Hans-Christoph Steiner @eighthave@librem.one

#BillGates biggest legacy will perhaps be that he built a #monopoly that delivered crappy #software for so long, that a bunch of idealists, volunteers,and kids were able to create the #FreeSoftware movement which the vast majority of companies have now signed on to. Using #OpenSource is the default now in software development, there is almost no major software that is purely proprietary. Converting open source to free software is the next struggle, freedom is an essential aspect for the future

#Debian and #FDroid require signature verification, and #FDroid is built on top of #Android's APK signing. This improves things a lot but does not mean they are immune. Debian and F-Droid repos can still override packages lower priority repos. It could make sense to have a "no overrides allowed" setting, but that would restrict useful features. Maybe F-Droid could implement "no new signing keys when overriding" rule by default, I wonder how much that would break what people are doing now? 2/2

#Decentralized #software repository systems like #npm #maven #rubygems #pypi etc have key issues that make them hard to decentralize properly: solid verification is optional, one repo can override packages from another, and the tooling makes it hard to see which repo was actually used. #MavenCentral has additional measures which make it more trustworthy, but if devs add repos, those can still override it. #Gradle verification helps a lot when using Maven repos but does not solve everything 1/2

Since I was an adult, I've had big swings in income, my lowest year was about 1/8 of my highest. This is by choice mostly, so I'm very lucky. It gives me perspective, and actually I was usually happier when I had less money and more time, though the insecurity of the lean years was tough. A small, steady income and housing would be the ideal. I also consumed much less in the lean years, and this article about going off grid reminded me of the benefits of a simpler life https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/01/i-disconnected-from-the-electric-grid-for-8-months-in-manhattan/

And in case it was not clear, #NonViolence is an essential aspect of #CivilDisobedience. Violent civil disobedience cannot be justified, especially when you consider that non-violent movements are twice as likely to succeed https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190513-it-only-takes-35-of-people-to-change-the-world

For me, #MLK gave the clearest ethical explanation of #CivilDisobedience, starting with "I don't think any society can call an individual irresponsible who breaks the law and willingly accepts the penalty if conscience tells him that that law is unjust." Listen to the whole thing: https://youtu.be/fAtsAwGreyE?t=798

#ExtinctionRebellion #climatejustice #klima #LobauBleibt #Luetzerathbleibt #FridaysForFuture #FFF_Austria #LetzteGeneration #BlackLivesMatter #RomaLivesMatter are demonstrating this right now.

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

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?

Everything was clearly better in the past, we can't even get #radioactive toothpaste anymore!

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.