Switching Android phones -- Getting rid of Google (mostly)

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.”

FreeBSD home router -- Legacy IPv4: NAT+DHCP

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.

FreeBSD home router -- Access Point and IPv6-only

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.

FreeBSD eXO router -- Get to ping6

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.

ThinkPad A485 and FreeBSD

I’ve always thought diversity is an important thing, which is why Linux’ hegemony on servers, as great as it is, can also be a threat for future network stability.

Most people having something to do with computers have probably come across the BSD term at one point or another, yet not everyone is aware of OpenBSD and FreeBSD being reasonable alternative Operating Systems with their own strengths.

Since my previous laptop was way too fragile to be a mobile computer any longer, I had to relegate it to a virtualisation server and start the hunt for a powerful, mobile and flexible laptop.

Easier said than done, after much researching I settled in May 2019 for a ThinkPad A485 as being the closest thing to a good trade-off for me. Amongst other things it features an AMD Ryzen™ processor and 32G RAM.

There is a great article covering support for this laptop on OpenBSD.

Since it’s not the case for FreeBSD and, at that point, support for this laptop was not ideal, this is intended as some kind of documentation that will hopefully help other people in the near future, that is in the transition to full support.

The wish to document this started when someone asked on the freebsd-current Mailing List about getting the A485 to work with FreeBSD.