FreeBSD is a wonderful Operating System, one of its many interesting ideas is a division between the base system and other pieces of software, which are called ports.

Since FreeBSD is an operating system, this also means that there are exactly two source trees or repositories: the main tree (base system) and the ports tree.

The base system is developed together and therefore is kept consistent, whenever an API or a behaviour changes, all pieces of the base system must be updated as well.

This makes changes somewhat seamless and easy to deal with.

On the other hand, ports provide a description of how to compile third-party software under FreeBSD and how to install it manually or how to build an installable binary package.

However, FreeBSD development, including maintaining the ports tree, is a voluntary-based effort; which means sometimes it lacks human power.

Being a good open source user sometimes goes through being aware that people’s time is limited, and helping out when things fall through the cracks.

Here I document a bit how the general process of updating a port you detect as being outdated is.

After being fed up with mostly non-serviceable phones and my previous one suffering a bit of an accident; it was the perfect time to align consumer values with portable device because the Fairphone 3 started selling in late 2019.

This is about setting up an Android phone with a stock OS, but getting rid of as much of Google as possible, while still having the option to use the “necessary” regular things.

As a friend put it:

“I don’t believe in free. Not anymore.”

I’ve been writing about setting up a FreeBSD-based eXO router, first the upstream and PPPoE details were covered, then how to setup the gateway, access point and an IPv6-only network. This builds upon a system that can properly route IPv6 and IPv4 as well as has a means to connect other clients and possibly providing them with an IPv6 address and route.

The goal here is to setup the bits of the router needed for everyday usage.

Last time I wrote about setting up a FreeBSD-based eXO router, this builds upon a system that can correctly ping and ping6 to the internet.

The goal here is to setup the bits of the router needed for everyday usage.

eXO – expansió Xarxa Oberta (open network expansion) is an non-profit association based in Barcelona and since 2019, it’s also a RIPE member.

eXO […] promotes open telecommunication networks, technological sovereignty, access to wholesale Internet services and reduces the digital gap.

They are also pretty much the only decent way to access native IPv6 in Barcelona and since RIPE ran out of IPv4 in 2019, it’s also pretty much the only decent Internet Service Provider around.

Also, the fact that you are not a customer but a member who can make things work out if necessary, kicks ass over <rant> Customer Service that keeps you waiting for hours and then insults your time and intelligence, or a service that forces you to use crappy routers, uses CGNAT or one that basically mobs you into joining them by aggressively calling you multiple times a week. (Who does these terrible things? Search for “biggest ISPs in Spain”) </rant>

Also: you get to pick your router and, besides something running OpenWRT (default), do it your self and e.g. run OpenBSD or FreeBSD.

This is roughly about how internet with eXO works and mainly about how to setup a FreeBSD system as a router for it.

PS: eXO does more than just fiber, there are also community-owned wireless mesh networks, but that’s for another day.