# Blogs and News feeds



## fernandel (Sep 5, 2021)

Hi!

I saw to messages about Afghanistan in "Blogs and Newsfeeds a. Are those two posts related to FreeBSD, please or are just political news?
Thank you.


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## grahamperrin@ (Sep 5, 2021)

Thanks fernandel, I also wondered WTH they're doing in such a prominent area. Both now _reported_


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## Vull (Sep 5, 2021)

Those posts are created by RSS newsfeeds, and not by any individual human. Both are internet/Netcraft-related, insofar as their subject matter pertains to the eventual fate of the Afghanistan government's top-level domain registrations and the old government's internet sites, which is probably why they wound up here in "our" FreeBSD-related feed. Thread blogs-newsfeeds.39857


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## Deleted member 30996 (Sep 5, 2021)

The one about the guy who snagged their Domain was one of the better ones I've read.


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## grahamperrin@ (Sep 5, 2021)

Vull said:


> internet/Netcraft-related,



<https://www.google.com/search?q=FreeBSD+site:www.netcraft.com&tbs=li:1#unfucked> finds only one mention of FreeBSD, under <https://www.netcraft.com/internet-data-mining/hosting-provider-server-count/#error-margins>:



> Solutions that use a single operating system kernel and TCP/IP stack for multiple virtual user-lands (e.g. user-mode Linux, FreeBSD jails) will count as one computer.



If FreeBSD Forums represents Netcraft news content under a FreeBSD news heading: _why_?

I used the _report_ feature for a few more posts that are entirely unrelated to FreeBSD; entirely off-topic. As currently categorised, these things are a waste of space; they *devalue the forums*.


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## Vull (Sep 5, 2021)

grahamperrin said:


> <https://www.google.com/search?q=FreeBSD+site:www.netcraft.com&tbs=li:1#unfucked> finds only one mention of FreeBSD, under <https://www.netcraft.com/internet-data-mining/hosting-provider-server-count/#error-margins>:
> 
> 
> 
> If FreeBSD Forums is representing Netcraft news content: _why_?


In the thread I linked, a forum admin implied that Netcraft was somehow related to FreeBSD's 'environment.' I inferred that perhaps Netcraft was one supplier of the RSS newfeed. Maybe I was wrong to jump to that conclusion; maybe I'm misreading this whole thing entirely; I don't really know.

Why is this important? If Netcraft supplies part of FreeBSD's RSS new feed, is that a bad thing? I don't understand the concern.


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## Deleted member 30996 (Sep 5, 2021)

> https://www.microsoft.com    August 1995    Akamai Technologies, Inc.


I told you Microsoft and Akamai had associations.


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## Vull (Sep 5, 2021)

Netcraft: A FreeBSD _advocate?_ https://duckduckgo.com/?q=freebsd+netcraft&t=newext&atb=v281-1&ia=web


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## a6h (Sep 5, 2021)

Reliable Hosting Companies, ... GoDaddy is definitely one of them. Meh! I'm kidding. That was a joke. Seizing domains, terminate hosting ... Aha!
Presently, most reliable hosting are in the the Eastern Europe and Russia. My favorites are in Poland and Hungary.


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## grahamperrin@ (Sep 5, 2021)

Vull said:


> … I don't understand the concern.



I added this to my earlier post:



> > … a few more posts that are entirely unrelated to FreeBSD; entirely off-topic. As currently categorised, these things are a waste of space; they devalue the forums.





Vull said:


> Netcraft: A FreeBSD _advocate?_ …



From their various news items in the FreeBSD news area: no.


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## Geezer (Sep 5, 2021)

vigole said:


> Presently, most reliable hosting are in the the Eastern Europe and Russia. My favorites are in Poland and Hungary.



Specifically?


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## Deleted member 30996 (Sep 5, 2021)

My Host is locally known as AwaredSpace.com but boils down to ZETTA HOSTING SOLUTIONS LLC. in Sofia, Bulgaria.   If you can catch them around a Holiday they have great first year contracts for under a dollar. Goes up next year.

 This is my 4th year with them as a paid provider but have had a couple free sites hosted by awardspace in the past. They are the only free site that doesn't require ads on your site to use as their platform to get those clicks.

I asked them if they knew my dopey doppleganger, who by sheer chance lives in the same place my sit is hosted but they denied all knowledge of deeds done and didn't pick up on I wanted someone from office to wring his neck for me. Just a little.


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## reddy (Sep 5, 2021)

I hope these threads about banning content are not becoming the new sport here as I fear this will do way more harm to the quality of this community than any unrelated link would ever do. The title of the two news links is quite explicit about their technical nature so I wonder what is the true intent behind this thread. 
Because of my job I only know too well how activists begin witch hunts so this trajectory makes me perplex. This kind of things never fails to snowball badly before being instrumentalized by people having a political agenda (when they are not instigated by them in the first place).

Here we already have an example with "why is netcraft content featured here". I have always understood that they are quite big sponsors/contributors to FreeBSD so they have privileges here and I personally have no problem with that. The cancel boat will take unsuspecting people to unexpected places.

The forums have a report button and are actively moderated, so maybe we should ban threads about "what about cancelling X, Y, Z" to avoid turning this place into a platform for activism and wokeness (whether it is left-wing wokeness, right-wing wokeness or FreeBSD's version of wokeness). People are professional here, and for the most part know how to small talk professionally (which is probably the reason why the off-topic section was created). I don't remember seeing political flamewars in the off-topic section or someone starting a topic about politics. I feel we should let moderating to moderators and use the report button rather than creating pressure dynamics.


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## reddy (Sep 5, 2021)

vigole said:


> Presently, most reliable hosting are in the the Eastern Europe and Russia. My favorites are in Poland and Hungary.





Geezer said:


> Specifically?



I am too always interested in knowing more good Eastern Europe hosting companies as they tend to be censorship resistant (please send them in private message if you do not want to reveal their name here). It is crazy what gets censored nowadays.


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## grahamperrin@ (Sep 5, 2021)

reddy said:


> their technical nature



Unrelated to FreeBSD, however.



reddy said:


> sponsors/contributors to FreeBSD



The FreeBSD Foundation finds nothing about Netcraft:




– Google tells the same: <https://www.google.com/search?q=Netcraft+site:freebsdfoundation.org&tbs=li:1#unfucked>.

Twenty-one years ago, a grammatical correction (_they is_) from someone at Netcraft:

<https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/log/?qt=grep&q=Netcraft> ▶ <https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/commit/?id=870fb372757f6d32b18c263e5ad46a3c1021e77c>

Am I missing something?

Maybe the feed was added in a mood of excitement eighteen months eight years ago:



– when a long-term future trend towards FreeBSD might have been imagined. More recent tables allow readers to discover that *FreeBSD is nowhere to be seen*:









reddy said:


> use the report button



☑


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## Deleted member 30996 (Sep 5, 2021)

A bot goes out to spider the net for Internet related articles in the case of the 2 Afghani albatrosses. Neither of them are from a Political standpoint. Who has control over their computer infrastructure as pertinent if I took it over. What was lost and what could I find to do with t.

The second about somebody who sniped their govt domain, wish I had thought of it.

It is about FreeBSD? No. Neither is the story about Android attack malware, II hate smartphones. but I never red those newsfeeds so it doesn't bother me either way. As an adult with no bone to pick I can easily ignore it. If I know I won't like it I won't read it.

I had cable disconnected during the 2016 Elections because I couldn't stand seeing either one of them on my TV screen any longer and shut them both down.

But if Censorship is involved, please let me in on it so I can show how little will be left when I've nitpicked it.


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## grahamperrin@ (Sep 5, 2021)

reddy said:


> these threads about banning





reddy said:


> what gets censored



There was no prior suggestion of banning or censoring.

Simply: there's *misplaced, off-topic content in a prominent area* of the forum:





So, a newcomer sees news, announcements, Taliban  Afghanistan  promotion of Linux   with FreeBSD missing from the top ten  and security advisories for FreeBSD. Welcome to FreeBSD. Erm, right.

If humans would like to post equally off-topic content here:









						Off-Topic
					

Have some non-FreeBSD related questions, or want just to chit-chat about anything that is not related to FreeBSD? This is the forum for you. Note: this is NOT a forum for technical questions about non-FreeBSD operating systems!




					forums.freebsd.org
				




– that would be better (than automated, non-human addition to an inappropriate area).



Trihexagonal said:


> if Censorship is involved,



I think not.


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## a6h (Sep 5, 2021)

Geezer said:


> Specifically?



reddy and Geezer
I don't know the language, therefore anything with at least partial English support will work, e.g. DotRoll, etc. I had a "cpanel" for a website, but now I'm looking for a *BSD VPS. I'm looking for a long-time plan, and all things considered (from my perspective) that side of the planet looks more stable (in the long run). A buddy of mine has promised me to help with language and setup.

Every single sites under my control (part-time amateur SEO stuff) can be hosted on every hosts, in every country on this planet. So personally, I don't have a need for host-jumping. All hosts work for me. However, I refuse to send money to bullies, GoDaddy for example -- directly or indirectly, even one penny.
Today, they've removed another website, just because they didn't like it.

Regarding the Netcraft, they are a company. That's all I know! According to them (*), they have 5 performance collectors -- with CDN as a factor. Are there any other factors? I don't know, and I won't speculate.

(*) https://uptime.netcraft.com/perf/reports/Hosters


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## Deleted member 30996 (Sep 6, 2021)

grahamperrin said:


> I think not.


Only because you haven't seen me argue the point. 

I participated in the discussion whether or not to be a PC People Pleaser at DistroWatch and pick and choose which Religion and Political oriented Linux distros to exclude with a prayer to Kali, the Hindu Goddess of Death, as my post title:

Kali, Goddess of Death, bring me liberation...


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## grahamperrin@ (Sep 6, 2021)

Netcraft, Netflix

Re: Netcraft,



reddy said:


> … I have always understood that they are quite big sponsors/contributors to FreeBSD …



Maybe thinking of a different company … Net_flix_? 

Netcraft <https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/log/?qt=grep&q=Netcraft> just one, not sponsored
Netflix <https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/log/?qt=grep&q=Netflix> many sponsored commits.
FreeBSD Case Study: Netflix | FreeBSD Foundation


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## grahamperrin@ (Sep 6, 2021)

Trihexagonal said:


> DistroWatch



That reminds me, the *Related Websites* section of <https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=freebsd> was cleaned up a few months ago. 

Instead of prominently displaying Netcraft content, most of which is unrelated to FreeBSD, maybe FreeBSD Forums could have a pinned item: 

FreeBSD-related websites

– with opening post links out to carefully selected sites. Subject to occasional review.


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## SirDice (Sep 6, 2021)

grahamperrin said:


> they *devalue the forums*.


Those Netcraft RSS feeds have been a part of the "Blogs and newsfeeds" since 2014 (maybe even longer than that). Why do you suddenly have a problem with that?


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## fernandel (Sep 6, 2021)

SirDice said:


> Those Netcraft RSS feeds have been a part of the "Blogs and newsfeeds" since 2014 (maybe even longer than that). Why do you suddenly have a problem with that?


I started this thread because it is bother me double criteria from some users. If someone mntion something political immediately jumping and complaing and "valuable news" were also long time in the Forum, I think from 2018 and nobody complain. But if is in the "admin news" something politicial which has nothing with FreeBSD than is okay??


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## SirDice (Sep 6, 2021)

fernandel said:


> But if is in the "admin news" something politicial which has nothing with FreeBSD than is okay??


Did you actually read the articles? There's nothing political about them.


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## Deleted member 30996 (Sep 6, 2021)

I read them. but I wouldn't have but for this thread.

There was nothing political about them, The one about who had control of the Afgani nation LAN as pertinent as if I had control of it and I wish I had got their domain.

I'd have sold it to the Saudis and had a cup of hashish tea during the meeting. I hear that's the way business is carried out from someone who was there. Then he wasn't there after the oil well blew up. 

After I made the case on why Kali souldn't be allowed at DW, I got us. For the rumor we're all Devil Wrshipers because of Beastie. You have to be ruthless when you make a case.


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## johngrauvard (Sep 6, 2021)

Just make it a personal rule to never read blogs or the news.


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## fernandel (Sep 6, 2021)

SirDice said:


> Did you actually read the articles? There's nothing political about them.


It is not important what I am reading but double criteria is IMO. There are think which nothing wit FreeBSD also with computers...but are tolerated. Personally, don't bother me.
BTW: Trihexagonal am I wrong?


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## SirDice (Sep 6, 2021)

fernandel said:


> It is not important what I am reading but double criteria is IMO.


If you read the articles then you would have noticed they're technical, not political. If the articles aren't political then what is this double criteria you speak of? Your whole argument is based around those articles being political when they're not. 



fernandel said:


> Personally, don't bother me.


Then why did you start this thread in the first place?

Everything in "Blogs and newsfeeds" is posted by a bot, an automated process that picks up a couple of RSS feeds. It's been doing that for the past 7 (or more) years.


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## Deleted member 30996 (Sep 6, 2021)

fernandel said:


> Hi!
> 
> I saw to messages about Afghanistan in "Blogs and Newsfeeds a. Are those two posts related to FreeBSD, please or are just political news?
> Thank you.





fernandel said:


> BTW: _*[FONT=monospace]Trihexagonal[/FONT]*_ am I wrong?


You're not wrong in speaking up in concern about not seeing them as being relative to FreeBSD. They both have the Internet as a common theme, which is relative since we're using it. You saw Afganastan as the message without reading the story.

Assuming posts made by a bot that is sent out to spider the web looking for stories by keyword as "political views" is anthropomorphism. Attributing human characteristics of having a political view to a bot that is incapable of forming one by imposing one that could only come from you, fernandel..

That you saw it as posts reflective of a politics more reflective of your personal political viewpoint as being in strong opposition to seeing it there. and that went into forming your post.

There is no being right or wrong to it beyond what you attribute to it


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## fernandel (Sep 6, 2021)

Trihexagonal said:


> You're not wrong in speaking up in concern about not seeing them as being relative to FreeBSD. They both have the Internet as a common theme, which is relative since we're using it. You saw Afganastan as the message without reading the story.
> 
> Assuming posts made by a bot that is sent out to spider the web looking for stories by keyword as "political views" is anthropomorphism. Attributing human characteristics of having a political view to a bot that is incapable of forming one by imposing one that could only come from you, fernandel..
> 
> ...


I saw the message as you wrote and I DID READ the story and IMO is political.
And I didn't change my opinion about doubled criterias.


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## sidetone (Sep 6, 2021)

I don't see a big issue with it. Perhaps to be in the top 5, it has to say BSD or FreeBSD. Otherwise, it's about computers and the Internet.

It's not political in the sense most think of it, or at least it's not by most definitions. It's barely political, and technically so. It's not political in the fanatical sense either.

Why BSD created its own kernel to separate from UNIX is also political. The few different BSD distributions (FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, DragonflyBSD, MidnightBSD) is also political, even though they have many alignments in purpose. BSD license comparison to GPL is also technically political.

The articles are good, that they acknowledge current events in an Internet related way. Perhaps they could have to do more with using BSD/FreeBSD software for Internet checks.


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## grahamperrin@ (Sep 7, 2021)

SirDice said:


> Those Netcraft RSS feeds have been a part of the "Blogs and newsfeeds" since 2014 (maybe even longer than that). Why do you suddenly have a problem with that?


Forget time. 
They're not related to FreeBSD.


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## grahamperrin@ (Sep 7, 2021)

johngrauvard said:


> Just make it a personal rule to never read blogs or the news.



Not as a rule, but whenever I glanced at what was in the category I genuinely used to think: "Why all the web hosting spam?".
Then I'd exit and seek _real, on-topic _FreeBSD news elsewhere.


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## Deleted member 30996 (Sep 7, 2021)

fernandel said:


> I saw the message as you wrote and I DID READ the story and IMO is political.


Let's stick with facts which are measurable, observable and do not change. Unlike opinions which can change in an instant and subject to emotional responses..

There are three three sentences at the top of the article about "Afghanistan’s internet infrastructure". The first two fill the reader in on recent events in historical fashion. They might not know anything went on last week.

The third sentence sets up the article topic,  "Afghanistan’s internet infrastructure", and tells the reader what it's going to consist of, so they can make a quick decision whether or not they want to continue reading, couldn't care less or are deeply offended and want to act casually about voicing their complaints in caps.

Because I don't see it and must not know it for what it is when I do. I don't vote, couldn't if I wanted to,n  so I can't tell if it's pushing a Republican or Democrat agenda like you can.  Which is it?

Please, spell it out for me in with facts consisting of statements made in print that demonstrate what agenda they're pushing in that article. Should be dancing in the streets or fighting or them? And why?


There's so much I missed in that article it's embarrassing.


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## johngrauvard (Sep 7, 2021)

"Although that website has gone, it seems perhaps more remarkable that Twitter permits the Taliban spokesman's account but has banned the previous US President from using the US-based social media platform."

- Last line in: Prankster acquires Taliban Government domain amidst gov.af limbo (from Blogs and Newsfeeds)​
Interesting? Sure. FreeBSD related? No. Political? Yes. 

The other one about Afghanistan's internet is slightly geopolitical, mostly technical. Neither of them really bother me, and I personally don't care what gets posted there. You could post things from Alex Jones and John Oliver in that section and I wouldn't bat an eye, but I have to agree with grahamperrin and fernandel that articles like these don't have much to do with FreeBSD. Clicking through that section, though, there are plenty of other articles that do.


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## scottro (Sep 7, 2021)

The Taliban is less of a threat to the US than the previous US president.  And, now it's time to avoid this thread too. Sheesh if I want to get aggravated by the US's gradual descent into stupidity mixed with a healthy dose of Fascism, I can read the news. 
Mods if you want to delete this feel free, as I'm decrying politics on this forum while contributing. I'm sure the TWGs (Terrified White Guys, easily identified by their panicked cries of SJW! SJW!) will be offended.


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## johngrauvard (Sep 7, 2021)

scottro said:


> The Taliban is less of a threat to the US than the previous US president.  And, now it's time to avoid this thread too. Sheesh if I want to get aggravated by the US's gradual descent into stupidity mixed with a healthy dose of Fascism, I can read the news.
> Mods if you want to delete this feel free, as I'm decrying politics on this forum while contributing. I'm sure the TWGs (Terrified White Guys, easily identified by their panicked cries of SJW! SJW!) will be offended.


I haven't seen anything about "SJWs" so far, but everything in this thread isn't that big of a deal. The admins can do whatever they want, regardless of whether any of us like it or not. Complaining about double standards in a forum that supposedly has one doesn't make much sense to me.


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## SirDice (Sep 7, 2021)

Anyway, this has gone far enough. Thread closed.


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