Hans-Christoph Steiner @eighthave@librem.one

“#Economics today resembles Catholic theology in medieval Europe: a rigid doctrine guarded by a modern priesthood who claim to possess the sole truth. Dissenters are shunned. Non-economists are told to “think like an economist” or not think at all… It’s indoctrination.’ https://on.ft.com/4o3TSGf

📣 Is "disable" the same as "uninstall"? We do not believe it. Google does.

Under the DMA, the FSFE with a coalition of civil-society organisations prompts the @EUCommission to open proceedings to investigate Alphabet's (#Google) regarding the uninstallation of pre-installed apps in Android.

Uninstalling is completely removing the app, not just disabling it! This is key for #DeviceNeutrality!

📎 https://edri.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Joint-DMA-complaint-Alphabet-for-publication.pdf

#SoftwareFreedom #DMA

It felt like kindergarten to do it but this week we @edri +others filed a complaint against #Google with the @EUCommission for breach of the #DigitalMarketsAct.

Despite the #DMA's clear obligation for #gatekeepers to allow you to uninstall pre-installed apps, #Alphabet claims this can also mean disabling. Yes seriously.

So we wrote a 7-page explanation why disable ≠ uninstall.

The complaint was filed together with @article19, @fsfe, @Freiheitsrechte, @HomoDigitalisGR and @vrijschrift 🙏

"Hey Google, what is Android?"

* "Android is... quarterly source-code over the wall called AOSP"
* "Android is... not GMS or Play Integrity"
* "Android is... not the device trees or driver binaries of Pixel phones"
* "Android is... not part of the monthly security reports"

And today, we discover, "Android is... not `system-images;android-36;default`" per https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/432143095

The F in #FDroid stands for "freedom", but there's no "F" in Android... nor any promises.

2/2

The #EU #DMA compliance workshops exist to regulate gatekeepers powers, yet both #Apple and #Google treat them like "product launches" where non-engineers show slides and can never answer questions.

The Android play-field, instead of taking steps to respect the DMA, Google shrinks what Android even is. If Apple can own its closed iOS, Google figured they can privatize Android?

Maybe it being #FOSS for 17 years was just a glitch and now Android is out of the famous Google betas?

1/2

Proud to be able to support the excellent #DSA complaint drafted by @aiforensics_org against the illegal use of personal data by #X to target people with #SurveillanceAds.

https://eupolicy.social/@edri/114862312731261161

#DigitalServicesAct #TrackingFreeAds #privacy

In case you missed it: Last week we released a new interview with Sovereign Tech Fellow @hugovk.

Hugo is a leading voice in the Python community. The projects he maintains are downloaded over 280 million times a month, including libraries used in NASA missions. The interview shows how Hugo's passion for contributions has developed into future-proofing the entire Python ecosystem.

🗞️ Read the interview: https://www.sovereign.tech/news/meet-hugo-van-kemenade

#MaintainerSpotlight

Well my employer has decided to partner with Palantir, which means it's time for me to find a new job. I was a lot more willing to make 40% less than market rate when I knew my employer wasn't funding concentration camps because they want AI coding tools.

Anyway of you need a UX designer/researcher who knows his way around government regulations, healthcare, enterprise software I'm looking!

@fdroidorg removing f-droid repo and adding it back also seems to work 🌈

@fdroidorg
Enabling "Force old index format" is a workaround.

So, the #Austrian Parliament ignores all expert opinion and ratifies a law to allow #statetrojan #spyware to be bought and used, making the whole population less safe while spending tax money on (non-EU) malware instead of more actual police forces. #Karner has won - at least until #VfGh nullifies it (again) - in getting his legal illusion past the Parliament, even though it can't be technically implemented as written in the law.

https://orf.at/stories/3399187/

> Nach jahrelanger Diskussion ist die Messengerüberwachung am Mittwoch vom Nationalrat ermöglicht worden. Widerstand gab es nicht nur von FPÖ und Grünen, sondern auch innerhalb der Koalition von NEOS-Abgeordneten. Mit der Vorlage wird es dem Staatsschutz künftig möglich sein, unverschlüsselte und verschlüsselte Nachrichten bei Diensten wie WhatsApp und Signal auszulesen.

To all developers of #FOSS:

I'm interested in your experiences and opinions of funding #FOSS. How to maintain freedom and secure financial stability.

Which strategies work, which don't? Like: grants from public institutions, donations from companies, donations from users, subscription models, ad revenue, sponsors, etc. etc.
What are your experiences with those strategies?

And: Do you think an anonymous payment system like #GNUTaler, along with its anonymous subscription service capabilities, could be helpful and to what degree?

What other ideas do you have?

I'm looking forward to answers, comments and shares!

This week in #FDroid (TWIF) has been live since last week, what you've missed:

* More categories and a Client bugfix WiP
* More appid and key changes
* #DAVx5 now with #UnifiedPush support
* #FennecFDroid search engine shenanigans, check your settings now!
* 15 years on #OSMAnd and better navigation
+ 4 new apps
& 131 more updates

Get up to speed: https://f-droid.org/2025/07/03/twif.html

In a world where data privacy is increasingly important, CoMaps stands out. We believe that your navigation data is yours, and only yours.

· No identify people: CoMaps does not know who you are.
· No tracking: The app does not track your locations.
· No data collection: Data is not collected.

Join us with a navigation app that prioritizes your privacy.

Would you like to end the constant drumbeat of ill-informed legislative proposals that threaten to destroy end-to-end #encryption in #OpenSource #software? Are you from #Europe? Can you demonstrate your expertise? Then why not apply to join the European Commission's Expert Group for a Technology Roadmap on Encryption (E04005). Deadline is September 1st, don't be late.

https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/expert-groups-register/screen/expert-groups/consult?lang=en&groupID=4005

We are delighted to announce that we have received a #Zerodha #FLOSSfund grant https://floss.fund/blog/update-2025-may/
This is a great way to highlight the global magnitude of libre software. Ideas, development, or funding are not centralized in one place. No one is buying the power; everybody can contribute as they can and want. We will use this budget to improve #Weblate UX and implement some major features that were waiting to get boosted by funding.