A specter is haunting the world. The specter of open source.
It's incredible how the open source scene and the federated internet have developed over the past five years. Linux and the entire ecosystem surrounding it have long since evolved from a hobbyist's playground for nerds into the most modern, sexiest, and adaptable operating system around. Apple and Microsoft are now just dinosaurs from a bygone era.
One of the best examples is KDE and the Plasma desktop. KDE, a hardcore community project, was only usable by masochists and idealists for all the many years it has been around, and now it is the most modern and sophisticated desktop environment imaginable. Not to mention the many projects that come from the KDE environment. With KDE (and Arch), you feel like you've assimilated the Borg collective. It's fascinating.
Both KDE and Valve are working on seamless integration of (Android) mobile apps. Thanks to KDE Connect, I can no longer imagine thinking of my cell phone and desktop as separate entities. Valve has proven with Proton t
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The revolution beginns
A specter is haunting the world. The specter of open source.
It's incredible how the open source scene and the federated internet have developed over the past five years. Linux and the entire ecosystem surrounding it have long since evolved from a hobbyist's playground for nerds into the most modern, sexiest, and adaptable operating system around. Apple and Microsoft are now just dinosaurs from a bygone era.
One of the best examples is KDE and the Plasma desktop. KDE, a hardcore community project, was only usable by masochists and idealists for all the many years it has been around, and now it is the most modern and sophisticated desktop environment imaginable. Not to mention the many projects that come from the KDE environment. With KDE (and Arch), you feel like you've assimilated the Borg collective. It's fascinating.
Both KDE and Valve are working on seamless integration of (Android) mobile apps. Thanks to KDE Connect, I can no longer imagine thinking of my cell phone and desktop as separate entities. Valve has proven with Proton that they can do this. The year of the Linux phone is just around the corner. ;)
It will also be very exciting to see how the Steam Machine develops. If it is a success, a whole new generation of Linux users will emerge. All in all, this is an incredibly positive development.
Even the most reactionary people will eventually realize that DeepSeek is a democratized LLM with an open license, or they will simply go under. Which wouldn't be so bad.
All in all, an edifying development. Important for success is a solid structure that has been able to grow peacefully over decades, and Mastodon has also strongly fueled this idea as “propaganda of the deed,” and I would also like to believe that my essay “Radical Enlightenment – A World of Open Sources” also played a part in this. Let the revolution begin!
A specter is haunting the world. The specter of open source. It's incredible how the open source scene and the federated internet have developed over the past five years.
Neal is a super valued member of the Fedora and FOSS community. If you're interested in learning more about the project or curious about what he does, check out the stream!
Hey folks, it's been a while, but I'm going to go live streaming momentarily doing some #fedora stuff and chatting!
Feel free to join in the fun!
https://twitch.tv/Det_Conan_Kudo
Well uh, guess I'm uninstalling LibreWolf now and using Vivaldi exclusively as the only browser to make a #NoAI commitment to my knowledge? #FOSS #opensource
I'm having a bit of scope creep here. I've also been dealing with a migraine, work stress, and lack of time.
On top of implementing CSS tokens, Parcel, and CSS modularization, I'm refactoring everything to add support for installing the ultra-accessible variation for others too, not just users of my Mastodon fork.
Mastodon Bird UI 4.0.0 for Mastodon 4.6.0 is going to be awesome. I'm hoping to see even more instances adopting it. I'll continue supporting the Custom CSS-only approach for masto.host users and others without filesystem access, while also making life easier for Mastodon admins.
I'm having a bit of scope creep here. I've also been dealing with a migraine, work stress, and lack of time.
On top of implementing CSS tokens, Parcel, and CSS modularization, I'm refactoring everything to add support for installing the ultra-accessible variation for others too, not just users of my Mastodon fork.
Mastodon Bird UI 4.0.0 for Mastodon 4.6.0 is going to be awesome. I'm hoping to see even more instances adopting it. I'll continue supporting the Custom CSS-only approach for masto.host users and others without filesystem access, while also making life easier for Mastodon admins.
🐘🐦 Mastodon web UI, but strongly inspired by Twitter (when it was still good!) - GitHub - ronilaukkarinen/mastodon-bird-ui at dev-build-system-css-theme-tokens
Mastodon Bird UI support for Mastodon v4.6.0 with CSS properties is coming soon. The theme will also be modularized using SCSS partials to match Mastodon's new style infrastructure.
The build process will include npm scripts and Parcel, making the theme ultra-portable for any Mastodon instance, whether added through the Custom CSS textarea or directly by a Mastodon admin.
I'll also create a simple bash script for Mastodon admins to enable the theme as a selectable option more easily than the current fork-and-cut method.
Bekijk je favoriete video's, luister naar de muziek die je leuk vindt, upload originele content en deel alles met vrienden, familie en anderen op YouTube.
Is there an #opensource #chat server (like I think jabber used to be) that I can install on a #linux server and it has #android clients with notifications? Searching for jabber in the app store doesn't turn up anything.
Self-Host Weekly #149: A Few of My Favorite Things
My #favorite apps of 2025, software updates and launches, a spotlight on #wastebin -- a lightweight #pastebin app, and more in this week's #selfhosted recap!
Bandwagon.fm — Better Social for Musicians. Connect to Your Fans on the Fediverse
Bandwagon is 100% open source, so nobody can lock you in to their platform. Start here, then you'll be able to migrate your account or self-host your Bandwagon data anywhere.
Google has released its Deep Research agent to developers via the Interactions API, undercutting OpenAI with low pricing and open-sourcing the DeepSearchQA benchmark.
The first article in one of our national newspapers this morning about the launch of the European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (#EDIC) today 🍾🇪🇺
Title: "Europe takes first step towards digital independence. Four European countries are taking on the American tech giants, taking the lead in developing European software." 🇳🇱🇫🇷🇩🇪🇮🇹
Each month we make a financial donation to an #opensource project we highly value or depend upon.
This month our featured project is @thunderbird , a superb and rejuvenated cross platform Email & Calendar client, distributed under #MPL2. We have used it ourselves for most of the past 22 years and would recommend it to our customers.
Because “Free and Open Source Software isn’t about freedom/privacy/human rights/democracy” is one helluva take.
(And yes, you’re right, “open source” isn’t about any of those things. It’s just about the source being openly available. Not about protecting its openness or anything. It’s open as in “open for business.” But free (as in freedom) software/technology…? Well, I guess some of us would beg to differ.)
Oh, and if you want a philosophy/movement that isn’t shy or apologetic about being about freedom/privacy/human rights/democracy, see Small Tech:
Recently we completed a security audit of Thunderbird Send, our upcoming end-to-end encrypted large file sharing service, with the help of the @ostifofficial and 7ASecurity. Read our summary of the report's findings, and learn how we've acted on these recommendations to be more secure and worthy of the trust our user community places in us.
The #Nextcloud server for the Federated Video Co-op Initiative is now fully online.
This marks a major step toward building the kind of organization we set out to create.
From the beginning, the core requirement was clear. Our infrastructure has to be open source. It cannot rely on Microsoft or Google. It cannot depend on any service with vendor lock-in. And it must be hosted entirely in Canada from top to bottom. That meant choosing a platform we can operate ourselves on Canadian hardware under Canadian law with no hidden dependencies. Nextcloud fits that mandate perfectly.
Here’s what this entails:
Nextcloud now serves as the central home for our governance work, documentation, file storage, onboarding, collaboration, project management, and video conferencing. It also includes an excellent email client.
For communication, we are currently testing Nextcloud Talk. At first glance it covers most of our needs. If it ends up falling short, Mattermost is our fallback option. Regardle
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The #Nextcloud server for the Federated Video Co-op Initiative is now fully online.
This marks a major step toward building the kind of organization we set out to create.
From the beginning, the core requirement was clear. Our infrastructure has to be open source. It cannot rely on Microsoft or Google. It cannot depend on any service with vendor lock-in. And it must be hosted entirely in Canada from top to bottom. That meant choosing a platform we can operate ourselves on Canadian hardware under Canadian law with no hidden dependencies. Nextcloud fits that mandate perfectly.
Here’s what this entails:
Nextcloud now serves as the central home for our governance work, documentation, file storage, onboarding, collaboration, project management, and video conferencing. It also includes an excellent email client.
For communication, we are currently testing Nextcloud Talk. At first glance it covers most of our needs. If it ends up falling short, Mattermost is our fallback option. Regardless of where we land for chat, Nextcloud remains the backbone for everything else.
One important clarification. The Signal group chat will not be retired. It continues to serve an important role for quick coordination and informal updates. Nextcloud is the system of record. Signal remains the fast lane for day-to-day back-and-forth.
Everyone who volunteers on an advisory basis will receive a Nextcloud account. These seats are free during the testing period. After three months, there will be a $5/month hosting cost per seat. This keeps the service sustainable and fully operated on Canadian infrastructure rather than relying on the large US tech stacks we are deliberately avoiding.
Most documents within Nextcloud will be made public once finalized. Exceptions will be limited to privacy and monetary matters. For transparency, we now have an open directory where the community can see our publicly viewable documents as they evolve:
#Fread 1.7.3 has been released.- Added support for opening shared content - Added AMOLED mode - Fixed an issue where image uploads could fail on Bluesky - Added support for monochrome icons
Mastodon Bird UI support for Mastodon v4.6.0 with CSS properties is coming soon. The theme will also be modularized using SCSS partials to match Mastodon's new style infrastructure.
The build process will include npm scripts and Parcel, making the theme ultra-portable for any Mastodon instance, whether added through the Custom CSS textarea or directly by a Mastodon admin.
I'll also create a simple bash script for Mastodon admins to enable the theme as a selectable option more easily than the current fork-and-cut method.
Thank you to those who are helping TROM monthly! Our first goal is to reach 100 monthly donors to kickstart a new video series for TROM, bring back TROMnews and provide 20GB storage space for our Nextcloud install (TROM Files) for everyone.
We have a lot of projects and hundreds, if not thousands of people are using our services.
Fixing old Android code, integrating with the upcoming Thunderbird Pro, and making a balanced iOS roadmap are all part of our mobile development goals in 2026.
Two years ago today, we filed the paperwork for Mirlo to officially become a legal entity. We're so grateful and humbled by everyone who has contributed to the experiment since then. Here's to many more years making music together on the internet! 🐦⬛🐸🎺
Petition in Germany to recognize unpaid contribution to free and open source software projects as 'society-beneficial volunteering' (ehrenamt)!
This will give volunteering for e.g. @postmarketOS , @freifunk , @kde , @nextcloud , @Mastodon and other libre projects the same legal status as taking care of an elderly family member, which provides tax benefits and relaxes requirements for receiving unemployment benefits.
What's Changed
feat[close #3872]: Add native Wayland option in bottle settings by @mirkobrombin in #4177
fix[close #4007]: Steam Deck Controls Don't Work in Gaming Mode by @mirkobrombin in #4178
f...
🎶 On our Lorenzo's Music Podcast, I talk with Paul Davis, creator of Ardour! Learn about the challenges and triumphs of developing a digital audio workstation. lorenzosmusic.com/podcast/ardo…
10 KDE dragons turned up on our doorstep today looking for families to adopt them. Contribute €100 or more to our fundraiser and one of these amigurumi cuties will go and live with you!
Help us bring KDE’s software catalogue into the mainstream! Plasma 6 is a stable, usable and accessible desktop environment that brings us closer to meeting the needs of private citizens, companies and public institutions
Salvatore Sanfilippo (creator of Redis, and more) published a beautiful video inspired by my latest blog post. I was really pleased! It's in Italian, but auto-generated English audio track is available.
Bekijk je favoriete video's, luister naar de muziek die je leuk vindt, upload originele content en deel alles met vrienden, familie en anderen op YouTube.
Our new flagship Olmo 3 model family empowers the open source community with not only state-of-the-art open models, but the entire model flow and full traceability back to training data.
