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Been daily driving Arch on my laptops for the last 10 years. It’s been great. Getting the latest software has been especially handy for laptops, where the kernel sometimes needs time to catch up to the latest hardware.

I ran Guix for a few months when I had some extra time and I liked it, but it was very different and not all software I needed ran on it (or ran well). I ended up going back to Arch, but I brought Guix with me, as a package manager.

I also ended up trying Fedora for the first time (ok, I was unemployed) recently and was pleasantly surprised. Turns out Fedora is pretty close to how I configure Arch. And it’s got some extra polish that was neat. I ended up installing Fedora Silverblue for my parents 6-8 months ago and it’s been working out great for them.

Anyway, Arch has been my reliable companion for the last 10 years.

Can’t do that anymore

What is “that”? I just bought a Google TV and was able to install Projectivy Launcher fine?

Definitely not WebOS. I have an Nvidia Shield that runs Android TV, which is nice because there’s a wide selection of apps and you can install custom launchers, Tailscale, Jellyfin, SmartTube. The downside, as I recently learned, is that your parents probably will have a harder time switching between the TV’s native OS and the Shield.

So I recently got a Google TV, which is (just?) Android TV, and that allows me to install Tailscale and Jellyfin, but since it’s 1 system, it’s easier for some folks to use. I also installed Projectivy Launcher for my parents to get rid of the default ad-ridden launcher. I haven’t yet had time to try to install SmartTube, but I think I read it’s possible…

Curious to learn more about https://plasma-bigscreen.org/ I didn’t know about that. Thanks!

Yeah, not handled well. They’re doing slimy corpo bullshit.

On the other hand, I like that they’re open source and don’t block stuff like vaultwarden.

I hope they can take the extra money and make the product better. Cuz I definitely don’t love Bitwarden, but it’s a better alternative than 1Password.

Yes, it should be Nucleus. Them calling it PiedPiper is a propaganda campaign to try to earn good will from people. Fuck Google locking down Android.

squidward opens chair: ooh, AGPLv3, nice

squidward closes chair: sign our CLA

… You know… yeah, that’s true. One of the huge benefits of using some open source library is that you don’t have to maintain it. But if you clean room it, then it’s all on you.

Although, companies like Amazon will have the engineers to maintain it internally. But a lot of other companies won’t.

And then you have the chardet guy: https://github.com/chardet/chardet/issues/327

Does anyone have any ideas on how to fight back? Should we start withholding test suites now? Withhold docs?

Unfortunately, it’s got some issues… It kinda works, but after typing Spanish with the English keyboard, I think I broke the English keyboard…

It’s not as bad as FUTO, but the Spanish spellcheck on the English keyboard could be improved… 😢

I’m stuck on Gboard… :(

Does Helioboard support multi-language typing? I write in Spanish and English all the time. I tried FUTO’s keyboard but pretty much immediately had to uninstall it because constantly having to switch the language on the keyboard super sucked.

OpenStreet maps is primarily a data source. I guess you could use the website: https://www.openstreetmap.org/

But they don’t have mobile apps.

Comaps, OSM And, and other apps use OpenStreet maps as their data source, sometimes as their only data source. So if the data isn’t in OpenStreet maps, it’s not gonna be in Comaps. Comaps is basically a frontend for OpenStreet map data.

I love Comaps. I have it installed on my Android phone. I contribute to OpenStreet maps when I can.

But, I don’t think Comaps is a realistic replacement for Apple or Google maps.

One: OpenStreet maps is missing a toooon of locations, businesses and residential addresses. Two: having the enter the address in a non-standard way (for the US) City, Street, Building Number, makes finding things even harder. That’s gonna instantly turn away 99% of people.

I still begrudgingly have Google maps installed on my phone… :(

I also have HERE Maps installed on my phone. It’s way more usable than Comaps and it’s not Google. But, it’s not FOSS and still owned by a big corporation. But at least it’s not (entirely) owned by the US (Magic Earth is). For me, I think HERE maps is a decent step away from Google.

I’ll still keep contributing to OpenStreet maps, hoping one day I can switch to Comaps.

Totally unbiased comparison between alternatives

Does it suck: 4get: no (debunked by snopes)

😆

A satirical website dubbed Malus (malice) has been making its rounds and fooling users after claiming it’s deploying AI tools to recreate open source projects from scratch with corporate-friendly licensing (my personal favorite is Emergency AGPL Removal in the footer links)

Hahaha. That’s funny. Oh, guys.

💀 https://github.com/chardet/chardet/issues/327

I wish there was a FOSS or more open option, but damn I’m glad I’m using Kagi.

Yes, I’ve tried SearXNG. No, I don’t think it’s a viable alternative. (yet?)

Meanwhile OnlyOffice is saving to Macroslop format by default: https://piefed.social/c/libreoffice/p/1803568/libreoffice-blasts-fake-open-source-onlyoffice-for-working-with-microsoft-to-lock-users

Hell yeah!

Na, it’s a no-go if you need a phone right now. We’re a few years out.

But, Motorola did announce their partnership with GrapheneOS on the official Motorola blog: https://motorolanews.com/motorola-three-new-b2b-solutions-at-mwc-2026/

Together, Motorola and the GrapheneOS Foundation will work to strengthen smartphone security and collaborate on future devices engineered with GrapheneOS compatibility. … In the coming months, Motorola and the GrapheneOS Foundation will continue to collaborate on joint research, software enhancements, and new security capabilities, with more details and solutions to roll out as the partnership evolves.

I actually did need a phone replacement a month ago and I went with Fairphone for now. Trying to spread out the power, instead of concentrating it.

I think the correct answer is to go Motorola+GrapheneOS