this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2023
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libre

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Welcome to libre

A comm dedicated to the fight for free software with an anti-capitalist perspective.

The struggle for libre computing cannot be disentangled from other forms of socialist reform. One must be willing to reject proprietary software as fiercely as they would reject capitalism. Luckily, we are not alone.

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Resources

  1. Free Software, Free Society provides an excellent primer in the origins and theory around free software and the GNU Project, the pioneers of the Free Software Movement.
  2. Switch to GNU/Linux! If you're still using Windows in $CURRENT_YEAR, flock to Linux Mint!; Apple Silicon users will want to check out Asahi Linux.

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  1. Be on topic: Posts should be about free software and other hacktivst struggles. Topics about general tech news should be in the technology comm or programming comm. That doesn't mean all posts have to be serious though, memes are welcome!
  2. Avoid using misleading terms/speading misinformation: Here's a great article about what those words are. In short, try to avoid parroting common Techbro lingo and topics.
  3. Avoid being confrontational: People are in different stages of liberating their computing, focus on informing rather than accusing. Debatebro nonsense is not tolerated.
  4. All site-wide rules still apply

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Help Others! Drop Your Favorite Libre Software Program Here! (hexbear.net)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
26 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

A libre program is a program that fulfills these 4 basic freedoms.

  • The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose (freedom 0).
  • The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
  • The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others (freedom 2).
  • The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
  • Bonus points if it is cross-platform (can run on Windows or MacOS) or replaces a proprietary program

Jitsi Meet

Jitsi Meet is a free software program that allows users to create video calls with each other. Licensed under Apache 2.0, anyone is able to launch their own Jitsi Meet instance and be able to talk to their friends and family without having their freedoms revoked.

This application can be used to replace proprietary video conferencing apps like Zoom and Google Meets which in addition to being nonfree, un-auditable programs have also shown time and time again to disrespect its users even further such as forcefully integrating AI anti features and forcing users to be trapped in their cultivated video conferencing garden of stings.

  • Read more about the security of Jitsi if you're interested.

Jitsi Meet can be run on any operating system that has access to a web browser. There is also offline binaries for Linux distributions from Flathub. It's also available on mobile operating systems in both F-Droid and proprietary app stores.

How can I use it?

Jitsi Meet can be used gratis on the behalf of Jitsi here, however it requires the user to sign in with either Google, Facebook, or Github; all proprietary platforms.

Luckily, Framasoft still has a fully gratis Jitsi Meet service at Framatalk which does not require a third-party login.

Stop Zoomin' and use Jitsi Meet, self host one if you can to further ensure your freedom and your community.

Share your favorite Free software program here and help others!

Day 4 of libreposting :-)

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I have replaced a lot of proprietary web services with SyncThing

Syncthing is a free, open-source peer-to-peer file synchronization application available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, Solaris, Darwin, and BSD. It can sync files between devices on a local network, or between remote devices over the Internet. Data security and data safety are built into its design.

Some of the things I use it for:

  • My encrypted password store is a local KeyPass (also libre) database file, which syncthing keeps up to date on all my computers and phones and tablets. so no LastPass or Bitwarden.
  • I have gPodder (also libre) running on my desktop, which pulls podcast episodes from RSS feeds. SyncThing sends 'em to my phone instead of using Spotify
  • I have replaced DropBox/Google Drive/OneDrivewith a synced folder for keeping reference documents or active work tasks up to date across my devices
  • I have replaced Google Photo phone camera backups by setting up my camera storage as a synced folder that transfers everything to my home server (where it's backed up with a separate process)

Nothing in the cloud, no data leaves my control. It has been critical for the ongoing process of decommodifying my computing.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

KeepassXC is fantastic!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What do you use to store everything? A pi, a spare computer? I want to do the same but cost is an issue for me

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

My main desktop has a lot of disks in it and does double duty as a file server. My off-site backups go to S3 Glacier Deep Archive (after they're encrypted!), to keep costs low.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

FreeCAD is an extensive CAD program that can do a ton. It's a little daunting but totally worth investing the time to learn!

KiCAD is a fantastic electronics schematic and PCB design software that totally eclipsed EagleCAD in the hobbyist and prosumer market over the last decade or so.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

FreeCAD is dope as hell. There are a lot of things about it I prefer over Creo Parametric. The Fillet tool can drive me insane though.

I smuggled a copy of RealThunder's branch into work which I use it to create 2D geometry in the sketcher workbench which I then feed into D.P. Systems Esprit (hella proprietary) to generate toolpaths for wire EDMs. Most of these are one-off jobs, but we have one production job which originated as a FreeCAD sketch. I also model a bunch of random shit in Part Design for my 3D printer at home.

Here's the last project I worked on:

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is so rad. Been going back and forth whether I should buy a printer since I'm not super well-versed in 3D modeling (some experience with SketchUp and Blender is all)

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Blender is nice specially if you want to make more "artsy" prints. Another good one for the Freedom list too!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Super cool!

Yeah you look at r/CAD, where people talk about the real big CAD software (forget F360 and OnShape crap) and essentially people all have similar issues (steep learning curve, occasional crashes, etc). But FreeCAD seems to have gotten some decent reaction recently, which I'm hoping will improve things significantly.

I'm surprised the F360 license debacle didn't generate more traction though. That's what did it for KiCAD. When AutoDesk bought Eagle, they fucked with the licensing, went to a subscription service, etc... Instantly making KiCAD development rocket upwards. I was hoping the same would happen, but alas FreeCAD is still niche. But I am certainly seeing an increase of tutorial content on YouTube which is a good sign!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I think in the commercial space, firms are just forced to buy everything. You use whatever your clients use. If your client designs an assembly in SolidWorks, you are basically forced to use SolidWorks. If another client uses Creo, you have to use that as well. Many, many engineering hours get invested into modeling, as well as all the related byproducts (like creating blueprints, FEM / CFD analysis, CNC toolpaths, promotional rendering, etc) so once a firm is invested in a particular system, change is unlikely. The CAD systems used are linked to a product lifecycle just as rigidly as the machinery and tooling used to manufacture the components.

and essentially people all have similar issues (steep learning curve, occasional crashes, etc)

100%. The grass isn't much greener in the commercial space. Some of the edges are a bit smoother, but 95% of it is slick marketing and the abundance of training resources. You still need to take deliberate precautions in your model design to prevent the whole thing from exploding from a minor change in design requirements.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Expecting to face this in the workplace, assuming I get a job in whatever industry

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Even office jobs can have this to some degree, the software your client use to run some service is old as fuck and you're forced to use specific version of internet explorer or some program that hasn't been updated since 2011 or something

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

wow thanks for relaying this information!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

My pleasure, FreeCAD deserves a lot more love. It gets so much hate on reddit-logo that I'm convinced AutoDesk (Fusion360) ran a smear campaign when they changed the licensing and were getting a lot of backlash.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

If you didn't know, KDE connect works pretty well on windows too, even between two windows computers! It lets you:

  • Share clipboard between devices
  • Share contacts
  • Ping the device so it makes a sound for finding it when it's lost
  • send files to and from
  • See media playing on your device and pause/play that media
  • Get and send text messages from your phone on your computer
  • Automatically pauses everything on all you devices when you take a call
  • Execute commands remotely
  • Control keyboard and mouse on another devices
  • Use another device as a monitor (only between two linux devices unfortunately)

And more than I could list here!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Yabridge. For getting windows VSTs to work on Linux. Easy to use and works very well. Have only had a problem with one VST after a new update.

https://github.com/robbert-vdh/yabridge

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Been interested in Proxmox lately. It's a hypervisor that allows you to run both VMs and containers. Has a ton of featutes including one-click backups, network bridges and a nice web-based GUI. Look into it if you need a server solution

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Proxmox is good, folks.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Home Assistant is amazing. It has thousands of integrations, works with most smart home devices ever made, and for most configurations runs on cheap hardware. It has constant updates.

Just one example of an automation I use: In summer I want to open my windows at night at the perfect time to allow cool air in, and keep warm air out.

I have a 433mhz temperature sensor outside, because 433mhz sensors last the longest on battery power. I receive those signals with a cheap rtl-sdr dongle and rtl_433, which integrates with Home Assistant. The automation triggers when the outside air is cooler than the inside temperature pulled from the Nest API. Then the automation checks data pulled in from the AccuWeather forecast API, to make sure it isn't a false reading, like when it the temperature temporarily drops due to a rain shower. Then it sends a notification to my phone telling me to open the windows and turn the whole house fans on.

I use another similar automation to tell me when to close the windows in the morning. This has allowed me to get away with not using air conditioning at all in the last 4 summers.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I love home assistant. I use it to control my lights so I don't have to get out of bed if I forget one. I also have it keep track of if I took my drugs, using a qr code that I scan. Home automation is an incredible boon for the disabled, and it has made my life so much easier.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'd like to try HA but I got lost reading the documentation. Is it like a huge project to get a simple things to happen? Seems like so many components to get working together.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's pretty easy to use once you get it running. Once you have it running it's really pretty intuitive to use. Almost everything can be done through the web interface. It is pretty complex, but if you want to setup home automation, it's kind of foolish to buy into one of the proprietary platforms like Smartthings because you're likely to end up wanting to switch once you find the limitations of the other systems.

The most complicated parts most people have to deal with are getting it installed and setting up remote access.

If you don't want to deal with installation, you can buy a Home Assistant Yellow which is a device that comes with HA preinstalled for a fair price.

Remote access is pretty complicated to get setup, but it's not something everyone needs, and you can just pay for HA cloud which supports the project and provides remote access.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I probably don't need remote access. I definitely will not bother with a proprietary system. If it's not floss it's not happening.

If the install is worth $250 then I guess it is a project.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm a massive fan of Restic for backups. It does incremental, encrypted backups, and can put those backups directly in the cloud or on your disk. Its in basically all the package managers, their docs are useful, and the Arch Wiki has a page on it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

This thing actually seems really useful. Thank you for sharing

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I love tldr pages which helped me to finally get comfortable using the command line. It provides 4-5 most useful examples for virtually every cli tool. Right in the command line where you need it. Short and sweet so you don't have the read the whole gd man page every time.