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!

Make Your Own Backup System – Part 2: Forging the FreeBSD Backup Stronghold

https://it-notes.dragas.net/2025/07/29/make-your-own-backup-system-part-2-forging-the-freebsd-backup-stronghold/

#Backup #FreeBSD #ZFS #IT #SysAdmin #OwnYourData #ITNotes

I'm trying to finalize the second part of the 'Make Your Own Backup System' series.
It's long and packed with information, but I won't break it up.
If all goes well, it'll be out tomorrow morning, Wednesday at the latest.
Stay Tuned!

Make Your Own Backup System – Part 1: Strategy Before Scripts

https://it-notes.dragas.net/2025/07/18/make-your-own-backup-system-part-1-strategy-before-scripts/

How to install FreeBSD on providers that don't support it with mfsBSD

https://it-notes.dragas.net/2025/07/02/install_freebsd_providers_mfsbsd/

The IT-Notes blog is now served by the 1 euro/month #NetBSD VPS, too.

https://it-notes.dragas.net/

Someone I don't know shared my blog post "Vibe Coding Will Rob Us of Our Freedom" on r/programming — it got removed for being "clickbait" and an "unpopular topic".
Looks like it touched a nerve.
Some of the feedback I got elsewhere made me think even more.
I'll write about it.

EDIT: Okay, I didn't want to go on about this, but...: https://my-notes.dragas.net/2025/06/05/when-we-become-cheerleaders-for-our-own-demise/

Ever heard of vibe coding?
It’s when the code looks fine, tests pass, vibes are good - so it goes to production. Even if it’s wide open to SQL injection.

I’ve seen it happen.
AI wrote it. Devs trusted it. Management loved it.
Nobody understood it.

We’re trading skill for speed.
And that’s how we lose our freedom.

Vibe Coding Will Rob Us of Our Freedom: https://it-notes.dragas.net/2025/06/05/vibe-coding-will-rob-us-of-our-freedom/

EDIT: Given the trends and the comments, I wrote something off the cuff about it: https://my-notes.dragas.net/2025/06/05/when-we-become-cheerleaders-for-our-own-demise/

I've been noticing a worrying trend: developers being pushed to value speed over understanding, relying on AI to just "get it done". But what happens when we no longer know what our code is really doing?

My take on this will be on it-notes tomorrow morning.

EDIT: Here it is: https://it-notes.dragas.net/2025/06/05/vibe-coding-will-rob-us-of-our-freedom/

The Day GlusterFS Tried to Kill My Career

https://it-notes.dragas.net/2025/05/21/the_day_glusterfs_tried_to_kill_my_career/

My blog post yesterday on IT-Notes had unexpected success.
The number of views is incredibly high and keeps skyrocketing by the hour. It’s yet another confirmation that, in a world flooded with fake or AI-generated content, people still need (and want) to read true stories - real experiences from real life.

The only thing that makes me sad:
Even though I eventually edited the article to clarify that there was no organized crime involved, many comments keep insisting that, since it happened in Italy, there must be organized crime or the mafia behind it.

As if things like this could only happen in Italy, and only if organized crime is involved.

https://it-notes.dragas.net/2025/05/13/the_server_that_wasnt_meant_to_exist/

The Server That Wasn't Meant to Exist

A story from 16 years ago - trust, tech, and a server that had to disappear. They offered me a blank check. I said no.

https://it-notes.dragas.net/2025/05/13/the_server_that_wasnt_meant_to_exist/