Michael Downey 🇺🇳 @downey@floss.social

#FSFIndia on #AarogyaSetu app release as #FreeSoftware.

It is the first step towards achieving "transparency, privacy, and security" as mentioned by CEO of NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant as the core values on which the application was designed. However, we stress that, this is only a first step and we hope that the government will follow up with some more actions that further strengthen the commitment made towards transparency, privacy and security.

http://fsf.org.in/news/arogya-sethu/

#privacy #OpenSource

Hi Fediverse 👋

to break the quietness of this account, here's a quick news flash:

- We added a list with Zoom alternatives 🤙
https://swiso.org/replace/zoom/

- We replaced some entries on "Bubbling under" 🔧
https://swiso.org/list/bubbling-under/

- We added Cryptpad to the Doodle list as it has a poll feature 🗒️
https://swiso.org/replace/doodle/

- Our DRM article has images now 🙃
https://swiso.org/articles/digital-rights-management/

- We have an Audible list in the pipeline 🎧
https://codeberg.org/swiso/website/pulls/81

Thanks to @uniq for the nudge to write this! 😊👍

Please get your parents off FaceBook: https://markosaric.com/off-facebook/

(I usually aren't interested in discussing social media, but I like this article)

A periodic reminder that you should back up your own Masto account by downloading your archive

I'm not posting this for any particular reason other than that it's good to make backups and sometimes servers just go down

Are you interested in an entirely #FreeSoftware and #FreeHardware laptop? How about if it's meant to be modified and upgraded?

In this episode of Libre Lounge, @emacsen sits down with Lukas Hartmann from @mntmn to talk about his history in Free Software, the MNT Reform project, and the future!

https://librelounge.org/episodes/39-mnt-reform-with-lukas-hartmann.html

We'll be meeting in IRC this Thursday (2pm ET/6pm UTC) with many of the folks from the #CopyleftConf panel "Copyleft in a Business Context" you can watch the video in before we talk here, https://archive.org/details/copyleftconf2020-business

"I use Linux less because it’s open source and free software (although that’s a bonus point too), but more because I thinks it’s more user friendly. Installation is fast and simple, updates don’t take ages, I don’t need to crawl the web to find software installers, it isn’t full of bloatware, it runs great on most (even older) hardware etc.

Of course there are use cases where Linux isn’t the best choice (yet)"

https://jlelse.blog/links/2020/05/try-linux/

What Does *Free/Libre/Open* Mean? - snowdrift.coop: https://wiki.snowdrift.coop/about/free-libre-open

We have resolved our patent case with Rothschild Patent Imaging. We thank our pro-bono counsel - Shearman & Sterling LLP for representing us.
https://gnome.org/news/2020/05/patent-case-against-gnome-resolved/

#FreeSoftware #OpenSource

Just joined the "Opensource design forum" at https://opensourcedesign.net/

Seems like a pretty neat place has a lot of neat resources as well as job postings for projects that are opensource.

#opensource #opensourcedesign #libresoftware #foss #floss #mastoart #fediart #art #design

Out of curiosity: is there something like a #floss #federated alternative to #cloudflare as a #cdn?

Sure, one could build something oneself with enough servers but does something like this exist as some kind of distributed community-approach?

I'm really happy about our announcement today. Many great Nextcloud Talk improvements and most important, the High-Performance-Back-End is now also publicly available and developed in the open. https://nextcloud.com/blog/open-sourcing-talk-back-end-rc-of-talk-9-brings-lots-of-improvements #FreeSoftware #OpenSource #Nextcloud

EU Parliament Strongly Recommends Developing and Using Open Source Software

Europe is choosing open source more than ever. Not just limited to EU Commissions’ decision to use Signal messaging app but also open science and the adoption of open source software by European universities.
Now, in a recent press release by the European Pirate Party, it looks like the EU Parliament is urging EU institutions to use open-source software. All thanks to the Pirate amendments for encouraging the use of open-source software.
The EU Parliament not just encourages the use of open-source software, but they have also advised to prioritize development of open-source software by the EU institutions.
See EU Parliament Strongly Recommends Developing and Using Open Source Software - It's FOSS
#technology #opensource #EU

https://itsfoss.com/eu-parliament-recommends-open-source/ https://squeet.me/objects/962c3e109e98053e96f599d5af87103bd3a4213f

Modest suggestion: next time you plan on buying some luxury item (starbucks, a video game, a dinner out, etc), consider donating that amount to an open source project that you love. Not every time - you can have that frappachino tomorrow - but just this time, let's give back to FOSS.

Are we being loose with the terms “open source” and “private” if we utilize Google, Facebook, & Twitter scripts, listeners and CDNs in websites and apps (even if they claim to be “open”)?

#privacy #development #opensource

The potentially global scale of COVID-19 contract tracing apps, and their collection of sensitive health and association information, presents new privacy and security risks for more users. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/04/challenge-proximity-apps-covid-19-contact-tracing

How do we make Free Software more approachable, easier to use and more effective? That is the discipline of User Experience design.

@emacsen and @cwebber interview UX expert Máirín Duffy about Free Software interfaces and more.

https://librelounge.org/episodes/38-user-interfaces-with-m%C3%A1ir%C3%ADn-duffy.html

The European Parliament endorsed Pirate amendments urging EU institutions to predominantly use Open Source solutions

This is a strong call for enhancing our important citizens right to transparent and trustworthy information. It is essential for the European institutions to retain control over its own technical systems, especially in a context of disinformation and foreign interference.

https://european-pirateparty.eu/european-parliament-strongly-recommends-any-software-developed-by-and-for-the-eu-institutions-to-be-made-publicly-available-under-free-and-open-source-software-licence/

#freesoftware #opensource #software #europe #europa #eu #pirates #pirateparty