Bloggings

upgrade to dwm 6.8

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-06-29

dwm with some patches

I've been using dwm 6.5 for a while now, so I thought it + was time to upgrade to dwm 6.8.

Ideally I'd settle for a horizontal scrolling wm as my + Thinkpad screen is small, but after flirting with nwm I'm + staying with dwm for now.

I've added a few patches and shortcuts that make it easy + for me to circulate between windows and workspaces. I haven't + added the xrdb patch this time, instead I added the colorbar + patch which nicely colours the dwmblocks status bar and keeps + things simple. Many of the tiling patches I added to 6.5 have + been left out as I just don't use them. On a small 1366x768 + screen splitting it renders it useless so instead I use the + monocle layout by default and switch workspaces with + super+right and left, and switch windows with super+up and + down.

It's up on my + git server if you are interested.

Freedos thoughts

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-06-11

Maybe I have the best system already

+ I've been looking at Freedos for the retrocomputing nostalgia value + and the text-only goodness. +

+ I wound up using Qemu on my X270 as Freedos on bare metal means my 14 + year old Thinkpad X220 is way too modern. +

+ Yes there's some crazy good software, and it's fun. But using + fullscreen in Qemu means a fuzzy display, and I came to measure how + the terminal on Linux is truly light years ahead. +

+ In fact it pushes home that my Artix / DWM / Kitty setup is the + veritable retrocomputing bees knees +

semware-tse-editor

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-06-13

A very interesting editor for DOS, Linux and Windows

+ +

+ I stumbled upon the #Semware editor (TSE) for #Linux, Windows and #Dos + and thought I'd share it here. Originally named Qedit in 1985, the + latest version is dated May 2026. I don't know about Windows (as I + haven't used it in years), but the Linux version is a pleasant CLI app + with many features, including it's own application language. The more + I look at it, the more I realise that it is a profound piece of + software. +

+ www.semware.com
+ Knud Vaneeded YT videos +

Living on Snac's bleeding edge

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-05-25

Autoupdate script

+ I like living on the bleeding edge of + snac2, so I added + this (banal) script to /etc/cron.daily. +

+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# snaceto
+# Social Networks Are Crap Except This One
+
+cd /home/snac/src/snac2 || exit
+
+sudo -u snac git remote update
+UPDATED="$(git status -uno | grep -c 'up to date')"
+
+if [ "$UPDATED" -ne "1" ] ; then
+    echo "Updating..."
+    systemctl stop snac.service
+	# backup data before update
+	TODAY=$(date "+%Y-%m-%d-%H-%m")
+	BACKUPDIR="/opt/backups"
+	mkdir -p "$BACKUPDIR"
+	FILENAME="$BACKUPDIR/pre-update-snac-$TODAY.tar.gz"
+	tar -zcf "$FILENAME" /home/snac/data
+	# pull latest
+	sudo -u snac git pull
+	sudo -u snac make
+	make install
+	sudo -u snac snac upgrade /home/snac/data
+	systemctl start snac.service
+	VERSION="$(snac | head -n2)"
+	toot post "My bleeding edge #snac2 server has been updated
$VERSION"
+fi
+

Web sites that work well in Dillo

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-06-19

and other minimal browsers

+ I'm always looking for sane web sites. By sane I mean websites that + are not bloated with useless eye candy, nor have any ketamin fired + javascript. Sites that just want to display data in the form of easily + readable text with or without some images. +

+ There is an increasing number of web sites that do this, as it's a + normal backlash to the slop infested, obfuscated tar pit that the + internet has sadly become. I haven't found a single compendium of + sites, but I'll list some here. +

+ One of the things I find realy interesting are web proxies that render + sites into a saner version, like + Textise or + Textdot. I fact I'm wondering if I + could roll my own simple version using php and rdrview. +

+ This list incomplete list will be updated as I find them, or maybe you + dear reader might have suggestions? +

+ Directory of useful sites that work reasonably well on Dillo +

Wiby search engine

+ Text only web sites +

Ghostbsd installation

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-06-14

messing around on a sunday

+ So now we have Microsoft delivering Linux, and the Arch based AUR + getting wrecked by people who should be locked into a public pillory, + and I have some free time. Well in fact a lot of free time now that + I'm retired. +

+ So. I downloaded the latest #Ghostbsd Mate and cut a usb key, then + plugged it into my Thinkpad X220. +

+ The installation was simple and uneventful, and it booted without + problem. Everything worked out of the box. Mate seems pretty and + unobfuscated, just like me. +

So far I've done just two things:

+ (1) to get some thinkpad function keys to work I've added in + /boot/loader.conf +

+acpi_ibm_load="YES"
+

+ Printscreen works, brightness and volume controls work, vol mute + works, lid led works, but the MICMUTE button doesn't work.
+ For the X220 MICMUTE key, which is F20 or 0xBE (190), unfortunately + Ghostbsd's acpi_ibm doesn't pass on the event, so any script for it in + /etc/devd won't be fired. Checking the source code, acpi_ibm only accepts + a subset of events accepted by Linux's thinkpad_acpi, which appears to + cover them all. It's unfortunate as I'm a bit pedantic about keys but I + guess I'll have to live with it as the code is 20 years old and I + doubt it will change anytime soon. +

+ +

FYI, acpi_ibm accepts only these keyboard events:

+        LCD_BACKLIGHT
+        SUSPEND_TO_RAM
+        BLUETOOTH
+        SCREEN_EXPAND
+        SUSPEND_TO_DISK
+        BRIGHTNESS_UP
+        BRIGHTNESS_DOWN
+        THINKLIGHT
+        ZOOM
+        VOLUME_UP
+        VOLUME_DOWN
+        MUTE
+        ACCESS_IBM_BUTTON
+

(2) to enable the automounting of usb storage media:

+sudo pkg install automount
+

+ I've replaced the default Firefox with Librewolf, and I'm not too sure + about zsh instead of bash, and why not doas instead of sudo? +

+ Ghostbsd is a very nice BSD distribution that's been around since + 2010. +

https://www.ghostbsd.org

displaying MATE on a 1366x768 screen

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-06-15

xrandr to the rescue

+ Unfortunately several Ghostbsd MATE configuration windows are taller + than my Thinkpad X220's 768 pixels. I made both the top and bottom + panels autohide, but a better solution is to use xrandr: +

sudo pkg install xrandr

+ type xrandr to get the name of your display, in my case LVDS-1 on my + Thinkpad X220. +

To change 16:9 screen resolution, you can type:

+xrandr --output LVDS-1 --panning 1600x900  --scale 1.171x1.172

+xrandr --output LVDS-1 --panning 1920x1080 --scale 1.406x1.406

To get back to the original resolution type:

xrandr --output LVDS-1 --panning 1366x768 --scale 1x1

+ Here's a simple bash script that will rotate the screen resolution on + each call. I've added a MATE keyboard shortcut (CTRL+RIGHT) to run + this script. It is intended for my 1366x768 screen, so it will need + adapting for other screens. +

+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+        
+RES="$(xdpyinfo | grep dimensions | sed -r 's/^[^0-9]*([0-9]+x[0-9]+).*$/\1/')"
+# xdpy results can vary by 1 or two pixels 
+# so take the first two characters
+RES="${RES:0:2}"
+        
+case "$RES" in
+  "13")
+  xrandr --output LVDS-1 --panning 1600x900  --scale 1.171x1.172
+  ;;
+  "16")
+  xrandr --output LVDS-1 --panning 1920x1080 --scale 1.406x1.406
+  ;;
+  *)
+  xrandr --output LVDS-1 --panning 1366x768 --scale 1x1
+  ;;
+esac
+

I doubt you can do that in Wayland.

Oops! I did it again

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-05-31

More blog improvements

+ This blog now + sits in my git repository, so I made a few changes. +

+ One is the + blogsend + bash script which now does a git commit on my local machine, and a git + pull on the remote web server. The other is the git repos itself which + now has the web site in one repos, and the bash scripts in another. +

+ All this is probably of little interest to anyone other than myself, + but if you want to run a smol blog you might find it useful, after all + that's why I'm posting it. +

smolweb validation in Dillo

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-06-22 +.dillo/actions/smolcheck.sh

a simple page_action script

+ I added smolweb-validator as a page action in Dillo. It's a bit of a + pain as the validator is a java application. The action script is + brutal so far but it works. +

#!/bin/sh
+
+#smolweb validator location
+smp="$HOME/src/smolweb-validator"
+
+# validate
+cd $smp
+output="$(java -cp "jsoup-1.21.2.jar:." SmolwebValidator $url --verbose)"
+echo "$output" | dilloc rawload
+

+ The action is added to ~/.dillo/dillorc and appears in Dillo's + right-click menu +

+page_action="Smolcheck:~/.dillo/actions/smolcheck.sh"
+

+ see + https://codeberg.org/smolweb/smolweb-validator +

Updated blogthis script

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-06-16

now with markdown

+ I've updated my blogthis script so I can write articles in markdown. +

+ It saves me having to write html in the articles and avoids errors. +

+ I've uploaded it to + my git server +

Hebdogiciel

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-06-07

Flashback to the 80's

+ After my ZX81 I purchased an Amstrad CPC464, and oh joy I discovered + Hebdogiciel. Before the internet this magazine printed the code for + games and programs that you could painfully copy out. Today I + discovered that there's an online archive: +

+ +

+ abandonware-magazines +

+ +

+ 1983–1987: Imagine a weekly magazine that, in addition to + providing us with a weekly program to type out and delivering + uncompromising hardware and software reviews (and that’s saying + something), also featured TV listings, movie, music, and comic book + releases, assembly language tutorials, a comic strip, a discount club, + walkthroughs... A tone that blew you away from the first page to the + last, Carali’s drawings filling in the gaps, lawsuits galore… Simply + extraordinary, unmatched. +

More on Dillo

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-06-21

update on yesterday's post

The git + version of dillo has a new option: page_action, which + enables running rdrview on the current page if the + setting:

page_action="Reader mode:dilloc dump | rdrview -H | dilloc load"
+

is set in dillorc.

When you right click on a page the menu will now include + the option "Reader Mode".

Installation of Snac2 on Artix Linux

Philip A. Wittamore

Installation of snac2 on Artix Linux +Nginx +Dinit

+useradd -m -s /bin/bash snac
+passwd snac
+usermod -aG wheel snac
+su - snac
+mkdir src
+cd src
+git clone https://codeberg.org/grunfink/snac2.git
+cd snac2
+make
+sudo make install
+snac init ~/data
+

+Host name: your.server.domain
+Path prefix: leave empty
+Network address: 127.0.0.1
+Port: 8001
+

+snac adduser ~/data
+

+admin_email
+admin_account
+title
+short_description
+
+and add this line:
+
+"proxy_media: true
+

+type = process
+run-as = snac
+command = /usr/local/bin/snac httpd /home/snac/data
+depends-on = NetworkManager
+restart = true
+smooth-recovery = yes
+log-type = file
+logfile = /var/log/dinit/snac2.log
+

+dinitcl enable snac2
+

+see it-notes.fragas.net +

+see comam.es.
+Use $host not $http_host (gixy) +

+proxy_cache_path /var/cache/nginx/snac_cache levels=1:2 keys_zone=snac:10m max_size=1g inactive=1440m use_temp_path=off;
+

+mkdir -p /var/cache/nginx/snac_cache
+

+server {
+    listen 443 ssl;
+    listen [::]:443 ssl;
+    server_name example.com;
+
+    ssl_certificate     /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem;
+    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/example.com/privkey.pem;
+    ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
+    ssl_ciphers HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;
+    # openssl dhparam -out /etc/ssl/certs/dhparam.pem 2048
+    ssl_dhparam /etc/ssl/certs/dhparam.pem;
+
+    add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains" always;
+
+location / {
+    proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8001;
+    proxy_set_header Host $host;
+    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $remote_addr;
+}
+
+location ~ ^/.+/s/ {
+    proxy_cache snac;
+    proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8001;
+    proxy_set_header Host $host;
+    proxy_cache_valid 200 1d;
+    proxy_cache_valid 404 1h;
+    proxy_ignore_headers "Cache-Control" "Expires";
+    proxy_cache_use_stale error timeout updating http_500 http_502 http_503 http_504;
+    proxy_cache_lock on;
+    add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains" always;
+    add_header X-Proxy-Cache $upstream_cache_status;
+}
+}
+
+server {
+    listen 80;
+    listen [::]:80;
+    server_name example.com;
+    return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
+}
+

+ +

see relaylist.com

+su - snac
+snac adduser ~/data relay
+snac follow ~/data relay https://relay.toot.io/actor
+

Funeral blues

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-05-07

A poem by W.H.Auden (1907-1973)

This poem was read in the film "Four marriages and a funeral"

+ +

I just stumbled upon it and wanted to write it down.

+ +


+Funeral Blues 
+
+Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone. 
+Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, 
+
+Silence the pianos and with muffled drum 
+Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come. 
+
+Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead 
+Scribbling in the sky the message He is Dead, 
+
+Put crêpe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
+Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves. 
+
+He was my North, my South, my East and West, 
+My working week and my Sunday rest 
+
+My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; 
+I thought that love would last forever, I was wrong. 
+
+The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
+Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun. 
+
+Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood; 
+For nothing now can ever come to any good.
+

From minimalist to smolweb

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-05-06

When smarter people get things done

+ In 2023 + about what I was feeling at the time on the sorry state of the web. +

+ I'm happy to say that the people at + smolweb.org have made a far better + statement than mine. +

+ As this blog is now a few years old, I'll be working on making it pass + the + smolweb validation test. +

De Gaulle - Two films

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-06-04

De Gaulle is more popular than ever

+ People who choose a country to be their home are often patriotic as + it's their choice, not mere circumstance. +

Personally I'm patriotic but certainly not nationalist.

+ “The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the + patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the + nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the + first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a + feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.” + ― + Sydney J. Harris +

+ +

Ladybird turns into a squashed bug

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-06-06

My own private search engine

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-06-02

Messing around with a bad back in stormy weather

+ I made a bad movement in the shower this morning and made my back + scream again, so no woodworking today. One of the benefits of + retirement is that I get to choose the days activities. +

+ I had installed + SearxNG previously + more than two years ago, but as I'm constantly fiddling it wound up in + the bin. +

+ Convalescing in the armchair I saw that my current vps is mostly idle + running just snac2, my blog, xmpp, gophernicus and other bits, so I + reinstalled SearxNG. +

+ It's fast, responsive, and private. I have it behind an Nginx reverse + proxy, and only accepting my own IP address for now. +

+ Another thing I did was to play around with the + Fresh editor. Like Micro, it can + be configured to use prettier, the code formatter. Ok, it's written in + Rust, but it is a nice editor with a retro computing vibe. It won't + replace Micro as my daily editor, but if I ever need a TUI IDE it + could be a good choice. +

Filtering the web

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-06-20

A browser that says no

+ To me the problem with the smolweb is that there's isn't a browser + that applies these rules. Dillo comes close, even though it needs a + makeover. +

+ Dillo also has an rdrview plugin, but you have to manually write + rdrview: in front of the url in the url bar of every page to see the + results. +

+ A better solution would be a smolweb plugin that filters the entire + html page rejecting anything that doesn't + validate or pass to + rdrview . Degrees of acceptance could be set in settings. +

+ A dedicated browser wouldn't require searching for smolweb / smallweb + / indieweb blogs, sites, or articles. (There seems to be no such thing + as a smolweb search engine, although points for wiby, marginalia, kagi + and mojeek). +

+ Just point the browser to any web site and if it borks, display the + "errors" or ignore it with a + + 418 I'm a teapot error: after all it's the web site author's responsibility to provide + clean, readable web sites. +

+ Imagine a world where this plugin would be as ubiquitous as + ublock-origin, it could even change web site development. +

Updated poem

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-06-01

Existance is the prize itself

+ Sadly a childhood friend of one of my nieces recently died at 36 of a + brain tumour. I gave this poem a re-write. +

+Life is but a long farewell
+While clawing at eternity's shell
+No rhyme nor reason, no justice in sight 
+A frantic push against entropy's might
+This fleeting hare 
+Brings grave dispair
+But pointless is a daily dread
+Of closing circuit in our bed
+Here then gone, a spark in the night?
+Our passing through is never trite
+Best keep your malaise on the shelf
+Existance is the prize itself
+

This blog wasn't so bad after all

Philip A. Wittamore — 2026-05-05

Smolweb, Fediverse and blogs

+ For several months I've been using Gopher exclusively, I find it's + minimalist raw text files appealing. +

+ It does have several drawbacks however. Recently I've been self + hosting my own fediverse instance at + social.wittamore.fr. +

+ Looking around for a fediverse blog, I realised that this html blog + wasn't so bad after all. +

+ It's work in progress, as I would like to have it + smolweb validated, and needs a + clean up. +