Hans-Christoph Steiner @eighthave@librem.one
Joined Aug 2019
Hans-Christoph Steiner
boosted
If you’re on Linux, there’s a good chance you use GNOME: it’s the default experience across Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora Workstation, Endless OS, and more. If you’re on another desktop, you still likely use components developed by GNOME contributors—or maybe you get apps from Flathub.
Want to become more than just a user? How about… a friend? 🥺 Become a Friend of GNOME to support GNOME, Flathub, and the work we do!
Hans-Christoph Steiner
boosted
Today's digital #sovereignty data point, courtesy of #SWH2026. This chart shows who is hosting French research projects but I've no doubt it is representative of other sectors.
@mattdm it is great to have more resources explaining the value of distros. It feels like it is cool right now to talk about eliminating distros and going straight to the upstream. There are so many valuable things that approach leaves out. Do you know of any other good resources out there that explain the value of distros?
An popular idea in #OS development now is that the ideal system would have a #sandbox that allows users to install even untrusted apps safely. It is important to point out that this is pure fantasy. No system has ever come close to providing a sandbox good enough for that standard (e.g. #NSOGroup has maintained zero-click exploits to #iOS and #Android for years now). Having pure fantasy as a goal means other features will be broken in the name of trying to achieve the unachievable
Matt Miller, Project Leader of #Fedora, gives a nice overview of what makes #distros valuable. This applies to any distro that actually reviews the packages that they ship, including #FDroid #Debian etc. Something like #Flathub or #Obtainium do not behave like distros because they do not aim to review and standardize the packages they ship.
https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=oKP1hgdFJKo&t=187
(You can click "Watch on YouTube" from that site if you like that kind of thing 😉)
"Tourism is like fire, you can prepare your soup with it, but it can also burn your house down"
What a great analogy. I definitely see the "burn your house down" part in Austria. From what I've seen in the Balkans, it happening shockingly fast. And it looks like this current wave will mostly benefit foreign investors more than the locals. Real protections for nature help a lot.
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2026/jan/28/volunteering-trip-protecting-vjosa-river-albania
Hans-Christoph Steiner
boosted
VECTO is an #OpenSource software used to calculate the energy consumption and CO₂ emissions of trucks and buses, to ensure they meet the EU's environmental standards. ✅
It is created by a team of engineers and developers from the Commission's Joint Research Centre in Italy. Each year it certifies about 300 000 new trucks. 🚚
Read more in the latest article by @EC_OSPO and find it's code on code.europa.eu 👉 https://link.europa.eu/7MBFNN
Hans-Christoph Steiner
boosted
There are many ways that #WhatsApp could implement methods for getting users' messages while still using #EndToEndEncryption. The #mobile app could take a command to send messages to #Meta before they are encrypted (via an #E2EE channel still). This is why #FreeSoftware and #OpenSource are essential for #privacy. Anyone can then inspect what the app is actually doing. #Proprietary #software means blinding trusting the developer's claims.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/lawsuit-alleges-that-whatsapp-has-no-end-to-end-encryption
Hans-Christoph Steiner
boosted
Hello Delta Chat,
@delta
From the start of the recent protests in Iran, following the experience of the 12-day war between Iran and Israel and the experiences of the Aban 1398 (2019) and 1401 (2022-2023) protests, we knew widespread internet disruptions were coming. Earlier, active members of the free software community had set up internal Delta Chat relay servers on tiiiz.ir.
Relying on that prior experience, we conducted practical user tests with general users to observe their interaction with the application.
The result was clear: Delta Chat was far simpler for everyday users to understand and had a more intuitive interface compared to platforms like Matrix.
That’s why, together with community members, we began producing educational content for Delta Chat. The goal was to prepare users as much as possible before Iran’s internet was completely severed and localized.
Hans-Christoph Steiner
boosted
The merge request for @fdroidorg 2.0 is in. The goal is a first alpha for F-Droid Basic in time for @fosdem
https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroidclient/-/merge_requests/1607
Hans-Christoph Steiner
boosted
So cool: @radboud University has announced to switch to #Fairphone for (all?) their employees. 🎉 They explicitly cite #sustainability, cost efficiency and management support as reasons.
Hans-Christoph Steiner
boosted
Are you joining the EU Open Source week?
Join the Community Meetup hosted by the EC Open Source Observatory (OSOR) on 28 January.
See how the open source is becoming a key pillar of digital transformation in Europe’s public sector.
Hear insights, reports and practical guidance on public sector open source adoption, with experiences from across Europe, including Barcelona.
📍 Brussels
More info & registration 👉 https://link.europa.eu/h7HVB6
Hans-Christoph Steiner
boosted
If you're the kind of hacker that likes news you might peruse our latest post about the infrastructure update: https://f-droid.org/2025/12/30/a-faster-heart-for-f-droid.html
But before that, here's a small poll for you.
Where do you think our build servers, that build and verify 200 apps per week, are located?
Unsurprisingly, the British BBC has a much more sympathic view of Pahlavi. The UK did help with the coup that put his father into power, after all.
Hans-Christoph Steiner
boosted
#UnifiedPush is on everybody's lips when it comes to #decentralization or #deGoogle or wanting to cut off #BigTech from your live.
But did you know how it was started? How many times its destiny intersected with #FDroid ?
Read here, straight from the creator: https://f-droid.org/2026/01/08/unifiedpush-5-years.html
A classic example of the #toxicity of modern society: It turns out that exercise is as effective against #depression as #pharma, but exercise isn't controlled by a big corporation for #profit. #BigPharma spends huge amounts on #marketing, no one is spending anywhere close to that on marketing simple yet effective things like taking a walk with friends or family every day
"It's much easier for a primary care physician to prescribe medication to a patient [than exercise]"
Has anyone gotten #Seedvault the #Android backup app working? I've tried on five different devices, with Nextcloud, WebDAV and USB thumb drive. In all cases, the backups either failed to restore or it was not possible to set the backup up.
Adversarial interoperability should be legal. Users should be able to use software on their own devices the way they want to. The tariff wars have opened up a new political opportunity to make that happen. @pluralistic explains it well:
#BigTech #FreeSoftware #FOSS #AdversarialInteroperability #startups #UserFreedom
Hans-Christoph Steiner
boosted
Are you into #opensource ? And in the #eu ?
There is a Call for Feedback by the European Commission for a 'European Open Digital Ecosystem Strategy' For strategic approach to #foss in Europe, and a framework for using open source within the European Commission. You can respond until 3 February. It is useful to respond even if your point has already been submitted by someone else. The number and repetition of arguments is used as a weight. https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/16213-European-Open-Digital-Ecosystems_en cc #fosdem
Joined Aug 2019
