Hans-Christoph Steiner @eighthave@librem.one

@mattdm it is great to have more resources explaining the value of distros. It feels like it is cool right now to talk about eliminating distros and going straight to the upstream. There are so many valuable things that approach leaves out. Do you know of any other good resources out there that explain the value of distros?

@mjg59 I agree that free software alone is not enough to make trustworthy software, but I have to emphasize that free software is a requirement for trustworthy software. That unlocks key practices like reproducible builds, public audits, etc. Without all that, the only option is "hope they are doing the right thing".

An popular idea in #OS development now is that the ideal system would have a #sandbox that allows users to install even untrusted apps safely. It is important to point out that this is pure fantasy. No system has ever come close to providing a sandbox good enough for that standard (e.g. #NSOGroup has maintained zero-click exploits to #iOS and #Android for years now). Having pure fantasy as a goal means other features will be broken in the name of trying to achieve the unachievable

#security

Matt Miller, Project Leader of #Fedora, gives a nice overview of what makes #distros valuable. This applies to any distro that actually reviews the packages that they ship, including #FDroid #Debian etc. Something like #Flathub or #Obtainium do not behave like distros because they do not aim to review and standardize the packages they ship.

https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=oKP1hgdFJKo&t=187

(You can click "Watch on YouTube" from that site if you like that kind of thing 😉)

@strypey I've had this same thought about AppImages. I think it should be pretty easy to build and ship AppImages via F-Droid. The tricky part is whether there is good standardized metadata in AppImages. With Android and APK, the system enforces a number of key properties: a globally unique Application ID, a Version Code integer to determine which is the newer APK, only one APK per Application ID can be installed, etc. These come from the OS, so it could be tricky to handle with AppImage

@thomasdorr @ilumium Social media is a very profitable product. There have been massive resources devoted to helping people with addiction. Even in Austria, with a capable social state, relatively well resourced schools, addiction programs, etc, digital media addictions remain a problem. There is nowhere in the world that does not regulate addictive things, especially for children.

I'm also incredibly sad that these forces have turned software into addictive drugs. https://guardianproject.info/2021/02/18/usability-the-wonderful-powerful-idea-that-betrayed-us/

"Tourism is like fire, you can prepare your soup with it, but it can also burn your house down"

What a great analogy. I definitely see the "burn your house down" part in Austria. From what I've seen in the Balkans, it happening shockingly fast. And it looks like this current wave will mostly benefit foreign investors more than the locals. Real protections for nature help a lot.

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2026/jan/28/volunteering-trip-protecting-vjosa-river-albania

#deddamming #DamRemoval #nature #Balkans #RiverWatch

@ilumium The evidence is very clear: social media is addictive, and indeed, was designed from the beginning to be addictive:

https://stanfordreview.org/how-stanford-profits-tech-addiction-social-media/

It is also clear that there is immense harm, especially to young people. Other addictive activities like gambling, alcohol, drugs, etc. are also regulated, including age restrictions.

We need a better response than "no bans". We need to rally behind effective regulation. Otherwise totalitarian-minded politician will get onerous bans into law

@neil Palm Tungsten devices were really great. I missed mine so much, I got Linux running on it in like 2007. Palm in its hayday was really good at making devices that augmented us, without taking over our lifes. I loved being able to write without looking at the device, I used to have an idea while biking, then take out the Palm, and write it down while still biking. Or in a concert or theatre or any where. I could write a note or TODO while holding the device under the table.

@ton it is up to 688 responses!

@th here's one entry from me, on my trusty old Bakfiets shorty

Unsurprisingly, the British BBC has a much more sympathic view of Pahlavi. The UK did help with the coup that put his father into power, after all.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62wx1gr8y4o