Hans-Christoph Steiner @eighthave@librem.one

for more details on all this, see https://www.theverge.com/23945184/epic-v-google-fortnite-play-store-antitrust-trial-updates

The #EpicVsGoogle settlement has shifted to apply globally while watering down the terms. This is worse for #US users without providing much in exchange. Why would #Google accept global scope? Because it is clear that #DigitalMarketsAct and laws like force them to open up anyway, so Google doesn't lose by agreeing to global applicability. In exchange, Google gains weakened terms in the US, which is not pursuing something like the DMA

#EpicGames #DMA #EpicVGoogle #Android #GooglePlay #AntiTrust

This #PlayIntegrity stuff is really questionable. My banking app won't run on a #GoogleFree #LineageOS running #Android 16 with all the latest security updates. But a #GooglePlay device running Android 10 that was last updated in 2021 is approved. This is not a real #security check. This looks like a #gatekeeper #monopoly check.

So the current #Republican administration in the #US is cutting #taxes and cutting all sorts of services like Corporation for Public Broadcasting. What is so crazy is that the one other party, the #Democratic party, just seems to whine about it. Many states are controlled by the #Democrats. States tax people. Why are they so ineffective? Don't they realize they could seize a bunch of power from the Federal government by just taxing the people at the state level who now pay less Federal taxes?

I just found this info graphic, I think it is quite good. I'm curious what people think about how understandable this is for non-technical people http://www.gnu.org/graphics/amihud-4-freedoms.html

#FreeSoftware #FOSS #GNU #FourFreedoms #InfoGraphic

Given the current political tides, it remains an open question which system will provide better outcomes. But it should be interesting to watch at least 😉

A central theme in my life is a constant comparison between #USA and #Austria. One notable difference is how #FreeSpeech is considered. Both countries value it highly. #US has the very strict #FirstAmendment while Austria allows some kinds of #government #regulation of #speech. More and more, US's strict #rights look like a product of their time: #Democracy for an #elite minority resisting a #king. Austria's 20th century approach puts more power in an educated populace to decide some regulation

Just arrived in Brussels for #FOSDEM, hope to see y'all soon!

@razze @mattdm @fdroidorg I am aware that Flathub acts like a distro. I am a user and supporter of Flathub. The problem I see with It is that not a very clear story of what the standards are. For some packages, they seem reviewed and clearly enforced, and others, not at all.

I should clarify that I do see the difference between Flathub and Obtainium. There is a continuum of distro-like behavior. Fedora/Debian are on one side, Obtainium on the other. Flathub seems to be somewhere in the middle

@mattdm thanks, that was a good read. It mirrors a lot of things we've been doing at @fdroidorg Basically, we're working on being the "distro" for the Android ecosystem, and providing a from-source, reviewed and integrated set of apps.

@jas @mjg59 I agree, the focus must be on the four freedoms and user freedom. Unfortunately, Google has proven quite masterful at maintaining control even when working with free software. AOSP and Chromium are two key examples. The key is that Google makes sure it is the upstream, while suppressing things that shift the power to the developer community around it. With AOSP, there is a big enough community to maintain it without Google. That requires them all getting separately organized.

@jas @mjg59 Sure "source available" would be an improvement over secret source code, but that is only one piece of the puzzle. Free software means all users are free to fix and deploy issues on their own schedule, regardless of what the copyright holder thinks. That is also a key piece of delivering trustworthy software.

@barthalion I now see there is a whole drama around that interview. I don't know if I'm going to wade into that whole thing, so I'll just say, I like how @mattdm described the role of the distro. That's what I was referring to.

@barthalion I'm immersed in the basic research: Debian since 1997, FOSS Android since 2008, F-Droid since 2012, Flathub since years, etc. I also maintain stuff in Homebrew, and in the past contributed to the Fink package manager for macOS and used Cydia on iOS back in 2007