Hans-Christoph Steiner @eighthave@librem.one

Great real time BBB conversation today about the disturbing cryptic announcement by Google regarding the to the right to load your own packages on devices.

@conservancy's Denver Gingerich hosted and moderated the discussion, & @fdroidorg folks (including @eighthave, @marcprux, @seabass)

In the excitement, I exuberantly volunteered to lead a later session in October or November demoing end-to-end how #SFC procures used devices & installs #LineageOS and #FDroid on them.

Now I have more work. 😊

“#AI is the ultimate distraction device for the C-suite, since it is now absorbing so much executive headspace & public airtime that there is less space to think about other issues, such as the uglier side of Trump’s policies. It gobbles up bandwidth, literally and metaphorically.” https://on.ft.com/4p6tJXF

TIL that Microsoft Copilot is now trying to show a "face" with different "emotions". That it's not working right now is not my issue. That MS are even more explicitly trying to trick people into thinking they are having a conversation with an actual person, however, most definitely *is*.

Did this "feature" run through an ethics board review? Is the additional emotional deception of users intentional? Who actually wants that sh..?

I am getting happier by the day that my current daily driver (#Framework) laptop didn't come with a Windows license and I'm certainly not going to spend any public university funds on buying this manipulatory adware... Whoever sends me documents to edit in the future: if they don't open correctly in #Libreoffice (without the "help" of Copilot), I won't be able to work on them.

via @tomwarren.co.uk

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:fbtvg6jxtdroidfvq5z635xu/post/3lxxlpdy3qs2r

Worried about the future of installing your own software on your Android device? @conservancy is hosting a Q&A to update you about sideloading software as well as other tips about how to ensure your phone runs the software you want, without any artificial restrictions. Join us on BigBlueButton this Friday September 5th at 15:00 UTC (08:00 US/Pacific, 11:00 US/Eastern, 17:00 CEST)

https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2025/sep/3/sfc-qa-on-how-to-keep-your-sideloading/

Element users on the default http://matrix.org homeserver are currently impacted by a serious database outage (https://mastodon.matrix.org/@matrix/115136245785561439)which will take at least 12 hours to recover - many apologies to everyone impacted. Users on their own deployments are of course unaffected.

Did you know there's a German non profit association (Verein) behind #NewPipe? [1]

You can donate to it, or even join the association.

And also, did you know they are looking for two freelancers for android development and sysadmin things? [2]

[1] https://newpipe-ev.de/about.html
[2] https://newpipe-ev.de/opportunities.html

An app developer has jailbroken Echelon exercise bikes to restore functionality that the company put behind a paywall last month, but copyright laws prevent him from being allowed to legally release it.

🔗 https://www.404media.co/developer-unlocks-newly-enshittified-echelon-exercise-bikes-but-cant-legally-release-his-software/

> If every author in the class filed a claim, industry advocates warned, it would "financially ruin" the entire AI industry.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/08/authors-celebrate-historic-settlement-coming-soon-in-anthropic-class-action/

Good.

To be clear, copyright maximalism is a problem and I had spent years fighting it.

But in this case I am celebrating. That whole industry is built on the idea that they can take whatever they want without anyone's consent.

At the same time, publishers selling of whole catalogs for training data showed how morally bankrupt copyright is.

📣 we are pushing one last OTA update before the new CalyxOS release to reach as many current users as we can about the current CalyxOS hiatus and its impact. Details about this OTA update: https://calyxos.org/news/2025/08/27/last-ota-update-before-new-calyxos-release/

Thank you @grote for sharing this.

In addition to telling #Google that locking down #Android is bad, I'd also recommend every app developer to write to the @EUCommission's #DMA enforcement team and tell them that this practically circumvents Article 6(4) of the #DigitalMarketsAct, which was supposed to *enable* 3rd party app (stores).

The EC is discussing the same question with #Apple atm and they have to understand what happens if they let this happen.

Contact form:
https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/contact-dma-team_en

Alas, it is time for more uncomfortable questions, in this case regarding the announced Android developer verification program: https://commonsware.com/blog/2025/08/26/uncomfortable-questions-android-developer-verification.html #AndroidDev

Let's carry on our legal series, in part two we will discuss jurisdiction, legal entities and liability in #FLOSS #FOSS.

Ever wondered “What laws apply to #FDroid ?" We had to...

Just 12 minutes of your time: https://f-droid.org/2025/08/20/legat-two.html

(And yes, that typo in the URL will stay there forever 🙄)

#DEfO has completed #ECH implementation for #nginx and there is a pull request:

https://github.com/nginx/nginx/pull/840

If you want to see ECH in nginx sooner rather than later, please jump in and review, give feedback, thumbs up, etc.

#EncryptedClientHello #TLS #OpenSSL

Oh dear, the Belgian government's #cybersecurity centre manages to write an entire page about the #EndOf10 without mentioning any other operating system than #Microsoft #Windows. Instead of telling people they might want switch to e.g. #Linux, they suggest to:

* pay Microsoft for #ESU, or
* buy a new computer. 😤

https://safeonweb.be/fr/actualite/windows-10-cessera-bientot-ses-mises-jour-comment-rester-en-securite-sur-internet