Free Soft&Hardware Enthusiast @goatwildernesscollective@librem.one

Tiling Shell is a new, super-charged window snapping extension for GNOME Shell - https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/06/tiling-shell-gnome-extension-in-ubuntu #gnome #ubuntu

On July 1st, The European Commission (EC) informed Meta that its "pay or consent" model failed to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_3582

Meta's "pay or consent" lets European users of Facebook and Instagram choose between paying a €9.99 monthly subscription for an ad-free version, or a free-of-charge version with personalised ads. A whooping €255.99 per year. 💸

But why are they even doing this?

Consent is invalid, they said, where there is "any element of compulsion, pressure or inability to exercise free will" and large online platforms should consider providing an "equivalent alternative that does not entail the payment of a fee".

Meta is not the only target of the DMA. We continue to work, individually and collectively with civil society, to monitor its enforcement, including regarding compliance measures introduced by Big Tech companies such as Apple: https://edri.org/our-work/apple-must-comply-with-the-dma-urges-civil-society-call-to-european-commission/

Starship 31 at Massey's test this morning preparing for cryogenic testing.

7/2/24

Here is another update on how's my #PineTime doing. As I mentioned before, the glass cover for the heart rate sensor fell off. And, well, I got caught in the rain today and it died. Beautifully, tho

The fastest non-Google controlled web rendering engine Servo is trying to compete with only $1.8k funding a month:
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Servo-Engine-May-2024

Yes, they did have an NLNet grant, but that ran out.

If we want an alternative to Blink/Chrome, we need to fund it. This is a project where even a tiny regular amount could yield oversize returns:

https://servo.org/

#Servo #Rust #Blink #Google #Chrome

@z3ntu added sensor support to #Fairphone 4 and 5 on #postmarketOS in an open MR, on track to beat the Xiaomi Mi 9T / Redmi K20 and Pixel 3a in packaging (even though sensors can work on both devices). It's not just SDM845 devices (and still not SDM670) that benefit from the libssc/hexagonrpcd userspace sensor drivers.

https://gitlab.com/postmarketOS/pmaports/-/merge_requests/5290
https://gitlab.com/postmarketOS/pmaports/-/merge_requests/5313

[$] PostmarketOS: Linux for phones and more

In 2016, Oliver Smith reached a point of frustration with the short lifespan of updates for his Android phone. Taking matters into his own hands, he began developing postmarketOS, [...]

https://lwn.net/Articles/979522/ #LWN

it's utterly ridiculous to me that we can't include firmware for phones (like wifi, Bluetooth, gpu firmware) in the linux-firmware git repository without the OEM providing consent.

in the case of Qualcomm phones:

The firmware is locked to the device via a signature, it can't be replaced.
It is already obtainable easily via the vendors website or on GitHub
It usually barely differs from the development board firmware which is already in the linux-firmware repo

Vendors generally aren't confident enough to explicitly distribute firmware with a suitable license because Qualcomm haven't given the go ahead (and they either can't, or won't ask permission).

The few examples we do have are for the Lenovo ThinkPad x13s, where the legal side was a non-trivial exercise as i understand it.

Even if Qualcomm greenlit OEMs invoicing redistributable licenses with their firmware builds (which is something i think they should do), we'd still need OEMs to actually do it... And they might have their own value add and silly lawyers who think NOT doing it gives them some kind of advantages.

The whole situation is so ridiculously stupid. And to top it all off it's not like anyone actually cares. There are many people redistricting firmware for Android phones and ofc it's totally fine - because there's literally nothing to gain by preventing access to these blobs.

I wonder what would happen if someone just submitted blobs for a phone to linux-firmware...

phosh 0.40.0 is out 🚀📱:

- #phosh: more quick toggles (dark style, mobile data). Allow suspend when device is locked. 🐛 fixes. Tweaks for #Rust binding generation
- #phoc fling gesture for phosh's top and home bar. 🐛 fixes.
- #mobilesettings: allow to tweak shell layout, lock delay and plugin ordering via ☝️

Check out the full release notes at https://phosh.mobi/releases/rel-0.40.0/

🙏 to everyone who contributed to this release.

#phosh #librem5 #pinephone #gtk #wlroots #gnome #linux #mobile #LinuxMobile

Reverse-Engineered Vivante Driver Brings Improved Performance & Fixes For Linux 6.11

The Etnaviv kernel graphics driver that provides reverse-engineered open-source support for Vivante graphics (and NPU) IP has seen a fresh round of patches ready to go for queuing in DRM-Next ahead of the Linux 6.11 cycle kicking off in mid-July...
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Etnaviv-Driver-Linux-6.11

The government can't justify its TikTok ban by simply asserting national security interests. The First Amendment requires that any regulation of speech like the ban be precise and necessary, even for national security concerns. https://www.eff.org/press/releases/government-has-extremely-heavy-burden-justify-tiktok-ban-eff-tells-appeals-court

"#iPhones and #iPads are not general purpose computers" states #Apple. I vehemently disagree!!

(More about the @fsfe 's work on this and how you can help
https://fsfe.org/news/2024/news-20240627-01.html )

ive said it before and I'll say it again

we call it AdBlocking because that's what most people use it for

but it's really just a way to control what elements do and do not display on all websites or some

screen reader users often need to block some elements that are NOT ads to make a site functional (although often ads as well)

Banning ad blockers is not just a privacy concern or a quality of life concern or an Internet safety from malicious ads concern.

It's an accessibility concern

Switzerland mandates software source code disclosure for public sector: A legal milestone

The EMBAG law stipulates that all public bodies must disclose the source code of software developed by or for them, unless precluded by third-party rights or security concerns. This mandate aims to ensure greater transparency, security, and efficien ...continues

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/switzerland-mandates-software-source-code-disclosure-for-public-sector-a-legal-milestone/

#opensource #switzerland #technology

#Apple rejects MS-DOS emulator from the App Store? https://lifehacker.com/tech/apple-rejects-pc-emulators-from-app-store Seems like a long time to hold a grudge?

@cas and @verdre fixing USB C role switching on Oneplus 6 (i.e. it won't think headphones are a charger anymore) 🎧✨

As #Mozilla is busy adding AI crap to #Firefox, I would like to point out that it's about 13 years since they removed the #RSS button from default Firefox GUI, and six years since RSS support was completely dropped from Firefox.

Thus making feeds invisible and impossible to discover for most web users.

RSS/Atom/JSON feeds are an immensely useful and important tech that can help solve the content discovery problem *without* going through gatekeepers. 👀

But obviously not a priority for Mozilla.

JULIAN IS FREE!!!!!!

https://www.mimikama.org/assange-ist-frei/

welcome back dear!
i sure hope this shitshow is finally over.