Old Fucking Punk @lwriemen@librem.one

I really feel like we had several prominent FOSS organizations fail us by not saying "hey hold on, don't use generative AI in FOSS projects, we're not sure what the legal, community, environmental implications of this are but there are serious problems and we have a history of taking a stand" and I worry that maybe we lost our moment to be principled, except in niche spaces, and the walls are closing in

And... I'm really sad about it. I think we're underestimating the amount of damage that's happening. :\

Fuck FRONTEX.

Despite not really having any plans to go ahead with a previously planned new 101 series, this time about borders, I nonetheless continue the research just in case I change my mind.

Fuck FRONTEX.

Anyway, I came across a booklet published by FRONTEX aimed at children about being returned to their ‘home’ country.

It’s all very sick and unpalatable and I can only hope FRONTEX drowns.

Fuck FRONTEX.

Texas Politicians Slowly Realize Elon Musk Hijacked Billions
In Taxpayer Broadband Grants

Originally, Congress set aside $42.5 billion in taxpayer money in the infrastructure bill to spend on
broadband upgrades., Trump Republicans claimed
they’d “saved” taxpayers $21.5 billion dollars in “non-deployment funds” that appear to have
mysteriously fallen into a deep hole in the federal government.

I am a Muslim. I can assure you I have never once in my life felt attacked or called it "anti-Muslim" or "Islamophobic" when someone criticized the government or state of Saudi Arabia, the government or state of Iran, or the government or state of Pakistan.

Because governments and states do not have rights. There's no "universal declaration of states rights." That's not a thing. People have rights, states do not have rights. Banning criticism of states is fascism.

This is a post about Israel.

@aud @cwebber

It's a question of trust.. So long to build, so quick to lose.

Anyone who was using slop has betrayed that trust. I wouldn't trust them ever again. We know it deskills people. Why would I trust anyone who deliberately deskills themselves?

"Oh but it's so much quicker to debug !" They say. Debugging is a critical skill. It's only by doing the hard stuff that your skill grows. Do you want to grow? Then do the hard stuff.

Otherwise you're admitting you're last your peak, no longer willing to stretch your skills.

The day you stop learning is the day you die inside.

RE: https://social.treehouse.systems/@bodil/117192184593175250

the #Omarchy launderbros and capitalist circle-jerkers:

#1Password
#37Signals
#Block
#Cloudflare
#Coinbase
#Dell
#OpenClaw
#Sesame
#Shopify
#Stripe
#TapTap

they’re nvidious of Huang’s big VC incest funding, they’re cosplaying the Habsburgs with one of their jerkerbro bash files

capitalists, they're definitely not like us.

RE: https://xoxo.zone/@davidcelis/117191718220401381

Wild how there’s no money to fund the accessibility stack but $12m for *checks notes* ethnic cleansing. What the fuck are we doing

EFF will continue to work with community groups to keep ALPRs off their streets, and urge judges and state legislators to impose enforceable restraints on this mass surveillance. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/08/effs-policy-position-alpr-surveillance-eliminate-it-and-reduce-its-harms

Amazon already runs more than a million warehouse robots, and they're about to outnumber the humans. The dexterity gap that once protected blue-collar work is closing fast. https://inthesetimes.com/article/ai-is-coming-for-all-of-our-jobs

Trump, flanked by crypto industry executives, held a press conference in which he urged Congress to pass the Clarity Act. The executives who stood behind him represented firms that have collectively given nearly $60 million to his campaign.

#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter

Next week, Tuesday, September 8, at 6:00 PM, join us with Bargaining for the Common Good for a virtual panel featuring organizers from the Chicago Teachers Union, Connecticut Tenants Union, House Our Neighbors, Kentucky Tenants Union, and Reclaim Rhode Island to explore how organized tenants and workers can team up to win big.

https://www.allyoufascistsboundtolose.com/calendar/home-is-where-the-union-is

That feeling when PayPal thinks your IP address is in Ireland so won’t let you log in unless it’s in a private tab on your phone over 5g

At least this year’s geoip clusterfuck almost has the country right. Only off by an R

@Elizafox And it's fine for people not to take pride in software. It's fine for it to just be a job for them.

But companies and governments should not be allowed to put people's safety at the mercy of software written that way.

And we should not be surrendering free software to corporations who want their employees to take over our projects and run them that way.

Any gotchas I should look out for migrating from #Linux to #NetBSD? Or suggestions for helpful guides?

#AskFedi

I am begging people, please just make *websites*. Not Instagram feeds, not X posts, not Squarespace slop, not e-mail newsletters, *websites*.

You know, those things that I can view without needing an account, a specialized app, shittons of spyware, etc.

(Yes, this is too salty, sorry.)

There's a cafe just down the street that serves all your favourite dishes and every hot and cold drink you could imagine. Every day, you walk in and they give you your usual order. By the end of the first month you know all of their names and they all know yours. You're there so often that they give you an account you can deposit into, so you don't have to keep paying for your second and third drinks. The table in the corner by the wall outlet is basically yours.
And then you spend a weekend in the next city over, and while you're there, you get a haircut.
When Tony doesn't recognize you Monday morning, you assume he's joking and laugh it off. "Yeah, those sandwiches are making me put on some pounds. I had to lose a pound of hair to keep up. Can I have my usual? I should have $30 in my account here."
But Tony still doesn't recognize you. Even when you give your name. Even when you recite your regular order. "Look, dude. If this is some attempt to keep my money--"
"No, no, of course not!" says Tony. "We just want to make sure someone else isn't trying to order a drink under our favourite customer's name."
"So you think someone with my exact face decided to put on my clothes, come into your cafe, and pretend to be me so he could get a five-dollar latte?"
"Well, it's theoretically possible, isn't it?"
"Okay. Sure. Thanks for keeping my coffee secure. Now how do I prove I'm me?"
"Well, can you give me your customer ID?"
"No? What's that?"
"It's written on every receipt we give you."
"You mean the receipts you offer me and then throw away when I say 'no, thanks'?"
"Yes, those ones. Do you have your customer ID?"
"Right. You're being very difficult here, Tony. Tell me what I can do."
"We can mail you a new customer ID. Do you still live at 1927 Newcastle Road in Seattle?"
"No. Obviously no. We are in Portland. And how did you even know I lived there?"
"Not important. What's the name of your oldest cousin?"
"Patricia. But how did you--"
"Great, you're in. Do you want your usual again? How was your weekend?"
"It was ... Fine, I suppose. And yes please."
You turn to sit at your usual table, but find that someone else is already there, so instead you collapse into the closest chair you can find and manage to log into work only two minutes late.
At 10:30, you're finally hungry for more than a tiny croissant, so you call out to Tony: "Hey, could I get a sandwich?"
He looks up from his phone and gives you an odd stare. "I think I know who you are, but you're sitting somewhere unusual. Can I just get your customer ID from you?"
"I still don't have it. Just like I didn't have it two hours ago. I don't mean to be rude, but is something wrong with you?"
"No, I'm perfectly fine, thanks for asking. But since you just used a security question two hours ago, I'm going to need you to sort through this box of coffee cups and give me all the medium ones that don't have a lid."
"Okay, this is insane. Can I just pay for my coffee with my credit card?"
"Not while your name is flagged as possible fraud."
Slowly, methodically, you pack your bag and walk out, never to return.
#MicroFiction

My particular computing needs are complicated: I browse web, I play and make games, I explore old software, I draw, and I make music. On top of that, I do some writing, I work with spreadsheets, and of course I hang out with my friends and family online.

All those things, obviously, can be done on NetBSD. All those things come with some friction. Resolving this friction is generally highly rewarding.

Among recent examples:

figuring out how to have graphical acceleration on my computer, so video playback is very smooth;
configuring my desktop in such a way that my most commonly used programs (terminal, file browser, taskbar) are LLM-free;
hacking around xf86-input-tablet driver to make my tablet work in NetBSD.

All of those taught me a lot about my computer. They were not as simple as I hoped, but they gave me a bit of agency over my computing needs.

🧵 3/?