Post by @tionisla
am becoming so despondent at the slopbot invasion in linux, seemingly getting worse weekly [oh linus! 💔], that more & more i ponder a possible #BSD escape route, yet nothing i read anywhere so far gives me any confidence at all that i would be capable of handling all the technical challenges involved. i just want a daily desktop, not a server, & i want it not for a technical challenge at all but simply so i can use my apps to do the stuff i need... which is not at all database or server related in any way. i've just finished perusing a few dozen subreddit threads on the three arguably best known BSDs, & it was nothing but depressing & demoralising
in 2013 when i tired of 20+ years of redmond arseholery & shitfuckery, i discovered linux & was delighted with it, entirely meeting all my needs ever since. now however, with this very same hitherto paradise apparently rushing to sleep with the enemy, it feels like i have no realistic escape option
faaaaaaaaaaaaarque!
#DropbearPooterising #Linux #LinuxWomen #FOSS
#FuckGenerativeAI #FuckSlopbots #AntiAI #NoAI #EscapeFromLinux ? 
#KDELinux | 
#ArchLinux #KDEPlasma
#Kalpa | 
#SparkyLinux | 
#Kinoite #FirefoxNightly #FirefoxSecondSidebarProject #NativeTreeTabsProject 
#Floorp
@MsDropbear42 For a desktop-oriented "distribution" of FreeBSD, try GhostBSD, that is offering also a couple of different desktops than the usual Xfce/Mate.
There is also HelloSystem.
FreeBSD actually is much, much less inclined to include LLMs stuff in the code than many says, if you seek their official statements.
NetBSD has became very popular recently, but is a bit more manual than the other two above.
https://www.ghostbsd.org/
https://hellosystem.github.io/docs/
@raster thx, i appreciate your several informative replies. wrt #GhostBSD, until recently i was feeling this might be an ideal initial escape option for me, given atm i am very unskilled & ignorant of almost all #BSD matters, being merely a Linux hobbyist user. however, this post https://mastodon.sdf.org/@argv_minus_one/117390721260080755 had scared me right off it.
it would be interesting & educational for me, if both you & @argv_minus_one might now discuss this, as it would really assist me [& presumably also other current #penguinistas fretting about the slopification but not knowing enough about BSD to make an informed decision] -- tbh i would love it if now 👻 returned to being a viable candidate for me, but i would need to be comfortable it is not insecure. ta
#DropbearPooterising #Linux #LinuxWomen #FOSS
#FuckGenerativeAI #FuckSlopbots #AntiAI #NoAI
@MsDropbear42 @raster might this completed issue https://github.com/ghostbsd/networkmgr/issues/122 now infer that the hitherto-mentioned [by @argv_minus_one] security concern is now ameliorated? 🤯🤷♀️🤞
That ameliorates the shell injection vulnerabilities, yes. Good progress.
But the GUI still runs as root. 😳 https://github.com/ghostbsd/networkmgr/blob/master/src/networkmgr.desktop
Fixing that would require the program to be split into client and server parts with a well-defined interface between the two, like Linux NetworkManager and the abandoned nmdaemon project.
It'd be a big project, but they really need to do it. The way it works now may or may not be vulnerable, but it has an alarmingly large attack surface.
@argv_minus_one many thanks! so, ok, #ghostbsd must remain still on my rejects list @raster
@MsDropbear42 @argv_minus_one hello again. today i installed the new 👻 , GhostBSD 26.2-R15.1p6, in a #qemu VM, as the Release Notes mentioned they had fixed the bug that made it unbootable in qemu for the previous 26.1. It installed & runs successfully, & i am a bit besotted with it tbh coz it represents for me an easy glide path into #BSD even without me yet knowing enough to be able to install either Open, Free, or Net & then setup a working productive desktop... Ghost has already done all the hard work for me.
however ofc i remain apprehensive given your warning for the earlier version, about its potential root security vulnerability. i don't yet understand how i can diagnose if this new one has the same issue -- pls can you give me some pointers on what i should look for to understand if it is better now or still dangerous?
edit:
oh damn, i think it's still running as root coz it did not ask my password when using the package manager, whose titlebar said it was superuser
#DropbearPooterising #Linux #LinuxWomen #FOSS
#FuckGenerativeAI #FuckSlopbots #AntiAI #NoAI #NoSlopJockeys #EscapeFromLinux #BSD #GhostBSD
@MsDropbear42 @argv_minus_one@mastodon.sdf.org if you mean the package manager as the GUI of pkg, it asks the password once you confirms what package you want install and uninstall if I remember well.
That's not ideal for me neither, but is not unusual, Flatpack does the same, first you order to install and later seek permission.
I don't think there are other GUIs for this on the BSD, because you have not DE distros with those.
I'm not sure how HelloSystem is about this point, but it tries to follow MacOs.
@MsDropbear42 @argv_minus_one@mastodon.sdf.org But if you mean the network applet, there are a lot of ports of the network utilities (like network-manager from Linux) but not really for their desktop applets because I think I have read they are too wired in Linux that do not work outside of it, and nobody has ported them yet.
You can thanks the devs that think portability doesn't matter.
I'm not sure thought if the KDE or LXDE port of FreeBSD has those working, because they are integrated into the DEs.
@MsDropbear42 @argv_minus_one@mastodon.sdf.org A lot of things on FreeBSD lacks of GUI actually because nobody has ported/made them yet, everything you saw on Linux is thought just for it (like Gparted for disks).
I didn't checked how HelloSystem stands about that thought. It replicates MacOsX, but about network managing what I read it must have a gui and a much better security design about permission.
It's designed for a single user, thought, like as I read lacks of a login sceen.
@MsDropbear42 @argv_minus_one@mastodon.sdf.org I could suggest you however to check the basic cli commands, because none of the bsd, and in this regard none of other OS, enjoyed the same attentions that Linux and get the same helps like the GUIs.
And things like AmigaOS or Haiku, they are born with in mind to replicate older systems, not imitate Linux/Win/Mac today.
NetBSD and OpenBSD can set a minimal GUI at installation, but you have to add manually later the DE of your choice.
re wifi config... there's also wpagui (wpa_supplicant_gui) if you look for alternatives for networkmgr.
for pkg management... Octopkg is similar to octopi from Arch Linux (and uses either doas or sudo for eleveting rights on demand)
for xlibre -> xorg... pkg install xorg should replace it.
but yes, what raster says. I helps to look into the CLI/Shell commands. The man pages are quite good. (e.g. if you have trouble with an update a "pkg upgrade -f" from the shell is quite helpful.)
in the end ymmv.
@Tionisla @MsDropbear42 Isn't wpa_supplicant_gui just check the Lan connection, but lacks of controls for it?
@raster@retro-gaiden.com @Tionisla@bsd.cafe @MsDropbear42@infosec.space Iirc, I was able to config my wifi with it as well.
Have to install it though to be sure.
/e: if you click on scan in manage-networks and double click on the wifi network you get into a Edit mode to save the connection, it seems. But don't ask me. Not using it anymore :-D