FreedomBox 25.13 has been released! Here are the highlights:
- backups: Fix robust handling of known errors
- debian: Stop privileged service during upgrade or removal
- miniflux: Fix DB connection issues during install/uninstall

See the full changelog here:
https://discuss.freedombox.org/t/freedombox-25-13-released/3935

#FreedomBox #FreedomBoxRelease #BorgBackup #Debian #Miniflux

I think this article makes some good points. And makes it clear why physics is not a good substitute for philosophy.

#Physics #Philosophy

Throw-away fruity laptop - Forking Mad:
https://forkingmad.blog/throw-away-apple-laptop/

New-ish blog post: Adventures of a YAML engineer

https://blog.legoktm.com/2025/08/28/adventures-of-a-yaml-engineer.html

(I actually wrote this back in May and never published it...)

I mostly wanted to brag about a bit of YAML code I wrote back in March for #SecureDrop's completed migration to Ubuntu Noble that I neglected to mention in the blog post explaining the technical details. Yes, #YAML, is a programming language.

I didn't expect Google to wage war against general-purpose computing itself.

We have custom ROMs, but how long before Google decides that the AOSP doesn't have to be open source anymore?

It's already quite a struggle to run the essentials like banking and cash transfer apps without Google Play Services. A new update might drop at anytime and your app stops working. Some apps won't let you use the old working version for security reasons.

Repeated warnings of AI-driven layoffs is fueling anxiety among workers, who report feeling pressured to accept pay cuts or worse conditions to keep their jobs (Anne Lutz Fernandez/Nobody Wants This)

https://nobody-wants-this.ghost.io/ai-is-already-disempowering-workers-through-hype/
http://www.techmeme.com/250729/p47#a250729p47

Today, I met a FreedomBox for Villages volunteer, Satya at a local conference. It was pleasant surprise to know that they have recently deployed a community Wi-Fi network in a remote island village in the Narmada river that barely has cellular phone signals. The village only has an elementary school (until class 4), so the main thing they needed to provide was Moodle with some K-12 educational content.

Another non-profit might set up satellite Internet in the near future.

#FreedomBox #Moodle

Gleam is an interesting new functional programming language. It is an ML-family language with syntax very similar to Rust, but it's not a replacement.
If you like Rust and don't like Go (or Elixir's Ruby syntax), Gleam might be worth considering for I/O bound applications needing high concurrency.
Gleam can also replace Elm on the browser. Code written in Gleam is apparently 30% faster than hand-written JavaScript.

https://gleam.run

#Gleam #Elixir #Rust #FunctionalProgramming #FP

I bought an Android TV 4 years ago. Only today I had a working idea to get rid of ads on it.

Google's launcher is set as the default. It shows ads at the top which considerably affects the TV's performance. It also deceptively keeps showing titles from the Play Store as if they are available from one of your installed apps.

So, just get another launcher. You can install one from the Play Store and set it as default.

No Google Launcher, no ads.

https://git.sr.ht/~jvalleroy/lister

It's a TUI and CLI program to manage a list of items in a text file.

#scheme #guile

Redis, the popular in-memory data store, returns its main system to open source license AGPL, after facing criticism in 2024 for moving to a dual-license model (Lindsay Clark/The Register)

https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/01/redis_returns_to_open_source/
http://www.techmeme.com/250501/p40#a250501p40

After switching to Neovim (no AI plugins this time), I feel like the joy of programming is slowly returning.

LLMs are like energy vampires. They suck the joy out of everything.

I started using GitHub Copilot for work to generate both test and production code in January.

Since the refactoring work it was generating for me was too much, I stopped using it for production code a month ago.

It keeps creating test files in the wrong directories and breaks half the scripts in the repository (not consistently though 🤦‍♂️). Yesterday, this got pushed to the main branch and broke scripts for everybody.

The day has finally arrived! I've completely given up on AI-generated code.

I have one prediction for 2025 that I am most confident about.

2025 will be the hottest year on record (since 1850), just like the two years before it.

#climateCrisis

Tiny Apocalyptic Time Tip 🌐✨

If you too feel uneasy about
the state of the world,
and you too worry about losing access to one of the greatest knowledge treasure of the internet,

Know that you can download an
offline copy of Wikipedia!

Here's how 📚👇

1. Download the free and open source software Kiwix (this will be your reader): https://kiwix.org/en/applications/

2. If you want smaller versions of Wikipedia, you can download them within Kiwix.

Within the app, go to "Categories" in the menu on the left, then browse to a topic/version you want. Scroll to the bottom for Wikipedia mini, for example. Click on it then click "Download" on the right

3. Once you have downloaded a database, click on "Opened" on the left > database you want to search > "Open Main Page" on the right.

4. You can use the Search field on the upper-right to find topics like on online Wikipedia! 🔍

5. If you want the full English version of Wikipedia (110GB), you might want to download it from the torrent file instead. Install a torrent client of your choice (I use Transmission).

Then, go to this page, click on "Download - 109.89 GB" blue button on the first result (size may vary overtime), then select "Torrent file": https://library.kiwix.org/#lang=eng&category=wikipedia

6. Once you have the torrent file, open it with your torrent client to start the download. This is BIG! Be patient! 📦

7. Once the download is completed, open your Wikipedia `.zim` file with Kiwix!

8. Magic! 📖✨

Extra Tip: You can download many other awesome knowledge files from the Kiwix Library! Personally, I also got the iFixit knowledge base! ⚒️

#Wikipedia #Kiwix #Offline #KnowledgeIsPower

Alt...

Screenshot showing the application Kiwix with the open Wikipedia entry for Kiwix. Very meta.

New blog post: Three years of #SecureDrop

https://blog.legoktm.com/2025/01/31/three-years-of-securedrop.html

This is the longest I've ever held the same position at a job, so a few notes on what I've been up to over the past year and what I enjoy.

We're hiring a Senior Software Engineer on the @securedrop team at @freedomofpress.

SecureDrop is open source whistleblowing software. The project is at a critical inflection point as we get ready to build the next-gen version based on a modern cryptographic protocol.

100% remote, full-time, $110-$120K base salary with comprehensive benefits for US-based employees. (If you're not in the US, we can discuss consultancy models.)

Hmu for questions.

https://grnh.se/813b998c5us

#GetFediHired

Happy #NYC #CongestionPricing Eve!

MaggieAppleton/digital-gardeners: Resources, links, projects, and ideas for gardeners tending their digital notes on the public interwebs

https://github.com/MaggieAppleton/digital-gardeners

#DigitalGarden #SecondBrain #TiddlyWiki

Using Python uv tool as a replacement for Poetry for a small Python utility I'm writing. It feels a lot like Rust's Cargo.

All that I can say for now is that it is certainly a better experience than setting up a virtualenv manually.

I am writing this proprietary tool for a team of JavaScript developers. I think they will feel that it is just as easy to use as npm/yarn or whatever is the new hotness this week.

#Python #RustLang

Yes, I keep coming back to the thought which is expressed here...

Before You Can Have Smalltalk, You Must First Defeat Capitalism. - Matthew Gaudet:
https://www.mgaudet.ca/blog/2024/10/28/before-you-can-have-smalltalk-you-must-first-defeat-capitalism

"If you want to build a future that involves beautiful systems like Smalltalk, you must first rebuild the economic environment wherein it could be built. Wherein it could succeed!"

A look at Uber Shuttle, the shared bus service that has rolled out in over 20 cities and completed ~30M trips globally, as Uber awaits approval in Bengaluru (Anisha Sircar/Rest of World)

https://restofworld.org/2024/uber-shuttle-india-shared-bus/
http://www.techmeme.com/241207/p8#a241207p8

To everyone when they see horrible privacy news about Microsoft replying with:

"I don't care, I use Linux"

Sure, you do. But does your medical clinic do? Does your therapist do? Does your family member typing a personal email to you in Word before sending it do too?

This is a systemic problem.

You cannot protect your own data only by using Linux yourself. You must also demand stronger regulations and enforcement to obligate organizations around to protect your data as well.

#Privacy #Microsoft

Problems with Free and Open Source Software
https://njoseph.me/blog/posts/foss-problems/

My last blog post for September. After not writing any blog posts for 4 years, I wrote 4 in one month!

#FreeSoftware #OpenSource

New blog post!

Using small AI tools on Debian GNU/Linux
https://njoseph.me/blog/posts/small-ai-tools-debian/

I am using the word #AI as it is meant to be used, as click-bait. 😉

#accessibility #stt #tts

check out this beautiful post by @jimmyhmiller on What It Means To Be Open

https://jimmyhmiller.github.io/raised

I have started quoting liberally in my linkblog (subscribe via RSS).

https://njoseph.me/shaarli/

Earlier, I was only writing my own summary or opinion of the subject, but quoting adds more context. This is inspired by the writing style of Pixel Envy blog. https://pxlnv.com

New Debian Developers and Maintainers (May and June 2024) https://bits.debian.org/2024/07/new-developers-2024-06.html

Today's threads (a thread)

Inside: The true, tactical significance of Project 2025; and more!

Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2024/07/14/fracture-lines/

#Pluralistic

1/

Alt...

An X-ray of a broken femur. On either side of the fracture is a elephant (cropped from a medieval illumination) facing one another, in the livery of the GOP logo.

FreedomBox 24.14 has been released! This one adds a new "Automatic repair" option to the Diagnostics page. When enabled, it will attempt to fix some issues that cause diagnostics to fail.

https://discuss.freedombox.org/t/freedombox-24-14-released/3143

#FreedomBox

FreedomBox 24.6 released to Debian (unstable) with several fixes related to the setup, uninstall, and backup/restore for Wordpress and Zoph apps.

https://discuss.freedombox.org/t/freedombox-24-6-released/2982

#FreedomBox