The default versions languages like perl or python often get updated in FreeBSD ports as the language versions get updated upstream. The default version of the language mostly lags the upstream version because many other ports depend on it. If you run the default version you have a much better chance that other ports that use perl or python will work correctly. There is however nothing stopping you to run a a newer or older version if it is available in the ports. Read more

First published: 2019-08-02, modified 2022-01-03 I am more of a Unix guy but I get to administer more and more Microsoft systems as time goes by. Back in the day Windows had very limited commandline options to manage systems. It often felt that you were working on a car with the bonnet welded shut. Luckily things changed when Powershell arrived on the scene. Powershell is a bit counter intuitive for someone that used Unix shells for 30 years but it is very powerful and you can do a lot with it. Read more

Windows Software Update Services provides a way for Windows sysadmins to control the distribution of updates to windows computers. It also helps to save a lot of bandwidth if you don’t have a superfast internet connection. Unfortunately many think that it is easy to setup and maintain. On newer version of Windows Server it is easy to setup but it needs a lot of care and feeding. I you want to run WSUS you will have to run the “Server Cleanup Wizard” at least once a month, or run Invoke-WSUSCleanup in a scheduled task. Read more

Do you need to install Windows via a network? Forget about Microsoft’s complicated setup. Rather use serva. It is easy and quick to set up. You can also install other operating systems if you wish.