Council (UNSC). During this month, Latvia will chair all informal and formal UNSC meetings. https://eng.lsm.lv/article/politics/diplomacy/01.11.2026-latvia-takes-charge-of-the-united-nations-security-council-for-first-time.a670070/?utm_source=rss&utm_campaign=rss&utm_medium=links
Happy any other UTC day.
Michael Dexter
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Work on GEFS (the Good Enough File System) for OpenBSD progresses https://www.undeadly.org/cgi?action=article;sid=20261101115637 #openbsd #development #filesystems #gefs #goodenoughfilesystem #freesoftware #libresoftware
Michael Dexter
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PSA: This is my only fediverse/mastodon account, so if another account contacts you it's not me, and hopefully obviously I will not DM you to help you get 6 figure amounts from the US government or anyone else unless we're already in regular contact and discussing #softwarefeedom in depth
Michael Dexter
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We are getting scammed on a global scale and together with the tech-bro oligarchy in the USA, where people like Sam Altman berates us for having personal computers and make them unaffordable, we are losing more than just money. We are losing very freedom itself, so they can manufacture the future they want and where it is only them whose word count.
Michael Dexter
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Michael Dexter
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la Suisse : pays du chocolat et des trains à crémaillère
Helmut Smits, Toblerone, 2026, Exploring the distinctive shape of a Toblerone chocolate bar
#food #DIY #tech #train #switzerland
Michael Dexter
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Patrick Stewart has died. I wanted to remember him for being the absolute badass that he was.
Start of 2026: Thank you programmers. Your work is done and it’s all #LLM management from here.
End of 2026: OH FU*K. Everyone is using the exact same tools and domain knowledge is more critical than ever and cleaning up the mess when needed.
Michael Dexter
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Michael Dexter
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"When children learn to devalue others, they can devalue anyone, including their parents."
Jean-Luc Picard
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Chain of Command, Part II
Generate some empathy and compassion y’all.
This whole, “beat the system” attitude among some AI advocates is not the flex you think it is that nanosecond that hopefully you realize that a few billion other people are using the exact same tools as you, and the tools might even be handing you the same “mind-blowing breakthroughs” that you think you are the first to imagine.
Maybe you can afford more of the exact same tools, but that also isn’t the flex you think it is.
Empathy and compassion. Please. Thx.
Thanks everyone! There are truly amazing people in the #OpenZFS community, many of whom have participated for over a decade.
It was an honor and pleasure to host the Summit for the third year in a row.
❤️
Dexter's Law: Only proprietary software vendors want proprietary software and only fascists want fascism. Toots are my own. Self-employed. Father of three.
I aim to keep this to technical topics relating to bhyve and OpenZFS, and the occasional humor and Latvia.
Joined Apr 2018
