Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot / is on Nostr

ping me on irc maybe (leah on libera irc). libreboot founder and lead developer (libreboot.org). they/them

i occasionally talk politics, but mostly talk about my projects. i'm an avid free software enthusiast and vim user. i occasionally talk about other people's projects, software or otherwise. i have a general interest in technology.

i don't always know everything. judge me on the merits of my words and actions.

libreboot founder and lead developer: https://libreboot.org/
i am not a rowebot: https://vimuser.org/
i sell coreboot, and coreboot accessories: https://minifree.org/
want to host static IPv4+IPv6 servers in your living room?: https://fedfree.org/

Last Notes

2024-09-17 12:24:52

New Libreboot release soon.

2024-09-14 12:49:22

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I'm just pissed off that I spend my Saturday dealing with this. But this is important. The danger specifically is that many people don't understand what free/opensource means, or about the ideology behind it.
The danger is that this continues. The re-licensing was two weeks ago. If I can convince them first to change it back, that'd be great - but I'm doing research and auditing of their repository.
That is so I have something to report to https://gpl-violations.org/ and SFC, *just in case*.

2024-09-13 20:12:20

I've been informed that a popular PlayStation emulator, called DuckStation, became proprietary software (was GPLv3, now PolyForm Strict 1.0.0 which restricts non-commercial usage and modification).
DuckStation was Free Software. I've decided to archive DuckStation from before the license change. Please see:
https://codeberg.org/vimuser/duckstation
If you were using it, please ask the devs to change it back to GPL.
Hardware preservation matters, as is preserving that preservation in a free-as-in-freedom way.

2024-09-13 11:34:39

I watched this excellent speech today, though it was made in 2019:
https://ar.al/2019/11/29/the-future-of-internet-regulation-at-the-european-parliament/
In it, @npub1p09…m5vl makes the case in favour of smaller, more federated communication infrastructure within Europe, making use of p2p protocols like ActivityPub (which mastodon uses). He's talking to representatives within the EU parliament, on the issue of how best to fund investment in communication technology, warning against funding companies like FaceBook.
The points he makes there are still true in 2024.

2024-09-12 09:28:25

Saw this meme the other day and thought it was amusing. And accurate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbhoAr8GV98

2024-09-11 20:41:41

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Switzerland does not have a minimum wage, and yet the very lowest earners on average make about £40,000 per year, versus £20,000 in the UK - cost of living is also higher, but Switzerland also has much lower levels of taxation, and lower unemployment - ergo, the cost of government is lower (and the state also runs budget surpluses). Competition drives up wages.
All of which is precisely because Switzerland does *not* have a giant government. Businesses can flourish freely.

2024-09-11 20:26:14

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Maybe one day we'll learn as human beings that we don't need giant governments telling us what to think. In fact, we need the exact opposite. We only need government to run basic public services (overseen by democratic citizens councils and ruled by referendum), and to protect property rights, break up monopolies, etc.
If you have to legislate basic human rights, you've already failed. I look at trans rights from a libertarian lens:
Government has no business telling me who I am.

2024-09-11 20:19:09

Posted on IRC earlier and I'm repeating here:
<leah> i have a vision for america
<leah> land of the free, home of the gay
<leah> make america gay again
We were saying how much of a jackass Trump is, and I pictured an alternative reality where America's politicians defend LGBT rights, instead of A) attacking it directly like the republicans do or B) paying weak lip service to it like the democrats do (while passing KOSA which will censor LGBT info on the internet)
american politicians are lame

2024-09-10 12:39:42

I was telling a Mac user something, which I realised was profound:
Linux/BSD is easier to use than any Windows or Mac system, because the underlying software is simpler; the terminal seems more complicated to novices, but you can do on sh in 5 seconds what would take about a minute of clicking in a GUI.
With a unix shell, unix utilities, and especially a good C compiler, you can do 100% of things. The UI does 2%. And MacOS is unix too but in practise you don't use the terminal for most things.

2024-08-27 16:14:58

Fun fact: Minifree still provides Linux-libre distros on request, e.g. Trisquel. It even still provides Atheros WiFi cards (linux-libre compatible), when asked.
This has never not been true, it's just that Intel WiFi became the default.
I *finally* had one email too many, as of today, asking about this, so I decided to simply mention it everywhere on minifree.org.
Also see:
https://minifree.org/product/intel-ax210-wireless-card-upgrade-for-9020-mt-sff/
On this page, you can select Intel AX210 WiFi, but you can alternatively request Atheros WiFi.

2024-08-14 19:38:07

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It should go without saying, but I would politely ask that all my American readers please vote for the Democratic Party in your country's national elections, to be held in November 2024.
I have plenty of criticism reserved for the Democrats as well, but they are peace-loving... well, they are democrats. It's in the name.
The right to abortion, an education, healthcare, to decent employment, fair wages, the right to vote, you know, those sorts of things, are things that the Democrats stand for.

2024-08-07 15:12:33

I've further reduced the Libreboot 9020 SFF price on Minifree:
https://minifree.org/product/libreboot-9020-sff/
This is an Intel Haswell platform (i7-4790k upgrade available) that comes with 16GB or 32GB RAM, with your choice of Debian Linux, other distro, or a BSD operating system.
Libreboot pre-installed. Libreboot is free boot firmware, replacing proprietary BIOS/UEFI. It offers many security and performance benefits over the original firmware.
I'm Libreboot's founder and lead developer; profits fund the project.
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/112/920/909/659/888/250/original/2220b86e6d0749b3.jpg
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/112/920/909/676/649/908/original/6530445029e9f14b.jpg
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/112/920/909/765/654/968/original/76a25c1847803556.jpg