Hans-Christoph Steiner @eighthave@librem.one
Joined Aug 2019
@Chapz addictive patterns are now well established in software. We need to work to get rid of them, doesn't matter if it is FOSS or not. To me, the point of social media is to communicate with people efficiently in specific ways, not to kill time or "engage" people. The focus needs to shift to that.
@aerique @waag For what it is worth, Sailfish OS isn't free software and they are working to implement their own version of Play Integrity. That's totally the wrong idea here: we don't need a European monopolist to replace the US one. We need healthy software ecosystems that put the user in control of their own devices.
Hans-Christoph Steiner
boosted
European digital ID wallets to be used to access services does the exact opposite of breaking the big tech monopoly and advancing European sovereignty.
"Users who want the autonomy to use operating systems without pre-installed Google software ... are forced to use Google software, if they want to use the wallet," says Danny Lämmerhirt, Senior researcher at Waag Futurelab.
If this isn't monopolisation, then what is?
Read more and learn what you can do:
https://waag.org/en/article/european-digital-id-wallets-are-gift-google-and-apple/
Finally, it looks like there might actually be some tiny measure of #accountability for the pushers of #AddictiveDesign. #BigTech and universities like #Stanford knowingly created #design techniques with the publicly stated goal of making #software #addictive. It worked
I can only hope that the #EU will keep pushing based on the #DigitalServicesAct and follow through. At least there is the tempting possibility of a fine of 6% of revenue that should keep them interested
Hans-Christoph Steiner
boosted
RE: https://mastodon.social/@chatcontrol/116890892112806689
Chat Control 1.0 is extended. Via undemocratic procedural tricks plotted by the @EPPGroup, the national government, and most probably also the @EUCommission. The question is: What’s next?
Not only in terms of data protection but in terms of how do we defend democracy. And if you want to say *xit, then you can easily spare us this answer, especially given that this was national governments’ agenda in the first place.
For all those that rely on #AI, I had a nice reminder of how it can really make bad errors with full confidence: #Google #Translate consistently translated the German word "Inland" as "Germany". It was a document from the Austrian government. "Inland" means "domestic". And this is translation, which has been worked on much longer than all these LLM thingies.
@cassidy I hear you about reliability. I gotta say Matrix/Element is pretty solid. As for calendar events, Google is reliable for calendar events when everyone is using it. Those outside of Google regularly encounter long unfixed bugs on Google's side, like their shitty handling of UTC.
@danialbehzadi that would be great! Here are two examples of how people did that:
* https://f-droid.org/2022/04/25/from-user-to-contributor-and-beyond.html
* https://cketti.de/2021/01/14/my-first-year-as-a-full-time-open-source-developer/
Sadly, in Europe/US, I think most people believe they can't donate to someone in Iran because of sanctions. It would help if you explained the details of that. I don't know the answer. One thing to check would be if you are eligable for NLnet grants. They don't fund work on Debian directly, but they do fund work bootstrapping key tools like Android SDK or Gradle
@lehtimaeki At this point, Thunderbird is maintained by a tiny team for the size of the project. And it seems really hard to maintain FOSS email clients these days, since there aren't really any better options, although many have tried. I hope some digital sovereignty money flows towards desktop email clients in a big way. We need them to reclaim email from Google, and it isn't _that_ hard.
Hans-Christoph Steiner
boosted
Thunderbird Desktop client codebase is 700mb and 41.000+ files.
It's one desktop app (mobile repos are separate).
I now fully understand why the UI is unusable. There's no way anyone still has control over the codebase.
@pixelschubsi @Antti98 @Gina I fully agree, we need to build real free software so that all users get software freedom. One thing that is happening in Europe right now is that the idea "EU Tech" and "digital sovereignty" is coalescing around FOSS as a hard requirement. Some politicians needs to use nationalist language to communicate things. As long as we agree on what we are concretely working on, and that is FOSS, I can tolerate the various ways people are selling FOSS.
Hans-Christoph Steiner
boosted
@handi @eighthave @fdroidorg @rikviergever @murena @raito @nixos_org @ow2 @numerique_gouv @jolla @volla @ubports But in the end, we need an alternative to Apple and Google's ownership of the mobile ecosystem. We can't keep trying to work around them.
In my opinion, governments need to play a part in that by:
- publishing gov apps in alternative app stores for citizens.
- arrange open source devices, OS's and mobile apps for civil servants.
- funding European alternatives.
2/2
Hans-Christoph Steiner
boosted
@handi @eighthave @fdroidorg @rikviergever @murena @raito @nixos_org @ow2 @numerique_gouv @jolla @volla @ubports I agree. I'm all for parallel solutions, like:
- using the EU's DMA to keep Apple and Google in check (results vary)
- promoting the use of opensource devices, OS's, app stores etc
- using mobile security alternatives to Google's Play Integrity API.
- using alternatives to Google Mobile Service etc.
1/2
@gildilinie @IzzyOnDroid VT aka Virustotal is a company owned by Google.
Hans-Christoph Steiner
boosted
Wow – pure SnakeOil, those so-called anti-virus or anti-malware scanners! "we are unable to proceed with the whitelisting request unless the application is available on the Google Play Store"?!? WTF?!? 🤯
And yes, that's part of a real response a dev got.
So they claim: your app is malware, as long as it is not at Google Play. I'd say we've heard it the other way around, too…
@neil It is clear that lots of people expect a clear answer on LLM code from F-Droid, and I think it is always good to get our user-first perspective out there. At the very least, we should be discussing this more. I would love to engage fully in this discussion. I'm pretty buried these days keeping other parts of F-Droid going, so for the time being, I'll have to mostly cheer from the sidelines.
Hey Northern #Europe, welcome to #hot summers! Here are some simple things that I do which really help, which are common practice in hot climates:
* Drink lots of water, really, lots. Careful, alcohol will work against you.
* Close all your windows and curtains in the midday heat. Insulation works both ways, keeping the heat in or out.
* Open all the windows and curtains at night, if its cooler outside.
This is probably enough to avoid buying #AirConditioning, and helps keep cool even with AC
Hans-Christoph Steiner
boosted
Public records confirm that the Austrian Ministry of the Interior bought Webloc, a geolocation mass surveillance system based on data from mobile apps and digital advertising = almost certainly illegal under the GDPR.
Austria is now - after Hungary - the second EU state known to use such a system.
https://mastodon.social/@wchr/116817729453918994
One good outcome of all this #AI #hype, particularly around #Anthropic #Mythos, is that it is establishing the idea the #technology can be harmful and there are times when society should control its release. We should build on this precedent and work towards firmly establishing the idea that our communities should be able to manage the technology they use, and work towards minimizing the harms.
@openalt is there another Central European Open Source Policy Forum planned for 2026? I'd love to join. I couldn't find any info about future editions.
Joined Aug 2019
