A #ThankGNU! to C Terrell Prudé Jr. Jr. and Jason Penniman for helping the FSF to promote #FreeSoftware. To see a longer list of those who have helped us financially in our advocacy for #SoftwareFreedom and awareness, visit: https://u.fsf.org/4ao

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Image that says 'Thank GNU' with a GNU head by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh

#Mastodon 5.0 will allow users to pick a color theme in the web interface, including the most important color of all: Orange! 🙂

#orange #FOSS #FreeSoftware #OpenSource #software #SocialMedia

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Screenshot of the Mastodon web interface, but everything is tinted orange.

#KDE Gear 26.08.3 Released as the Last Update in the KDE Gear 26.08 Series https://9to5linux.com/kde-gear-26-08-3-released-as-the-last-update-in-the-kde-gear-26-08-series

#Linux #OpenSource #FreeSoftware #FOSS

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A screenshot of the KDE Plasma desktop environment showing various KDE apps, including Dolphin, System Settings, Discover, and Okular.

We have new #LibreOffice "Get involved" flyers! If you want to hand them out at events, let us know. We also have some translations, thanks to our awesome L10N communities: https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/11/05/new-libreoffice-get-involved-flyers-for-handing-out-and-translations/ #foss #opensource #freesoftware

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Flyer design, with group photo from the LibreOffice Conference

You can help share the message of #FreeSoftware by simply adding a badge to your email signature or blog: https://www.fsf.org/resources/badges #FSF

A #ThankGNU! to Andrew Comly and Casper Freksen for helping the FSF to promote #FreeSoftware. To see a longer list of those who have helped us financially in our advocacy for #SoftwareFreedom and awareness, visit: https://u.fsf.org/4ao

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Image that says 'Thank GNU' with a GNU head by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh

Issue 223 of the #FreeSoftwareSupporter is here! Catch up on October #FreeSoftware #News here: https://u.fsf.org/4d3 #FSF

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The first few items from the November 2026 Free Software Supporter newsletter table of contents

New in #LibreOffice 26.8: Better RTL spreadsheets – Calc automatically detects right-to-left text when entering data into empty cells, reducing manual formatting. https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/26.8 #foss #opensource #freesoftware

The #CfP for the #Legal & #Policy DevRoom at #FOSDEM is out.
No matter if you are a hackers, developer, contributor, lawyer, or decision-maker, if you want to share your knowledge with the #FreeSoftware #OpenSource community we ask you to join the Call for Presentations:

https://lists.fosdem.org/hyperkitty/list/fosdem@lists.fosdem.org/thread/K3M66GD7Z4MJDSBT4HEBO2CFHJ6OGKUT/

(We = @richardfontana @tmarble @conservancy 's @bkuhn @karen and @fsfe 's @lexelas & myself)

In October we had updates to #LibreOffice, videos from events, stats from the project, a lifeline for Microsoft Publisher users, and more: https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/11/04/libreoffice-project-and-community-recap-october-2026/ #foss #opensource #freesoftware

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Project and community recap banner

The 2026 edition of “I Love Free Software Day” demonstrated, once again, the strength and gratitude of our Free Software community. ❣️❣️❣️

22 celebrations in 12 European countries highlighted the invaluable work of Free Software maintainers as well as bringing people together to thank everyone who contributes to Free Software. Appreciation also extended across the Fediverse, alongside other surprises. 🚀🚀🚀

https://fsfe.org/news/2026/news-20260305-01.en.html

#ilovefs #softwarefreedom #freesoftware

If you want #FreeSoftware #news delivered to your inbox every month, you should subscribe to our newsletter, the Free Software Supporter: https://u.fsf.org/subscribe #FSF

Interested in helping #FreeSoftware users find freedom-respecting programs by updating the Free Software Directory (FSD)? Please consider joining the FSD meeting this Friday on IRC. Read more at: https://www.fsf.org/events/fsd-2026-11-06-irc #FreeSoftwareDirectory #FSF

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A person in construction clothing and a hardhat in front of a building being constructed. The captions say, 'Help us build a more free future together' at top and 'Contribute to the Free Software Directory' at bottom

A #ThankGNU! to Jacob Sowder, Mark Driscoll, and Yidong Chong for helping the FSF to promote #FreeSoftware. To see a longer list of those who have helped us financially in our advocacy for #SoftwareFreedom and awareness, visit: https://u.fsf.org/4ao

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Image that says 'Thank GNU' with a GNU head by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh

#LibreOffice 26.2.7 is now available. It's the last update to the 26.2 branch, and after this, all users are recommended to upgrade to 26.8: https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/11/03/libreoffice-26-2-7/ #foss #opensource #freesoftware

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LibreOffice 26.2 banner

A #ThankGNU! to Antonio Carzaniga and Holger Weisbrodt for helping the FSF to promote #FreeSoftware. To see a longer list of those who have helped us financially in our advocacy for #SoftwareFreedom and awareness, visit: https://u.fsf.org/4ao

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Image that says 'Thank GNU' with a GNU head by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh

We often talk about large-scale migrations to #LibreOffice, such as in the Austrian Military. But many small businesses are switching away from Microsoft, Google and other tech giants too: https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/11/02/migrating-small-businesses-to-libreoffice-and-linux/ #foss #opensource #freesoftware

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Picture of truck, with quote about starting a migration with one person

Software patents create a legal nightmare for all software developers and pose particular problems for the #FreeSoftware movement: https://endsoftwarepatents.org/

The #FSF is reviewing applications for two positions on a rolling basis until the position is filled: https://u.fsf.org/4cg #GNU #RYF #FreeSoftware #job

There are so many ways you can help advance #FreeSoftware, including by volunteering as a #GNU webmaster: https://u.fsf.org/4cy

The recording and slides of the webinar: Copyrightability of LLM-generated code by @fsfe 's Gabriel Ku Wei Bin are now up.

Many thanks to Gabriel for the informative talk, and answering a huge amount of questions on the spot.
And thanks everyone who participated. It was an interesting and lively session.

You can find the link to the recording here: https://nlnet.nl/events/20261029/index.html

#NGI #NGI0 #freesoftware #FOSS #LLM #AI

A #ThankGNU! to Uday Kale and Wade Cline for helping the FSF to promote #FreeSoftware. To see a longer list of those who have helped us financially in our advocacy for #SoftwareFreedom and awareness, visit: https://u.fsf.org/4ao

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Image that says 'Thank GNU' with a GNU head by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh

Just a reminder that the webinar on Copyrightability of LLM-generated code will start in one hour at 13.00 CET.
@fsfe 's Gabriel Ku Wei Bin will talk about the legal questions arising from the use of LLMs in the creation of Free Software. A talk of circa 45 minutes followed by a Q&A.
All are welcome, no need to register. See https://nlnet.nl/events/20261029/index.html for the link to the conference room and more information.

#NGI #NGI0 #FOSS #LLM #AI #freesoftware

The reform of European procurement rules is underway. We are working to turn Europe’s technological sovereignty ambitions into everyday procurement practice.

Find out what this means for Free Software:
https://fsfe.org/news/2026/news-20261029-01.html

#FreeSoftware #PublicCode #TechSovereignty #OpenSource #Procurement

If you're fluent in both English and Spanish, we'd love your help translating articles and the Free Software Supporter! Send us a message at campaigns@fsf.org to get started. #FSF #FreeSoftware

Thank you to everyone who attended #EncryptFest on Sunday! We had a great time and enjoyed seeing so many of you in person and online :-) #FreeSoftware #surveillance #FSF #encryption

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A cute robot with the words 'EncryptFest 2026 Sunday October 25 2026' above it

A #ThankGNU! to Dwayne Dever, and John Wheeler for helping the FSF to promote #FreeSoftware. To see a longer list of those who have helped us financially in our advocacy for #SoftwareFreedom and awareness, visit: https://u.fsf.org/4ao

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Image that says 'Thank GNU' with a GNU head by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh

Though users are rarely aware of the BIOS, its foundational role makes it a user freedom chokepoint; if it is not free, users cannot trust it not to modify their computers on behalf of the company that wrote it: https://www.fsf.org/campaigns/free-bios.html #FreeSoftware

Interested in helping #FreeSoftware users find freedom-respecting programs by updating the Free Software Directory (FSD)? Please consider joining the FSD meeting this Friday on IRC. Read more at: https://www.fsf.org/events/fsd-2026-10-30-irc #FreeSoftwareDirectory #FSF

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A person in construction clothing and a hardhat in front of a building being constructed. The captions say, 'Help us build a more free future together' at top and 'Contribute to the Free Software Directory' at bottom

A #ThankGNU! to David Combs and David Lecompte for helping the FSF to promote #FreeSoftware. To see a longer list of those who have helped us financially in our advocacy for #SoftwareFreedom and awareness, visit: https://u.fsf.org/4ao

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Image that says 'Thank GNU' with a GNU head by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh

We are inviting proposals for talks about “FOSS Office Software and Suites“ at FOSDEM 2027, which will take place on 30-31 January in Brussels: https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/10/26/foss-office-devroom-cfp/ #foss #openSource #freesoftware

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LibreOffice at FOSDEM banner

Join us for the webinar on the Copyrightability of LLM-generated code, a legal education training seminar on legal questions arising from the use of LLMs in the creation of Free Software.

Gabriel Ku Wei Bin, Legal Programme Manager at @fsfe will give a talk followed by a Q&A.

October 29, 13.00 CET

For the link to the BBB room and more info, see https://nlnet.nl/events/20261029/index.html. No need to register, but if you'd like a ping in advance you can send an email.

#NGI0 #NGI #FreeSoftware #FOSS #AI

October is Hacktober! In Nepal, the #LibreOffice community is present at hackfests, bringing new people into the project: https://community.documentfoundation.org/t/libreoffice-at-local-mlh-hackathons/13909 #foss #opensource #freesoftware

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LibreOffice banner, and students

It's getting harder and harder to find ways of contacting our state, province, or national governments in ways that don't mean handing off our freedom in the process, but it's still possible: https://u.fsf.org/contacting-government #FSF #activism #democracy #FreeSoftware

Software patents create a legal nightmare for all software developers and pose particular problems for the #FreeSoftware movement: https://endsoftwarepatents.org/

Neighbours with free time ➕ Neighbours who need a small hand, connected together 🤝 in a safe, easy way.

That is Needy, a #FreeSoftware (#OpenSource) “time bank” awarded with one of the #YH4F special prizes and inspired by small Italian towns with many elderly residents.

Ask for help with grocery shopping, small repairs, or appointments. Volunteers earn “reputation hours” for every task completed.

⏳ https://github.com/Tommy2408-ai/Needy

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A male teenager with a presentation behind him with the image of an app in a phone

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The winter 2026 #FreeSoftware #Bulletin will start arriving in mailboxes across the world next month. Catch up on past issues here: https://www.fsf.org/bulletin

A #ThankGNU! to Andrew Comly and Casper Freksen for helping the FSF to promote #FreeSoftware. To see a longer list of those who have helped us financially in our advocacy for #SoftwareFreedom and awareness, visit: https://u.fsf.org/4ao

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Image that says 'Thank GNU' with a GNU head by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh

Yesterday, as I sat here, using a laptop running on Free software written and maintained by volunteers, to connect, by means of a secure tunnel formed by Free software written and maintained by volunteers, to multiple servers, all running Free software written and maintained by volunteers, to apply patches prepared urgently by volunteers to resolve security vulnerabilities, I felt *incredibly* grateful for every single one of those volunteers, who makes the fact that I could do *any* of this possible.

Thank you, genuinely.

#FOSS #FreeSoftware #Linux

A recap of the #LibreOffice Conference 2026, which took place in September in Pordenone, northern Italy. Thanks to the local team for organising the event! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-AZY8H5mn4 #foss #opensource #freesoftware

It's not possible to use a mobile phone in freedom, and we're working to change that: https://librephone.fsf.org/ #FSF #LibrePhone #FreeSoftware

A #ThankGNU! to Jacob Sowder, Mark Driscoll, and Yidong Chong for helping the FSF to promote #FreeSoftware. To see a longer list of those who have helped us financially in our advocacy for #SoftwareFreedom and awareness, visit: https://u.fsf.org/4ao

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Image that says 'Thank GNU' with a GNU head by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh

Thank you to everyone who shared what their first experience with #FreeSoftware was! We really enjoyed reading about everyone's early days with free software :-)

A #ThankGNU! to Antonio Carzaniga and Holger Weisbrodt for helping the FSF to promote #FreeSoftware. To see a longer list of those who have helped us financially in our advocacy for #SoftwareFreedom and awareness, visit: https://u.fsf.org/4ao

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Image that says 'Thank GNU' with a GNU head by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh

Interested in helping #FreeSoftware users find freedom-respecting programs by updating the Free Software Directory (FSD)? Please consider joining the FSD meeting this Friday on IRC. Read more at: https://www.fsf.org/events/fsd-2026-10-23-irc #FreeSoftwareDirectory #FSF

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A person in construction clothing and a hardhat in front of a building being constructed. The captions say, 'Help us build a more free future together' at top and 'Contribute to the Free Software Directory' at bottom

A #ThankGNU! to Uday Kale and Wade Cline for helping the FSF to promote #FreeSoftware. To see a longer list of those who have helped us financially in our advocacy for #SoftwareFreedom and awareness, visit: https://u.fsf.org/4ao

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Image that says 'Thank GNU' with a GNU head by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh

New in #LibreOffice 26.8: Better accessibility – LibreOffice continues its accessibility work with improvements that make the interface easier to navigate using assistive technologies. https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/26.8#Accessibility #foss #opensource #freesoftware

Okay, so how does a comment like the following sound like as a way to thank for a #slop - fix?

EDIT: it's not about *my* project. It's about a bug in other project that I've reported, so I should thank for the fix.

"""
Thank you for the fix.

Also thanks to all the FLOSS contributors whose work was stripped of attribution and used to train the model that was used to deliver the fix, as well to the low-wage data workers that curated said data.
"""

#NoAI #FreeSoftware

What was your earliest experience with #FreeSoftware?

Episode 39 of Dark Blue Weekly released

https://darkblueproject.com/sites/news/dbw-e39.php

#darkblueweekly #darkblueproject #ubuntu #ubuntu2610 #lubuntu #kubuntu #xubuntu #ubuntumate #ubuntubudgie #gnomeos #gnome #gnome51 #kdeplasma #kdeplasma68 #kde #linux #linuxdesktop #linuxserver #opensource #freesoftware

Spreading aware of #FreeSoftware can be as simple as choosing to say "free software" instead of "open source": https://u.fsf.org/1hg

New in #LibreOffice 26.8: More descriptive fields – Displaying field names now includes clearer descriptions for document statistics fields, making complex documents easier to understand. https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/26.8 #foss #opensource #freesoftware

Do you want to learn how to encrypt your email? Register for #EncryptFest: https://u.fsf.org/encryptfest-register #FreeSoftware #surveillance #FSF #encryption

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🎧 It is Podcast Friday!
💶 Billions of euros are spent on public procurement. In the latest episode of the #SoftwareFreedom Podcast, @annabonnie and @lexelas talk about the EU procurement reform and why Free Software matters for digital sovereignty.

Public money should work for the public. Let's make #PMPC a reality! 🇪🇺

https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/2026/episode-57.html

#FreeSoftware

A #ThankGNU! to Dwayne Dever, and John Wheeler for helping the FSF to promote #FreeSoftware. To see a longer list of those who have helped us financially in our advocacy for #SoftwareFreedom and awareness, visit: https://u.fsf.org/4ao

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Image that says 'Thank GNU' with a GNU head by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh

If you have a #FreeSoftware supporter in your life whose birthday is coming up, gift them a #FSF associate membership: https://www.fsf.org/associate/gift

Register for #EncryptFest --- it's just over a week away! We can't wait to see you online, in Boston, or in New Haven next Sunday, October 25: https://u.fsf.org/encryptfest-register #FreeSoftware #surveillance #FSF #encryption

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A cute robot with the words 'EncryptFest 2026 Sunday October 25 2026' above it

A #ThankGNU! to David Combs and David Lecompte for helping the FSF to promote #FreeSoftware. To see a longer list of those who have helped us financially in our advocacy for #SoftwareFreedom and awareness, visit: https://u.fsf.org/4ao

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Image that says 'Thank GNU' with a GNU head by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh

New in #LibreOffice 26.8: Mixed page sizes – Impress and Draw can now use different page sizes within the same document – a long-requested feature for more flexible presentations. https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/26.8 #foss #opensource #freesoftware

We are happy to announce 47 free and open source projects have been selected for the 12th round of the NGI Zero Commons Fund.

The efforts of these teams all go toward strengthening the digital commons, and we thank them for their contribution to more digital autonomy for everyone.

NGI Zero will provide them with practical and financial support, kindly made possible by @EC_NGI

Here's an overview of all 47. Come and meet the projects!
https://nlnet.nl/news/2026/20261015-47-new-projects.html

#NGI #NGI0 #freesoftware #FOSS

Interested in helping #FreeSoftware users find freedom-respecting programs by updating the Free Software Directory (FSD)? Please consider joining the FSD meeting this Friday on IRC. Read more at: https://www.fsf.org/events/fsd-2026-10-16-irc #FreeSoftwareDirectory #FSF

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A person in construction clothing and a hardhat in front of a building being constructed. The captions say, 'Help us build a more free future together' at top and 'Contribute to the Free Software Directory' at bottom

Don't forget to register for #EncryptFest online or in Boston or New Haven on October 25 at no cost: https://u.fsf.org/encryptfest-register #FreeSoftware #surveillance #FSF #encryption

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A cute robot with the words 'EncryptFest 2026 Sunday October 25 2026' above it

A #ThankGNU! to Andrew Comly and Casper Freksen for helping the FSF to promote #FreeSoftware. To see a longer list of those who have helped us financially in our advocacy for #SoftwareFreedom and awareness, visit: https://u.fsf.org/4ao

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Image that says 'Thank GNU' with a GNU head by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh

📬 Our October newsletter is out:

🔹 Software Freedom in Europe 2026: our 12-month report
🔹 Podcast on #RouterFreedom and the #DNA, plus one on the Danish local group 🎧
🔹 #YH4F joins Italy’s PCTO school programme
🔹 Next stop: #SFSCON26 in Bolzano

💻 https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202610.en.html

#FreeSoftware #SoftwareFreedom

Without Ada Lovelace, widely recognized as the first computer programmer, we might not have #FreeSoftware today. Thank you for your contributions, Ada! #AdaLovelaceDay #FSF

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color woodcut-style portrait of Ada Lovelace by dullhunk

New in #LibreOffice 26.8: RTL text detection – LibreOffice Writer now automatically detects paragraph direction when opening or pasting plain right-to-left text. Less manual formatting, smoother editing for Arabic and Hebrew documents. https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/26.8 #foss #opensource #freesoftware

Restrictions on hardware upgrades are deeply troubling from an organization like Raspberry Pi that has stated their commitment to longevity as a guiding principle: https://u.fsf.org/4cq #FreeSoftware #DRM #FSF

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A photo of an unbaked raspberry pie

A #ThankGNU! to Jacob Sowder, Mark Driscoll, and Yidong Chong for helping the FSF to promote #FreeSoftware. To see a longer list of those who have helped us financially in our advocacy for #SoftwareFreedom and awareness, visit: https://u.fsf.org/4ao

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Image that says 'Thank GNU' with a GNU head by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh

Governments, organisations and companies around the world are moving to #LibreOffice – and to help them, we have Certified Migration Professionals. Here's what we did at a recent workshop in Nairobi, Kenya: https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/10/13/libreoffice-migration-workshop-in-nairobi-kenya/ #foss #openSource #freesoftware

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Workshop group session

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Handing over a certificate of participation

New in #LibreOffice 26.8: Improved DOCX comments – Deleted comment ranges in Microsoft Word documents are now imported and exported more accurately, further improving DOCX compatibility. https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/26.8 #foss #opensource #freesoftware

In my private projects and in #Gentoo, I have a strict #NoAI policy. Any LLM-assisted contributions are closed immediately and considered tainted. Use for messaging, bug reporting, etc. also gets you a warning and a request to write yourself. And I dare say I have a heavy ban finger on this; you get one warning only. Well, unless it's clearly an automated submission, in which case you get an immediate ban.

In my dayjob and non-Gentoo work, I also follow a strict policy for my own work. I don't use any of these tools. However, I can't really stop others from doing so, even though I cringe whenever I see someone needing to use an overengineered statistical model to make a trivial change. I can't really reject bug reports, reviews, etc.

The really hard part of it is that I'm starting to have doubts. I truly hate slop in all forms, and what these tools have done to the Internet in general, and to #FreeSoftware in particular. However, I've also gotten some good reports. Like, the kind of tricky logic issues in the specification I am developing that I would have never figured out myself, and that may have never came up during the review otherwise. In other words, someone running an LLM on the specification triggered real bugs that would likely slipped through and required a post-approval specification change when someone noticed that we've introduced incompatible constraints in two different parts of the specification, that would eventually be hit in real use.

All the ethical problems are still there. All the harm is still there. However, I can't really claim that these tools vomit pure useless slop anymore. I feel that it's really time for me to retire.

*** New article ***

Haunted by Demons: A guide for installing and configuring FreeBSD on a notebook

https://darkblueproject.com/sites/articles/freebsd-hbd-setup-2610.php

#darkblueproject #freebsd #tuxedocomputers #tuxedo #bsd #runbsd #opensource #freesoftware

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A desktop screenshot of Xfce running on FreeBSD 15.1-RELEASE-p4 on my TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro AMD Gen9

LibreOffice Conference 2026 group photo – and final video updates: https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/10/11/libreoffice-conference-2026-group-photo-and-final-video-updates/ #foss #openSource #freesoftware

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LibreOffice Conference 2026 group photo

Software developers, the #GNU Project urges you to avoid hosting your repositories on #GitHub: https://u.fsf.org/4ci #FreeSoftware

Raspberry Pi puts digital handcuffs on RAM upgrades https://u.fsf.org/4cq #FreeSoftware #DRM #FSF

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A photo of an unbaked raspberry pie

A #ThankGNU! to Antonio Carzaniga and Holger Weisbrodt for helping the FSF to promote #FreeSoftware. To see a longer list of those who have helped us financially in our advocacy for #SoftwareFreedom and awareness, visit: https://u.fsf.org/4ao

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Image that says 'Thank GNU' with a GNU head by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh

#Gentoo has a strict #NoAI policy, so our projects are slop-free. Unfortunately, these days you cannot run an up-to-date system without tons of random slop packages, because everyone insists on using that crap.

Gentoo supports a whole bunch of architectures that probably every other distribution dumped so far. Unfortunately, these days the available software list is shrinking, as everyone insists on adding some random meaningless dependencies on #RustLang (like using uv-build, which is the single most harmful meaningless #Python project ever created).

Gentoo has a strong upstream cooperation policy. However, these days I'm afraid to file issues, because just too often they just trigger more slop. I miss the "good" old days where the worst you could expect is some toxic asshole.

The state of #FreeSoftware is truly depressing. There is little joy in distribution work these days. You're overwhelmed with shit, burned out and end up doing a shitty job. And it's bad for your health.

#FLOSS

The #FreeSoftware movement is built on community meetups. Help grow the movement and organize a meetup with free software supporters near you: https://u.fsf.org/45l #FSF #activism

A #ThankGNU! to Uday Kale and Wade Cline for helping the FSF to promote #FreeSoftware. To see a longer list of those who have helped us financially in our advocacy for #SoftwareFreedom and awareness, visit: https://u.fsf.org/4ao

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Image that says 'Thank GNU' with a GNU head by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh

The #FreeSoftware movement is built on community meetups. Help grow the movement and organize a meetup with free software supporters near you: https://u.fsf.org/45l #FSF #activism

We hope to see you at #EncryptFest online or in Boston or New Haven on October 25: https://u.fsf.org/4ck #FreeSoftware #surveillance #FSF #encryption

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A cute robot with the words 'EncryptFest 2026 Sunday October 25 2026' above it

A #ThankGNU! to Dwayne Dever, and John Wheeler for helping the FSF to promote #FreeSoftware. To see a longer list of those who have helped us financially in our advocacy for #SoftwareFreedom and awareness, visit: https://u.fsf.org/4ao

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Image that says 'Thank GNU' with a GNU head by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh

Stats time! #LibreOffice code contributors, translators, downloads and more – see the State of the Project, October 2025 – September 2026: https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/10/07/state-of-the-project-oct-25-sept-26/ #foss #openSource #freesoftware

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Bar chart showing growing LibreOffice downloads

Know of a great #FreeSoftware program but it's not listed in the Free Software Directory (FSD)? Stop by one of our weekly #FSD meetings on Fridays at 12:00 EDT: https://www.fsf.org/events #FSF #FreeSoftware

Lots of improvements coming to #LibreOffice: clearer font substitution, a button in Calc to list sheets, better hyphenation support, and more. See our QA and dev summary for September: https://qa.blog.documentfoundation.org/2026/10/06/qa-dev-report-september-2026/ #foss #opensource #freesoftware

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RE: https://fosstodon.org/@tullney/117353300665234195

#OpenJournalSystems (OJS) is #FreeSoftware.

The #DiamondOpenAccess publisher @TIBopenpub uses the software to modify it and collaborate with other institutions and organizations.

Check out @tibhannover's new blog post series “We Love Free Software” to learn more!

https://blog.tib.eu/2026/09/29/free-software-ojs-at-tib/

#FOSS #DiamondOA #ScholarlyPublishing #ScholComm @craftoa

Why did #LibreOffice 26.8 get over 4 million downloads in September? We answered this question, and more, in our talk at the recent LinuxDays event in Prague: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHqUdrsEYgE #foss #openSource #freesoftware

Happy Anniversary!

Announcement: 27.09.1983
Source: https://www.gnu.org/gnu/initial-announcement.en.html

Thank you to everyone that has contributed to the project.

Website: https://www.gnu.org
Mastodon: @fsf

#GNU #GPL #FreeSoftware #FSF #FLOSS #Linux #GNULinux #Copyleft #GNUHealth #Emacs #GnuPG #Taler #Nano #Jami #GCompris #GIMP #GnuCash #Guix #Wget #Trisquel #LinuxLibre #Dynebolic #Parabola #Hyperbola #Mediagoblin #Savannah #IceCat #FreeFont #GNUHurd #Gnumeric #Shepherd #Guile #GCC #GNUBoot #GNURadio #GNUnet #FOSS

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GNU logo.

Forty-one years ago, as of October 4, 2026, the #FSF was founded with the goal to secure software freedom for all computer users: https://www.fsf.org/about/ #FreeSoftware #GNU

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FSF logo

A #ThankGNU! to David Combs and David Lecompte for helping the FSF to promote #FreeSoftware. To see a longer list of those who have helped us financially in our advocacy for #SoftwareFreedom and awareness, visit: https://u.fsf.org/4ao

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Image that says 'Thank GNU' with a GNU head by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh

For Adlair Cerecedo-Méndez, his work with #LibreOffice began as a response to a specific need: helping the Mexican government obtain an office suite tailored to public institutions: https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/10/05/community-member-monday-adlair-cerecedo-mendez/ #foss #opensource #freesoftware

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Photo of Adlair

What is #GNU software? https://www.gnu.org/software/software.html #FreeSoftware

Regardless of whether your organization uses #FreeSoftware (we hope it does!), free softawre advocates make excellent employees and colleagues! Advertise your #job opening with the #FSF: https://u.fsf.org/46v

One of many changes in GNOME 51 also includes changes to Loupe, our Image Viewer. It now shows more image information such as:
・Creator
・Copyright
・Equipment used (e.g. camera lens)
・Color profile

#FOSS #OpenSource #FreeSoftware #FLOSS

https://codeberg.org/ihabunek/tooi

Tooi is the successor to 'toot'. It is /way/ nicer so far.

In addition to being 'keyboard-driven' it also responds to the mouse pointer. This is efficient when using a keyboard with a touchpad.

#Fediverse #TUI #tooi #Mastodon #FreeSoftware

Apps for encryption, comms, Usenet, remailers ...

Ch1ffr3punk: https://github.com/Ch1ffr3punk

The owner is a denizen of the OG #Usenet scene.

#cypherpunk #cryptography #crypto #encryption #privacy #github #freesoftware

@cypherpunk@soc.octade.net @cryptography@soc.octade.net @usenet@soc.octade.net

[quote] "The legal instrument protecting your rights as a user of Linux is less important than the commercial ecosystem built on top of it. And that commercial ecosystem as we have established is controlled by the same corporations paying a half a million dollars a year for board seats at the Linux Foundation. ... The message ... enforce the GPL, lose your friends ... violate it openly ... get a seat on the board ... The GPL is not dead but its enforcement mechanism has been systematically dismantled by the very organization that claims to steward it."

Linux Foundation has squelched the voice of the lay contributors and now corporations control the decision-making process.

Now that your contributions to GPL'd free software have created mega-millionaires and billionaires ... those same rich fat cats that profited from your free code now want to keep you from sharing your own free code or profiting from it while they violate the software license to cash in. They promote ideology campaigns employing useful idiots and ideological parrots to insulate themselves from criticism and hold themselves above reproach from the people they are exploiting to build their tech empire. The Linux Foundation has joined the empire.

I have said before that a new alternative operating system is required if software freedom and privacy are to survive. Linux is not the resistance against the system. Linux is the system.

[/synopsis]

Full video for your earbuds: https://youtu.be/efDXFsUWk8U

[copypasta]

Our latest discussion builds on previous conversations, exploring the alleged corruption within the Linux Foundation and Linus Torvalds's potential awareness. We'll examine the intricate relationship between user space and the linux kernel developer, diving into how these components interact and influence the broader linux internals. This video aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the situation, explaining the nuances of these operating systems and the impact on open source software.

[/copypasta]

#LinusTorvalds #Linux #LinuxFoundation #OperatingSystem #Corruption #BigTech #GPL #FreeSoftware #FOSS #Tech #Desktop

"While the [age verification] bill moved through the legislature, the OSI, FSF, Software Freedom Conservancy, and Linux Foundation all sat it out — no testimony, no public analysis, no formal opposition on the record."

California's computer age verification law is poison. The new California age verification law is a version of INGSOC's telescreen watching you. And the usual self-proclaimed software freedom fighters are AWOL as this attack on your freedom is executed.

Don't listen to apologists who claim this isn't a big deal. It is a huge deal. This law is not about protecting children. The California law is a ruse for laying the foundation and precedent for mandatory remote control of all operating systems. They are using children as a shield for their true intentions. It's called a 'subterfuge' or a 'pretext' to hide the real rationale. And in politics subterfuge is very common. These politicians don't care about your children. They care about control and information is control. Compliance with California's new law is highly corrosive to free software and deadly to personal privacy.

With the mandatory age verification API in place, legislators can later add more laws mandating retrieval of even more privacy-invasive information just to install and use any operating system. This is Big Brother's telescreen in your living room. And the Linux community is nearly silent on the matter, instead focused on artificial intelligence investment.

Where were the software freedom organizations when California was mandating installation of #spyware in all free and open source operating systems? Did they oppose it? Or did they support it by silence? The California age verification law is the greatest threat to software freedom in recent history., striking right at the root of software installation for all users. Yet (((crickets))).

Is silence really tacit support?

"While the [age verification] bill moved through the legislature, the OSI, FSF, Software Freedom Conservancy, and Linux Foundation all sat it out — no testimony, no public analysis, no formal opposition on the record."

Where were they when this mandatory spyware infrastructure was being shoved down our throats? Where were the self-proclaimed software freedom fighters? Where were the calls to action? I didn't see any.

Is silence golden ... or is gold buying silence?

Let these organizations know that you oppose California's age verification spyware law and that you expect them to rally in defense of true software freedom--freedom from government oversight of your software systems. Parents--and not the spyware state--should protect their children. The government is neither your parent nor your god nor your savior and the people should send a clear message stating that.

California, stay out of my operating system! And stay the hell away from children!

@eff@mastodon.social
@linuxfoundation@social.lfx.dev
@fsf@hostux.social
@osi@opensource.org
@conservancy@sfconservancy.org

#AgeVerification #Linux #EFF #OSI #LinuxFoundation #FSF #Privacy #Cybersecurity #Surveillance #Spyware #OpenSource #OperatingSystems #FreeSoftware #SoftwareFreedom #Panopticon #BigBrother #Government

CC: @laffer1@bsd.network @leo@twit.social @MichaelRoss@social.linux.pizza @rms@mastodon.xyz @thenewoil@mastodon.thenewoil.org @TechDesk@flipboard.social @remixtures@tldr.nettime.org

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A crowd of sillouettes of people stands in front of a giant telescreen depicting a single giant eye watching them.

Delta Chat is a messaging platform that works over email.

Setup is similar to a email client.
Messaging is decentralized and interoperable.

Supports end-to-end encryption via PGP.
PGP encryption keys are created automatically.

Default desktop client is based on Electron.
Electron is based on the Google Chromium web browser.

Website: https://delta.chat
Mastodon: @delta

#DeltaChat #Messaging #Privacy #InfoSec #E2EE #OpenPGP #PGP #OpenSource #FOSS #CyberSecurity #Encryption #FreeSoftware

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Delta Chat logo.

Cryptomator is a client-side encryption tool for cloud storage services.

Data protected via AES-256 encryption.
Individual and business features.
Managed and self-hosted options.

ENCRYPTED

File content.
File/Folder name.

NOT ENCRYPTED

File/Folder access/creation/modification timestamp.
Number of files/folders in a folder/vault.
File size.

Website: https://cryptomator.org
Mastodon: @cryptomator

#Cryptomator #Encryption #InfoSec #Privacy #CyberSecurity #FreeSoftware #FOSS #FLOSS #OpenSource

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Cryptomator logo.

NEWSCARD Publish and fetch permanent named records via Network News

Newscard creates a decentralized, encrypted, named record paste bin.

[git repo] https://codeberg.org/OCTADE/newscard (use most recent version only)

With a single command, name the card, snarf the file and encrypt it.

With another command, push the encrypted file to the public network.

With another short command, snarf a file from the network.

Only users knowing the name [key] of the record will be able to decrypt it.

If a strong passphrase is used to name the file, it will be very secure.

This is useful for quickly snarfing, encrypting, and publishing a text file:

$~: card enc [passphrase] [file]
$~: card put [passphrase]

It is useful for retrieving a text file with just a key:

$~: card get [passphrase]
$~: card show [passphrase]

If and when you want the general public to access the record just share the keyword.

Newscard uses nine (9) (NINE) layers of encryption with OpenSSL chacha20 cipher.

Newscard generates 9 each of: cipher keys, salts, key iteration parameters.

It would be nice if something like this were added to the ActivityPub protocol, such that keyword[@]host.url would do the same thing. Then secret text records could be stored securely for later retrieval or revelation.

#NewsCard #Pastebin #Usenet #NNTP #NetworkNews #Encryption #Cryptography #Messaging #Anonymity #Protocols #OpenSource #FreeSoftware #BlackHackJack #Censorship #Retro #InfoSec #Ciphers #Codes #FOSS

@infostorm@a.gup.pe @crypto@a.gup.pe @infosec@a.gup.pe @selfhosting@a.gup.pe

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Playing card of the Jack of Clubs. The Jack is a moustached man in a black top hat and suit in a oval center cameo. The colors are inverted so that everything on the face is black except the lines which are white, like a charcoal cutout picture., giving it a retro digital appearance mixed with retro handicraft vibes.

NEWSCARD Publish and fetch permanent named records via Network News

Newscard creates a decentralized, encrypted, named record paste bin.

[git repo] https://codeberg.org/OCTADE/newscard (use most recent version only)

With a single command, name the card, snarf the file and encrypt it.

With another command, push the encrypted file to the public network.

With another short command, snarf a file from the network.

Only users knowing the name [key] of the record will be able to decrypt it.

If a strong passphrase is used to name the file, it will be very secure.

This is useful for quickly snarfing, encrypting, and publishing a text file:

$~: card enc [passphrase] [file]
$~: card put [passphrase]

It is useful for retrieving a text file with just a key:

$~: card get [passphrase]
$~: card show [passphrase]

If and when you want the general public to access the record just share the keyword.

Newscard uses nine (9) (NINE) layers of encryption with OpenSSL chacha20 cipher.

Newscard generates 9 each of: cipher keys, salts, key iteration parameters.

It would be nice if something like this were added to the ActivityPub protocol, such that keyword[@]host.url would do the same thing. Then secret text records could be stored securely for later retrieval or revelation.

#NewsCard #Pastebin #Usenet #NNTP #NetworkNews #Encryption #Cryptography #Messaging #Anonymity #Protocols #OpenSource #FreeSoftware #BlackHackJack #Censorship #Retro #InfoSec #Ciphers #Codes #FOSS

@infostorm@a.gup.pe @crypto@a.gup.pe @infosec@a.gup.pe

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Playing card of the Jack of Clubs. The Jack is a moustached man in a black top hat and suit in a oval center cameo. The colors are inverted so that everything on the face is black except the lines which are white, like a charcoal cutout picture., giving it a retro digital appearance mixed with retro handicraft vibes.

NEWSCARD Publish and fetch permanent named records via Network News

Newscard creates a decentralized, encrypted, named record paste bin.

[git repo] https://codeberg.org/OCTADE/newscard (use most recent version only)

With a single command, name the card, snarf the file and encrypt it.

With another command, push the encrypted file to the public network.

With another short command, snarf a file from the network.

Only users knowing the name [key] of the record will be able to decrypt it.

If a strong passphrase is used to name the file, it will be very secure.

This is useful for quickly snarfing, encrypting, and publishing a text file:

$~: card enc [passphrase] [file]
$~: card put [passphrase]

It is useful for retrieving a text file with just a key:

$~: card get [passphrase]
$~: card show [passphrase]

If and when you want the general public to access the record just share the keyword.

Newscard uses nine (9) (NINE) layers of encryption with OpenSSL chacha20 cipher.

Newscard generates 9 each of: cipher keys, salts, key iteration parameters.

It would be nice if something like this were added to the ActivityPub protocol, such that keyword[@]host.url would do the same thing. Then secret text records could be stored securely for later retrieval or revelation.

#NewsCard #Pastebin #Usenet #NNTP #NetworkNews #Encryption #Cryptography #Messaging #Anonymity #Protocols #OpenSource #FreeSoftware #BlackHackJack #Censorship #Retro #InfoSec #Ciphers #Codes #FOSS

@infostorm@a.gup.pe @usenet@lemmy.world @crypto@a.gup.pe @infosec@a.gup.pe

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Playing card of the Jack of Clubs. The Jack is a moustached man in a black top hat and suit in a oval center cameo. The colors are inverted so that everything on the face is black except the lines which are white, like a charcoal cutout picture., giving it a retro digital appearance mixed with retro handicraft vibes.