💾 Archived View for thfr.info captured on 2023-11-14 at 07:26:26. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
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Hi, I am thfr. You may know me from activities like my work on OpenBSD ports, especially around multimedia and gaming, or - less likely - from my profession and other calling as a physician in Maryland.
My interests are broad, as the mere juxtaposition of the above suggests. I try to share what may be useful for future-me and others on my site.
2023-07-16 Medscape and Attention Economy
2023-05-31 Hospitalist Inspirations 2023-05-31
When I started using OpenBSD as my daily driver for real, circa 2015-2016, I made a conscious decision while at the time realizing that I was sacrificing some habits - mainly fluid multimedia video playback in the browser, but also playing games. Video playback got fixed eventually, and I learned that there are many "old school" games that have source ports available.
It was OpenXCOM that convinced me that you can have worthwhile gaming experiences on OpenBSD - even with the chunky graphics, the core of the gameplay is still worth it nowadays - for turn-based strategy fans at least.
Later, I figured out how to run a few more modern (indie) games on OpenBSD, even without having a port of Wine. I try to share what can be played that may not be know:
I have written some about what I use to work on tracking, documenting, and playing indie games on OpenBSD:
2023-07-29 Alternatives to High Profile Games on OpenBSD
2023-07-23 Gravity Circuit: First Impressions
Following Indie Games - OpenBSD Edition
Downloading Demos with steamctl
Occasionally, I manage to write up some thoughts about games I care about:
Urtuk - The Desolation. First thoughts
I really enjoy Urtuk the Desolation, especially the stories that it creates. Stories of triumph and despair, provided you play it on a higher difficulty. I'm trying to give them some life withe Urtuk Diaries:
I remain excited about Gemini. If I have periods of inactivity, that's because of life and the fluctuations in my online writing activity, not Gemini per se. I like how the constraints in Gemini bring attention back to the content, after so much of the web is now about style and ads.
I have explored a little what can be done with CGI and Gemini:
CGI with Vger - now including Tic-Tac-Toe
First Steps with CGI and Client Certificates for Gemini
There are many ways to make Gemini pages very interesting... There are at least as many ways to diminish the usefulness of those pages. I have some thoughts on what to consider about publishing Gemini pages:
My Personal Thoughts on Best Practices for Gemini Pages
My proposal to extend the TOFU ("Trust On First Use") security model, inspired by OMEMO's approach.
Proposal: Trust, but Verify (where appropriate)
Some philosophical thoughts about the importance of Gemini:
Bodies of previous gemini hype cycles can be found here:
Migrating a gemini domain from one server to another can come with some challenges. Here are a few things I learned:
OpenBSD has been my daily driver ever since I got started with it. The main reason is priorities in computing. What is more important - being able to run every application under the sun, or a focus on security and maintainable code? Ever since I realized that I can get 99% of what I need from using a computer on OpenBSD and have more peace of mind, I've been sticking with it.
I've been an OpenBSD developer since 2018, mainly working on gaming-related ports. I maintain the SDL and vulkan multimedia and graphics libraries. I have contributed multiple ports to run games on OpenBSD. Biggest accomplishment so far are FNA-related ports like fnaify that allow running many indie games from the 2010's and 2020's on OpenBSD. I have also come up with a modificiation to the kernel USB driver for gamepads in collaboration with brynet@ that improves the device security and helps to use many gamepads out of the box.
OpenBSD on the Asus ExpertBook B9400CEA
I almost went to music school instead of medical school. For years, I enjoyed drumming in jazz combos and big bands in Southwest Germany, and later in Berlin.
Current recommendations of active jazz musicians that deserve some attention in my opinion include:
There are of course many more worthy of discovery and promotion.
Here some nice pics for jazz nerds:
TBA
As part of my switching the server backend, I am planning to change the certificate to likely an elliptic curve algorithm.
For those who like their content serialized...
2023-08-27 My OpenBSD Philosophy
2023-07-23 Gravity Circuit: First Impressions
2023-04-30 Games I Completed on OpenBSD
2023-03-16 Following Indie Games - OpenBSD Edition
2022-12-15 Migrating Gemini Servers
2022-12-06 OpenBSD for Gaming?!?!
2022-11-28 OpenBSD Highlights from the Fall/Black Friday Sale 2022
2022-03-19 Downloading Demos with steamctl
2022-02-18 First Steps with CGI and Client Certificates for Gemini
2022-02-03 Urtuk - The Desolation. First thoughts
2022-01-26 Portable Gemini Feeds Idea
2021-10-05 A 4-Way Comparison of Compile Time Performance of amd64 Machines that I Own
2021-09-19 OpenBSD on the Asus ExpertBook B9400CEA
This is a personal project. The views expressed on this page or capsule are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of the OpenBSD project, my employer, or other entities that I am affiliated with.
Use the content at your own risk. The author(s) of this page or capsule are not responsible for your use of the information provided or linked.
For medical content, see