As someone who grew up in the #SiliconValley and fled, this article gave me a new insight into its mechanations: https://www.vox.com/podcasts/23604908/malcolm-harris-palo-alto-capitalism-interview
#fdroid client is configured with two #Maven repos: Maven Central and the Google one. Yet running `./gradlew buildEnvironment --scan` downloads `org.gradle:gradle-enterprise-gradle-plugin:3.10.2`, which is not available on those two repositories. It seems that #Gradle is adding repositories automatically, that seems sketchy to me. I confirmed this by running `gradle --write-verification-metadata sha256 buildEnvironment --scan`
Wiki Unblocked is also built by #fdroidorg using the #ReproducibleBuilds process, independently confirming that the binary APK shipped on https://f-droid.org matched the source code.
Seeing the utopia that is promised just around the corner with AGI @clarkesworld closing submissions because of inundation by "AI" generated submissions. Feels like a DDOS attack.
https://dair-community.social/@clarkesworld@mastodon.online/109871320720975169
If you use Debian container images, please note that "debian:bookworm" images are already using deb822-style repository sources https://manpages.debian.org/bullseye/apt/sources.list.5.en.html#DEB822-STYLE_FORMAT
@cryptax if you post a droidlysis v3.4.1 ASAP, I can probably get it into the upcoming Debian/bookworm release. Also, I found a bug when using newer libmagic: https://github.com/cryptax/droidlysis/pull/10
Just uploaded to #Debian the key #Android inspection tools #apktool 2.7.0 and the latest #smali from git, ahead of 2.5.2. All sorts of tools like #droidlysis #fdroid #kalilinux and more rely on these for inspecting Android APK files.
The EU digital identity wallet might handle some of citizens’ most sensitive data. Its success highly depends on the trust people place in it. Undemocratic behaviour & the deletion of privacy-preserving features of the new ID are certainly the wrong way to gain society’s trust.
Software deployments with many active engineers can work effectively by constantly deploying iterative changes and watching for feedback. That is a pattern used by many large software companies and startups alike. But that's not the only effective model of software development. Many #FreeSoftware projects still use stable releases since they allow progress without requiring constant attention. Once a stable release is deployed, it can be effectively maintained with a drastically smaller effort.
I spent the morning poring over the Android 14 DP1 materials, especially the API differences report. Which means, once again, I have some random musings: https://commonsware.com/blog/2023/02/11/random-musings-android-14-dp1.html
As usual, the early developer previews have the most stuff to report on. Thankfully, these posts get shorter as we march towards beta releases.
And, as usual, I don't pull many punches.
All the hype about souped up developer productivity using LLMs for coding reminds me of the original title of this 2014 paper, before it was milquetoasted in 2015 acceptance.
LLMs can help you rapidly acquire semi-plagiarized fragments of well-traveled code instead of using a quality library with vision of the problem domain. Might be great for KPIs, but this debt will come back to bite you, unless you're already gone. Will be painful for orgs to adapt.
https://research.google/pubs/pub43146/
Just uploaded #droidlysis v3.4.0 to #Debian. It is an easy way to get started with analyzing #Android APK files to see what is in them.
People worry a lot about losing knowledge — about "burned-down libraries".
Comparatively few people seem to worry about what happens if you take a billion books full of auto-generated, often-untrue junk text and *add* them all to the library.
In theory, nothing is lost. In reality, everything is lost, because nothing useful can now be found.
I have never really liked discussing whether you have something to hide, as an argument for or against security or privacy. First, it's irrelevant - everyone has these rights no matter what. But also, once you start talking about "hiding", you have already lost the discussion - because it's a word that is associated with negative connotations.
I think we should change the discourse. I don't have anything to hide. But I do have many things to protect. I have the right to protect my privacy. I have the right to protect my communication. I have the right to protect my work. I have the right to protect my friends and family.
@fdroidorg @guardianproject @eighthave gives opportunity to the free software community to release and distribute apps into this pilot - European Commission will open tenders on the website to help deliver on these goals of alternative open app stores #fosdem
And now @eighthave discusses what it takes to actually publish your mobile apps as free software on four freedom compliant app stores that respect and build trust with your users #fosdem