@signalapp As a supporter of #Signal, it is important to point out a key detail: Signal's own code is #OpenSource, but Signal uses multiple #proprietary libraries from #Google. Those cannot be scrutinized since the source code is not open. We believe Signal should offer an actual open source version, and are ready to help. This exists already in the fork https://fosstodon.org/@MollyIM Also, apps like #Element #Threema #Wire are #FOSS, and have #ReproducibleBuilds on @fdroidorg #FDroid
A Mobile track at FOSSY was just added to the schedule! 🎉
If you have a talk about FOSS on mobile devices that you've always wanted to give, now is your chance 😁
The submission thing is open until April 28:
https://2025.fossy.us/call-for-proposals/
wow, #Bluesky just deleted all the comments for people who didn't like that users were objecting to them making it more like #Twitter:
There are direct links to the comments in:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/04/18/2231252/users-react-to-blueskys-upcoming-blue-check-mark-verification-system
But they are no longer visible on the GitHub issue. Unfortunately, no one got a archive.org capture before that happened.
We are not lawyers, nor our alter egos play as such on the Internet. Ergo in the face of legal challenges we are only rusticos.
If you feel ad idem and want to lend a hand, or head, to #FDroid pro bono and bona fide, you can help in our ongoing efforts ad infinitum.
Quaeritur right here: https://f-droid.org/2025/04/16/strengthening-foss-legal-resilience.html
#Apple is supposedly the "privacy company" but apparently those sweet #SurveillanceCapitalism dollars are just too irresistable, so they are expanding their ad business:
https://www.techradar.com/pro/apple-rebrands-part-of-its-ads-business-in-major-expansion
If you're thinking about #democracy, consider that less than 30% of the #USA adult population voted for #Trump.
Debian MountainCamp will happen in Innsbruck, Austria - 16–18 May 2025. Come and meet fellow Debianites, hack on Debian, have fun! https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEvents/de/2025/MountainCamp #debian
Sovereign Tech Agency’s Technology Lead @tarakiyee wird nächsten Montag auf dem "Public Money? Public Code!" Fachtag, veranstaltet von @fsfe in Essen sprechen!
Taras Vortrag erörtert, wie öffentliche Investitionen, wie die der Sovereign Tech Agency, in essenzielle FOSS-Infrastruktur dazu beitragen, Vendor Lock-ins durch offene Standards und Interoperabilität zu vermeiden – ein Problem für viele öffentliche Verwaltungen und KMU.
EU: Let’s backdoor encryption – by 2026, or even sooner. Since it's impossible to backdoor encryption in a way that can’t be potentially exploited by others, it seems a very odd move https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/03/eu_backdoor_encryption/
Microsoft Abandons #DataCenter Projects, TD Cowen Says
China built hundreds of #AI #datacenter s to catch the AI boom. Now many stand unused.
The country poured billions into AI infrastructure, but the data center gold rush is unraveling as speculative investments collide with weak demand and DeepSeek shifts AI trends.
https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/03/26/1113802/china-ai-data-centers-unused/
Time flies when you're busy building apps, but not all #FDroid contributors need to wrangle Python, escape YAML or restart Gitlab pipelines.
If you want to have a saying in the betterment of F-Droid, from the inside, you are welcomed to nominate yourself or somebody else you find worthy for a Board of Directors seat.
You have time until April 14th, so head to: https://f-droid.org/2025/03/30/board-of-directors-nominations.html
@fdroidorg here's info on Google's sponsorship of ECIPE
https://corporateeurope.org/en/2021/08/lobby-network-big-techs-web-influence-eu
#Google funds this #EU think tank to put out policy papers saying #DigitalMarketsAct will break their lovely #PlayProtect scare screens, making us all less safe and "it require[s] Google to allow developers to insert links inside their Play Store apps".
https://ecipe.org/publications/eu-dma-undermine-security-mobile-operating-systems/#_ftn13
As I've always said in relation to the #DMA, let @fdroidorg compete on trustworthiness. I'd love to see this think thank include analysis malware rates of #CalyxOS with #FDroid and compare that to #GooglePlay #security
"Exclusive: Google will develop the Android OS fully in private..."
Looking again at https://www.androidauthority.com/google-android-development-aosp-3538503/ I really think that was a PR piece, e.g. #Google's PR firm put together the story for #Android Authority. Its got all the markings, the "Exclusive" part, the uncritical eye "Google is simply consolidating its development efforts into a single branch", minimizing harm to custom ROMs, "custom ROMs will largely also see little change" etc
GitHub has gone - long live Forgejo (@forgejo).
Fully migrated out of Microsoft’s walled garden after they blocked us:
- 54k commits
- 9.5k issues
- 4.3k pull requests
- 100k comments
Everything moved. Nothing left behind.
Nobody can lose, leak, lease, loan or liquidate your data if they don't have it. That's why we work hard to remove metadata from our systems, so your personal data is not even there to be gathered, let alone mishandled.
https://social.librem.one/@guardianproject/114222147812437231
It is important to understand that the personal data you give to a company becomes their "property". Even if a company that currently runs a service keeps the data private, it can be put up for sale. The new owners are then free to operate differently, especially when there is no GDPR like in the US.
#apksigner v35.0.2 is now in #Debian trixie. The v3.1 signer rotation stuff needs testing. Please try it out!
Getting apksigner from Debian has two key advantages over the Google binaries:
* They are reproducibly built.
* They have an actual free software license.