It seems that py/cryptography's thoughts about OpenSSL (cryptography.io/en/latest/stat…) are doing the rounds at the moment.

I've not touched OpenSSL directly in a long time. In fact, it appears that the 10-year anniversary of that (imperialviolet.org/2015/10/17/…) passed by a few months ago!

So I've no direct comments on the piece but, a long time ago, I was in the position where I was landing changes in both OpenSSL and NSS (Mozilla's TLS library). OpenSSL was somewhat famous for having bad code. And, indeed, if you looked at it back then the functions were full of single-letter variable names with pointer arithmetic everywhere and context-free, somewhat scary comments. It wasn't outside the norm for 1990s C code, but I understand why people recoiled.

In contrast, if you looked at NSS code, it looked good! Consistent formatting (before clang-format), good naming, good comments.

But NSS had a PKCS#11 abstraction layer and, even after years, I never could understand how the control flow worked there. I would have to single-step in gdb every time to figure out where an operation grounded out into actual code. I was reminded of that when reading py/cryptography's descriptions of OpenSSL 3.0.

I had a pet theory at the time that, because OpenSSL was repulsive on the surface, it inhibited people enough that they couldn't add much deeper complexity. But NSS, with its invitingly clean-looking code, was understandable and then people had enough capacity left over to add deeper complexity.

There might be something to it, although you shouldn't discount the fact that entities who are willing to fund cryptography libraries often have demands that are contrary to clean code. Things like FIPS compliance and compatibility with a zoo of different accelerators and bespoke needs.

So rather it might have been that old OpenSSL was old OpenSSL because it was mostly unfunded. That meant that it looked pretty ragged, but also there weren't so many demands in tension with good design.

NSS was funded by interests that really cared about PKCS#11 compatibility so that you could use a super-expensive, certified-everything HSM with it. When OpenSSL got shocked into switching to a higher-funding model, that brought lots of those same sorts of competing interests, and then the incentives pointed towards adding slow, impenetrable layers of abstraction all over.

So @lwn is currently under the heaviest scraper attack seen yet. It is a DDOS attack involving tens of thousands of addresses, and that is affecting the responsiveness of the site, unfortunately.

There are many things I would like to do with my time. Defending LWN from AI shitheads is rather far from the top of that list. I *really* don't want to put obstacles between LWN and its readers, but it may come to that.

(Another grumpy day, sorry)

Test.

dragonscave.space/@brian_hartg…

Brian Hartgen

2026-01-15 21:24:56

@Bri Oh I'm sure you will. Some of us have been asking for quoting on this platform for a long time, so it's nice to see someone attempting to allow us to actually do it.

I use this all the time on the RNIB Talking Book site. It makes browsing tables of search results much easier and it's a service we use quite a lot. Quoting Freedom Scientific / Vispero: JAWS Feature Spotlight: Smart Navigation

Want a faster, more intuitive way to move through web pages, PDFs, and HTML content? Smart Navigation helps you browse more efficiently by letting you navigate by controls, tables, or both, so you can focus on the information that matters.

In this archived 20 Minute Tech Tips episode, you’ll learn what Smart Navigation is, why it matters, how to enable it, and how to switch modes on the fly.

Listen now: freedomscientifictraining.libs…
#JAWS #ScreenReader
image: JAWS Feature Spotlight, Smart Navigation. Dark blue shark fin with wavy line along the bottom of image. @freedomscientific

Freedom Scientific Training Podcast: 20 Minute Tech Tips: Unlocking JAWS Smart Navigation

In this episode, Freedom Scientific trainer Ron Miller dives deep into JAWS Smart Navigation, a powerful feature designed to make navigating web pages, PDFs, and HTML documents more intuitive.

^{freedomscientifictraining.libsyn.com}

RE: climatejustice.social/@termina…

I’m now officially moving from “the cloud is just someone else’s computer“ to “the cloud is just a landlord for your data”

Very poignantly put @terminaltilt

Terminal Tilt

2026-01-15 03:05:37

Jeff Bezos is saying the quiet part out loud. They want to kill local computing.

You will own nothing and be happy. You will rent your computing power from the cloud. You pay a subscription for the privilege of using a computer.

AI demand is artificially spiking DRAM prices and Big Tech is pushing "AI PCs," the squeeze is on to force us into a rental model.

Reject this future.

Keep your hardware local.

Run #Linux.

Own your data.

The "cloud" is just a landlord for your data.

#NoAi #FOSS #OpenSource #Privacy #SelfHost #SelfHosting #BigTech #RightToRepair #RAM #Amazon #EatTheRich

windowscentral.com/artificial-…

Many times during my career, I have heard that #Linux has no chance on the #desktop unless some corporation picks it up and prepares it for the masses. #ChromeOS was given as an example.

I think it is safe to say today that all those small Linux vendors and communities have beaten #Google with its Chrome OS.

It's really funny to me how the amount of autism and dry humor in our family means that we will get into a big group text conversation and someone says something and then one of us is like, "Wait, is he kidding?" And then the other autistic person is like, "I think so?" And the first autistic person: "Oh, I knew that?"

And I literally can't tell who is being sarcastic or what

(but it's okay because everyone is nice - unlike growing up, when missing sarcasm meant DOOOOM, heh)

Getting back on the #Mozilla topic (sorry): they did not release the state of mozilla 2025 report, as they usually do.

But we can find the 990 filing for the Mozilla foundation of year 2024 which was submitted in November 2025: projects.propublica.org/nonpro…

I wasn't a good year as investment revenue dropped, while expenses kept growing, resulting in a loss of $4 million.

In the expenses, almost $11 million were invested in advocating for "trustworthy AI".

Mozilla Foundation, Full Filing - Nonprofit Explorer - ProPublica

Since 2013, the IRS has released data culled from over 1.8 million nonprofit tax filings. Use this database to find organizations and see details like their executive compensation, revenue and expenses, as well as download tax filings going back as f…

^ProPublica

Starting up #Finnish classes for the new term

Not helped by them being on the same day as I have to be in the office now, but never mind!

Quiz game idea:

Who said it, CEO or LLM?

Any #GameDev folks have any experience working with both #playdate and #pico8 (and/or #tic80 fantasy console)? I’m curious if anyone has first-hand experience with trying to work on a project with shared #lua code that works in both environments but has each using its own resources for input handling, graphics, and sound.

Specifically looking for tips, best practices, learned experience, etc.

#AndroidAppRain at apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/?radd=1… today brings you 7 updated and 4 added apps:

* CleanShare: Xposed module that removes Direct Share suggestions from Android's Share Sheet 🛡️
* Middor: mirror apps on your device (e.g. for HUD) 🛡️
* KashCal: Privacy-focused calendar with optional iCloud sync 🛡️
* Auto Off Bluetooth: monitors Bluetooth connection status and automatically turns it off 🛡️

RB status: 802 apps (62.1%)

Enjoy your #free #Android apps with the #IzzyOnDroid repo

IzzyOnDroid F-Droid Repository

This is a repository of apps to be used with your F-Droid client. Applications in this repository are official binaries built by the original application developers, taken from their resp. repositories (mostly Github, GitLab, Codeberg).

^{IzzyOnDroid App Repo}

So I'm looking to supplement my current income with around 10hr/week 1099 engagements. I would be happy doing sysadmin or software development work.

My resume: hardenedbsd.org/~shawn/2026%20…

#FediHire

If you haven't been able to see my posts for a while (I mean, you should consider that a blessing/feature, but I digress) it was because apparently my firewall was doing something strange with the Spamhaus DROP list and blocking connections it shouldn't have.

After receiving several reports that people couldn't connect to my services and I couldn't find them on the official list (didn't search my pf table, sadly) the problem went away after I disabled and re-enabled the list.

How did that fix it? Only the magic smoke inside the machine knows the answer

The new #FreeBSDJournal is out! Includes my Letters column, where someone calls out my bullshit. Or tries to.

freebsdfoundation.org/our-work…

Really interesting how the Black Panther Party came out in opposition to the murder of Renee Good, and not a single “White Lives Matter” or “All Lives Matter” or Gadsen Flag etc. person has shown up. Really interesting.

#ICE #FuckICE #Philly #BlackPanther #BlackFedi #BlackMastodon #BlackTwitter

reddit.com/r/BlackPeopleofRedd…

Retoot this is you are a "fucking bitch."

#ReneeNicoleGood #ICEMurders #AmericanFascism #ICE #JonathanRoss #Trump

Early 80s. A small lawn, a red Vespa, and the illusion of absolute freedom.

Judging by the color of the Vespa, it was probably powered by FreeBSD, even if it did not exist yet.

#ThrowbackThursday

This is Max.

We provide him with multiple cat beds, cushioned cat trees, blankets, pillows, mattresses...

... but he chooses to sleep like this.

#cat #catsofMastodon #pets #animals #cats #sleep

@bsdtv I keep forgetting to share this with people so if you need something to talk about on an episode, here you go

github.com/feld/gtaste/

GitHub - feld/gtaste: FreeBSD utility to force GEOM to re-taste a device

FreeBSD utility to force GEOM to re-taste a device - feld/gtaste

^GitHub

Google: "We found that this gambling ad doesn't violate our policies against gambling ads, but you can personalise your ad experience to block the kinds of ads you don't want."

Me: "So, can I block gambling ads?"

Google: "No, we don't allow gambling ads so a toggle to block gambling ads doesn't make sense. What are you talking about?"