Posts by bignose@fosstodon.org
(DIR) Post #AmJPyWDCeUXaUIILku by bignose@fosstodon.org
2024-09-24T00:54:06Z
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@cosullivan For command-line shuffling of PDF pages: `pdftk`.For a GUI to rearrange PDF pages: `pdfarranger`.
(DIR) Post #AoLj6YFTmOyVascxqC by bignose@fosstodon.org
2024-11-23T22:53:43Z
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Tenniel understood that women also deserve pockets on their clothes#PyConAU #AliceInWonderland
(DIR) Post #ApUMVdo3c0EcOxvODI by bignose@fosstodon.org
2024-12-27T06:04:20Z
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That would be feasible, *if* the #Signal corporation actually wanted to grant #SoftwareFreedom.Sadly, they don't; they reject connection to official Signal servers from any unofficial client. https://github.com/LibreSignal/LibreSignal/issues/37#issuecomment-217211165Because of that, any third-party client will be resisted by Signal corporation, making it a hostile environment and unlikely to succeed.@praetor
(DIR) Post #ApUMVgR7pifqYiDcO0 by bignose@fosstodon.org
2024-12-27T21:29:34Z
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@gopal > I'm not clear why people still quote this comment from back in 2016.Because, unless you can point us to where the #Signal corporation has changed their position, that comment continues to represent their position today: They are hostile to third-party clients connecting to Signal official servers.I'd love to know where they've announced a change of their policy and now accept and support third-party clients (allowing for #SoftwareFreedom) if that's true.@praetor
(DIR) Post #ArYlmEO3OcRUtzzLAu by bignose@fosstodon.org
2025-02-27T22:49:45Z
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The #Debian project packages #Firefox as 'firefox-esr'.(Please don't offer speculation, I'm asking for substantiated information) Will that package continue to package a #FreeSoftware Firefox browser, as it does today? How?The odious "terms of use" that #MozillaCorp intends to erect as a barrier to #SoftwareFreedom, is incompatible with the DFSG. How will this be resolved? Cease to package Firefox in Debian? Strip any imposed barrier and continue the free Firefox package? Or what?
(DIR) Post #AswYBOAk9ALAwEtvkG by bignose@fosstodon.org
2025-04-10T09:12:29Z
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⦿ inflation rate outpacing my ability to earn an income@Edmonds_Scanner
(DIR) Post #At60NDKynp3hwsku0m by bignose@fosstodon.org
2025-04-14T22:40:43Z
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Definitely! Code is a liability, because the more code, the more potential for bugs, including security bugs.The ideal situation is to have the least code that will actually do the job.@Natanox
(DIR) Post #At60ZkUlLfZ2GEJBdQ by bignose@fosstodon.org
2025-04-14T22:43:02Z
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You've got conflicting requirements here @kevin.By depending on third-party libraries, you do need an install step, which installs your Python program along with its dependencies, as a coherent whole.So I think you can't also have "the program doesn't need to be installed anywhere"; yeah, it does, otherwise it's just a file sitting on the disk. It needs to be installed before the recipient can use it as a program.
(DIR) Post #At60lRjMwL1vXTiaYa by bignose@fosstodon.org
2025-04-14T22:45:09Z
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You've avoided this, by *manually* doing the job of an installer (getting the search path right, installing dependency modules, ensuring other dependencies are set up).The recipient of your repository can't reliably be expected to have that; all they've got is your files, somewhere arbitrary on their filesystem. You need to arrange that reliable environment, with an build-and-install step. Typically you configure that with the Package Metadata file, 'pyproject.toml'.@kevin
(DIR) Post #At8UQmGamLdy5cEqDw by bignose@fosstodon.org
2025-04-16T03:26:58Z
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As intended by #Debian, the timing of when to move away from 'stable' depends on the machine's purpose and sensitivity to changes or downtime.Needs to keep running with minimal maintenance? Probably stay on 'stable' indefinitely until a new Debian stable release.Needs to stay a little more up to date and maintenance downtime is okay? When we need a package newer than 'stable', upgrade to 'testing'.My workstation, frequent maintenance? Follow 'testing' pretty much always.@rl_dane
(DIR) Post #At8Vv3j6WmliskZtRI by bignose@fosstodon.org
2025-04-16T03:43:38Z
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@rl_dane> Are there any times when testing is just a bad idea for a workstation?The constraints on #Debian 'testing' require that it be always a complete, installable operating system (for testing the upcoming Debian release).It's acknowledged that sometimes that constraint will not hold, which is a bug to be fixed. And which is the whole purpose of having 'testing' running on lots of machines before the release.So I'd answer: When that possible breakage can't be tolerated.
(DIR) Post #AtCRgs0SGgvLpKxmQi by bignose@fosstodon.org
2025-04-18T01:15:02Z
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I'd phrase that as “Apple could not comprehend #FreeSoftware enough to use Freedom 1”.Everything, *and this must include the build system*, is open for examination. Guaranteed by the #Emacs license.If Apple can't determine whether it's malware, and they pop up a big announcement of that? They're announcing they're incompetent.@rossquantum
(DIR) Post #AtCRlEeA2979CfcInw by bignose@fosstodon.org
2025-04-18T01:15:53Z
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Yeah, I know this is just some quirk in MacOS scanning of installed programs. It's still funny. @rossquantum
(DIR) Post #AtCZb7YQLdGzwZcalE by bignose@fosstodon.org
2025-04-18T02:43:44Z
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@argv_minus_one> macOS scanning happens on an Apple server. App publishers must submit their apps to that server for scanning.Oh, so I was closer than I thought: Apple hates #FreeSoftware so much that they won't even acknowledge they *already have* everything they need to scan #Emacs for anything they wantand they petulantly refuse to do it unless the developer kisses the ring and submits to non-free conditions. And then complains *to the end user* that Apple failed. @rossquantum
(DIR) Post #AtGHVXlgx0voxsrG1g by bignose@fosstodon.org
2025-04-19T21:39:51Z
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The consistency isn't threatened by that comparison.One can believe most politicians (a small, self-selecting, characteristically distinct group) are selfish, egotistical, etc.while simultaneously believing that human beings (a group that is far greater than politicians) are mostly free from that corruption and evil.Because most humans are not politicians.@Sandra
(DIR) Post #AtKaC3vIMirWf3c76G by bignose@fosstodon.org
2025-04-21T23:28:03Z
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@neil> Adblocking is self care and just plain sensible.If we take this seriously (I believe we should), then advertising is actively, significantly harmful.Which prompts the argument: Where there is no compelling benefit *that outweighs the expected harm*, advertising should simply be illegal.https://simone.org/advertising/
(DIR) Post #AtKaPSq32fQlhQY9nE by bignose@fosstodon.org
2025-04-21T23:30:30Z
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More support for “this is an active, malicious poisoning of our mental environment” can be had simply by trying to use the base consumer-grade computer. It's unforgivably hostile.https://www.wheresyoured.at/never-forgive-them/@neil
(DIR) Post #AtKfCy7VvS68ixa3KC by bignose@fosstodon.org
2025-04-22T00:24:15Z
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@b0rk> the part of the operating system that is responsible for managing the pseudoterminal deviceGotta admit that this is so obscure that, if it is different from “terminal driver”, I don't understand what would make the difference.I do know that “line discipline” strongly sounds like a *protocol* (like UTF-8 or SMTP), not a part of an operating system. If someone pointed to a subsystem and said “that's the line discipline”, I'd think they mis-spoke.
(DIR) Post #AtKfpfNlWhXdu4dPDk by bignose@fosstodon.org
2025-04-22T00:31:16Z
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@b0rk> line disciplineI don't know what term I would use for it.I do know that “line discipline” strongly sounds like a *protocol* (like UTF-8 or SMTP), not a part of an operating system. If someone pointed to a software subsystem and said “that's the line discipline”, that would just confuse; it sounds like saying “that's the handshake” and sounds like they bungled the sentence.For a software subsystem *implementing* “line discipline”, I'd demand a better term.
(DIR) Post #Av5E0ti9UUNVoavrJQ by bignose@fosstodon.org
2025-06-12T22:16:24Z
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IMO if any programming language needs a specific IDE, someone has made a terrible mistake.The best IDE is the Unix (#GnuLinux) shell and all the workflow tools available there, with a powerful *general-purpose* programmer's editor like #Vim or #Emacs.Because programming typically involves writing *many* different languages in a single project. So we need the powerful shell and editor that has a huge community contributing features regardless of what language I'm editing.@driscollis