<![CDATA[nixers - Community & Forums Related Discussions]]> https://nixers.net/ Thu, 30 Apr 2026 23:29:23 +0000 MyBB <![CDATA[Self-introduction]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Self-introduction Sun, 04 Sep 2022 11:03:17 +0000 maksim]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Self-introduction I was searching for something about Intel ME and found Venam's Blog, decided to check the base domain and then realized it's a forum. I browsed it for a bit and really liked all the nice threads that are there. Later, when I finally got my hands on self-hosting an email server, I decided to join the forum. Venam assisted me in making an account without using ReCAPTCHA, and I finally became a member of Nixers.
I mainly self-host things on old laptops running Proxmox. My website is not yet finished, but if you wish, you can visit it by going to https://wherelinux.xyz.]]> I was searching for something about Intel ME and found Venam's Blog, decided to check the base domain and then realized it's a forum. I browsed it for a bit and really liked all the nice threads that are there. Later, when I finally got my hands on self-hosting an email server, I decided to join the forum. Venam assisted me in making an account without using ReCAPTCHA, and I finally became a member of Nixers.
I mainly self-host things on old laptops running Proxmox. My website is not yet finished, but if you wish, you can visit it by going to https://wherelinux.xyz.]]> <![CDATA[Yet another self-introduction]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Yet-another-self-introduction Mon, 18 Apr 2022 14:15:44 +0000 yakumo.izuru]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Yet-another-self-introduction novaburst (not the only one though).

I've been running a variety of linux distros since mid-2018 until late 2021 when I switched to FreeBSD on my main computer (I have 5, lol) and I'm mostly learning sysadmin by myself, along with other non-tech things as well (e.g. languages).

As for programming, I don't do any real software development however I maintain a bunch of repositories (half of them are personal forks of existing projects) but I try to learn Golang and OCaml, kind of.

I think that's all by now as I'm just bad when it comes to introductions.]]> novaburst (not the only one though).

I've been running a variety of linux distros since mid-2018 until late 2021 when I switched to FreeBSD on my main computer (I have 5, lol) and I'm mostly learning sysadmin by myself, along with other non-tech things as well (e.g. languages).

As for programming, I don't do any real software development however I maintain a bunch of repositories (half of them are personal forks of existing projects) but I try to learn Golang and OCaml, kind of.

I think that's all by now as I'm just bad when it comes to introductions.]]> <![CDATA[Syntax help error]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Syntax-help-error Fri, 11 Mar 2022 13:39:29 +0000 jkl]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Syntax-help-error
Code:
[size=3]This text is size 3[/size]

This should, according to the help, produce quite readable text. It does not: "3" seems to be "3pt".]]>
Code:
[size=3]This text is size 3[/size]

This should, according to the help, produce quite readable text. It does not: "3" seems to be "3pt".]]> <![CDATA[Retrospective 2021]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Retrospective-2021 Sun, 19 Dec 2021 18:45:55 +0000 seninha]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Retrospective-2021 What have you learned, read, achieved, created or (not) done this year?

.

Different from 2020, now I had online classes both semesters, so most of my time was dedicated to the uni.

I read mostly school stuff. Had to read some Java books about its virtual machine, which culminated with the creation of a simple jvm. Weirdly, this small school project of mine got popular and there was a course using it. I also read Tanenbaum's books on Networking and Operating Systems for my Networking and Operating System classes, respectively.
I also read a book about Troff and a book about AWK, which made me more interested in both programs.
There are books that I began to read in 2020, that I slowly and continuously read through 2021 and that I have not finished yet. They are SICP and APUE, which contains a lot of exercises and theory that take time to digest. I'm currently doing some dozens of pages per month at a slow pace.

I rewrote my window manager from scratch and now it is a completely different beast.
Most of my X programs got packaged into mainstream distros this year. Including OpenBSD, the OS I use.

I achieved the "ricing peak" at the middle of this year. I had spent too much time on 2020 testing new themes and programs to have the perfect desktop. But now I am so comfortable with my desktop that it has not changed for months.

This was a boring year IRL, not that different from 2020. Except for a few things, like a bigger covid belly, nothing relevant happened.]]> What have you learned, read, achieved, created or (not) done this year?

.

Different from 2020, now I had online classes both semesters, so most of my time was dedicated to the uni.

I read mostly school stuff. Had to read some Java books about its virtual machine, which culminated with the creation of a simple jvm. Weirdly, this small school project of mine got popular and there was a course using it. I also read Tanenbaum's books on Networking and Operating Systems for my Networking and Operating System classes, respectively.
I also read a book about Troff and a book about AWK, which made me more interested in both programs.
There are books that I began to read in 2020, that I slowly and continuously read through 2021 and that I have not finished yet. They are SICP and APUE, which contains a lot of exercises and theory that take time to digest. I'm currently doing some dozens of pages per month at a slow pace.

I rewrote my window manager from scratch and now it is a completely different beast.
Most of my X programs got packaged into mainstream distros this year. Including OpenBSD, the OS I use.

I achieved the "ricing peak" at the middle of this year. I had spent too much time on 2020 testing new themes and programs to have the perfect desktop. But now I am so comfortable with my desktop that it has not changed for months.

This was a boring year IRL, not that different from 2020. Except for a few things, like a bigger covid belly, nothing relevant happened.]]> <![CDATA[Nixers Book Club - Book #6: Introduction to Operating Systems Abstractions]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Nixers-Book-Club-Book-6-Introduction-to-Operating-Systems-Abstractions Tue, 19 Oct 2021 20:09:35 +0000 seninha]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Nixers-Book-Club-Book-6-Introduction-to-Operating-Systems-Abstractions Introduction to Operating Systems Abstractions using Plan 9 from Bell Labs

[Image: plan9bunnywhite.jpg]

We can do 2 chapters per week.
Our first session will be Nov 13, when we will discuss the first two chapters.
See you then!]]> Introduction to Operating Systems Abstractions using Plan 9 from Bell Labs

[Image: plan9bunnywhite.jpg]

We can do 2 chapters per week.
Our first session will be Nov 13, when we will discuss the first two chapters.
See you then!]]> <![CDATA[webzine]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-webzine Mon, 11 Oct 2021 15:28:11 +0000 ols]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-webzine
I've been thinking about doing some sort of nix-related webzine for a while now, and I know that the idea has been floated on IRC a few times already.

My thoughts are a monthly publication with a couple of short articles (350-500 words), with one longer form (800-1000 words) and then possibly some sort of recurring theme like "shell one-liner of the month".

Interested to hear thoughts and ideas for submissions; if all goes well I would like to get issue one launched before the end of the month (optimistic I know)

Mock up below

[Image: image.png]]]>
I've been thinking about doing some sort of nix-related webzine for a while now, and I know that the idea has been floated on IRC a few times already.

My thoughts are a monthly publication with a couple of short articles (350-500 words), with one longer form (800-1000 words) and then possibly some sort of recurring theme like "shell one-liner of the month".

Interested to hear thoughts and ideas for submissions; if all goes well I would like to get issue one launched before the end of the month (optimistic I know)

Mock up below

[Image: image.png]]]> <![CDATA[Nixers.net Conf 2021]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Nixers-net-Conf-2021 Sun, 26 Sep 2021 11:15:30 +0000 venam]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Nixers-net-Conf-2021
Hello nixers,
I'd like to announce the second edition of the nixers.net conf.
We will host the conference on Sunday the 7th of November between 2-4pm UTC depending on the number of talks.

The call for proposal is closed.
The presentations has to fulfill these criteria:
  • Fit within a time limit of 15min
  • 3-5min for Q&A
  • The topic should be anything that is usually posted on nixers: a project you are working on, a unix story, some research about a topic, some lesser known unix tool, stuff you've discovered on unix, etc..
  • The slides should contain the logo of the conf. You can find a version for light background and a version for dark background.
  • The presentation should be under CC-0 if recorded and sharing the slides.
You can either choose to have your talk recorded or not.
Contact me on IRC, email, or on the forums with your ideas to reserve a spot. Send me your slides, general title, and ideas. Try to finalize it as much as possible before contacting me, and let me know how you'd like to be addressed.

Be sure to share you slides and content at least 4 days before the conf to be included in the schedule. Otherwise, you can always geek out with members after the "official" talks and present whatever you want to present. Let's make it fun and games.

The platform that will host the conference will be the same as last year, namely bigbluebutton, BBB. We'll need to record the conference ourselves as bigbluebutton format is composed of a mix of slides and audio only. We'll also host it on faimaison and the link will be shared here and on IRC on the day of the conference.
Only presenters will join with the mic, everyone else should join as listen only.
A tutorial of the UI will be given at the start of the conference.
Be aware that this software uses webrtc, and that your browser should support it.
https://test.webrtc.org/


Please note: The event will be recorded for our use. Any comments, chats, or voice recordings by attendees may be used as part of the final recorded and published conference.

Updates about the conference will be found in this very post.
Cheers!


Schedule:


Last year's conference]]>
Hello nixers,
I'd like to announce the second edition of the nixers.net conf.
We will host the conference on Sunday the 7th of November between 2-4pm UTC depending on the number of talks.

The call for proposal is closed.
The presentations has to fulfill these criteria:
  • Fit within a time limit of 15min
  • 3-5min for Q&A
  • The topic should be anything that is usually posted on nixers: a project you are working on, a unix story, some research about a topic, some lesser known unix tool, stuff you've discovered on unix, etc..
  • The slides should contain the logo of the conf. You can find a version for light background and a version for dark background.
  • The presentation should be under CC-0 if recorded and sharing the slides.
You can either choose to have your talk recorded or not.
Contact me on IRC, email, or on the forums with your ideas to reserve a spot. Send me your slides, general title, and ideas. Try to finalize it as much as possible before contacting me, and let me know how you'd like to be addressed.

Be sure to share you slides and content at least 4 days before the conf to be included in the schedule. Otherwise, you can always geek out with members after the "official" talks and present whatever you want to present. Let's make it fun and games.

The platform that will host the conference will be the same as last year, namely bigbluebutton, BBB. We'll need to record the conference ourselves as bigbluebutton format is composed of a mix of slides and audio only. We'll also host it on faimaison and the link will be shared here and on IRC on the day of the conference.
Only presenters will join with the mic, everyone else should join as listen only.
A tutorial of the UI will be given at the start of the conference.
Be aware that this software uses webrtc, and that your browser should support it.
https://test.webrtc.org/


Please note: The event will be recorded for our use. Any comments, chats, or voice recordings by attendees may be used as part of the final recorded and published conference.

Updates about the conference will be found in this very post.
Cheers!


Schedule:


Last year's conference]]> <![CDATA[how do you know which tools you (really) use?]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-how-do-you-know-which-tools-you-really-use Fri, 27 Aug 2021 01:03:07 +0000 freem]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-how-do-you-know-which-tools-you-really-use
I was debootstrapping a debian 11 on some partitions yesterday (because my upgrade path won't be easy considering my tweaks, between the init system and the rebuilt packages...) and started to create a mindmap of stuff to do next time (turns out it almost looks like a roadmap of stuff to do to create a distro, but that's another topic).

In the end, I noticed... or rather, am noticing, that I do not use that many programs, and that this tool (the mindmap) allows me to get a better understanding of what I use, in which context, and why, if I would like a replacement or not, etc.

I might end in sharing the file, when it will be a bit more refined, but it spawned the (one in title) questions of: do you really know which tools you are using? Do you know why you're using them? Do you know any alternatives to them? Why not use them? How would you collect those informations for future use (when a program stops working (depends on deprecated tech), when your needs evolve, etc)?

Note that I only have in mind the tools you use, not the ones the tools you use depends on, that's a very different thing.

I think it would be interesting to have thoughts from fellow nixers on those questions, and maybe on other ones you might ask in the discussion?]]>
I was debootstrapping a debian 11 on some partitions yesterday (because my upgrade path won't be easy considering my tweaks, between the init system and the rebuilt packages...) and started to create a mindmap of stuff to do next time (turns out it almost looks like a roadmap of stuff to do to create a distro, but that's another topic).

In the end, I noticed... or rather, am noticing, that I do not use that many programs, and that this tool (the mindmap) allows me to get a better understanding of what I use, in which context, and why, if I would like a replacement or not, etc.

I might end in sharing the file, when it will be a bit more refined, but it spawned the (one in title) questions of: do you really know which tools you are using? Do you know why you're using them? Do you know any alternatives to them? Why not use them? How would you collect those informations for future use (when a program stops working (depends on deprecated tech), when your needs evolve, etc)?

Note that I only have in mind the tools you use, not the ones the tools you use depends on, that's a very different thing.

I think it would be interesting to have thoughts from fellow nixers on those questions, and maybe on other ones you might ask in the discussion?]]> <![CDATA[Nixers Book Club - Book #5: Computer Science from the Bottom Up]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Nixers-Book-Club-Book-5-Computer-Science-from-the-Bottom-Up Mon, 16 Aug 2021 03:10:42 +0000 seninha]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Nixers-Book-Club-Book-5-Computer-Science-from-the-Bottom-Up Computer Science from the Bottom Up».

Quoting from its introduction:
Quote:In a nutshell, what you are reading is intended to be a shop class for computer science. Young computer science students are taught to "drive" the computer; but where do you go to learn what is under the hood? Trying to understand the operating system is unfortunately not as easy as just opening the bonnet. The current Linux kernel runs into the millions of lines of code, add to that the other critical parts of a modern operating system (the compiler, assembler and system libraries) and your code base becomes unimaginable. Further still, add a University level operating systems course (or four), some good reference manuals, two or three years of C experience and, just maybe, you might be able to figure out where to start looking to make sense of it all.

To keep with the car analogy, the prospective student is starting out trying to work on a Formula One engine without ever knowing how a two stroke motor operates. During their shop class the student should pull apart, twist, turn and put back together that two stroke motor, and consequentially have a pretty good framework for understanding just how the Formula One engine works. Nobody will expect them to be a Formula One engineer, but they are well on their way!

Chapters are short, so we can do 2 chapters per week.
Our first session will be Aug, 21 (next Saturday), when we will discuss the first two chapters.
See you then!]]> Computer Science from the Bottom Up».

Quoting from its introduction:
Quote:In a nutshell, what you are reading is intended to be a shop class for computer science. Young computer science students are taught to "drive" the computer; but where do you go to learn what is under the hood? Trying to understand the operating system is unfortunately not as easy as just opening the bonnet. The current Linux kernel runs into the millions of lines of code, add to that the other critical parts of a modern operating system (the compiler, assembler and system libraries) and your code base becomes unimaginable. Further still, add a University level operating systems course (or four), some good reference manuals, two or three years of C experience and, just maybe, you might be able to figure out where to start looking to make sense of it all.

To keep with the car analogy, the prospective student is starting out trying to work on a Formula One engine without ever knowing how a two stroke motor operates. During their shop class the student should pull apart, twist, turn and put back together that two stroke motor, and consequentially have a pretty good framework for understanding just how the Formula One engine works. Nobody will expect them to be a Formula One engineer, but they are well on their way!

Chapters are short, so we can do 2 chapters per week.
Our first session will be Aug, 21 (next Saturday), when we will discuss the first two chapters.
See you then!]]> <![CDATA[Nixers Book Club - Review and next book #4]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Nixers-Book-Club-Review-and-next-book-4 Mon, 12 Jul 2021 10:42:59 +0000 seninha]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Nixers-Book-Club-Review-and-next-book-4

We concluded The Art of UNIX Programming on our book club.
What do you though of TAOUP?
Did it change the way you program on UNIX?

Let's also vote for the next book.
These are the candidates:
  • Introduction to Operating Systems Abstractions Using Plan 9.
  • The Design of the UNIX Operating System.

venam gave the idea on irc to include specs, RFCs and other generic OS books.
If you have another recommendation, please comment.]]>

We concluded The Art of UNIX Programming on our book club.
What do you though of TAOUP?
Did it change the way you program on UNIX?

Let's also vote for the next book.
These are the candidates:
  • Introduction to Operating Systems Abstractions Using Plan 9.
  • The Design of the UNIX Operating System.

venam gave the idea on irc to include specs, RFCs and other generic OS books.
If you have another recommendation, please comment.]]> <![CDATA[A Week of Trial [June Events 2021]]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-A-Week-of-Trial-June-Events-2021 Tue, 01 Jun 2021 15:07:29 +0000 venam]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-A-Week-of-Trial-June-Events-2021 June events.

In previous years we've had the "Week in the TTY" where we forced ourselves to only use the TTY for an entire week.
This time, let's just make it either a full week in the TTY or a vintage OS/software stack/very limited hardware.

The week should be between Friday 25th and Wednesday the 30th of June.

Bump this thread with what you intend to try out during that week, be it the original week in the TTY or something else. Then when the week ends you can post what you've discovered.

Here are some ideas for the TTY:

Get comfortable with terminal multiplexers, the command line in general, command line and curses games, emailing from the cli, browsing the internet from the TTY through protocols you might not have tried such as gemini or gopher, chat from the cli, manage offline documentation, and more...]]> June events.

In previous years we've had the "Week in the TTY" where we forced ourselves to only use the TTY for an entire week.
This time, let's just make it either a full week in the TTY or a vintage OS/software stack/very limited hardware.

The week should be between Friday 25th and Wednesday the 30th of June.

Bump this thread with what you intend to try out during that week, be it the original week in the TTY or something else. Then when the week ends you can post what you've discovered.

Here are some ideas for the TTY:

Get comfortable with terminal multiplexers, the command line in general, command line and curses games, emailing from the cli, browsing the internet from the TTY through protocols you might not have tried such as gemini or gopher, chat from the cli, manage offline documentation, and more...]]> <![CDATA[The June Events [2021]]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-The-June-Events-2021 Tue, 01 Jun 2021 15:04:09 +0000 venam]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-The-June-Events-2021 1, 2, 3, etc..) during the month of June we try to organize some events.

So let's get some activities going on for this year.
I'll create separate threads for them.

Feel free to propose other ideas and share feedback here.]]> 1, 2, 3, etc..) during the month of June we try to organize some events.

So let's get some activities going on for this year.
I'll create separate threads for them.

Feel free to propose other ideas and share feedback here.]]> <![CDATA[Nixers Book Club - Book #4: The Art of UNIX Programming]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Nixers-Book-Club-Book-4-The-Art-of-UNIX-Programming Mon, 26 Apr 2021 21:22:27 +0000 seninha]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Nixers-Book-Club-Book-4-The-Art-of-UNIX-Programming here the next book of the Nixer's Book Club is gonna be «The Art of UNIX Programming».

[Image: The_Art_of_Unix_Programming.jpg]

Quoting from Wikipedia:
Quote:The Art of Unix Programming by Eric S. Raymond is a book about the history and culture of Unix programming from its earliest days in 1969 to 2003 when it was published, covering both genetic derivations such as BSD and conceptual ones such as Linux.

The author utilizes a comparative approach to explaining Unix by contrasting it to other operating systems including desktop-oriented ones such as Microsoft Windows and the classic Mac OS to ones with research roots such as EROS and Plan 9 from Bell Labs. The book was published by Addison-Wesley, September 17, 2003, ISBN 0-13-142901-9 and is also available online, under a Creative Commons license with additional clauses.

The book is online for free here (just follow the links).

Some chapters are really long, others are not. I think we can do 1 to 2 chapters per week.
As usual, our sessions will take place on Saturdays.
Our first session will be May, 8 (in two weeks), when we will discuss the first two chapters.
See you then!]]> here the next book of the Nixer's Book Club is gonna be «The Art of UNIX Programming».

[Image: The_Art_of_Unix_Programming.jpg]

Quoting from Wikipedia:
Quote:The Art of Unix Programming by Eric S. Raymond is a book about the history and culture of Unix programming from its earliest days in 1969 to 2003 when it was published, covering both genetic derivations such as BSD and conceptual ones such as Linux.

The author utilizes a comparative approach to explaining Unix by contrasting it to other operating systems including desktop-oriented ones such as Microsoft Windows and the classic Mac OS to ones with research roots such as EROS and Plan 9 from Bell Labs. The book was published by Addison-Wesley, September 17, 2003, ISBN 0-13-142901-9 and is also available online, under a Creative Commons license with additional clauses.

The book is online for free here (just follow the links).

Some chapters are really long, others are not. I think we can do 1 to 2 chapters per week.
As usual, our sessions will take place on Saturdays.
Our first session will be May, 8 (in two weeks), when we will discuss the first two chapters.
See you then!]]> <![CDATA[Nixers Book Club - Review and next book #3]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Nixers-Book-Club-Review-and-next-book-3 Tue, 20 Apr 2021 10:25:49 +0000 seninha]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Nixers-Book-Club-Review-and-next-book-3 What do you though of The Wayland Book?
For us who are X11 hackers, what do you think of Wayland after reading it?

Let's also vote for the next book.
These are the candidates:
  • The Art of UNIX Programming.
  • Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment (a tough book, very terse, dense on information and also very long).
  • Introduction to Operating Systems Abstractions Using Plan 9.
  • The Design of the UNIX Operating System.
  • UNIX: A History and a Memoir (this one is not free, unfortunately).
If you have another recommendation, please comment.]]> What do you though of The Wayland Book?
For us who are X11 hackers, what do you think of Wayland after reading it?

Let's also vote for the next book.
These are the candidates:
  • The Art of UNIX Programming.
  • Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment (a tough book, very terse, dense on information and also very long).
  • Introduction to Operating Systems Abstractions Using Plan 9.
  • The Design of the UNIX Operating System.
  • UNIX: A History and a Memoir (this one is not free, unfortunately).
If you have another recommendation, please comment.]]> <![CDATA[Nixers Book Club - Book #3: The Wayland Book]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Nixers-Book-Club-Book-3-The-Wayland-Book Mon, 15 Mar 2021 15:20:14 +0000 seninha]]> https://nixers.net/Thread-Nixers-Book-Club-Book-3-The-Wayland-Book
The book is online for free here.

Since it's a short book, we can do 3 chapters a week (or 4, depending on how we go).

The next book club session to discuss the first chapters will be the next Saturday, March 20.]]>
The book is online for free here.

Since it's a short book, we can do 3 chapters a week (or 4, depending on how we go).

The next book club session to discuss the first chapters will be the next Saturday, March 20.]]>