{"slug": "portmaster", "name": "Portmaster", "category": "networking", "category_name": "Networking and VPN", "description": "", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 6, "warners": 0, "score": 4.543, "rising": -1.64, "first": "2025-11-21", "latest": "2026-06-14", "why": "I use Portmaster (on Linux) and I have never seen ads", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I use Portmaster (on Linux) and I have never seen ads", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "portmaster.games", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://safing.io", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Portmaster", "PortMaster", "portmaster"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 776443024, "item_id": 48527689, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48527689", "by": "archargelod", "date": "2026-06-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "many bespoke and commercial linux games that run on these devices via portmaster[0]", "excerpt": "> but what do you do with it? Yes, emulators up to PS1/NDS. There are also many bespoke and commercial linux games that run on these devices via portmaster[0] (for commercial games you need to provide your own files). I use my 34XX clamshell to listen to podcasts and audiobooks in rockbox [1]. If you take some time to setup alternative OS (e.g. MuOS) there is a good video player and even terminal emulator available w", "context": "", "use_case": "running Linux games on handhelds", "switched_from": "", "story": "GameBoy Workboy"}, {"id": 763196608, "item_id": 47699788, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47699788", "by": "cyberpunk", "date": "2026-04-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "portmaster is the tool i use for upgrading installed ports on freebsd", "excerpt": "portmaster is the tool i use for upgrading installed ports on freebsd since\u2026 like\u2026 olden times.", "context": "", "use_case": "upgrading FreeBSD ports", "switched_from": "", "story": "LittleSnitch for Linux"}, {"id": 763194144, "item_id": 47699634, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47699634", "by": "tankenmate", "date": "2026-04-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Portmaster (on Linux) and I have never seen ads", "excerpt": "I use Portmaster (on Linux) and I have never seen ads (either in the app or apps that get their DNS from Portmaster) on it. About the only thing I saw different between the free version and the base level paid for version was traffic history and weekly reports (and badges on Discord if that's your kind of thing).", "context": "", "use_case": "Firewall on Linux", "switched_from": "", "story": "LittleSnitch for Linux"}, {"id": 741821219, "item_id": 46363826, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46363826", "by": "guessmyname", "date": "2025-12-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Windows \u2192 https://safing.io/", "excerpt": "1. Linux \u2192 https://github.com/evilsocket/opensnitch 2. Windows \u2192 https://www.glasswire.com/ 3. Windows (open source) \u2192 https://github.com/henrypp/simplewall 4. Windows \u2192 https://safing.io/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Snitch \u2013 A friendlier ss/netstat"}, {"id": 736163056, "item_id": 46010191, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46010191", "by": "andrepd", "date": "2025-11-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "there's this project I learned about literally yesterday!", "excerpt": "Well, apparently there's this project I learned about literally yesterday! https://portmaster.games/games.html There are handhelds for less than 200$ with very good screens and controls that can play all of these. Not to mention stream (via Steam or other software) from your PC!", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Helping Valve to power up Steam devices"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["running linux games on handhelds", "upgrading freebsd ports", "firewall on linux", "running games on handhelds"], "compared": [{"slug": "ivpn", "name": "IVPN", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [{"id": 786654659, "item_id": 49165916, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49165916", "by": "burnaway", "date": "2026-08-04", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Alongside the VPN we run additional services: modDNS, Mailx and Portmaster.", "excerpt": "IVPN | Infrastructure Engineer / Sysadmin | Remote (UTC-1 to UTC+3 only) | Full-time | https://www.ivpn.net We are a privacy-focused B2C VPN, running since 2010, independently audited every year (#8 in progress), well-regarded in the privacy community. Alongside the VPN we run additional services: modDNS, Mailx and Portmaster. You'll partner with our senior infrastructure engineer and own day-to-day infra for IVPN an", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Who is hiring? (August 2026)"}, {"id": 781394931, "item_id": 48837183, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48837183", "by": "burnaway", "date": "2026-07-08", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Alongside the VPN we run additional services: modDNS, Mailx and Portmaster.", "excerpt": "IVPN | Infrastructure Engineer / Sysadmin | Remote (UTC-1 to UTC+3 only) | Full-time | https://www.ivpn.net We are a privacy-focused B2C VPN, running since 2010, independently audited every year (#8 in progress this month), well-regarded in the privacy community. Alongside the VPN we run additional services: modDNS, Mailx and Portmaster. You'll partner with our senior infrastructure engineer and own day-to-day infra ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Who is hiring? (July 2026)"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47697870", "title": "LittleSnitch for Linux", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49156683", "title": "Ask HN: Who is hiring? (August 2026)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48747976", "title": "Ask HN: Who is hiring? (July 2026)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48519552", "title": "GameBoy Workboy", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46354674", "title": "Lua 5.5", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46361229", "title": "Snitch \u2013 A friendlier ss/netstat", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 776443024, "item_id": 48527689, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48527689", "by": "archargelod", "date": "2026-06-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "many bespoke and commercial linux games that run on these devices via portmaster[0]", "excerpt": "> but what do you do with it? Yes, emulators up to PS1/NDS. There are also many bespoke and commercial linux games that run on these devices via portmaster[0] (for commercial games you need to provide your own files). I use my 34XX clamshell to listen to podcasts and audiobooks in rockbox [1]. If you take some time to setup alternative OS (e.g. MuOS) there is a good video player and even terminal emulator available w", "context": "", "use_case": "running Linux games on handhelds", "switched_from": "", "story": "GameBoy Workboy"}, {"id": 763196608, "item_id": 47699788, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47699788", "by": "cyberpunk", "date": "2026-04-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "portmaster is the tool i use for upgrading installed ports on freebsd", "excerpt": "portmaster is the tool i use for upgrading installed ports on freebsd since\u2026 like\u2026 olden times.", "context": "", "use_case": "upgrading FreeBSD ports", "switched_from": "", "story": "LittleSnitch for Linux"}, {"id": 763194144, "item_id": 47699634, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47699634", "by": "tankenmate", "date": "2026-04-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Portmaster (on Linux) and I have never seen ads", "excerpt": "I use Portmaster (on Linux) and I have never seen ads (either in the app or apps that get their DNS from Portmaster) on it. About the only thing I saw different between the free version and the base level paid for version was traffic history and weekly reports (and badges on Discord if that's your kind of thing).", "context": "", "use_case": "Firewall on Linux", "switched_from": "", "story": "LittleSnitch for Linux"}, {"id": 741957488, "item_id": 46372343, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46372343", "by": "Abishek_Muthian", "date": "2025-12-23", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "It's now on Portmaster if anyone is curious", "excerpt": "It's now on Portmaster if anyone is curious - https://portmaster.games/detail.html?name=balatro", "context": "", "use_case": "running games on handhelds", "switched_from": "", "story": "Lua 5.5"}, {"id": 741821219, "item_id": 46363826, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46363826", "by": "guessmyname", "date": "2025-12-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Windows \u2192 https://safing.io/", "excerpt": "1. Linux \u2192 https://github.com/evilsocket/opensnitch 2. Windows \u2192 https://www.glasswire.com/ 3. Windows (open source) \u2192 https://github.com/henrypp/simplewall 4. Windows \u2192 https://safing.io/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Snitch \u2013 A friendlier ss/netstat"}, {"id": 736163056, "item_id": 46010191, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46010191", "by": "andrepd", "date": "2025-11-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "there's this project I learned about literally yesterday!", "excerpt": "Well, apparently there's this project I learned about literally yesterday! https://portmaster.games/games.html There are handhelds for less than 200$ with very good screens and controls that can play all of these. Not to mention stream (via Steam or other software) from your PC!", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Helping Valve to power up Steam devices"}]}