Hacker NewsJun 26, 2025
Save your disk, write files directly into RAM with /dev/shm
https://hiandrewquinn.github.io/til-site/posts/save-your-disk-write-files-directly-into-ram-with-dev-shm/
#ycombinator #todays_lucky_10000 #cost_optimization #everything_is_a_file #law_of_diminishing_returns #linux #simple_suboptimal_solutions #things_you_should_never_do #wikis #ramdisks
Save your disk, write files directly into RAM with /dev/shm

Given my interest in extending the life of my SD cards and hard drives as much as possible, I’m surprised I haven’t come across /dev/shm before. In a word it’s a world-accessible RAM scratchpad, which seems baked right into POSIX, so that virtually every ~Unix~ EDIT: Linux system already has it mounted as a tmpfs by default: 1 2 ❯ mount | grep '/dev/shm' tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,inode64) Today’s lucky 10,000, indeed.

 Hacker NewsJun 17, 2024
OpenBSD, the computer appliance maker's secret weapon
https://hiandrewquinn.github.io/til-site/posts/openbsd-the-computer-appliance-maker-s-secret-weapon/
#ycombinator #openbsd #cost_optimization #heuristics #installing_software #napkin_calculations #old_command_line_tools #principal_agent_problems #productivity #time_management #tmux #software_management #software_dev #simple_suboptimal_solutions
OpenBSD, the computer appliance maker's secret weapon

Between our ESP32 prokaryotic organisms and our 24/7 Internet-enabled megafauna servers, there exists a vast and loosely-defined ecosystem of things the B2B world likes to call computer appliances. Picture a bespoke Pi 4 packaged up neatly with some Python scripts, a little fancy plastic embossing, and maybe a well-guarded id_ed25519.pub in case you end up in hot water during the (long - very long, stable cash flow for generations long) maintenance contract, and you’re in the ballpark.