Hans-Christoph Steiner @eighthave@librem.one

@sergii anyone supporting the idea that all out war is the only way that people in #Ukraine can defend themselves.

Anyone procuring #Chromebook hardware with public funding, like for schools, should be aware that the expiration date on that hardware is artificially created by #Google since they maintain their firmware as incompatible with other standards. Given a properly structured firmware, any old #Chrome device would run #Debian or other #GNULinux just fine. The #Chromium team operates in public and has done a good job of releasing their source, but the bad structure remains.

#PublicMoneyPublicCode

@elly and @domi outline how #Google has structured their firmware to make it incompatible with the standard methods of booting an OS. So even though it is open source and #Google upstreams their #Linux changes, lots of key functionality like audio, USB ports, etc does not work when booting any other OS (e.g. GNU/Linux or even Windows). This serves to lock the hardware to #Chrome, and thereby generate lots of e-waste when Google drops support for hardware which #Debian supports.

I'm happy to see more attention given to freeing #Chromebook hardware. They already are built on free software, so with some focused attention on supporting them well with #FreeSoftware distros like #Debian, the number of good GNU/Linux laptops can be greatly expanded. #Depthcharge should be as well understood as other BIOS things. Thanks to @elly and @domi for your #37c3 talk: https://media.ccc.de/v/37c3-11929-turning_chromebooks_into_regular_laptops

Our current situation resembles right before World War One: there are many governments that their people want to change, and those governments are drumming up wars to stay in power. #Putin, Ukrainian oligarchs, #Netanyahu & co, #Hamas, #Saudi and Gulf Monarchies, the current regime in #Iran, status quo elites in #US and #EU. We need louder voices representing all the people, regardless of nationality, religion, class, etc to organize the large majority who want to get along and live in peace.

@glynmoody It looks like they are using the same playbook as the US did against Vietnam, and I can't imagine it will be any more successful.

@newstik @noname @Mer__edith Signal actually already decided to support Google-free devices, the problem is their implementation. Signal provides direct download links and does not require Play Services. Using #UnifiedPush would be a big improvement in what they already support. So we should focus on real world solutions that exist right now: keep Google push for those with Play Services, and use an existing FOSS solution for those without.

@glynmoody I've had that thought also, maybe this current crop of AI will make social media so bad that people will go back to meeting up and talking to each other 😃

@glynmoody I agree that copyright is a monopoly that is hugely overused and abused but I think it is also a useful tool to slow down and restrict #AI #LLM development. I don't think creators are going to really win much either way with this particular copyright battle, but it is pretty clear that the current AI methods will be hindered, and they are another iteration of tech like cryptocurrencies, where the vast majority of the users are harmful, but the tiny useful features are heavily promoted