EU countries are stepping up the fight for digital sovereignty for their citizens, in their schools, and in government.
See how France, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany do this in our blog!
There is a certain "warrior culture" of coding, where young devs spend long hours deeply focused on creating "epic" software, and coders age out rapidly. This has upsides and downsides. There are other cultures of coding too, but this warrior culture created large swathes of computing as we know it, and the culture is still embedded. #Java and #Windows are examples. Bill Gates hasn't contributed code to Windows since 1985. #Python shows a different culture, the old are still contributing code
Starting 2023, four universities are pausing or ending their Elsevier subscription due to exorbitant pricing.
Elsevier's subscription was costing them ~10% of their Libraries' entire budget.
"Elsevier’s prices have increased each year and have outpaced inflation"...this is despite Elsevier having the highest profit margins of virtually any other industry or publisher.
via https://www.dailyemerald.com/news/pressing-pause-on-elsevier-subscription/article_93c07dec-9120-11ed-8ce9-abbca97ab954.html
Figure via @MatteoCarandini
#OpenScience #AcademicPublishing #Science @academicchatter
I'm sad to say that my new #laptop still needs non-free firmware blobs for working WiFi, Bluetooth, audio, and power management. Now #Debian will include those in the installer. Are we losing this #FreeSoftware fight? At least the graphics driver is #free and included in upstream Linux, that is progress. I specifically avoided #nvidia for that purpose.
How are others feeling on the firmware blob fight?
One effect of the #UkraineWar is that it gives the #US #UK #NATO #Saudi etc a case to use to rehabilitate the idea they focus on: that military power is a force of good. #AfghanWar #IraqWar #LibyaWar #YemenWar provided a template for #Putin to follow. This is really not discussed enough because people want to support Ukraine in this difficult time, but it must always be part of any discussion of providing military support. Kudos to #politico for running this political cartoon linking these.
What makes a program secure? 🤔
It has to be audited, checked, and corrected. Free Software allows more people to audit. More people are allowed to read the code and discover vulnerabilities.
Ultimately #FreeSoftware creates a culture where people are ready to answer to criticism on systems and software. However there is Free Software that is not audited too so its security is not confirmed. (2/3)
i guess we bigtime. "Want Drivers to Stop at Crosswalks? Slow Them Down First."
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2023/01/11/want-drivers-to-stop-at-crosswalks-slow-them-down-first/ #trbam
People from all over Europe want the right to install any software on any device! New signatures to our open letter:
🇮🇹 Italy
Wikimedia Italia @wikimediaitalia
LinuxTrent @linuxtrent
🇩🇪 Germany
Do-FOSS @do_foss
Werkkooperative der TechnikfreundInnen @HackerGeno@chaos.socia
🇪🇸 Spain
Pangea @pangea_org
🇳🇱 Netherlands
Open Nederland @opennl
🇫🇷 France
Fédération des Fournisseurs d'Accès Internet Associatifs @ffdn_channel
Sign now! https://fsfe.org/activities/upcyclingandroid/openletter.html
"Medium has pivoted so many times it has now come full circle" https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/medium-has-pivoted-so-many-times-it-has-now-come-full-circle.php
"Medium Pivots Again, Offers Voluntary Buyouts to Editorial Staff" https://www.thewrap.com/medium-pivots-again-offers-voluntary-buyouts-to-editorial-staff/
So I mean feel free to hop on that scorpion's back! You might have an awesome trip across the river and everyone will be super chill and friendly forever. But maybe check out the history before you hype up their new Mastodon experiment and keep your eye on the exits.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@ljacomet I just saw your slides for your talk "Protecting your organization
against attacks via the
build system", a great overview! I'm a #Debian dev who has worked on packaging #Gradle. We'd love to make it as close to your version as possible. There is a proprietary build dependency that blocks that from happening. https://github.com/gradle/gradle/issues/16439
#Mastodon is hiring!
› Remote-only
› Full-time
Looking for:
› DevOps Engineer
› Product Designer
It could be you! Apply now:
Surveillance footage of Tesla crash in San Francisco’s Bay Bridge hours after Elon Musk announced “self-driving” feature https://theintercept.com/2023/01/10/tesla-crash-footage-autopilot/
Phil Ting's #FreedomToWalk Act is now law in California. You can cross the street anywhere as long as you're not creating a hazard.
#Jaywalking, the fake "crime" created by automobile industry lobbying to blame victims of #TrafficViolence, no longer exists in California.
Enjoy your freedom to walk! https://ktla.com/news/california/new-law-allows-californians-to-legally-jaywalk/
There seems to be a common mode of thinking about #software these days that is something like "updated software is always best". I agree there is some truth to that, but it is unfortunately not that simple. Most vulns were introduced in an update, they were not there from the beginning. "Security is a process, not a product", so how the software is developed changes the relationship between updates and #security, e.g. software that never issues stable updates vs. software with stable releases.
I guess I left out my personal motivation: as the father of two curious boys, I'd love for the #internet to be a place of free exploration again, like I first experienced it in 1994. It is far too easy for an 11 year to find things they can never unsee, or really even understand. And even worse, lots of it is coming from services that are literally trying to hook people and get them addicted.
The real power to control the problems related to porn comes from the payment. If sites can't accept credit cards or build substantial advertising businesses, there will be much less money going to middlemen. For me the open question is how much to be concerned about also making it harder for the performers to get money //