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@BoxyBSD@mastodon.bsd.cafe

2026-03-23 18:07 UTC

Dear community, this is not an easy message to write. After many years of running BoxyBSD, the time has come to officially shut the project down. BoxyBSD started with a simple and clear mission: to provide an accessible platform for learners and beginners to explore BSD-based systems without the need for spare hardware, prior knowledge, or complex setup. It was meant to be a place where anyone could spin up real virtual machines, work with fixed and static IPs, and benefit from globally distributed locations for low latency testing. A playground, a lab, and a learning environment all in one. From day one, BoxyBSD has been a one-person project, operated and maintained solely by gyptazy. Over the years, the platform has provisioned more than 2000 VPS instances completely free of charge. At no point did we ask for donations, and in fact, we never received a single penny. This was always intentional. The goal was never to monetize, but to give back to the community. Unfortunately, the situation has now changed. At least from the operational point of view. We are currently facing a major hardware issue affecting the core platform, specifically the control, monitoring, and management infrastructure. While the distributed clusters themselves remain unaffected, the central systems required to operate BoxyBSD reliably are no longer in a sustainable state. Resolving this would not only require a significant investment of time, but also personal financial resources for new hardware. Given current market conditions, I have made the difficult decision that I am no longer willing to continue investing both at the level required to keep the project running. As many of you know from my other projects, I have never asked for financial support, and I do not intend to start now. As a result, and after careful consideration, I have decided to close down BoxyBSD. This project has been an incredible journey. I sincerely hope that BoxyBSD helped some of you take your first steps into the world of BSD, and perhaps even Solaris. Seeing people learn, experiment, and grow with the platform has always been the most rewarding part. Thank you to everyone who used BoxyBSD, supported it, and made it what it was. Current users with boxes please check your email, Discord or Matrix! All boxes will be terminated by the 1st of May 2026. It has been a great time! Thanks, @gyptazy

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