6 ms·

Installing OpenBSD on the Pomera DM250 Writerdeck

74 points by djfergus 6mo ago

whalesalad 6mo ago
Love the flying toaster screensaver, that was a pleasant surprise.
- _rpf 6mo ago
  There is a rich collection of modern Macintosh Plus System 6.x work on jcs site :D The afterdark screensaver is a real cherry on top.
- moffers 6mo ago
  When I closed my screen and came back on this article I was very confused and thought I was accidentally transported backward through time.
skydhash 6mo ago
I'm running OpenBSD as a daily driver and one of its nicer point is not the security angle, but how simple and hackable it is, while still fairly capable in terms of hardware support. Linux may be more convenient, but its subsystems are too complex and not prone to quick modifications.
- binkHN 6mo ago
  Yep. While I've yet to run it on my production workstation, I absolutely love it for single purpose tasks.
- shevy-java 6mo ago
  > Linux may be more convenient, but its subsystems are too complex and not prone to quick modifications. LFS/BLFS. Which BSD has that? I don't disagree with you fully, mind you, but I think this is mostly because many more noobs use Linux, whereas on the BSDs more people with a lot of knowledge use it. But even then I would reason that there are more experts using Linux than OpenBSD, simply due to numbers alone. Not all of them can be bothered to write blogs either. (And sometimes they have reallife hardships suddenly, such as Fefe.) There is a reason the top 500 supercomputers all run Linux. No BSDs there. https://www.top500.org/statistics/details/osfam/1/ https://www.top500.org/statistics/details/osfam/1/
  - lmz 6mo ago
    Surely any BSD is "FS" being a fully functional core system from one source tree?
  - skydhash 6mo ago
    > LFS/BLFS. Which BSD has that? They can’t have it. The BSDs are a complete system, where the kernel and utilities are built in sync. And building them is quite easy. Linux complexity may give you flexibility, but most users systems are fairly simple. OpenBSD has a lot of documentation, and if that’s not sufficient, you browse the source code to see what’s happening.
  - ori_b 6mo ago
    > LFS/BLFS. Which BSD has that? That comes with the system. Here's the manpage: https://man.openbsd.org/release https://man.openbsd.org/release
stuxnet79 6mo ago
Well this is interesting ... I have a DM250 that I bought a year ago that's been collecting dust because I couldn't get used to the UI/UX. It was imported straight from Japan so I'm pretty sure it's not the US model although I'll have to confirm that. Customizing / tinkering with it has been difficult because it's a pretty niche product with not a ton of information online (at least on english websites). Skimming this tutorial it seems like installing OpenBSD is a high-risk / high-reward type of thing. I'll have to look into further to see if it's worth it.
- ninjin 6mo ago
  For those considering the US model which is listed as USD 549 [1], the Japanese one currently sells for ~USD 260 in Japan [2]. [1]: https://pomera.us/products/pomera-full-suite-typewriter-for-focused-writing https://pomera.us/products/pomera-full-suite-typewriter-for-... [2]: https://kakaku.com/item/K0001457601 https://kakaku.com/item/K0001457601 The list price appears to be ~USD 380, which is still a hefty saving compared to what they charge for the US model. There are of course software and hardware differences [3], but if it is primarily the hardware you are interested in, I see no reason not to at least consider importing one. [3]: https://pomera.us/pages/support-help-support-pomera-dm250us-setup-tips-downloads https://pomera.us/pages/support-help-support-pomera-dm250us-...
- ethan_smith 6mo ago
  If the stock UI/UX is already a dealbreaker for you, the risk calculus is pretty different - you're basically bricking something you weren't using anyway. jcs is usually thorough about documenting the process, and OpenBSD on bare metal like this tends to be surprisingly stable once it's running.
technicalape 6mo ago
Congrats @jcs, I saw you battling the US version :)
ninjin 6mo ago
Always fun to read jcs@'s write ups. I am seriously tempted to look into getting one of these as light, fanless alternatives to run OpenBSB on the move are few and far between. My current main laptop is not big at 11", but it clocks in at ~1.7kg and that makes you reluctant to carry it around everywhere. Main downsides with the DM250 seems to be that you need a USB-C dongle for audio (they are tiny though) and that you can not hook it up to an external screen for better ergonomics and presentations. Still, small, means compromises are necessary, and I do not think the external screen is a deal break if one would consider the DM250 as a daily commute driver.
unit149 6mo ago
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Unsponsoredio 6mo ago
[dead]

74 points by djfergus 6mo ago

whalesalad 6mo ago

Love the flying toaster screensaver, that was a pleasant surprise.

_rpf 6mo ago
There is a rich collection of modern Macintosh Plus System 6.x work on jcs site :D The afterdark screensaver is a real cherry on top.
moffers 6mo ago
When I closed my screen and came back on this article I was very confused and thought I was accidentally transported backward through time.

skydhash 6mo ago

I'm running OpenBSD as a daily driver and one of its nicer point is not the security angle, but how simple and hackable it is, while still fairly capable in terms of hardware support. Linux may be more convenient, but its subsystems are too complex and not prone to quick modifications.

binkHN 6mo ago
Yep. While I've yet to run it on my production workstation, I absolutely love it for single purpose tasks.
shevy-java 6mo ago
> Linux may be more convenient, but its subsystems are too complex and not prone to quick modifications. LFS/BLFS. Which BSD has that? I don't disagree with you fully, mind you, but I think this is mostly because many more noobs use Linux, whereas on the BSDs more people with a lot of knowledge use it. But even then I would reason that there are more experts using Linux than OpenBSD, simply due to numbers alone. Not all of them can be bothered to write blogs either. (And sometimes they have reallife hardships suddenly, such as Fefe.) There is a reason the top 500 supercomputers all run Linux. No BSDs there. https://www.top500.org/statistics/details/osfam/1/ https://www.top500.org/statistics/details/osfam/1/
- lmz 6mo ago
  Surely any BSD is "FS" being a fully functional core system from one source tree?
- skydhash 6mo ago
  > LFS/BLFS. Which BSD has that? They can’t have it. The BSDs are a complete system, where the kernel and utilities are built in sync. And building them is quite easy. Linux complexity may give you flexibility, but most users systems are fairly simple. OpenBSD has a lot of documentation, and if that’s not sufficient, you browse the source code to see what’s happening.
- ori_b 6mo ago
  > LFS/BLFS. Which BSD has that? That comes with the system. Here's the manpage: https://man.openbsd.org/release https://man.openbsd.org/release

stuxnet79 6mo ago

Well this is interesting ... I have a DM250 that I bought a year ago that's been collecting dust because I couldn't get used to the UI/UX. It was imported straight from Japan so I'm pretty sure it's not the US model although I'll have to confirm that. Customizing / tinkering with it has been difficult because it's a pretty niche product with not a ton of information online (at least on english websites). Skimming this tutorial it seems like installing OpenBSD is a high-risk / high-reward type of thing. I'll have to look into further to see if it's worth it.

ninjin 6mo ago
For those considering the US model which is listed as USD 549 [1], the Japanese one currently sells for ~USD 260 in Japan [2]. [1]: https://pomera.us/products/pomera-full-suite-typewriter-for-focused-writing https://pomera.us/products/pomera-full-suite-typewriter-for-... [2]: https://kakaku.com/item/K0001457601 https://kakaku.com/item/K0001457601 The list price appears to be ~USD 380, which is still a hefty saving compared to what they charge for the US model. There are of course software and hardware differences [3], but if it is primarily the hardware you are interested in, I see no reason not to at least consider importing one. [3]: https://pomera.us/pages/support-help-support-pomera-dm250us-setup-tips-downloads https://pomera.us/pages/support-help-support-pomera-dm250us-...
ethan_smith 6mo ago
If the stock UI/UX is already a dealbreaker for you, the risk calculus is pretty different - you're basically bricking something you weren't using anyway. jcs is usually thorough about documenting the process, and OpenBSD on bare metal like this tends to be surprisingly stable once it's running.

technicalape 6mo ago

Congrats @jcs, I saw you battling the US version :)

ninjin 6mo ago

Always fun to read jcs@'s write ups. I am seriously tempted to look into getting one of these as light, fanless alternatives to run OpenBSB on the move are few and far between. My current main laptop is not big at 11", but it clocks in at ~1.7kg and that makes you reluctant to carry it around everywhere. Main downsides with the DM250 seems to be that you need a USB-C dongle for audio (they are tiny though) and that you can not hook it up to an external screen for better ergonomics and presentations. Still, small, means compromises are necessary, and I do not think the external screen is a deal break if one would consider the DM250 as a daily commute driver.

unit149 6mo ago

[dead]

Unsponsoredio 6mo ago

[dead]