Nepal Bans 26 Social Media Platforms, Including Signal
The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology of Nepal has issued an order requiring all social media platforms to be registered in Nepal.
Based on this, the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has instructed all network service providers to deactivate 26 platforms, including Signal, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, and others.
To lift the ban and operate legally in Nepal, each platform must:
- Register with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.
- Appoint in Nepal:
- A Point of Contact
- A Resident Grievance Handling Officer
- An Officer responsible for monitoring compliance with self-regulation [1]
- Submit an application in the prescribed format along with required documents, as per the Directives on Managing the Use of Social Media Networks (2080 B.S.). [2]
Reference:
[2] Directives for Managing the Use of Social Networks, 2023
This Company Turns Dashcams into ‘Virtual CCTV Cameras.’ Then Hackers Got In
This Company Turns Dashcams into ‘Virtual CCTV Cameras.’ Then Hackers Got In
A hacker has broken into Nexar, a popular dashcam company that pitches its users’ dashcams as “virtual CCTV cameras” around the world that other people can buy images from, and accessed a database of terabytes of video recordings taken from cameras in drivers’ cars. The videos obtained by the hacker and shared with 404 Media capture people clearly unaware that a third party may be watching or listening in. A parent in a car soothing a baby. A man whistling along to the radio. Another person on a Facetime call. One appears to show a driver heading towards the entrance of the CIA’s headquarters. Other images, which are publicly available in a map that Nexar publishes online, show drivers around sensitive Department of Defense locations.The hacker also found a list of companies and agencies that may have interacted with Nexar’s data business, which sells access to blurred images captured by the cameras and other related data. This can include monitoring the same location captured by Nexar’s cameras over time, and lets clients “explore the physical world and gain insights like never before,” and use its virtual CCTV cameras “to monitor specific points of interest,” according to Nexar’s website.
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Subscribe nowThis Company Turns Dashcams into ‘Virtual CCTV Cameras.’ Then Hackers Got In
A hacker has compromised Nexar, which turns peoples' cars into "virtual CCTV cameras" that organizations can then buy images from. The images include sensitive U.S. military and intelligence facilities.Joseph Cox (404 Media)
Zelensky’s dream is NATO-Russia war – ex-Polish president
Zelensky’s dream is NATO-Russia war – ex-Polish president
Andrzej Duda has said Zelensky pressured him to blame Russia for an errant Ukrainian missile which detonated in PolandRT
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Just keep spreading those lib talking points!
Oh wait
checks instance
ha ha checks out
So why the fuck did Russia need to be the one to start it.
If they thrive on war. Surely they would have been invading russian territory. Rather then sitting and Following the treaties with Russia. That Russia chose to break and invade Ukraine.
It's a fucking stupid argument.
Why recent. Do you think treaties expire when your friends don't like them any more.
They have not been first to break an international treaty they signed since leaving the USSR. Russia broke several when they invaded Ukraine.
Nations that thrive on war tend to invade other nation. They do not wait for other to invade them.
Ukraine was constitutionally and treaty-bound to neutrality. That was one of the conditions for their independence. They violated that condition in 2014 when they decided to become an anti-Russia NATO proxy. They invaded and bombed the Donbass republics which declared independence following an illegal and unconstitutional Nazi coup in 2014. They took away the constitutionally protected status of the Russian language and have systematically repressed its use and persecuted its speakers.
Russia acted strictly according to international law fulfilling their humanitarian obligation to protect the people of the Donbass from genocide, who were under attack and formally requested Russia's assistance according to the legal right to collective self-defense enshrined in article 51 of the UN charter.
So after Russia invaded breaking it's treaty commitment to respect the borders and sovereignty of Ukraine. Ukraine no longer followed it's commitments under the broken treaty.
Yes that is the way things work.
Now maybe Russia should hand back the fucking nuke it got in return for agreeing to respect that soverinty.
Your argument are no more then trollinsh bollocks with zero merit.
The West also pledged to respect Ukraine's sovereignty. They broke that pledge first in 2004 when they instigated the first color revolution in Ukraine, then again when they orchestrated the 2014 coup. Interference in another country's politics is a violation of sovereignty. Everything Russia did followed as a result of that. Ukraine lost its sovereignty in 2014 when it became a NATO-US puppet. There was no sovereignty left for Russia to violate.
Russia had a humanitarian duty to intervene to stop the attack on the Donbass.
Ukraine never had nukes.
Bullshit.
In 1997, the borders of Ukraine were the internationally recognized borders it inherited upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, which included its territory from the Black Sea to its borders with Belarus, Russia, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova. This was confirmed by the 1997 Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, known as the "Big Treaty," which legally bound Russia to respect Ukraine's existing borders.
So Russia agreed to respect the 1991 borders. Then broke that agreement.
Besides the point. Ukraine only indicated a desire to Join NATO indicating a desire. Even in its constitution is not breaking the agreement. But a act of democratic will.
You are basically arguing.
"Oh it looks to me that Ukraine's population wants to break a treaty we have already proven we will not abide by. We had a right to attack in the past. "
You are talking out your arse and have absolutely no fucking idea what you are talking about.
Goodbye.
Of course he does, Russia will outlast Ukraine in the long run if NATO countries don't start joining the fight. I don't see how it would be a surprise that he dreams of getting actual help.
Even if Ukraine somehow wins this, the war got to be exhausting and stressful for him and everyone else involved. Getting help, or even just a second enemy for Russia to be distracted by, would be a positive for them no matter where this goes.
I mean, it's positive for both sides. Russia has a war economy now, they NEED to keep going or their economy will collapse. And a war with NATO might get China involved as well on their side, so it's not like Russia would be fucked for sure.
Ukraine isn't a US puppet btw (I assume that's whom you mean with nazis). I do disagree with the nazi claim too, but I'm not going to be able to convince you there, so I'm not going to try either. But Ukraine isn't a US puppet, they literally have to beg the US to help them out. A puppet wouldn't have to ask, as their actions would be in their master's interest in the first place. They'd get full support.
Whether you believe them to be the good or the bad guys, Ukraine is in this of its own volition, not because the US or Europe told them they have to fight.
Ukraine isn't a US puppet btw
I agree, it would be more correct to call them a NATO puppet, or even just a EU puppet at this point.
Either way, they are a puppet.
Colombia coal exports plummet after ban on ‘Israel’ sales
Colombia’s coal exports fell by almost half in July compared to the same period last year, with official figures showing a dramatic 45.8 percent drop in value.
The decline comes days after President Gustavo Petro renewed a ban on sales to ‘Israel’, compounding existing pressures on the country’s leading export sector.
According to the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), Colombia exported $479.8 million worth of coal in July, a steep decrease from the $885.8 million sold in July 2024.
This marks the fifth consecutive quarter of contraction for the sector, which local mining unions attribute to a “global price crisis” and increased production in Indonesia that has driven down international prices.
A visual editor for Babylon.js ( an open Js game and rendering engine)
- Babylon.js repo github.com/BabylonJS/Babylon.j…
GitHub - BabylonJS/Babylon.js: Babylon.js is a powerful, beautiful, simple, and open game and rendering engine packed into a friendly JavaScript framework.
Babylon.js is a powerful, beautiful, simple, and open game and rendering engine packed into a friendly JavaScript framework. - BabylonJS/Babylon.jsGitHub
Security camera video shows Israeli strike in southern Lebanon (VIdeo short)
Security camera video captured the moment an Israeli air attack hit the town of Ansariyeh, southern Lebanon. Additional video shows damage to the site, where excavation equipment was being stored.
Film recounting Hind Rajab’s final plea breaks record at premiere (Video short)
A film about Hind Rajab, the five-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, received a record-breaking 23-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival. ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ recounts her final plea to rescuers before she was killed.
Film recounting Hind Rajab’s final plea breaks record at premiere
A film about Hind Rajab, the girl killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, received a record-breaking standing ovation.Al Jazeera
EFF Statement on ICE Use of Paragon Solutions Malware
It was recently reported by Jack Poulson on Substack that ICE has reactivated its 2 million dollar contract with Paragon Solutions, a cyber-mercenary and spyware manufacturer.The reactivation of the contract between the Department of Homeland Security and Paragon Solutions, a known spyware vendor, is extremely troubling.
EFF Statement on ICE Use of Paragon Solutions Malware
This statement can be attributed to EFF Senior Staff Technologist Cooper QuintinIt was recently reported by Jack Poulson on Substack that ICE has reactivated its 2 million dollar contract with Paragon Solutions, a cyber-mercenary and spyware manufact…Electronic Frontier Foundation
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there is virtualization but that's annoying and slow, or ig you could not use internet(pretty much impossible) or very strict firewall rules, and then use some kind of proxy but that would not be a problem if it were hacked, and would resend the data but maybe fromna reader mode, which you could display with a minimalist browser.
Is Israel quietly expanding its nuclear arsenal? Satellite images raise suspicion
Construction work has intensified on a major new structure at a facility linked to Israel’s long-suspected atomic weapons programme, according to satellite images analysed by experts.
They say it could be a new reactor or a facility to assemble nuclear arms — but secrecy shrouding the programme makes it difficult to know for sure.
The work at the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center near the city of Dimona will renew questions about Israel’s widely believed status as the Mideast’s only nuclear-armed state.
It could also draw international criticism, especially since it comes after Israel and the United States bombed nuclear sites across Iran in June over their fears that Tehran could use its enrichment facilities to pursue an atomic weapon.
Is Israel quietly expanding its nuclear arsenal? Satellite images raise suspicion
Israel is among nine countries confirmed or believed to have atomic weapons and among just four that have never joined the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.TRT Global
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Google’s $45 Million Contract With Netanyahu's Office to Spread Israeli Propaganda
Google’s $45 Million Contract With Netanyahu's Office to Spread Israeli Propaganda
Google is in the middle of a six-month, $45 million contract to amplify propaganda with Netanyahu’s office. The contract describes Google as a “key entity” supporting the prime minister’s messaging.Jack Poulson (Drop Site News)
Man drove across country with weapons, made threats after targeting Catholic monastery, officials say
Investigators in Orange County have arrested an Alabama man for making criminal threats against a Catholic church in Silverado Canyon, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said this week.
Authorities were first alerted by officials from St. Michael’s Abbey on Silverado Canyon Road last week about a man, later identified as Joshuah Michael Richardson, sending potentially threatening emails.
Then Richardson, 38, showed up at the church in person and made additional threats, the sheriff’s department said. When a priest at the church called authorities, Richard was taken into custody without an incident.
But what investigators found was alarming: Richardson had body armor, high-capacity magazines, brass knuckles and knives in his car. "I honestly feel something very, very serious was pre-empted. He brought enough paraphernalia that's associated with violence that he's considering something to cause great hard to people," Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.
Alabama man first sent threatening emails to OC church. Then he showed up in person, OCSD says
The man allegedly targeted a Catholic church in Silverado Canyon.Helen Jeong (NBC Southern California)
Linux phones are more important now than ever.
E: apparently it needs to be said that I am not suggesting you switch to Linux on your phone today; just that development needs to accelerate. Please don't be one of the 34 people that replied to tell me Linux is not ready.
Android has always been a fairly open platform, especially if you were deliberate about getting it that way, but we've seen in recent months an extremely rapid devolution of the Android ecosystem:
- The closing of development of an increasing number of components in AOSP.
- Samsung, Xiaomi and OnePlus have removed the option of bootloader unlocking on all of their devices. I suspect Google is not far behind.
- Google implementing Play Integrity API and encouraging developers to implement it. Notably the EU's own identity verification wallet requires this, in stark contrast to their own laws and policies, despite the protest of hundreds on Github.
- And finally, the mandatory implementation of developer verification across Android systems. Yes, if you're running a 3rd-party OS like GOS you won't be directly affected by this, but it will impact 99.9% of devices, and I foresee many open source developers just opting out of developing apps for Android entirely as a result. We've already seen SyncThing simply discontinue development for this reason, citing issues with Google Play Store. They've also repeatedly denied updates for NextCloud with no explanation, only restoring it after mass outcry. And we've already seen Google targeting any software intended to circumvent ads, labeling them in the system as "dangerous" and "untrusted". This will most certainly carry into their new "verification" system.
Google once competed with Apple for customers. But in a world where Google walks away from the biggest antitrust trial since 1998 with yet another slap on the wrist, competition is dead, and Google is taking notes from Apple about what they can legally get away with.
Android as we know it is dead. And/or will be dead very soon. We need an open replacement.
Samsung One UI Removed Bootloader Unlock – What It Means for Users in 2025
Samsung One UI removed bootloader unlock officially in latest update. Learn what this change means for custom ROM users, developers, and how it affects Android enthusiasts.Pavithran (TrendsLife)
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It seems like you read the title as "everyone needs to switch to Linux mobile right now" but that's not what it says.
The point is, as you said, there's a lot of work that needs to be done, and that work is more important now than ever.
I dunno! It will really require the participation of the entire community.
Gnome has been making great progress on the graphical front.
Notifications should be pretty simple, and probably should be provided by hardware manufacturers. But the support will need to be implemented into the apps that need them. That can potentially also fix the battery issue.
PostmarketOS I think is probably the most mature Linux mobile package currently but I'm no expert on the subject.
GNOME Shell on mobile: An update
It’s been a while since the last update on GNOME Shell mobile, but there’s been a huge amount of progress during that time, which culminated in a very successful demo at the Prototype Fund Demo Day...Jonas Dreßler (GNOME Shell & Mutter)
I'd argue that Ubuntu Touch and Sailfish are the most mature offerings. Both OSs are (or at least were at some point) developed as commercially viable alternatives to the duopoly. That gives them a headstart in terms of apps and overall pollish.
The postmarket shells are catching up, but you still get instructions like "drag and drop a file from your file manager to open it", which doesn't work on a phone. Phone UX still seems like an afterthought in many cases.
Postmarket OS is a desktop Linux system, but for phones. UT and Sailfish on the other hand are mobile OSs, that happen to use much of the same tech as desktop Linux. They are therefore much closer to the duopoly (for bettet or for worse).
Have had both. Still have Sailfish because the phone is cheaper.
Also I thought Ubuntu Touch would be discontinued and I no longer use Ubuntu on my desktop,
but an Arch-based OS.
Best thing you can do is buy a phone that's most compatible to the OS.
So Fairphone 5 or Pixel 3a for Ubuntu Touch,
and Jolla 2 for the Sailfish.
Do not buy Pine64.
Pine64 is unusable.
Dang it, I gotta change, I guess, unless this info is old:
Keep in mind that there is no known way to unlock the bootloader of the North American (Canada and the USA) editions of the Galaxy S23. - xda-developers.com/how-to-unlo…
Here's how to unlock the bootloader and root the Samsung Galaxy S23 right now
If you just got yourself a shiny new Galaxy S23, follow along this guide to root the phone with MagiskSkanda Hazarika (XDA)
Isn't the VollaPhone Quintus the best option for Ubuntu Touch? (It's more expensive than the Fair Phone, but it ships with UT)
Sure. It's just that the timeframe is a bit disheartening. To me... so all of this is highly subjective. We had the Nokia N900 in like 2009. And I was expecting to live the full Linux experience within a few years and those things to become a bit more affordable. And today it's almost 16 years later and it doesn't feel like we've come substantially closer. More recently we had Librem and Pine64 put some effort and publicity into it, and that's also been 5 years. The mobile/touch desktops made some good progress. PostmarketOS is kind of nice. But there are entire layers missing like the app framework in Android which enables such app lifecycles, connected standby... Sandboxing and a fine-granular permission system for proprietary apps (or just modern mainstream usage) is kind of in its infancy. And I'm not even sure if everyone is going to use Flatpak for everything. And all of those missing things are huge undertakings.
So I'm not sure when to expect such an every-day phone... Maybe in 2030 or 2035? But that's kind of late if the headline is "more important now, than ever". Because all the while Google is moving more and more stuff from AOSP into their proprietary Play services and it's getting uncomfortable for me. We have a deadline with the Google messes with the allowed apps on a phone starting 2027. And my life includes more and more mandatory apps, or I have to forfeit taking part in society, culture, convenience or riding a train... This year, Google started giving the GrapheneOS devs a hard time... Now they're making it even more complicated.
So of course not everyone has to use it, and I'm first of all concerned with my own wellbeing. But I really don't see a solution in the near future which is going to address the important issues if today and the next few years. So I'm a bit unsure if a Linux phone will come around and help me before it's too late, or if I need to find other ways to deal with it.
Can you help me understand why Linux phones are the answer rather than a community maintained android fork?
Android is already fully featured and has a solid ecosystem so it's usable now, not in 5-10 years with less of a need for adjustment for the people who want to switch.
Basically, why take several steps backwards and start from scratch?
I strongly disagree with this comment. I'll answer your numbered points from the original post one by one with my perspective:
- Development would happen completely in the open, since its community driven
- A community android fork wouldn't directly solve the issue of manufacturer locked bootloaders, but neither would Linux mobile
- I originally messed up on this bullet point, but this is the correction - the play integrity API would be unusable on both community driven Android and Linux mobile
- Developer verification will not apply to devices running an OS that isn't Google certified, which a community maintained android fork would not be
Do you disagree with any of these? Would love to hear your thoughts
Wow. Ok.
Development would happen completely in the open, since its community driven
All "community driven forks" are based on Google's AOSP. None of them have the resources to develop this stuff from the ground up.
A community android fork wouldn't directly solve the issue of manufacturer locked bootloaders, but neither would Linux mobile
No but someone would sell Linux devices if they were commercially viable, and no one would buy a Linux device with a locked bootloader.
the play integrity API would be unusable on both community driven Android and Linux mobile
You wouldn't need it on Linux mobile because...it's not Android.
Developer verification will not apply to devices running an OS that isn't Google certified
I already addressed this in OP.
You wouldn't need it on Linux mobile because...it's not Android
But then you need apps that work on Linux (optimised for mobile/touch). You can also easily create Apps for Android without play integrity API necessity.
Realistically an Android fork makes more sense.
Though in my ideal dream world a Rust based mobile wayland compositor (etc.) will be the future of open mobile OS. I hope there's enough (financial) interest to at some point reach that future.
But then you need apps that work on Linux
Correct again! Running Linux apps on Linux, what a concept!
Realistically an Android fork makes more sense.
It doesn't, for all the reasons I listed in OP.
Don't get me wrong, I'm the first promoting an Android free mobile Linux, free of big company influences.
Though, what I meant is that there's very few mobile optimised apps on Linux, and I doubt that changes soon. The Android SDK is very matured (like Compose for UI). It's fairly easy to create a good native app experience in Android. Less so for non-Android Linux. (I've developed apps for either) Think about that alone, which further complicates adoption, which TBH is just necessary to get to an ecosystem that us usable for daily usage.
I hope that changes sooner than later, but the current alternatives are just not there yet.
apparently it needs to be said that I am not suggesting you switch to Linux on your phone today; just that development needs to accelerate.
Definitely going to be trying for some kind of linux phone for my next one.
Debating biting the bullet on the ~$800 cost of a fairphone.
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i know it is still google, but i just started searching ebay for a used pixel 9 - looks like they are around $400-500 (pixel 10 came out last month). i figure getting graphene os on one of these may be an inexpensive path forward... still looking for good options, tho.
i'll have to check out fairphone. i remember something about them not being available in the US, but that may be old news.
oof, no wifi is kind of a dealbreaker for me; i have a home server and really dont want to have to be VPN'd into my home all the time 🙁
looks like fairphone 6 doesnt have much support on postmarket yet, but i'll keep an eye on it - ty ❤
Yeah, I don't think the Fairphone 6 is quite ready. In fact, since none of the previous Fairphone models ever got to full Linux usability, I don't really expect it to happen.
I think the best option -- and really the only option -- right now is the Furilabs FLX1. I'm planning on getting one soon.
Ubuntu Touch • Linux Phone
Ubuntu Touch is the open source phone that has freedom and privacy in mind. Supported by dozens of devices, with installer for FOSS fansdevices.ubuntu-touch.io
I was looking into Fairphone and got sketched out, they do not really seem particularly trustworthy or competent.
For example: discuss.grapheneos.org/d/24134…
Had family use it because they had a Huawei phone
In my country, for all the banks I use, I need to have an app on my phone to access their website with my Linux computer.
So a Linux phone would need to provide this as I can’t be without access to my accounts.
I need to have an app on my phone to access their website with my Linux computer
Wat.
thats pretty common, in my country as well.
like a two factor authentication. but without TOTP. but with a proprietary app by the bank provided.
Yeah it’s part of the 2 factors authentification process.
Back in the days you received some card reader generating a code, but that ain’t the case anymore..
So Linux would need to have a native version of these apps or a way to efficiently emulate Android or iOS.
I didn’t know this. But I guess the bank has to allow it.
Last time I checked my banks were only allowing you to do such things through an app or at the bank (which is far from my village).
At the same time, many things that relate to proving that I am me has become very convenient in this society. For example I moved to a new apartment and they just sent a link to the contract and I signed it with the app and that was that, I did my taxes by just checking that the info they had was correct and signed it on my phone, etc.
Many cheaper online banks rely on their mobile app. Your debit card will not work wirhout an in-app confirmation. There's no web interface ("not secure enough").
Can I switch banks and make my life less convenient? Sure. Would I do it just to stick it to google? No.
I would like to move away from Android and iOS. But I'm not sure it's really feasible. Hell, I might even have to move fully to iOS, because that's what the wife uses. That's the challenge with Linux or alternative OSes on mobile. It goes against the purpose of the device - it needs to be able to interact with the people in your life.
Because I have Android and she has an iPhone, we can't easily share headphones (her AirPods or my generic ones) or some of the other accessories. For instance, I don't want a device without a 3.5mm jack, so none of my headphones work for her. About the only thing we can share is the USB-C cable, and it's less efficient on my device. We have to use Google Maps to share location, the built-in functions don't talk. We have to use regular SMS and calls or Discord to talk, because FaceTime and iMessage don't have compatible Android software. I love her with all my heart - and frankly speaking she's worth more to me than software advocacy.
That's what causes ecosystem lock-in. As Sartre said, Hell is other people.
That's the challenge with Linux or alternative OSes on mobile. It goes against the purpose of the device - it needs to be able to interact with the people in your life.
That's not a "challenge" that linux can ever overcome. The only way to overcome that is to ask your wife to switch to a device that's respectful of you and her and everyone else.
I find it extremely irritating that so many people see other devices and "well I can't interact with them the way I want to so I'd better join them and contribute to the problems so I can also not interact with other people on free systems".
Okay. Give me a Linux phone that works out of the box that suits the following dealbreakers:
- Compatibility with iMessage and FaceTime. This is essential because my wife, my MIL, and other family members all use it. I can't be expected to change everyone over, I need to be compatible with the majority. I might be able to convert them over time, but it's going to be gradual.
- Always-on location information sharing with location data pulled from both GPS & terrestrial sources.
- Full support for Bluetooth devices, especially the ANC function of AirPods or similar (oh, and support for my mother's hearing aid app).
- OS-level support for telephony and SMS + MMS + RTC messaging. With software that has an instantly usable UI.
- A deep repository of trusted software with clear and easy UX that doesn't require adjustment - it all needs to "just work".
Those are the dealbreakers for me.
Listen, if you want to continue to contribute value to companies that want to fuck you at every turn because you can't be bothered to find other ways to overcome minor inconveniences, that's your prerogative. You're just like most people.
Compatibility with iMessage and FaceTime. This is essential because my wife, my MIL, and other family members all use it.
Once again, this is never going to happen. And this is NOT essential. To anyone. Not even a little bit. Ask your family members to use a different platform. There are HUNDREDS of messaging apps that all do the same fucking thing but aren't behind Apple's Walled Garden. If they can't be bothered, then it must not be important. I ask my friends and family to message me on Signal and most of them don't have a problem with it.
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Unfortunately not usable with Linux without a phone yet but so far the most accessible option
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Always-on location information sharing with location data pulled from both GPS & terrestrial sources.
Wait, aren't we on here due to privacy?
Like you, I value my relationships and by extension my mental health more than which messaging app I use.
I hate Meta with a passion and them acquiring Whatsapp is probably the most disappointing acquisition of all time to me, but I'm going to continue using it because my wife, family in Latin America, and world friends all use it. And being lonely and out of touch isn't worth the satisfaction of knowing my data isn't being scraped to me. Others in these threads always seems to disagree here, and they're free to do that but it's not a lifestyle I'm interested in.
I'm making changes where I can; I self host a server for my media, photos, files. I'm going to install Graphene on my phone soon. I'm interested in picking up a cheaper older phone to try a Linux mobile OS on. I have my phone auto connect to my pihole to block trackers when I'm out of the house, etc. But I know as soon as it's something I have to inconvenience others with, it's not going to work.
Pick your battles.
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apparently it needs to be said that I am not suggesting you switch to Linux on your phone today; just that development needs to accelerate.
apparently it needs to be said that I am not suggesting you switch to Linux on your phone today; just that development needs to accelerate.
Banks allow me to login via their web interface, send money to a BSB + Account Number or even a PayID (email / phone number) but using their app to do just the same is too far?
It's total rubbish, honestly I've resurrected my OG ridge wallet and am planning on installing Graphene on my P7P to skirt the phone payment trap.
I was one of the few in Australia to test Google wallet (thanks for the free cash google) and thought it was the bees knees. It's a fucking long con and fuck I feel dumb for falling into it.
Worst still my drivers licence is a phone app, so are my work certificates and probably a bunch of other shit that I'll only realize later.
I guess fuck around and find out shows its ugly face eventually.
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Ahh we don't really use cheques here in Aus. Payments being electronic doesn't worry me, pay lands in my account the same day it's processed, sometimes the following day if the accountants miss the deadline.
Sending someone money is generally instant using PayID, without fees too.
I use neobanks (no physical branches) so as long as their web interface works well enough for me, and I can use my own 2FA (not SMS based) ill be happy as a pig in mud.
Just wait and see if the climate turns to no physical cards in the next 5 - 10 years...
I imagine building on existing AOSP project like GrapheneOS or LineageOS would be the easiest path forward. There is already a decent ecosystem of open source apps available. You'd still need to figure out what to do with proprietary apps like Slack that regular people might need for day to day use.
Ultimately, the problem lies in lack of a hardware vendor willing to take make open phones that are geared towards running a custom OS on without having to jailbreak them. I really think the only way this can happen is if there was a vendor that focuses on providing a full stack open source system for mobile. Maybe a company like Liberux or even Framework will succeed at doing something like that at some point.
Liberux is using waydroid to add compatibility from what I've seen, so that may be the way forward where you have a base Linux system, and then a layer for running Android apps on top of it.
Yes. Need the kind of love desktop hardware got for Linux with mobile hardware. I don't need tap to pay and mobile deposit. That can come when the ball really gets rolling and the user base is too large to not service. For now I'd be happy with consistent phone/text support, signal application, a mobile Firefox, and the phone dockable to run full desktop applications. Strong enough hardware. Google are a bunch of jackasses. Need more phones to support PostmarketOS or something
Most apps I can replace with a web browser but the mass market has shown it's preference for an app store. Got to get payments integrated into Flathub
Cyberdecks are 1) pocketable 2) computing devices 3) often wireless, and 4) run Linux.
That's what people want from phones, so I figured it was a valid contribution to the discussion.
I guess not...
for 4 Linux would also kind have the same problem as a 3rd party ROM, (almost) no one is making mobile apps for Linux
Sure, there are a lot of desktop apps, but most don't have a mobile UI in mind
My first thought was that a hard-fork of AOSP would be a much better solution than a Linux phone. But when you have locked down hardware, it doesn't matter, because you simply can't install it.
I still think a community fork of AOSP would be more efficient than Linux mobile.
Are there any Linux mobile OSs that do not use a compatibility layer with Android underneath it?
I tried Ubuntu Touch a couple of years ago and couldn't get mobile data working with UK provider but apart from that it was very cool.
I have a Pixel 9 Pro which is supposed to get security updates until 2031 but at the pace Google is closing Android down I wonder if it will even be viable to stay on an AOSP degoogled ROM until then.
I feel like the future is leading us to a place where we will have to reduce our mobile computing to a trusted but slow and unreliable main phone while keeping a secondary mainstream device for banking/government apps.
Have you looked at the state of how open source smartphone os projects are funded? Seems like not enough people think it is currently important. i saw no bump in funding since the announcement. I would say the best bet is trying to help one of these projects with fundraising and trying to educate or convince enough people it is worth investing in. and obviously donate if you can. Although to be honest even i don't do that (i think i invest enough in FOSS).
Once i bought a phone i tried to pick one that is friendly for FOSS projects and went with a pixel (which grapheneos recommended). so voting or signaling with your wallet is an option.
I also think something like codeberg. where anyone can be a member if he pays fees that help fund the organisation and democratically elect a board that decides what to fund could be helpful. codeberg has a pretty good organic growth so that is encouraging but i don't know if there is enough interest in that.
codeberg's profile - Liberapay
Keep Open-Source open for everyone! Codeberg is a Non-Profit Organization, with the objective to give the Open-Source code that is running our world a safe and friendly home, …Liberapay
Samsung, Xiaomi and OnePlus have removed the option of bootloader unlocking on all of their devices.
Got me worried (bc i have a newish oneplus phone) but apparently OnePlus is only doing that in China for now. Still not a good sign for the future...
xiaomi is doing something like motorola, in which they drop support for unlocking older devices.
pretty slimy move considering those are the ones that need it the most. very disappointed in a manufacturer that otherwise makes great hardware.
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I think the biggest thing lacking in this kind of hardware is displays. Where can you find a phone-sized 1080p display that doesn't require signing some NDA or reverse engineering the specs? OLED would be even better for battery life.
I don't see that probably 360p black-or-white e-ink display is going to be a good experience unless you're comparing it to a flip phone.
I'll consider a Linux phone as long as the following are met:
- Battery life is decent (for me this means a minimum of 24 hours of light use and no mystery drains).
- Reliable enough to not fear for my life when traveling.
- UX is polished enough to not be painful.
- Email notifications and communication apps work correctly (Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp).
If these are met, I'll buy whatever is available in a year or two.
UX is polished enough to not be painful
This one requirement I believe to be already met. Mobile kde, for one, is pretty nice. I believe the bottleneck of linux phones are really in the hardware
communication apps work correctly (Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp).
Google and Facebook will cooperate. WhatsApp will never work reliably.
WhatsApp will never work reliably.
Use the web version, although you'll need a phone to authenticate.
Better yet, move out of whatsapp (i know, network effect).
Smart phones are simultaneously such a wonder of human engineering and have become such a disappointment of human greed.
This whole situation has made me just care less about my phone, and use it less in my life while I use Linux PCs much more.
I don't see my phone as a "computer" at this point, really. It's more of a communication appliance. If I'm launching an app that's not texting, calling, GPS, or music, it's probably a replacement for a website I'd normally use on a PC.
Linux phones could change this though. The idea of your PC being your docked phone would work great for most use cases. Unfortunately though, even though I would love it I don't really see the general public jumping at the chance to get back to the desktop experience. I could maybe see a little traction in the business world.
Oh same here! My reduced phone usage has been part of a much larger overall improvement in my well being and being able to live in the moment and be content.
I recently saw a video from a harvard dude talking about how we NEED to be bored. It's when we fall into our baseline mental state and start thinking through shit and figuring life out. And not doing that can lead to anxiety and depression and other bad shit. Given my experiences, I certainly cannot disagree.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=orQKfIXM…
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This is pretty much how I am. Use my desktop for important things. On weekends I try to not even have my phone on my person and I check it a couple times a day while it stays in the bedroom like a house phone. Life is so much better without it.
I unfortunately still do like to take it with if walking/biking/driving but I wish I didn't. Id like to have another phone that only makes phone calls for that but has my same number. Its funny. When I was a kid we didn't even think about it because none of us had phones. Going on a random dirt bike ride miles away with nothing. Better (also unsafe) times.
Im tired of smartphones consuming everyone's minds.
Im tired of smartphones consuming everyone's minds.
Resisting the standard smartphone addiction just makes the addiction of some others so much more apparent. My own wife is still pretty badly shackled to hers.
My next phone will be a Linux phone.
I was on board the Fairphone hype, and while I think they have a good message, I actually think Pine64 does exactly what they do - just without the flashy marketing. Fairphone still uses AOSP as the basis for their OSes, so there is still a risk of hardware lockout by Google. This is leaving alone other issues like no headphone jack and USB 2.0 for the latest generation's USB-C.
This is actually the same reason I think Ecosia won't succeed in the long term unless they build their own search engine. Luckily it looks like they've already started delivering results as of last month.
I should also mention that the PinePhone isn't Scott free from criticism either. Think I read somewhere that the camera is borked because the latest firmware or software update messed with the camera module functionality. No real fix for that soon, which sucks.
I'm in the same exact boat.
At some point when Google kills custom ROMs, everyone working on customs ROMs won't have anywhere else to go other than a Linux phone.
Ich would also like to use a Linux Phone as daily Driver but it is not really appealing in it's current state. So i really hope, you are right and perople will start working on that more.
I'm probably just a bit frustrated from trying to get postmarketos working on some old phones. I am really stunned about how much effort has been put into that but the systems are so closed down and different, that it is a leally hard job to cover them all.
That's what Google wants, because people gave up on Jailbreaking iPhones because the loss of features wasn't worth it on the other side. Google probably doesn't love that their flagship is the best model for use with custom ROMs, plus they're also trying to lock out Xiomi as well for what that's worth.
While giving up is an option, someone somewhere needs to coordinate this entire OSS ecosystem to focus on singular projects. I would love to see a privacy and FOSS non-profit do exactly this.
I was on board the Fairphone hype, and while I think they have a good message, I actually think Pine64 does exactly what they do - just without the flashy marketing.
Exactly what they do, except it's not a functional product. "Overpriced, underpowered, and half-finished" is the motto of pine64.
Yeah, as I alluded to at the end of my post, Pine64 has a lot of issues with making their devices actually useful.
They base a lot of their development on the community though. So if the community isn't up to it, then virtually no one at Pine64 is.
You missed the overpriced and underpowered part. In the EU, the pinephone pro cost 600€, the same as the fairphone 6, and it's significantly worse in every single way. Even if it actually worked, who in their right mind would pay that much for a device that's going to run out of ram as soon as you open a few tabs in Firefox?
They base a lot of their development on the community though. So if the community isn't up to it, then virtually no one at Pine64 is.
I doubt they'll be fixing anything since they seem to have stopped selling them.
Also, if we go by their track record with the pinetime, PRs fixing basic functionality will be left open for years. Like how they can't be bothered to accept fixes allowing the stopwatch to run in the background and not reset when you get a notification, let alone QoL improvements like being able to tell the time on your watch while the stopwatch is running.
I doubt they'll be fixing anything since they seem to have stopped selling them.
Pine64 stopped selling the PinePhone Pro due to a lack of demand.
The regular PinePhone is still being sold, although a lack of a "Pro" qualifier certainly doesn't help their optics of producing a competent phone at today's standards.
I have a laptop with a SIM slot and I can use mobile data, SMS and even make voice calls. It doesn't support 5G though. Also the mobile hardware is crap, and I get like a 10th of the speed over 4G that I do on my phone, plus it chews through battery.
So yeah, awesome feature but not as nicely implemented as I'd like. Hopefully the Thinkpad version is better!
I don't agree!
A linux phone, or any other open source alternative, has ALWAYS been more important than the ones we've got. Being locked into an eco-system, has always been bad for the regular user. It's about companies controlling people and the market, and it should never have to be a choice between a rock and a hard place.
I really wish that the Firefox phone had gained more support. And I wish that there will soon be a linux-phone for the regular person, all over the world.
But I guess people in general keep choosing to lock themselves in, by using Google and Apple...
It's not a simple matter of choice. Most people aren't invested into open source, they just want to get by and do their mundane things. Most people aren't even aware of all the privacy stuff or abusive practices of big business, it's usually some more outspoken tech savvy person that decides to expose what the big corps are doing. So using open source is not a choice, like you would be just choosing your preferred cereal brand, but both a technical and political act. And most people are just into the system, they aren't aware of all malicious things around them.
Not only that, but also when companies feel threatened, they start imposing new technical and legal restrictions to make using OSS harder. Since they have more control over the whole production supply chain of devices, they have more cost effective options and even partnership with hardware vendors to make using OSS very hard or impossible.
I really wish that the Firefox phone had gained more support
KaiOS 4.x just dropped with Fx 128 I think. You will be on an underpowered flip phone, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing…
Android is Linux. It uses a Linux kernel paired with a BSD based user land. Also there is an AOSP version of Android which is Android without all the Google bits. LineageOS and some other security oriented firmwares derive from it. That isn't to say Google are necessarily happy about this entirely but at the same time, they open sourced most of Android and probably see it as a useful antitrust defence and the impact of flashed devices barely more than background noise.
The issue of bootloaders is an orthogonal matter since Linux or not does not mean bootloader or not - many black box devices use Linux but you won't be flashing them any time soon - TVs, set top boxes etc. I would argue that regardless of OS, there should be a right to repair law (e.g. in Europe) that allows people to maintain devices beyond their warranty. And if Samsung et al don't want to do it, then they should have an obligation to unlock devices upon request.
they open sourced most of Android
It's the exact opposite.
ASOP is open-source, it's in the name.
Google's Android has been less and less open-source every year, they've been replacing AOSP apps with their own and vendor-locking them to their GooglePlayAppsWhatever system (hence microG), shunning away the open-source variants they replace.
I mean open source is that. The only reason open source exist is to be able to close some parts of its source (i.e. compatibility with privative software). Google promoted open source because it allowed them to close it whenever they want it. The Trojan Horse was always there, at plain sight.
That's why it's important to distinguish free software from open software. In most cases open source is just a label that companies can use to look friendlier.
Yeah, it depends on the specific licence clauses. AOSP uses Apache Licence 2.0 which is normally regarded as a free software licence but it also could be regarded as Open software as by the OSS definition.
The problem with this licence is that it allows distribution of binaries based on the original source code without having to share the source or even changing the licence.
This means that Google could effectively take the entire (some part of Google Android is already close sources) AOSP in the current state (with the contributions of thousand of individual developers) and use it to start developing a close source Android OS project. Since Google are the main developers of Android and they could shift OG Android into a closed environment that could be no longer compatible with the old one. Google also is the main provider of security fixes. Since phone manufacturera want to able to run Google Android (stock Android) this could make old Android versions (before privatization) incompatible with phones.
For example let's say that Google Android changes the main OS ABI or API. Then programs made for Google Android wouldn't be compatible with other Android versions.
This would basically make users decide or you stay with Google Android (close sourced) and you trust use because "do no evil ;)". Or you stay with your free software versions of Android that are no longer compatible with current Android programs basically forcing you to have an OS that's not able to run "common" programs, basically isolating you from the mainstream smart phone use cases like having banking apps, mainstream chat apps, etc.
You think if they used another licence it would be any different? Countless open source projects have a GPLv3 + proprietary licence which is way more evil than Apache - they poison the open source with GPLv3 so no competitor can contribute without revealing their changes while they themselves can use the proprietary licence. e.g. Trolltech and QT for example but there are many others.
And frankly you should be blessed that you have a fully fledged, open source phone OS you may fork and build from. The OP wants a Linux phone OS and AOSP is a Linux phone OS. There are many forks of Android, closed and open that wouldn't exist if Google had just decided to be proprietary from the get go. They were under no compulsion to do this but they did. If you have used LineageOS, or GrapheneOS for example then you are a beneficiary of this. You are completely at liberty to have a de-Googled modern phone OS powered by Linux right now.
QT uses one or another, either GPLv3/LGPLv3/GPLv2 or privative. Poisoning open source? If you refer to the fact that they allow a closed source licence, yes I also dislike that. But how is GPLv3 poisoning anything? If you want to use and modify/contribute to the QT project then you have to maintain user freedoms unless you pay QT for their rights. In the end term, the user is always respected since contributions to base qt are always free software. With only a GPL licence then the developers would need to share source code for their distributions. The Multiple-Licence allows third party developers to gain "fully-paid-ownership" which allows them to close source it.
Also since QT it's allowed to be shiped with LGPL third party devs can close source their parts of code that link against QT.
So it's basically an interesting way of having a permissible licence while keeping the QT base fully libre.
Probably you refer to the availability that open source philosophy gives. Yeah, that is the principal difference between libre software and open software. Open software advocates for fully openness for the sake of the developers no matter what they want to make later with it, libre software advocates for the source code of the end user.
the vast majority of commenters here either have no direct experience with a Linux phone or have seen some shallow youtube "review" of a dude swiping the same two screens left/right and extrapolate a buncha shit that has no contact with reality.
presently, and in the foreseeable future, linux phones aren't an android alternative, they are just linux on the phone, i.e. they allow you to do linux shit on a handheld device.
like, the bleeding edge version of any variant (plasma mobile, gnome, phosh) isn't even close to an Android phone from like 2015, let alone a modern one.
and that's before we touch on the pillars of mobile tech like fluidity, battery efficiency, reliability, etc., none of those things are even in a remotely passable state, not to mention - using the thing to make calls. you are better off forgetting about the camera, as well.
and the reason is simple, not only is there a gargantuan discrepancy between evil corp's resources and the predominantly unpaid enthusiasts, each dev team's reimplementing shit that's already solved on another platform. apple doesn't have to do that. google as well.
then there's the idea that the javascript-backed Gnome - that has issues running fluidly on super-capable hardware - is the basis on a low-power device on which the linux mobile phone experience is built. reinventing solved shit, but in a stupid way - THREE FINGER swipe on a phone, really?
although there's a solid app base, the apps that are supposedly mobile friendly are few and far between, most are just downright unusable on a vertical screen and dog help you if launch an electron app. firefox, even with pmOS patches (useless without) is tiresome to use. you can forget about dating, ubering, banking, or even just using a messenger everybody else does.
if you're squeamish about flashing custom recoveries and ROMs, the e.g. pmOS install process is way, way, way more involved and failure prone. if you go with ubuntu touch or mobian, even more so.
finally, if you're talking about a device that you've grown accustomed to to the extent that you're using it subconsciously, swiping and multitasking and such whilst walking and dodging other pedestrians - no such thing exists over here.
I'm just tying this up because I keep reading about "switching", people are either delusional or misinformed, there's nothing (yet) to switch to.
get a couple of $50 ex-flaghips to play with, flash lineageOS on one and pmOS on the other and that should hold you over for a coupla years.
that's not a thing, presently. the OS has trouble running on its own and handling "native" apps, let alone introducing an emulation to the mix.
of course, it can and does work to some extent - but not one where you depend on it, like you do with modern phones.
Osmin on PinePhone was... Tolerable. I'm just pleasantly surprised it worked okay with GPS being integrated into the modem.
Takes a long time to get a GPS fix (like old standalone GPS units), but it's possible to provide A-GPS data to it.
apparently it needs to be said that I am not suggesting you switch to Linux on your phone today; just that development needs to accelerate.
I'm not critiquing your post, I'm just clarifying to a buncha people who think otherwise that it's not an option.
as to "it needs to accelerate", I have a grim outlook. the only way it's gonna do that is if there significant cash behind it and if everything non-essential is to be trimmed so that a functional platform can emerge. in our ever-enshittifying, greater-fool-theory investment climate, it's doubtful there loose capital with such an agenda, and I doubt such a thing is even on the horizon.
same way with "desktop linux"; like, can you image where we'd be if every development effort is geared towards just one DE/WM, instead of tons of duplicated efforts and abandoned paths? yeah, good things eventually emerge from all the disjointed chaos, but eventually. and our joint assessment is that we're running outta time for the "eventual" part.
see, this is the thing I'm talking about. your comment indicates that it's possibly a viable alternative to OS developed by the wealthiest corps in the world, for 15+ years and people are like "ok, there's options"...
it is nowhere near that. it's linux on a mobile device, and that's such a humongously, vastly different thing than an alternative and that should be the first and foremost thing said. same with the "android is linux" bozos in every thread (it really, really isn't) who are not helping the issue, at all.
and then we can dwell on whether it's usable or not in its present state.
it's possibly a viable alternative to OS developed by the wealthiest corps in the world, for 15+ years
It already is. It's just a matter of porting it over to a different form factor.
if you're squeamish about flashing custom recoveries and ROMs, the e.g. pmOS install process is way, way, way more involved and failure prone. if you go with ubuntu touch or mobian, even more so.
What?? PmOS and Ubuntu Touch both have very easy, foolproof installers. No idea about Mobian to be fair.
I've been using only Linux-based mobile OS's since my first smartphone, and while you're right for a lot of the new breed made for the Pinephone and Librem, Sailfish OS and Ubuntu Touch are both perfectly useable for lots of people. Both have a decent app ecosystem and both support running Android apps to fill in the gaps (I've used both, the proprietary Jolla one is about as good as it gets and is practically seamless for like 99% of Android apps).
Of course there's going to be people who will respond to me to say they can't possibly switch because of that one app that they and 5 other people in the world use, as though they're in any way relevant to what I've said. Just the same as when I post about people switching to Linux on the desktop and there's always that one Fusion 360 user who thinks everyone in the world also uses Fusion and so Linux can't possibly ever work for anyone.
To be fair, Fusion 360 is pretty good... I hate to love it, to miss it. I can't wrap my head around the work flow in FreeCAD.
But more often I am shocked by people saying they have to stay on windows because of Office... Like, the fuck? MS doesn't even want you to have that installed on your computer anymore and is pushing all web based, but that is going to keep you on Windows?? Nothing there is particularly hungry, just put it in a VM if you absolutely can't get by with one of the several great alternatives.
This seems less of a problem in the US, but a lot of stuff here is done with some apps that won't run on these distributions.
Banks have created identity provides which now the government also uses, and they're locked down to Android and iOS. Without these, making payments or do other stuff you need your identity for gets hard. And there are used by hundreds of thousands of people daily.
If they can run, I'd switch over instantly, but now I'm pretty much stuck.
Thank you. I get what OP is saying, but in general I'm so over the constant blind Linux fanboy hype train, like it's the solution to everything. One of the reasons I can't really stand to be on this instance unless I see something important enough to hit the front page. I'll take a remotely functional windows dist with customized features over pretty much any linux OS anyday in order to not struggle to complete the most basic, essential tasks.
Life's too short to spend glued to Stackexchange instead of actually getting shit done.
What are these "most basic, essential" tasks you're struggling with? Outside of trying to get Discord to screen share nicely with Baulders gate 3 and the one time I accidentally overwrote the python 3 install and broken it, it has been pretty pain free. And I code with both .NET and with Android Studio, I do plenty of gaming, and some photo editing. All things beyond the most basic of tasks and I rarely run into issues.
Have I broken a Linux install? Yep. But I've also bricked a handful of Windows systems poking around in the registry.
Tracker blocking uses flawed heuristics. The only methods that are typically used are static lists which is just badness enumeration. There is nothing stopping the app/service from sending the data down a different domain that isn't blocked or a domain that can't be blocked without breaking the service.
Adding to that, how do we even decide what is a "tracker"? What is the definition? Some might say it includes all telemetry or crashlytics. Are those inherently malicious?
I don't think it would make sense for GrapheneOS to include something flawed like a "tracker blocker" that lulls people into a false sense of security. They use robust and meaningful methods for improving the privacy and security of the OS.
Currently i am looking for a Jolla phone commerce.jolla.com/products/jo…
They are private company but seems to be very user friendly and carefull with their dev community. What do you think about them folks?
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Meh, this will just push more people to not install gapps. None of these issues affect folks who don't install gapps.
The best apps are on fdroid, anyway. If I was a Dev I wouldn't bother putting it on Google play, anyway
None of these issues affect folks who don't install gapps.
It absolutely does, if you actually read the OP.
How delusional are you? Samsung holds over 20% of the worldwide mobile phone market, only beat by Apple by a few percent.
And that is ignoring the obvious trend from Google to lock down the Android ecosystem to only them and their partners. If they have their way, they will make 3rd party ROMs nearly impossible, block all 3rd party apps, and close the door on fdroid. Maybe what has been done so far doesn't affect you, but if no one gets in their way, it absolutely will and soon.
I don't even know how to answer that. Nothing in the OP has anything to do with Google apps.
Samsung is the largest android manufacturer by a wide margin.
Is it possible to have my normal shitty samsung for stuff that wont work on a linux phone, and have like a pinephone for simple calls and stuff, but have them both use the same phone # ? I doubt.
Cuz when hiking or something I like a phone for safety but I dont want distractions.
Just sign up with your service of choice and log in on whatever devices you want.
Someone suggested jmp.chat elsewhere.
I just hope that this time we go Free Software and not committing the mistake of going Open Source for a 3rd time (BSD/UNIX AT&T; Android/Google). Unless we want to fall with the same stone yet once more.
Android going Open Source allowed Google to close Android once it got mature. It's a Trojan Horse, yet people still go Open Source and then complain when some company closes their source.
Though we can't use the android name and logo, the software that was open so far is still open for use.
Take that part and continue building from there
I get where this argument is coming from, but I don't think there are meaningful differences in the success of gpl or other copyleft licenses, vs permissive ones (except maybe cases where someone was willing and able to enforce the gpl in court). Companies are no less capable of doing EEE with copyleft. There are also plenty of permissively licensed software projects that have gained a lot of popularity, just like some gpl ones have.
The difference in traction between Linux and BSD probably has more to do with the same kinds of forces that allowed Android to succeed and then crowd Windows phones out of the market.
My bad for no specifying I didn't use a very specific naming indeed. Normally Open Source it's used for source code that's not copylefted or copylefted software that does not defend user freedom (Although Open Source OSS does not say that, indeed GPL by the OSS definition is open source software). On the other hand Free software is commonly used for GPL like software (although most of the so called open source software could also be named free software). Also free software does not refer to "gratis" software. For a better explanation you can check this and this.
Anyways what I wanted to point out is that software that protects user freedoms and is copylefted (like GPL) protect users because the source code is protected from being closed if it is distributed.
On the other hand some open source software (open as open access), like ASOP, give open access without any protection for the user freedoms. For example the BSD-3-Clause.
I prefer to use the term Free Software instead of Open Software, because it points out that the whole meaning behind the licence is to maintain source code freedoms. On the other hand Open software seems to defend the fact that the source code is open but not its freedoms.
Both OSS Open source and FSF Free software definition refer to mostly the same set of licences, which in order to distinguish you would need to check the particular details like copyleft, etc.
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It would be cool to see people move beyond the standard smartphone and into some sort of hotspot and linux based palmtop or umpc like setup
I had something like that in the early 2000s with a nokia n800 and it worked well enough I'm sure it would be even better now
It’s not daily-driver ready for everyone, but it frees you from Google and OEM lockdowns.
If we want an open mobile future, this is the project worth supporting.
also i am pretty sure Google cannot fully get rid of AOSP, especially Android is put on any phone that isn't Google.
tho even before the Goolog fuckery these things where there.
Samsung required a a leaked program to Unlock its bootloader(Odin which is proprietary), and would trip Knox.
Xiaomi required a wait time to unlock its bootloader, and the unlocking bootloader thingy is proprietary.
Banking apps wouldnt work with root and stuff, even before the Play Integrity API forcing thingy.
indeed, android has been a shit show for the last couple of months and its not looking good.
i was thinking that this will make rooting and by extension custom ROMs prevalent again which hopefully will take us back to the golden age of android modding, but be careful of what you
wish for.
I DON'T WANNA USE STOCK ANDROID. DON'T WANNA DON'T WANNA DON'T WANNA DON'T WANNA DON'T WANNA DON'T WANNA
i know that's why i'm seething right now, we are hopeless since custom roms and root users are a fraction of a fraction that is people who install apk outside google
removing the ability to unlock bootloaders is just another negative
I also don't know them in depth, but from what I do know:
Lineage is a tweaked AOSP, it doesn't have google apps by default but can use MindTheGapps or microG
/e/OS is either their own system or heavily modded android, iirc it uses microG by default (mG is by /e/ i think)
Graphene is a privacy-focused android mod that can use googl.e apps, but in a sandbox. Basically a separate space, where they don't have any access to outside data
So basically they all lack google by default, but with different ways to use apps that use google
While I support the continued progress of real Linux phones, have a Pinephone, and even wasted all of yesterday trying to make a working build of Armbian for retro handheld I have; I think it's more practical to focus on open Android distributions, getting more phones out that can support multi os's and buying those, and growing a robust app market system that can compete with Google Play.
F-Droid is almost there, but being open-source doesn't mean something has to be free of charge. F-Droid should be extended, or possibly an additional app manager be established, that still promotes software freedom and privacy, but allows for devs to charge for their apps as well.
I think it's more practical to focus on open Android distributions
I just laid out how the entire Android ecosystem as a whole is in jeopardy. That was the entire point of the post.
Nothing that has or will happen can stop the parts of Android that are already open from remaining open. Yes there will be fewer choices. Yes this means alternative ROM makers will have no choice but to shoulder more of the development burden themselves. And yes this means there's going to be significantly fewer open Android devices and new manufacturers will have to make the intentional effort to make and sell new devices that are free by design - a few of which already exist.
But no matter how many obstacles open Android has, the thing you're ignoring is that it's still in a far better place than mobile Linux. For a start, any device that respects rights enough to be Linux compatible will automatically be compatible with free and degoogled versions of Android as well.
What these growing problems are is a galvanizing call. Samsung, Xiaomi, and OnePlus, and Google were never our friends. Whatever their imperfections, at least Pine64, Purism, BQ, Planet Computers, Murena, Fairphone, F(x)tec, Volla, and SHIFT have sold hardware that was rights respecting by design. We need more companies or other organizations to do that, and we need to choose to buy and promote more devices like that.
And as that happens more, open Android and Linux are going to benefit equally, but there's no getting around the fact that for now and the forseeable future, the open Android variants are still far more mature, far more feature-complete, way closer to the kind of user experience the vast majority of people expect, and far more established.
And again, probably the biggest missing thing we need there is an app marketplace that competes more directly with Google Play, that gives more devs good incentives to want to switch away from Play.
Nothing that has or will happen can stop the parts of Android that are already open from remaining open.
Not really relevant if future development stalls.
the thing you're ignoring is that it's still in a far better place than mobile Linux
The thing you're ignoring is that Linux is continually progressing and improving while Android is regressing.
Whatever their imperfections, at least Pine64, Purism, BQ, Planet Computers, Murena, Fairphone, F(x)tec, Volla, and SHIFT have sold hardware that was rights respecting by design.
The hardware is irrelevant when the software is fundamentally broken.
No, in a lot of ways the open Android roms keep getting better, despite every possible obstacle being thrown in their way. It's easy to make a mature platform sound like it has "stalled", when you're comparing it to alternatives that are still so unusably bad that they have nowhere to go but up.
Do what you want, but get real. If you care more about making your ideals happen, maybe stop debating internet randos so feverishly, and start making pull requests.
It's easy to make a mature platform sound like it has "stalled"
It's not "stalled", it's regressing. I explained all of this in detail in the OP.
maybe stop debating internet randos so feverishly
My brother in Christ, you came in here and debated me in my thread. I am not debating with myself here...
and start making pull requests
Did it ever occur to you that everyone is not a coder?
Is identity verification for publishing android apps that bad?
What does "that bad" mean? It gives Google ultimate control over what apps you can install on "your" phone. Essentially bringing it on PAR with Apple.
Both the app store and play store already have your billing information since you have to pay to publish an app anyway right?
There are (currently) ways to distribute apps outside of Play Store on Android. So no. I don't even have a Google account anymore for them to associate with my payment information.
It gives Google ultimate control over what apps you can install on “your” phone.
Only if you're using Android, though. It makes sense to me that Google would want publishers of Android apps to be verified, since Google would face backlash if any attacker could publish Android apps anonymously.
Only if you're using Android
...Yeah? That was my point. It's time to move away from Android.
Google would face backlash if any attacker could publish Android apps anonymously.
I don't think you understand. This is the way it's always been, since the beginning of Android.
It may be what Google wants; as a user it is absolutely not what I want. It is not any of Google's business what I install on my device. If they want to provide it as a service and give users the option to opt out of it, I'm totally fine with that. As is, it sure looks like they just want more control, the same way Apple has. I'd be very unsurprised to see Google following in their footsteps in short order and requiring 27% of their income in order to be "verified", or blocking apps that compete with them, or making it so God Damn frustrating that developers just quit, as they have on the Play Store.
since Google would face backlash if any attacker could publish Android apps anonymously.
This is about installing APKs, not apps downloaded from the Play Store. Which, by the way, also have no quality control. Publish a YouTube downloader and it gets taken down in 3 seconds. Make an app to steal people's data, perhaps even steal their money? Literally not an issue.
Google doesn't want you to be able to install a secure open source YouTube client that can ignore ads, or modified apps that can bypass ads they serve that 3rd party app developers put in. They do not give a fuck about attackers getting all your shit. They also don't want you using NextCloud if you could be using Google Drive - so rest assured, Nextcloud fuckery will now continue on APKs too, not just the Play Store verifications.
In all of this, Apple is in some ways better than what Google wants to do - only because Apple makes money off all devices that run iOS. So they don't really care if you use something like NextCloud instead of iCloud - they already made money off you, anything else is a bonus. Of course they do still want to keep you paying for shit and they don't want to be sued by Google for allowing ad-free youtube apps, so they're only marginally better.
how is that even legal
I dunno, ask Apple, they've been getting away with it for 20 years.
At this point, the "best" solution might be buying one of those SBC (single board computers) that also has an android image, like orangePi or ODroid and "build" the rest of the phone on top of it. Might be the only way people can get a screen smaller than 6" as well. I say Android in this case because it has access to all the apps without needing emulation or Waydroid
OOOOORRRRR, just buy an used older phone that you know is easy to unlock and install a custom rom. Did that with a motorola G6, am happy with lineage. Not the fastest phone by a long shot, especially as newer versions of many apps just introduce more bloat because fuck you, but perfectly usable for messaging and video watching. Also has a headphone jack!
GitHub - V3lectronics/SPIRIT: Smartphone based on the Raspberry Pi CM 5.
Smartphone based on the Raspberry Pi CM 5. Contribute to V3lectronics/SPIRIT development by creating an account on GitHub.GitHub
Ill address your issues with Android and then ill give my issues with mobile Linux:
::: spoiler 1
Yeah this is bad but not even devastating for custom roms like GOS or LineageOS
:::
::: spoiler 2
I highly doubt Google would lock the bootloader, they still make the most friendly devices for custom roms (yes even after all they have done). Also Samsung hasnt acturally allowed custom roms for a while now while Xiaomi doesn't either.
:::
::: spoiler 3
- Google implementing Play Integrity API and encouraging developers to implement it. Notably the EU's own identity verification wallet requires this, in stark contrast to their own laws and policies, despite the protest of hundreds on Github.
Even if a developer used the Play Integrity API it doesn't mean custom roms or other operating systems like GOS arent supported. I use GOS and have had no issues with play integrity, there are no incentives to require a certified Android device.
:::
::: spoiler 4
- And finally, the mandatory implementation of developer verification across Android systems. Yes, if you're running a 3rd-party OS like GOS you won't be directly affected by this, but it will impact 99.9% of devices, and I foresee many open source developers just opting out of developing apps for Android entirely as a result.
Sideloading isnt going anywhere and tbh I doubt this will be strongly enforced, Google will always have the threat of root resurfacing. You dont even need root to get rid of Google Play services and install MicroG.
:::
::: spoiler Conclusion
Android as we know it is dead. And/or will be dead very soon. We need an open replacement.
That seems highly unlikely, even with everything Google has done the fact is AOSP is the only mature open source mobile project.
:::
Now ill get to my issues with mobile Linux:
::: spoiler Hardware
As of now there is no good hardware and no plans by any company to make good hardware in the future.
:::
::: spoiler UI
Mobile Linux interfaces are at least a decade behind Android, clunky and bearly usable. Btw yes I have tried them recently, they suck. For the most part mobile Linux interfaces are made by developers who would never acturally daily drive them.
:::
::: spoiler Software support
Not a lot of Linux software supports arm and those that do either don't work with touchscreens or have them as an afterthought.
:::
::: spoiler UX
The software that does work generals isnt designed with small screens in mind and are very often scaled down desktop apps
:::
::: spoiler Basic functionality
Basic functionality is absolutely not there on Linux phones, things like calling and texing either require commands or outright dont work at all. For example according to the Postmarketos Wiki in order to change volume on a Pixel 3a during a call you need to manually change it with commands. Genuenly what the fuck, if im on an important call the other person isnt going to wait several hours for me to fiddle with the terminal. If I need to send a text now im not waiting several hours until it works.
:::
::: spoiler Security
Mobile Linux has all the security issues as Linux with no mitigations, except phones contain a lot more personal information and are more likley to be a target for data extraction.
:::
Samsung One UI Removed Bootloader Unlock – What It Means for Users in 2025
Samsung One UI removed bootloader unlock officially in latest update. Learn what this change means for custom ROM users, developers, and how it affects Android enthusiasts.Pavithran (TrendsLife)
Yeah this is bad but not even devastating for custom roms like GOS or LineageOS
Not yet. It's a concerning trend. It's certainly put a strain on their already-limited resources.
I highly doubt Google would lock the bootloader
...why not?
Also Samsung hasnt acturally allowed custom roms for a while now while Xiaomi doesn't either.
They had unlocked bootloaders. Now they don't. That's all I can say about that.
Even if a developer used the Play Integrity API it doesn't mean custom roms or other operating systems like GOS arent supported.
That's...exactly what that means. That's the entire point.
have had no issues with play integrity
Oh well I suppose if you have no issues, no one else is either? No. You're just not using the apps in question. But once again, it is a concerning growing trend. More and more apps are implementing it.
I doubt this will be strongly enforced
Why would Google lie about this?
As of now
As you might have read in the first sentence of the OP, I was not suggesting installing it now.
So what is our alternative? I get that we need to start working on an actual viable open platform, but it seems like the difficulty is mostly hardware and device manufacturers locking the bootloader at this point, isn't it? So is that where we need to go? To make the "Raspberry Pi" of mobile phones?
I'm happy to help, I just don't have the free time to spearhead a whole project.
I'm probably going to spam this around a bit, since most people don't seem to know about it, but a reminder that FuriLabs has a (GNU+)Linux phone with decent spec.s and the ability to run Android app.s (from what I've heard) pretty decently: furilabs.com/
Biggest drawback is it's based on Halium. Usual growing pains of a new product/company apply but apparently the company is pretty responsive and their dev.s have worked with customers to get things like calling working with the carrier and bands of their country where it hasn't worked before so improvements move pretty quickly.
Collection of different experiences I've variously seen online over the last year or so:
* clehaxze.tw/gemlog/2025/07-20-…
* news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4…
* reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1f…
* reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1j…
* theregister.com/2025/02/03/fur…
I don't own one, myself, so I can't give any personal experience but I've seen it around for a few years now but most people don't seem to even know about it. Maybe there's a reason for that? But none I've ever seen anyone say.
FuriPhone FLX1: A Debian-powered brick that puts GNOME in your back pocket
: Fun with a FOSS-focused Phosh fondleslabLiam Proven (The Register)
I've been a mobile dev for many years, I fell in love with the Nokia 810 with maemo which kinda got me started, but I never had one myself. I moved to OpenMoko and saved to buy a Neo. But then Android became big with Google's support and all companies rushing to have an alternative to iOS with the iPhone. Back then when Android meant openness. As much as I loved the openmoko project it had plenty of issues as a daily driver, so eventually I cracked and moved to Android with a Galaxy S2, ah, the innocence back then when one could think Google was actually different... Actually doing good and creating a great Linux phone.
I absolutely agree on all your points. It is time to kill Android as a free/open source idea if it is not dead yet. And you know what, Linux is absolutely ready to substitute anything as a mobile platform. It needs more polishing in terms of UI but Maemo nearly 20 years ago already offered a great UX IMO. Thank you Microsoft and all Nokia management for destroying it.
Now, I say Linux as a mobile platform is ready... But we all know it doesn't lack problems. What are those? The problems come from anticompetitive practices, locked hardware for chips, drivers and so on, specially all related to phone networking. The other main problem is apps which is only a small issue with all the ways there are available to make android apps run on Linux, that is... Until google comes to fuck things up with the points #3 and #4 you make. Those are the biggest threats right now, and it's no wonder Google is doing that. They are preventing the possibility of competition arising. Like I said, I have been a dev for many years, it absolutely sucks the path all tech is taking. But there are solutions, just need to have proper anticompetitive practices and protections... At least in Europe we kinda do, but more needs to be done.
The main point is, Linux as an alternative is kinda ready, if only there was a real posible competition to be had outside of being incredibly rich.
The discussions here are quite passionate so a bit of a reality check :
"PineStore has also discontinued the PinePhone Pro which was talked about in the last recent blog post. TLDR, sales were low". pine64.org/2025/08/16/august_2…
So... people here say they do want one, but clearly not like that one.
Also recently the crowd funding of indiegogo.com/projects/liberux… barely reached 10% of €1,434,375 Fixed Goal with just 135 backers.
So... also clearly not that one either.
So what accelerated development do people not just want to claim they do want, but actually pay for?
August Update: Note-able Tablet Updates
Hello RSS users! In this update we announce a new community manager, updates to the PineTab2 and PineNote, FreeBSD on the PinePhone Pro, a guide on upstreaming PinePhone Pro patches and a small bit for you Pinecil users.PINE64
what accelerated development do people not just want to claim they do want, but actually pay for?
The suggestion was that we need it, not that a large number of people want it.
The software development really needs to happen before hardware sales. Pretty pointless without it.
My next phone will run Linux, even if it is inconvenient.
As soon as this phone is paid off, I'll be changing from Google Fi as well. Which sucks because it's hella cheap.
I'm likely going to go to t-mobile as they're cheap from what I understand and they make up a big part of the network that google leases, along with (i think) US Cellular, or something similar.
That said, I've got about a year to decide, unless someone decides to hire me and then I can pay my phone off early.
~~apparently it needs to be said that I am not suggesting you switch to Linux on your phone today; just that development needs to accelerate.~~
I switched to Visible Wireless for now.
Is there a way to make the feed images big thumbnails like on thunder? I was looking around and didn't see a setting for that. That's really the only thing I'm not liking so far, everything else seems like an improvement.
American APCs packed with explosives become key IDF weapon in Gaza genocide
In recent days, the IDF has significantly increased its use of explosive-laden armored personnel carriers (APCs), that are composed of older M113 models rigged with explosives, which can also be operated remotely, as part of preparations for a ground maneuver in the heart of Gaza City.
At the onset of the genocide, the IDF’s Technological and Logistics Directorate developed a method to repurpose these APCs into offensive weapons. They are loaded with large quantities of explosives and then transported into the Gaza Strip and detonated remotely.
More recently, reports have surfaced regarding the development of explosive barrels that can be dropped by the APCs along streets lined with mines, amplifying their destructive impact. The force of these explosions is so intense that they can be heard over 100km. away from the Gaza Strip.
IDF repurposes old APC into giant bombs | The Jerusalem Post
The IDF’s Southern Command has tripled the use of armored personnel carriers (APCs) during ground maneuvers, but in a new and explosive way.The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com
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Disgusting, also a complete waste of an M113 and it really shows the IDF is a machine of mass civilian murder and can hardly be called an actual military at all.
Ukraine would have used those M113s to save the lives of soldiers, Israel uses them for genocide and mass murder.
Compare the way the IDF, supposedly a professional fighting force, uses their M113s vs the way Ukraine does.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=XfVda77r…
All the IDF sees in this tool is a convenient way to build a remote child killing bomb meant to sufficiently level people's homes to utterly erase them from the landscape and history.
- YouTube
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.m.youtube.com
Children’s literature professor fired by Texas university over ‘gender’ content
“I’m not sure this is legal to be teaching,” the student says. “According to our president, there’s only two genders and he said he would be freezing agencies’ funding programs that promote gender ideology. And this also very much goes against, not only myself but a lot of people’s religious beliefs.”
...
“It is unacceptable for A&M system faculty to push a political agenda,” Glenn Hegar, the school’s chancellor, said in a statement. “Early investigations appear to indicate this course failed to comply with clear instructions to align course descriptions with course materials.”
Texas A&M passed an audit earlier this year to ensure that the school complies with a new state law banning DEI in public universities, according to the Battalion, the student newspaper.
Children’s literature professor fired by Texas university over ‘gender’ content
Texas A&M also removes two senior administrators from roles after student’s video sparked Republican pressureSam Levine (The Guardian)
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A new Linux user posting an anti Linux meme on a Linux community, on Lemmy. Well, I wish I had a tenth of your courage.
I do hope they go easy on you, brave soul.
Mandatory "I use arch btw..."
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Auster likes this.
nvidia-dkms in the list of pacman updates. It's good to get some thrills, just to feel alive.
"Windows has inconsistency with icons and design in some areas."
I prefer Linux, but what? Oh, hello pot! Have you met my friend kettle?
Labour council leader called rape gang victims ‘white trash'
Dennis Jones, the leader of Peterborough City Council, made the comments in late-night exchanges with a younger councillor, Daisy Blakemore Creedon.
When she raised concerns about immigration and women's safety, Jones lashed out: "Oh so white British cops fuckingg poor white trash in Rotherham is OK, is it? Get a fucking grip, Daisy."
Voyager might not be happy with these images
How to make tagging easier?
When I want to tag a post, I often come across the issue of "tagging uncertainty". E.g.
- Did I use singular (KungFuMovie) or plural (KungFuMovies) on other occasions?
- Did I use 'native' (KurosawaAkira) or Western (AkiraKurosawa) name order?
- Have I even used a tag on this topic before, or is it the first time?
In order to check, I:
- scroll up or down until I see the top of the community sidebar info
- middle-click the link there to the community home page (only available on my own community because I placed one there myself) to open in a new tab
- switch from posting window tab to that new tab
- scroll down until I see "All community tags"
- click on that
- look for the tag I'm interested in
- go back to the tab with the posting window
- write the desired tag
E.g. for this very post, I wasn't sure whether to tag it "tag", "tags" or "tagging". I had to click "Communities", search for "help", middle-click on "Piefed Help", switch to that tab and then look at the tag area to see which form has been used previously.
Some ideas that might make tagging easier:
- a "See all community tags" link next to the tags field in the posting window (easy to do?), opens in a new tab or a pop-up
- auto-suggest one or more tags once you start typing one in the tag field (hard to do?), like on Mastodon
- any other ideas, anyone?
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It's kind of a "wisdom of the crowd" thing. The idea that on average, in aggregate, most of the time, it starts to make sense and be useful. But individual posts are often tagged very "wrongly".
Having said that... For space reasons the tag list in the sidebar is limited to 30 tags and I'm sure there is more we could do to improve the utility of it. Maybe a separate page which has a rotatable tag cloud at the top and below that the list of posts dynamically updates based on whatever is the currently selected tag...
Honestly?
At this point, given their very limited range of usefulness (one-community-only, mods can't add, remove or edit tags on posts, clicking #tag won't find #tags or #tagging, the work required to try to avoid such 'tag splitting', Lemmy users can't add them, Lemmy users can't see them), I'm tempted to just stop bothering with tags altogether.
But then I remember "Search this community" doesn't really work...
:::spoiler jackiechan tag vs "Search this community" for jackie
- piefed.social/c/action_movies?… (8 results)
- piefed.social/search?q=jackie&… (1 result)
:::
So if I give up on tagging and community search is broken, what option does that leave for anyone trying to find something in a community? Flairs? Or just plain, old Ctrl+F? (Yes, I've had to resort to this with Piefed, with varying degrees of success.)
(I've already learned to keep an Alex Lemmy page open all the time, so I can do things like search a community.)
So I guess I have to keep tagging if I want Piefed users to be able to ever find anything. And I guess it will still involve me doing all those steps I listed in OP. 🙁 Not exactly a candidate for !piefed_joy@piefed.social
Search results for jackie
[Join us on chat.piefed.social!](https://piefed.social/post/970751)piefed.social
Judge Blocks Trump’s Firing of Lisa Cook From the Federal Reserve Board
Judge Blocks Trump’s Firing of Lisa Cook From the Federal Reserve Board
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. In a late-night ruling, U.S.David Kurtz (TPM - Talking Points Memo)
Google’s $45 Million Contract With Netanyahu's Office to Spread Israeli Propaganda
Google’s $45 Million Contract With Netanyahu's Office to Spread Israeli Propaganda
Google is in the middle of a six-month, $45 million contract to amplify propaganda with Netanyahu’s office. The contract describes Google as a “key entity” supporting the prime minister’s messaging.Jack Poulson (Drop Site News)
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They publicly recinded their "Don't be Evil" motto years ago. You should know that anyone that does something like that is evil.
Degoogling is a thing for this reason.
Proton Mail Says It’s “Politically Neutral” While Praising Republican Party
The “privacy-first” company surprised its user base when CEO Andy Yen lauded Trump on social media.Nikita Mazurov (The Intercept)
$45 million??? That's a rounding error on a single day of Google's income. I'm not even a little shocked that they have no scruples or integrity whatsoever, but I AM shocked how apparently CHEAP our democracy is.
Hell, it'll probably cost more than that to IMPLEMENT this in any meaningful sense!
I am going to Gaza with the flotilla.
Hi everyone.
I'm a member of the flotilla and preparing to leave for Gaza soon hopefully. A lot hanging on logistics and other things still but I will know more the coming days.
Had to start a new channel old one did not work properly youtube.com/@andersjohansson-o…
action_for_palestine@tankie.tube will only post post sailing here.
anders_gsf@tankie.tube for the trip
Sorry for the changes had to switch up on the phones a bit.
We will set sail in September. I hope to be be able to update a bit on these channels and setting up new accounts for this purpose.
Any tips, shares and discussions are welcomed and I hope to be be able to update on the journey a bit here.
Official updates will be made from official accounts but this will be my personal experience and as a backup for when other communications no longer are available.
Palestine will be free!
Official channels:
globalsumudflotilla.org/
X -
@gbsumudflotilla in
stagram -
globalsumudflotilla
Telegram -
@globalsumudflotilla
youtube.com/@globalsumudflotil…
tiktok.com/@globalsumudflotill…
I am currently as reserv and helping out , not sure if I will be able to sail. I hope so but a lot of things to happen before a decision there.
Barcelona just had a press conference announcing departure
Got instagram @andersjohanssongsf
Anders Johansson
Official channels: https://globalsumudflotilla.org/ X - @gbsumudflotilla in stagram - globalsumudflotilla Telegram - @globalsumudflotilla https://www.youtube.com/@globalsumudflotilla https://www.tiktok.com/@globalsumudflotillaYouTube
Hi , so I still can't update much more but to say we have been delayed. A lot of work do to here and amazing people to meet . Huge support from the locals here in Italy. The dockworkers union will stop all Isreal transports if any interference with the flotilla. As well as other actions from university groups and others.
When I applied for this my thoughts was that the likely outcome would be interception . Now I'm getting more and more hopeful that we will actually be able to go all the way to Gaza.
DNS app asking for my location. How bad is that?
Quad9 Connect | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository
Android application for Quad9 recursive DNS cybersecurity and privacy servicesf-droid.org
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1000 downloads, no reviews, and just someone’s name
Regarding privacy, security, and anonymity, your own common sense will take you a long way.
Well, for one, I'm not giving OP the piss for downloading the app. We all get suckered at one time or another. However, as I highlited, 1000 downloads, no reviews, and just someone’s name, is cause to pause and do some diligent searches regarding the app. If it were legit, most likely you'll find someone who has used the app and voiced their opinion. For instance, when I go to github, the first thing I want to see is when was the last activity, how many stars, how mature is the project, read the issue tracking section, etc. After a while you get a spidey sense about stuff.
Be cautious and verify.
Italian Dockworkers Threaten to ‘Shut Down All of Europe’ If Gaza Aid Flotilla Is Blocked | Novara Media
Italian Dockworkers Threaten to ‘Shut Down All of Europe’ If Gaza Aid Flotilla Is Blocked
A union representing dockworkers at one of the largest ports in the Mediterranean - a key stopping point for Israeli goods - has said it will ‘block everything’ if Israel stops the inbound aid flotilla. Polly Smythe reports.Novara Media
Israel has now destroyed 95% of most educational infrastructure in Gaza
Israel has now destroyed 95% of educational infrastructure in Gaza
Israel has directly hit 662 schools in Gaza, in what has been a blatant attempt to destroy the Strip's entire education systemAlaa Shamali (The Canary)
Gaza Genocide Provokes Anti-War Dissent Among Mormons
Gaza Genocide Provokes Anti-War Dissent Among Mormons - Inkstick
Campaigners are targeting the hearts, minds and multibillion-dollar investment fund of the Utah-based faith.Taylor Barnes (Inkstick Media)
As a former Mormon I find this mildly interesting, but I don't have much hope that large numbers of LDS people will begin to protest against the genocide. The pro-Israel thing is deeply embedded... as in, I'm pretty sure there are an awful lot of LDS people who will see the sacrifice of a million or two Palestinians, even if totally innocent, as a reasonable price to pay for God's Chosen People getting the Land Of The Covenant to usher in the Second Coming.
Even deeper than that: Mormons are mostly herd animals. Dissent has been trained out of them (unless the dissent is authorized by the First Presidency).
Israeli official arrested in Las Vegas sex sting appears before judge via Zoom after fleeing U.S.
Israeli official barred from social media, minors after court hearing on child sex charge
Israeli government official Tom Alexandrovich appeared before a Henderson Court judge this morning via Zoom to discuss the conditions of his bail.Jane Davenport (KSNV)
Are private email providers worth it?
I think I know the answer, bit maybe I'm missing something
Since proton only sends and receives encrypted emails to other proton accounts, that means that when you get or send an email to someone else, they have to send / receive unencrypted and there is no way for us to verify what they are doing. Right?
Also if most accounts are google Microsoft, they still get 90% of my emails. By switching to proton I think I've gained nothing, while losing convenience , added another trust point, and having two different companies have my data instead of just one
Proton drive, calendar and VPN I think are fine
Sorry for the poor syntax. I'm at work working on email related things, and this topic kept distracting me. I might correct it later
Proton does offer what is essentially a self-contained PGP portal. You send anyone an email and they get a "hey, this is me, open the message below" thing and then a link to a message that's hosted on Proton servers. So your Granny doesn't need to set up a public/private key pair, you can just send the encrypted portal option.
No idea of Tuta or others do this.
Plus, no matter who you chose, you personally aren't feeding the Google algo. You can do what I do, which is you leave all the hyper data hungry services in the data eating world, just feeding on each other alone. Then you have real conversations over email or fediverse.
Yeah. I chose proton over tuta because of this option to send the link to the encrypted message. I think tuta does have it, but it didn't show the entire conversation. If you wanted to see the entire chain I think you and to either find the mates email to get the latest URL, or open each URL by itself.
The problem with those is that you have to exchange the password by some other means than the email itself, so it's really not practical for the other person
- One of the main uses of email is communication with companies. And they won't have a signal account just to exchange passwords with you
- doesn't work for emailing someone you have no say you want to send an email to... Idk a youtuber (first example I could think of where you know you want to talk to them but you have no other means to do so). They have their email published. Now what? You can't email them asking for their phone number so that you can exchange email passwords because they won't give it to you, and that exchange is happening unencrypted
- if I have a way to contact someone over signal, I'd rather use that than email
One of the main uses of email is communication with companies. And they won’t have a signal account just to exchange passwords with you
No. Email is just a non-centralized protocol. While not everyone uses it the same way, most normal people never use email to communicate with companies, who are increasingly forcing people to use chatbots anyway. So it's not even a reasonable point to make. Password protected emails are meant to be between people who have an established relationship. If a company needs someone to send them encrypted message, they'll have a platform for that, just like Wikileaks or ProPublica, so you're not making a valid argument about that.
If some Youtuber is someone that does anything privacy-related enough that they should be receiving encrypted emails, their public PGP key should be on their YT profile and you can send them an encrypted message anyway with that. Protocols and methods exist already to accomplish what you're talking about. You need to complain to the Youtuber for not practicing good security and privacy, not to Proton for not creating some mind-reading Diffie-Hellman scenario. Really, do you think that you can just send some random person a message that says "click link to open secret message!" and not expect it to just look like phishing?
If you'd rather use signal, use signal and send them an attachment encrypted with their PGP public key. This isn't hard, I don't even know why you're trying to argue all these weird non-existent edge cases like they're everyday issues.
i don't know your case, but for me using email is non optional. i can't "just use signal". i need an email for my government, i need an email because i need a github account, i need an email for any site i want to use, including lemmy. i just want to be able to do it privately. i'm just trying to determine if protonmail is actually private or just one big "trust me bro. we wont read you unencrypted messages as they enter or leave"
OK. Well, respectfully, I think it would be beneficial to find out more about how encryption, email servers, and encrypted messaging works. I think you're quite confused about the details here, and just getting a sense of the parts will help you in the long run. People use email differently - I don't use FB, so my main means of communication with family that is not Signal messages is email.
By "just use signal" I mean for sharing a password for a password protected email. Which you should only be sending to people you know already and can coordinate with. You're not sending password protected emails to random people or the government because it's not necessary for the reasons I explained earlier. If someone needs an encrypted message from ANYONE they will provide the method. Otherwise, they don't want encrypted messages and can't be trusted with data that should be encrypted.
Proton is secure, and I know because I had an old account I wanted to get access to and lost access to the recovery email, but had one on the same domain. I spent about a week doing back and forth emails with some guy who was trying to ask me to verify aspects of the account, which was my spam shield and dummy social media account and I hadn't used it for about a year. All he could see, when pressed, was header info: sender/receiver, date, time, ip address, sending agent. All things that are needed to route the message. It ended up being me able to confirm IP address and sending agent and access (I sent an email to my recovery address from an IP in this range on this date, last logged in on on this date, etc.). It was a pain for both of us.
I use Tuta mail and protonmail.
There is no "unencrypted" transfer between sender and receiver if you both use tuta or proton.
If you send an email to me from a Gmail account, it is unencrypted until it reaches the Tuta servers and the Proton severs, once there it is encrypted and remains so until I login to my account to access the email.
TUTA MAIL:
The entire mailbox – emails, calendar and address book – are stored end-to-end encrypted in Tuta.
Data that Tuta encrypts end-to-end:
Emails, including subject lines and all attachments
Entire calendars, even metadata such as event notifications
Entire address book, not just parts of the contacts
Inbox rules / filters
And the entire search index.
Tuta uses symmetric (AES 256) and asymmetric encryption (RSA 2048 or ECC (x25519) and Kyber-1024 as quantum-safe algorithms) to encrypt emails end-to-end. When both parties use Tuta, all emails are automatically end-to-end encrypted (asymmetric encryption).
PROTONMAIL:
Emails from non-Proton Mail users to Proton Mail users
The email is encrypted in transit using TLS. It is then unencrypted and re-encrypted (by us) for storage on our servers using zero-access encryption. Once zero-access encryption has been applied, no-one except you can access emails stored on our servers (including us). It is not end-to-end encrypted, however, and might be accessible to the sender’s email service.
All messages in your Proton Mail mailbox are stored with zero-access encryption. This means we cannot read any of your messages or hand them over to third parties. This includes messages sent to you by non-Proton Mail users, although keep in mind if an email is sent to you from Gmail, Gmail likely retains a copy of that message as well.
Password-protected Emails are also stored end-to-end encrypted.
Subject lines and recipient/sender email addresses are encrypted but not end-to-end encrypted.
Note that ProtonMail actually supports automatic encryption to email accounts that publish their public keys in a Web Key Directory, which I’ve set up for mine. When you type such an email address in the To field, it’ll turn into a special color with a lock symbol.
Likewise, ProtonMail also exposed a WKD so people can send encrypted emails to ProtonMail accounts. I don’t know of any mail clients that support this though (I used the command line to pull keys)
Wow, til I learn about WKD! I used to have a key on keyservers, but hated how that was basically a spam trap and the fact that anyone could upload a key there for my own address. It was easy because I own my own domain and already have a web server there.
I set it up and tested it with help from webkeydirectory.com/
Looks like it's being added to clients: wiki.gnupg.org/WKD/Distributio…
Web Key Directory Validator
Publish Your Public OpenPGP Key with Confidence.Web Key Directory Validator
They'll have to follow a link but still...
Tuta: Turn ON privacy for free with secure emails, calendars & contacts | Tuta
Tuta guarantees your data stays private for free & without ads. Quantum-resistant encryption makes Tuta the best secure technology solution to protect your privacy.Tuta
There is an advantage of using a provider that suports MTA STS. This is Strict Transport Security and forces at least transport encryption.
There is an advantage to use a provider you pay for too and at least claims not to read your email.
It is also nice if they can host your domain and have good delivery.
Edit: I meant MTA STS not SMTP STS.
Google is promoting MTA-STS. MS is at least testing it and some others. Proton mail might support, check. I use NameCheap shared hosting mail. They support incoming but not outgoing.
Sure it is clear inside each org but secures between. Nice because you can secure in your org by contract. Not as good as e2ee of course.
Tuta has no IMAP, vendor lock-in, bad.
Proton has IMAP with extra steps, almost vendor lock-in, bad.
Gmail has IMAP, good. So, we can use it with our own libre app, with GPG, but first we need an account.
Making a new Gmail account is not private. Also, paying for paid Gmail is not private.
sh.itjust.works/comment/208023…
GPG and mailbox.org or anothet "just" email service
Disroot | Disroot.org
Disroot is a platform providing online services based on principles of freedom, privacy, federation and decentralization.disroot.org
Hold on, am I missing something? I don't see anyone in here talking about that time proton openly endorsed the Republican party. Did we forget about or forgive them for that? Is it just irrelevant right now? They backtracked later but like archive.ph/2yWGz
When organizations make a move like that, they usually don't stop pushing in that direction, even if they backtrack in response to pushback. While I'm sure they're still better than google, I have a hard time trusting them after that. It feels relevant to talk about because like you said, using proton is adding another trust point.
like this
sunzu2 likes this.
Kind of tired of beating the dead horse on that story, but part of privacy is that you need to trust the company that you're dealing with.
He's out there openly praising on authoritarians move to install a puppet government and open the gateway to corporate corruption. If our privacy companies are going to be sneaky and dirty, we want it done in the shadows. All he had to do was stay quiet. But he got noisy, then the PR department started gaslighting, and none of that's a good look for a privacy company.
The thing is, Trump doesn't give two shits about anybody, and the guy running the company should have known this.
But now it's old news, it can die. He can prove that he can run the company by good faith measures and doing the right thing instead of by trying to gaslight people through PR.
sunzu2 likes this.
You have to trust that:
They're not logging your IP on their VPN and coorelating it with output traffic.
They won't dox you to motion pictures houses because of your torrents on their VPN.
They wouldn't slip you some javascript in their client at the request of a foreign government to dox you without letting you know.Code is good, but there's a lot of operational information there that doesn't get exposed by being open.
Code in the face of no malice wouldn't be a large worry. They rolled over on a French activist and doxxed them for the French government. Those logs should not have existed in a privacy company.
Again, this is all old news now. Let's see him make hard decisions to protect the clients and turn the PR side of things from "the empire did nothing wrong" to hey, let's have an open dialog.
i don't care about their VPN. the issue you describe is very real, but it's inherit to all vpn providers. what i care right now, is their email service. you can switch vpn providers in less than 15 minutes, but email takes days. so i wouldn't want to go around doing all of that every time some employee says something stupid.
and btw, if you use native installed apps, then the worry of them serving malicious javascript goes way down because any change they make on the complied package would be very likely to be very obvios to someone, because its open source ( i won't go into detail here).
Got banned on their sub for criticizing that clown Andy the bootlicker.
They are happy to shill free speech when they take your money, but no free speech when they get criticized.
Tells you what you need to know about corpo.
Their email is best in class though. Other services are mid at best.
That sounds like the worst option of all. At least I can trust google has some protections in place to stop employees from looking at you email, because if they didn't there would be thousands of cases all the time.
In your case, you never know who is looking. At any point a rogue admin can issue a bank password reset and just read the email
I've never heard of the term web hotel before. I'm guessing its web hosting
Sounds like you don't know what you are talking about. 😀 That's fine, but unless you know something about the topic, you shouldn't really be judging...
I know exactly who is looking. And I would also know if anyone tampers with the passwords. I guess you don't have the skills, and that's fine. You might even think that there's anything in the world that is totally secure. There's not a single thing that is secure.
Oh, what is this? - forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/20…
I wouldn't say you have gained nothing. The amount of data provided to google or microsoft when using their email is significantly more. For example, your app or client is checking email all of the time, giving them telemetry on your location and activity, all your devices, 24/7. Google logs and analyzes all of your interactions with Gmail's web pages, how long you have certain emails open for, what you don't bother to open, what you tag as important, etc.
Much of the one-way email you sign up for from companies and organizations come from smaller outfits like sendgrid or their own infrastructure, so you are cutting google out of information about your associations and interests.
Also, in regards to that 90%, you can either be part of the problem for all your contacts, or part of the solution. The network effect is huge.
1. don't use email, that's the ideal solution
2. use a provider like cock.li and send messages encrypted with pgp. this isn't ideal, pgp leaks a lot of data and cock.li gets sinkholed by most email providers.
3. use proton and encrypt emails with pgp, you have not much privacy but it's less worse than microsoft and not much convenience loss, except that proton doesn't allow email clients(at least if you don't pay), I don't know about ms).
they pretty much always collaborate with the police
a corporation is a legal extension of the state, hence why all of them will always collaborate when ordered by the courts or otherwise required by law.
some will even collaborate when they are not required by law such amazon ring providing pigs access for no reason, facebook censoring content per request of US or Israel... needless bullshit but hey it helps get government contracts ;)
bottom line, expecting corpo to do anything for you for 5 bucks a month is naive, at best they should not do it for no reason and they should not sell your data.
but even that is a tall order for these parasites.
- YouTube
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.youtube.com
Linux Mint 22.2: still fixing the Linux desktop
Linux Mint 22.2: still fixing the Linux desktop
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I, too, usually don't read about a distribution I don't use.
Why would we have ever heard of libadapta?
Reddit is dropping subscriber counts on subreddits: Users will now see seven-day metrics that track active visitors and contributions instead.
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37201414
Reddit is dropping subscriber counts on subreddits: Users will now see seven-day metrics that track active visitors and contributions instead.
::: spoiler Comments
- Reddit.
:::
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Apple: iPhone 17 lineup and iPhone Air come with Memory Integrity Enforcement, which provides always-on memory safety protection
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37193710
Apple: iPhone 17 lineup and iPhone Air come with Memory Integrity Enforcement, which provides always-on memory safety protection
::: spoiler Comments
- Hacker News;
- Lobsters.
:::Blog - Memory Integrity Enforcement: A complete vision for memory safety in Apple devices - Apple Security Research
Memory Integrity Enforcement (MIE) is the culmination of an unprecedented design and engineering effort spanning half a decade that combines the unique strengths of Apple silicon hardware with our advanced operating system security to provide industr…Blog - Memory Integrity Enforcement: A complete vision for memory safety in Apple devices - Apple Security Research
Anti-racism scholar’s career “ruined” by pro-Israel lobby
Anti-racism scholar’s career “ruined” by pro-Israel lobby
Randa Abdel-Fattah is an anti-racism scholar who lost an $870,000 research grant over her criticisms of Israel.Al Jazeera
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more | Discovery of stealth data collection raises questions about who can ‘provide’ services
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37194712
Technical Report.
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more | Discovery of stealth data collection raises questions about who can ‘provide’ services
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more
AgeGO also forces users to disclose their email address to complete the age verification process, which it says is needed to create an AgeGO account.Joel R. McConvey (BiometricUpdate.com)
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more | Discovery of stealth data collection raises questions about who can ‘provide’ services
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37194712
Technical Report.
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more | Discovery of stealth data collection raises questions about who can ‘provide’ services
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more
AgeGO also forces users to disclose their email address to complete the age verification process, which it says is needed to create an AgeGO account.Joel R. McConvey (BiometricUpdate.com)
Jeremy Corbyn to lead ‘Gaza tribunal’ into UK role in Israel’s war
Jeremy Corbyn to lead ‘Gaza tribunal’ into UK role in Israel’s war
The UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory is among those set to contribute to the two-day event.Al Jazeera Staff (Al Jazeera)
UK has delivered over £500m in arms parts to Israel's genocide efforts
UK complicit in Israel's genocide
New report shows the UK is firmly embedded in Israel's genocide as it provides arms exports worth over £500 million to terrorise PalestineMaryam Jameela (The Canary)
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more | Discovery of stealth data collection raises questions about who can ‘provide’ services
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37194712
Technical Report.
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more | Discovery of stealth data collection raises questions about who can ‘provide’ services
Intermediary age assurance provider collecting user data on specific URLs, more
AgeGO also forces users to disclose their email address to complete the age verification process, which it says is needed to create an AgeGO account.Joel R. McConvey (BiometricUpdate.com)
Lush shuts all UK retail stores for a day in Gaza protest
Lush shuts all UK retail stores for a day in Gaza protest
The retail chain said similar action could be taken in its other stores worldwide.Imogen James (BBC News)
Crafting a retro desktop for old computers (~1GB RAM) the right way
I have an old Asus EeePC 1015T netbook with an HDMI (and VGA) output, a screen that glitches if I'm holding it wrong, a huge, tired, unreliable battery, a noisy fan that fails to cool it to less than skin-burning temperatures, and slightly less than 1 GB of RAM. I've seen Xubuntu, then Lubuntu, become slowly unusable on it; I've tried to install Arch then Sway, but although the device got kinda less sluggish, the leaning curve for a tiling window manager was still too high.
So here's a thought experiment: could I craft a Linux setup with a themeable yet cohesive Windows 98-like UI, that I can plug to an old monitor (1280x1024 should be enough) and that can be just responsive enough to do basic, focused tasks (writing, listening to music and webradios, browsing Wikipedia, perhaps playing Doom) using this kind of very limited hardware? The idea would be to have some sort of reliability: instead of installing an old distro and freezing all updates, I'd ideally go for a modern basis that I can upgrade without worrying of watching my setup collapsing on itself; so I could reproduce this setup on other, similarly old computers, and turn them into retro distraction-free appliances where you could chill with a classic Windows feel and Winamp themes.
I have some ideas but I'm not sure about the best approach. I've tried an immutable Fedora image (Blue95), but after a full day and night of waiting for the setup and rebase to complete, the end result was way too slow to be usable. Then I went for BunsenLabs on a Debian Trixie basis: it works okay performance-wise, but there's a lot of obscure menu items pointing to small apps to customize (you have to know what a "conky" or a "tint2" is, and also understand that the default panel is a third different thing). I'm thinking of trying postmarketOS, since the Alpine base sounds lightweight enough, but I havent figured out how to install it on my EeePC.
Could Wayland be possible with these hardware limitations? If so, how should I setup it? I guess labwc (pictured above) is the best fit for a Win9x experience, but what is needed afterwards? LXQt or Xfce or something else?
I'm curious to hear your thoughts!
You're trying way too hard to make a very specific set of hardware work.
1) The chip in there is going to have a 2GB memory limit, even if it you could expand it and found a module for sale.
2) The CPU is an old style Intel N or C, both of which have just awful TDP at that age. You'd also have to have it plugged in constantly and draining more power because the battery is certainly dead.
3) The addressable memory is almost certainly only going to be working for 32-bit without a BIOS hack. I say this because the majority of these produced were 32, but very few were 64. Telling the difference should be obvious by trying to install a microkernel.
4) Even if you had the best set of circumstances - 64bit, 2GB memory - the rest of the hardwre5is likely to no longer be very compatible with modern kernels. Network, audio, power saving...etc. Almost all certainly will not work as expected.
5) A $100 SoC board will have better outcomes and cost efficiency for running in general.
I just don't see the effort paying off here in taking what was already antiquated hardware when it was produced and making it work now just because it exists.
To your questions:
1) No. No modern GUI stack will work with it.
2) Wayland won't work with the available memory, at least not for long. Launching a browser would probably start OOMKilling things on any modern distro.
I just don't see the effort paying off here in taking what was already antiquated hardware when it was produced and making it work now just because it exists.
I take it you don’t know the Linux community very well. One of the most common uses I see is getting use out of outdated hardware.
Of course I don't, you're totally right. My contributions since 1998 mean I have zero idea of how to speak to common sense.
Using antique hardware to run things is a fool's errand, and always has been. It's ridiculous to run outmoded, inefficient, and ineffective hardware for any general purpose.
If there was a HUGE community out there who really needed something to work with Linux (a la Asahi), then I'd say go for it.
This is a dumb waste of time with little payoffs except to say you did it. No community benefits.
Introducing Project TinyMiniMicro Home Lab Revolution - ServeTheHome
STH Project TinyMiniMicro is set to revolutionize the home lab segment with clusters of high-quality, quiet, low power, and inexpensive nodesPatrick Kennedy (ServeTheHome)
To be fair you don't need Wayland for any of those tasks. I think I would suggest antiX here. It's surprisingly highly customizable as well.
By the way I think Wayland would work on that hardware, possibly with something like River. But unless you find yourself dotfiles, the learning curve is kinda steep.
man riverctl to customise it. Only part that took me a while to get my head around was the tag system.
Yeah, it's quite fun to meddle with River. I had to switch to KDE because I had a bug with various FPS on my dual monitor setup. Not River related but since River doesn't intervene with that I had to use programs like way-displays etc. Other than this I actually miss River, my scripts. I don't have that bug on KDE so currently that's where I'm staying. At least I managed to make KDE exactly like a WM, so not gonna complain, other than the bloat. 😀
River is brilliant. Hope more distros come pre-installed (and configured) with it.
That's a shame that you had that bug. I have two monitors and River works well for me.
Have you checked out MaoMaoWM, Niri, etc? If you want a tiling compositor there are still other options. Not sure if you specifically want dynamic tiling, but if you're good with manual tiling there is of course Sway.
Yeah, I tried different workarounds to fix it (and one time I was really close) but that wasn't good for my productivity so I postponed using River. I'll get back some time later, probably the bug would be already gone too.
Anyway, while Niri is cool, it isn't for me. Haven't heard of MaoMaoWM before but it seems the name changed into MangoWC. However it seems like BSPWM with more juice, which I liked. Added to my stars and will follow its development, just like I do with River.
I used i3 many years before bspwm but when I learned about bspwm I never went back to i3. I can say the same with Sway, I tried it but it's essentially i3. When there is River, I wouldn't use it. 😀
The lightest Windows 95-esque setup I've achieved was IceWM on Debian. Manually install the GUI to avoid unnecessary packages. Around 200 MB RAM usage from cold boot and very snappy on an Atom netbook with 2 GB RAM. With zram swap set to 50% of total RAM (swapping to the tiny, slow eMMC proved frustrating), I could comfortably browse most websites and work in LibreOffice. If you use a no-frills distro (like Debian), performance shouldn't change too much with updates.
It should come with a Windows 95 theme, but some settings are available only in the config files. Adding a theme like Raleigh for GTK3 will make it look more cohseive without consuming much extra resources.
As for Wayland, I think the only performant options would be labwc or a modification of Weston. I've no experience with XFCE on Wayland, but that would open up the option of the Chicago95 theme.
GitHub - thesquash/gtk-theme-raleigh: A GTK+ 3 version of the old Raleigh theme for GTK+ 2
A GTK+ 3 version of the old Raleigh theme for GTK+ 2 - thesquash/gtk-theme-raleighGitHub
I have a machine with specs like those where I installed Haiku.
I don't daily drive it, but it's fun to use and it's quite snappy.
This is gonna be a lot of work, like, a lot a lot of work.
You're on the right track, I think antix is your best starting point. Its the closest you'll get to a fully featured distro. Damn Small Linux would maybe be my next choice, but I'm not sure if development is ongoing.
Regardless, you want something without systemd. Im personally hopeless without it, but there are plenty of people who daily drive openrc, runit, etc so it's possible with determination.
id probably do 3gb of swap, maybe more if you are crashing a lot. I suspect even if you keep memory usage down you will be swapping A LOT. If you had even 1gb more memory I'd be less worried, but you're cutting it close.
If that's still not light enough, you could try using CDE or Motif as a desktop.
Tiny Core Linux, Micro Core Linux, 12MB Linux GUI Desktop, Live, Frugal, Extendable
Welcome - Tiny Core Linuxtinycorelinux.net
Vanilla Debian on my old netbook does alright. I think my desktop is xfce.
Only thing better I've used is antiX. I moved away from that one though since they insist on not using systemd and it got to be too much of a hassle to work around (lots of packages assume systemd is your init). I think Void Linux is supposed to be similar.
Give it a try
If
the learning curve for a tiling window manager is too high
I highly doubt they'd go for dwm
I'm not sure what happened to the old Redmond widget theme, which was essentially a transplant of the Windows 9X widget style, but if you're not picky, the .Net theme in the tdeartwork package will probably be Good Enough (or you could go for the different-but-equally-retro CDE/Motif experience). TDE itself, as KDE3, was originally expected to run on an average PC made 20+ years ago—I ran it for years on a single-core Athlon64 with 1GB RAM (and those were pretty good specs for a machine of that era). I don't know what else Q4OS might be carrying along with it, though.
If you want to go even lighter, look for something offering Fluxbox or Openbox as the GUI—they have enough stuff in them to be useful launchers out of the box, but don't have the overhead of the true DEs (configuring them may require you to mess around in text files, but you only have to do it once).
Anyway, your main issue is going to be getting any modern browser to work on a machine that constrained. (If your interest is only in looking at Wikipedia, Konqueror, which ships with TDE, can be made to mostly work if you force the use of Wikipedia's "vector" skin, but the current default skin breaks search and looks like ass. Konqueror's browser code is way out of date and not recommended for general Internet use.)
“RUBARE allo STATO non è sempre reato” (mannaggia!)
A me capita di seguire vari avvocati su YouTube, ma certe volte mi chiedo se sarebbe meglio restare nell’ignoranza per le questioni di legge, perché altrimenti ci si fa il sangue amarissimo… non quanto il “caffè amaro come la vita”, ma molto peggio, perché almeno il caffè è gustoso, mentre la realtà del nostro mondo […]
octospacc.altervista.org/2025/…
“RUBARE allo STATO non è sempre reato” (mannaggia!)
A me capita di seguire vari avvocati su YouTube, ma certe volte mi chiedo se sarebbe meglio restare nell’ignoranza per le questioni di legge, perché altrimenti ci si fa il sangue amarissimo… non quanto il “caffè amaro come la vita”, ma molto peggio, perché almeno il caffè è gustoso, mentre la realtà del nostro mondo nemmeno per un cazzo. E stamattina, per l’appunto, chi mi ha ricordato ciò è stato l’avvochad Angelo Greco… 😭youtube.com/watch?v=QtQ0T4fnxk…
In breve, in questo video dice una cosa che sappiamo tutti, cioè che rubare allo Stato, una condotta che a primo impatto parrebbe gravissima, a volte è legalmente permesso — e anzi, aggiungerei io che in certi casi è anche premiato, o quantomeno fare il contrario significa essere vittime di scherno e biasimo, paradossalmente… Qualcosa di già assurdo di per sé, ma mai quanto un’altra cosa che difficilmente ci viene in mente, cioè che invece i danni piccoli vengono puniti alla grande; l’esempio che lui fa, per dire, è che se qualcuno ti passa una banconota incaricandoti di andargli a comprare il gelato, e tu te ne scappi coi soldi invece di assolvere al compito informale e deciso a voce, ti becchi (fino a) 5 anni di carcere, “appropriazione indebita aggravata”… 💀
Insomma, questa è l’Italia. Ovviamente, questo fatto lo si può vedere applicato su una scala più ampia e totalizzante, dove la punizione è, con gran paradosso, sempre inversamente proporzionale alla colpa. E quindi, se rubi i soldi del gelato e la vittima ti denuncia vai in galera, se sei un borseggiatore che dalla mattina alla sera sta a rubare alle persone ti arrestano per qualche minuto ma poi torni in libertà, se sei un imprenditore che evade il fisco magari passi qualche brutta nottata ma alla fine non succede niente, e se invece sei un politico che usa i soldi pubblici per cose proprie non ti indagano nemmeno… figurati pagare multe o che… 🥱
Che schifo, davvero. Non trovo nemmeno qualcosa da dire per ribaltare tutto e ridere, a questo giro… la riflessione di oggi è davvero così tanto amara; mi dispiace se ho rovinato la giornata a qualcuno. E non so se sia più grave il fatto che, a dire il vero, le cose in questo paese sembrano andare così, all’incontrario, da quando questo esiste… o se la vera questione sia che andando avanti questi paradossi aumentano, anziché diminuire… in questa repubblica dove, nei tribunali, campeggia sempre la scritta “la legge è uguale per tutti“, nonostante il fatto che questa frase sia forse la più grande bugia di tutti i tempi, e i politici non fanno e faranno altro che prendere tutti per il culo… 🙁
#AngeloGreco #Italia #legge #riflessione #rubare
- YouTube
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.www.youtube.com
kidnapping them in the street at gunpoint like a common thug isn’t really work
Kidnapping sounds like a lot of work. Sounds exhausting.
birdwing
in reply to ax1on • • •Good move of Nepal to ban Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Whatsapp, VK, WeChat, Threads, as well as Facebook, LinkedIn, Facebook Messenger, Pinterest, and Discord.
That said, Mastodon and Signal also being included, is dumb. What Nepal could do better, is that upon visiting one of the banned sites, users are advised to download another, decentralised medium.
Tja
in reply to birdwing • • •like this
giantpaper likes this.
Leaflet
in reply to Tja • • •And what happens if the social media platform doesn’t address complaints in the way the government wants?
Would the social media company rather continue making a profit in that country, so censors according to the government, or leave the country entirely?
Tja
in reply to Leaflet • • •commander
in reply to ax1on • • •Pearl
in reply to commander • • •I don’t think signal devs are just going to sit around crying that signal got banned.
Probably go the route of tor browser and have signed installer distributed amongst multiple mirrors.
like this
giantpaper likes this.
Autonomous User
in reply to Pearl • • •shortwavesurfer
in reply to ax1on • • •Because Nepal banning social media is so ungodly terrible lol. I'm surprised this is even a thing that was reported on.
Again, go decentralized or go home.
MotoAsh
in reply to shortwavesurfer • • •angrystego
in reply to shortwavesurfer • • •shortwavesurfer
in reply to angrystego • • •They can attempt to ban the decentralized ones. I wish them good luck, because I don't think they can actually pull it off.
You could pass a ban on air as well, but that doesn't mean there's not gonna be air in your country.
witty_username
in reply to ax1on • • •witty_username
in reply to witty_username • • •signal.org/android/apk/
Signal Android APK
Signal Messengerkepix
in reply to witty_username • • •DominusOfMegadeus
in reply to ax1on • • •twice_hatch
in reply to DominusOfMegadeus • • •DominusOfMegadeus
in reply to twice_hatch • • •mandip
in reply to twice_hatch • • •Autonomous User
in reply to ax1on • • •rumba
in reply to ax1on • • •For those people calling for the use of Tor, it's trivial to block Tor and I2P at the ISP level. It's not hard to get lists of relays and just add them to the block list.
You can use shadow socks, but you have to be careful.
We are globally heading into very privacy adverse waters. If they start making ISPs block VPN and piracy suspected sites, we might have to come up with something new to communicate in the open.
We're going to need something that looks like accountably legitimate traffic on the surface, but contains our actual content underneath.
blurb
in reply to rumba • • •Hiding in plain sight: Introducing WebTunnel | Tor Project
blog.torproject.orgrumba
in reply to blurb • • •The authorities run their own web tunnel. The people that connect to it go on a naughty list. Everything it connects to goes on a naughty list.
Wash, rinse, and repeat that in a geodiverse style. Share your IP list with everyone else charged with finding web tunnel. wholesale block all traffic from any node participating. Start with a one day band, move to a one week ban, kick them off the network after that.
anon5621
in reply to rumba • • •rumba
in reply to anon5621 • • •While i2p's node DB isn't exactly in the clear. There's not so many of us that you can't getting pretty good picture of where it's running.
China's already doing a really good job at blocking it. The protocol is secure in that you can't tell what anybody is doing on it. And the node DB is only somewhat accessible. But that's nothing a little coordinated espionage won't suss out.
Every ISP throws out a couple of honeypots. You don't allow nodes to stay connected to it for long so everybody keeps refreshing it. They're thinking it's a DDOS. It's distributed fingerprinting.
You throw up a node, record its regular traffic, start up I2P and see who it connects to. F with your netem so they connect, but eventually discard that connection because it's unstable. You get to cycle through a bunch of connections that way. Everybody who sends more than a SQL injection script to it is running I2P. You occasionally dump people off of it. New people try to connect. You dump them off of it. You create a list. That particular list isn't worth much, the spread factor is kind of low on the protocol. But you share your IPs with everyone else that's running honeypots. Or you just throw out a lot of honey pots in a lot of places if you're a state actor. Everybody that hits the list gets logged.
We're heading towards some dystopian shit now. If ISPs get to the point where they're allowed to kick you off for suspicion of shady things, the protocol is baked.
It's nearly impossible to identify the traffic. It's fairly impossible to identify the origin or the destination of things from inside the network. It's difficult to block individual connections from happening you're real time. But, if they manage to make unidentified traffic illegal, it's not that hard to detect that I-2p is happening and kick people off wholesale. Once the list is shared, they could just black-ball the IPs on every ISP for any connection.
The real problem is, I'm having a really hard time finding some protocol or method that wouldn't fall to this. You could easily hide some really low bandwidth stuff stego style in audio or video streaming from person to person, like say, forum traffic, but if you wanted to stop people from moving music and videos back and forth, I don't know that you could hide that traffic through any means.
anon5621
in reply to rumba • • •On the traffic side, I2P isn’t just onion-style routing. It uses garlic routing, where multiple encrypted “cloves” (messages) are bundled together into one garlic message. This kills the simple “one in → one out” traffic correlation trick. Add to that the transports: NTCP2 is indistinguishable from normal TLS over TCP, and SSU2 is UDP with full encryption, padding, and replay protection. From a DPI standpoint, it looks like generic encrypted noise — there’s no clean handshake to match on like with old Tor circuits.
As for blocking, I2P is decentralized. There are no directory authorities to censor, no fixed bridges to burn. Floodfills are chosen dynamically and constantly refreshed, and peers discover new ones automatically. The bigger the network gets, the harder it is to enumerate and blacklist enough routers to make a dent. Censors can try whack-a-mole, but the distribution effect scales against them: more peers in more ASNs across more countries means higher cost to block.
So yes, you can suspect I2P traffic if you really try, but fingerprinting and wholesale blocking don’t scale — the protocol was designed specifically to make both correlation and censorship exponentially harder as adoption grows
Details:
- YouTube
www.youtube.comrumba
in reply to anon5621 • • •I am well aware of the design and structure, you mentioned I said some things there that I clearly didn't say.
If I2P is outlawed, and there's a strong possibility we'll see that in our lives, and ISP's are told if they let unchecked traffic through they're responsible for legal ramifications. They'll run enough nodes in enough places and terminate enough end user accounts (at the very least in the US) to make people not want to run it.
I don't care if you can't DPI it. If it's on their network, and they start running peers, they will be able to root people out, not everyone, but they don't need everyone. If the ISP's share their data with each other, making that map isn't all that hard.
The floodfills can be secure and ephemeral AF, but P2P traffic, even packaged through garlic still passes through points that can be seen.
The whole design is supersmart, and from a legal stand point it's solid. But when we lose protections of beyond a reasonable doubt become stripped, they'll tear that network apart user by user until no one wants to chance running it.
Auli
in reply to rumba • • •rumba
in reply to Auli • • •It's not about trying to determine if the traffic is i2p or tor by its port or contents. It's about running a copy of the client and logging who it connects to.
When you have nearly limitless funds and servers everywhere already, it becomes a lot easier to insert into the network and start looking around.
Then when you couple that together with a series of corporations that can do that, and they start sharing data.
Then you change the legal landscape so they can just kick you off your internet provision because you are connecting to I2P nodes. It's kind of like entrapment, but legal.
Marthirial
in reply to ax1on • • •Tangentism
in reply to Marthirial • • •schnurrito
in reply to ax1on • • •A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace
Electronic Frontier Foundationتحريرها كلها ممكن
in reply to ax1on • • •abbiistabbii
in reply to تحريرها كلها ممكن • • •I want you to look around the world political landscape around tech and ask yourself if you think most of these chucklefucks even understand what they actually say. They only care that they won't like it and want it gone and think writing that down on special paper makes it go poof.
I live in a "developed" country and my country past the online safety act and most of the people who did so didn't know what a VPN was. Three previous administrations, The Blair-Brown one, the conservative one, and the latest one, have all floated the idea of banning encryption in some form. Do you really think the Nepali government understand what Mastodon is other maybe "it's a bit like Twitter".
Most people in Nepal with any sort of sense have a VPN to get around this.
ax1on
in reply to تحريرها كلها ممكن • • •Auli
in reply to ax1on • • •ax1on
in reply to Auli • • •abbiistabbii
in reply to ax1on • • •I had a quick look at Hamro Patro. It's a Nepali calendar app which features news, horoscopes, exchange rates, radio and podcasts. It is the most popular natively developed app in Nepal basically.
Just to put this into context: Imagine if the American Government banned the NBC app or the British Government banned the Sky News app.
ftbd
in reply to ax1on • • •Ardens
in reply to ftbd • • •Ardens
in reply to ax1on • • •