Both aren’t “liberi”

1000px-Chromium_11_Logo.svgChrome – one of the most widespread browser – is proprietary software with Chromium being is “open source” base.

According to Debian #Debian Bug report logs for “786909 – chromium: unconditionally downloads binary blob” Chromium even when built from source code still try to inject binary blobs – proprietary software – on your system without notifying the owner of the system where it runs. So we cannot really trust it anymore, we shouldn’t consider Chromium as “software libero” (or libre or Free-as-in-freedom-software)

That’s not a good.

 

Gratuito a Tutti i Costi

Sorgente: Gratuito a Tutti i Costi | MadBob

Come tutti ben sappiamo, purtroppo, negli anni si è ampiamente diffuso il binomio “software libero = gratis”

Forse sarebbe opportuno provare a sopperire a questo luogo comune del software libero “gratuito a tutti i costi”, per dare maggiore risalto alle sue effettive proprietà, ed optare per una strategia di comunicazione anti-ciclica. Mentre tutti regalano (o almeno fingono di regalare, ma il risultato percepito è lo stesso…), si dovrebbe porre l’attenzione sul fatto che il software libero – in qualità di software, e dunque prodotto ingegneristico per la cui produzione sono necessarie risorse – abbisogna di supporto, certamente di carattere tecnico (patch, traduzioni e documentazione sono sempre molto gradite) ma anche e soprattutto di carattere economico.

On being pro GPL

That’s am interesting point of view on the never really settled arguments between copyleft and non copyleft software licences.
http://m.slashdot.org/story/297041

He says, “I am not only pro-copyleft, I am also pro-permissive licensing. The difference between these is tactics: the first tactic is towards guaranteeing user freedom, the second tactic is toward pushing adoption. I am generally pro-freedom, but sometimes pushing adoption is important, especially if you’re pushing standards and the like. But let’s step back for a moment. One thing that’s true is that over the last many years we’ve seen an explosion of free and open source software… at the same time that computers have become more locked down than ever before! How can this be?

How To Make a Site Private In WordPress Multisite

Sometimes you just want to have a private log, a diary of your own. Once upon a time you would have written it on a paper diary. In more recent years you would have created a file or a set of files on your own storage. Nowadays we use multiple devices, a private blog may allow you to record feelings and thoughts you want to keep private as soon as they spring in your mind.

This little WordPress plugin comes to solve this requirement.

If you want to make a site private within your WordPress multisite network, the easiest thing to do is install the More Privacy Options plugin, available for free in the WordPress plugin repository. This plugin has an excellent reputation and is updated regularly.

It adds three more privacy options to the Settings >> Privacy page in the dashboard:

  • Blog visible to any logged in community member – “Network Users Only”
  • Blog visible only to registered users of blog – “Blog Members Only”
  • Blog visible only to administrators – “Admins Only”

From: How To Make a Site Private In WordPress Multisite – WPMU DEV

Stonex One

7 maggio 2017, aggiornamento: la cosa dovrebbe essere oramai nota ai più, ma codesta azienda ha mostrato di essere – e cerco di essere educato e non querelabile – molto fumo e poco arrosto. Questo secondo la mia modesta opionione. Ma pare essere condivisa da molti altri

Non è mia abitudine sponsorizzare telefoni ma per la Stonex devo fare un’eccezione. Perché ora oltre a voler fare un telefono “bello” e “sciccoso” cominciano a mostrarsi seriamente interessati a dare libertà ad utenti e sviluppatori. Ora mi direte voi se queste specifiche sono “di alta gamma”, se sono confrontabili a telefoni “alla moda” ma blindati come l’iPhone6 o il Samsung S6. Non è tanto importante che sia di alta gamma, ma il fatto che sia possibile avere il controllo ed installarci quello che si vuole. Insomma è rootable.

First slideCARATTERISTICHE TECNICHE #StonexOne

Caratteristiche #StonexOne

Camera Sony IMX230 da 21Mpx (5344×4016) con 192 punti di messa a fuoco del tipo a rilevamento di fase. CMOS da 1/2.4″. Tecnologia HDR integrata anche nei video. Messa a fuoco automatica ad alta velocità per oggetti in movimento. Alta qualità di acquisizione immagini delle aree chiare e scure anche nelle scene in controluce. Registrazione video con risoluzione 4K a 30 FPS, fino a 1080p a 60 FPS e lo slow motion fino a 720p a 120 FPS.

Display AGC Dragontrail da 5.5″, Quad HD con risoluzione 2560×1440 e densità a 534dpi.

Batteria da 3000mAh removibile.

Queste non sono tutte le caratteristiche ma son quelle che io ho trovato rilevanti e che mi sembrano notevoli. Ma soprattutto notevole è il prezzo, specialmente se confrontato con gli iPhone ed i Samsung:

Tuo a 299 €

Ma soprattutto e sopra ogni cosa il controllo ce l’ha il proprietario:

Nella nostra community possibilità di modding per UI (User Interface).

Ci potrete installare la versione di Android che vorrete voi.

Voi avrete i privilegi di amministratore.

Vedi questa discussione sul forum ufficiale. C’è già chi propone port di Ubuntu Phone e FirefoxOS

Cari i miei italiani amanti del software libero probabilmente questo telefono è quello che fa per voi.

E poi l’azienda è italiana. Italianissima. Anzi di più, brianzola, brianzolissima. Tanto brianzola che ha sede a Lissone e Monza. Tanto vicina a casa mia che alla loro sede ci arrivo in bicicletta in una decina di minuti. Per voi non conterà molto ma per me conta. Eccome se conta. Tant’è vero che ormai due anni or sono mi son turato il naso ed ho comprato l’Ultra, che oramai è fuori produzione da un pezzo ma che ancora mi dà molte soddisfazioni.

Ecco, ora sò cosa regalare. L’unico rammarico è che col lavoro che faccio 5,5″ è davvero troppo grandicello e soprattutto andando per cantieri sporchi e fangosi lo rovinerei sicuramente. Ma quasi quasi lo regalo a mia moglie….

It’s actually over

Google’s corporate motto is Don’t be evil. For a convenient definition of “evil” it seems when you read news such as this:

The default behavior of hotword, a new, black-box module in Chrome (and its free/open cousin, Chromium) causes it to silently switch on your computer’s microphone and send whatever it hears to Google.

Google says that hotword isn’t supposed to switch on unless users enable it, but developers have documented instances in which the module triggered the mic without user intervention.

Chromium, the free/open version of Chrome, also got the module as a default update. Google blamed the package maintainers for this, saying they should not have chosen a closed module for inclusion in their version.

Falkvinge countered Google’s explanations saying: “The default install will still wiretap your room without your consent, unless you opt out, and more importantly, know that you need to opt out, which is nowhere a reasonable requirement.” He says a hardware switch to disable the microphone and camera built into most computers is needed.

Voice search functions have become an accepted feature of modern smartphones, but their movement into the home through the smart TV, and now browser, have caused concerns over the possibility of being listened to within the home.

While most services require a user to opt in, privacy advocates have questioned whether their use, which requires sending voice recordings over the internet to company servers for processing, risks unintentionally exposing private conversations held within the home.

Source: Chrome update turns browsers into covert listening tools – Boing Boing

I stopped using Chrome because it’s proprietary more than an year ago. I also stopped using Chromium, it’s far, far more memory hungry for me who keeps having dozens of tabs open at the same time. Now I do have sound, solid reasons to avoid them. While I could control Chromium I could never be trust Chrome anymore.

It seems that the “Don’t be evil” era has really actually finished, Google seems to be turning to the dark side. Too much power corrupts, that’s why monopolies shall be avoided.

The rounding wheels of life are funny sometimes: after I started to use software libero (software librè) in the years 1996-1997 the evil dark knight were Microsoft, Apple were the battered white knight that still stood on the side of people’s (user?) freedom and Google were still relatively small.

I still have my once shiny iBook G3 bought in 1999 (yes, it still works even if I seldom use it).

Now Apple has been locking its users into golden prisons for years using DRM and proprietary software, still leveraging software libre.

I can’t actually blame Apple using software libre for pursuing their own profit and success, really I can’t: when forced by licenses (i.e. GPL and LGPL) they still contribute to the software librè projects such as WebKit which it’s useful to remember  it springs from KDE, or LLVM or Cups. Each of this are separated stories though.

Today Google has destroyed another pillar of trust. Sadly for them trust is easily and quickly destroyed while requires long, long time to rebuild, and sometimes it seems entirely not possible.

I am an example of this, following the infamous “Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes“: “I fear the Greeks, even when they bear gifts” (from Virgil’s Aeneid); even if they released the entire C# .Net infrastructure under a MIT license (which is non-copyleft and still allows proprietary forks) I still really can’t induce myself to trust Microsoft. Since when I still were using an Amiga tasting the bitter side of proprietary formats (i.e. MS Office), during the last two decades they showed too many a time that actually don’t care about customers.

Oh, those are interesting time, who once was an ally is turning an enemy and vice versa.

Not speaking of Oracle and the issue of copyright over API. Who said Java?

Even for this reason I think my next phone will run another OS. There are even too much choice, yet I think the feasible one are Firefox OS, Sailfish OS, Ubuntu Touch.