Introducing 🍵 Maptcha 🗺️
the #opensource CAPTCHA that improves #OpenStreetMap !
Maptcha is at its alpha stage, and we are testing it on potential users. To take part in the test, please follow this link:
https://maptcha.crown-shy.com
You have ~one week time to take part and give us some feedback.
We’ll present the results at #fosdem2025 in the Geospatial devroom
Jack scrambling to establish his open source creds before his #FOSDEM keynote.
Jack Dorsey is giving a keynote at FOSDEM 2025? He can fuck right off.
https://drewdevault.com/2025/01/16/2025-01-16-No-Billionares-at-FOSDEM-please.html
Okay nerds. Is #FOSDEM worth going to? I've been idly considering attending for years. Someone convince me either way.
Feels like the vibe is cool, and the city is nice. But it comes across as disease central, which is not great for a sickly sod like me. And yeah the city is nice. But it’s in winter.
🆕 blog! “FOSDEM - The Good Parts and the Not-So-Good Parts”
I'm just back from my first ever FOSDEM - a megaconference dedicated to Free and Open Source technology and culture. It was epic. I'm still ruminating on the experience, but here are my first impressions of what did and didn't work.
The Good Bits
Really, it is a dozen conferences squeezed into one. Over …
👀 Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/02/fosdem-the-good-parts-and-the-not-so-good-parts/
⸻
#conference #fosdem
Re-Boost plz ♻️ 📣 Check out our initiative EU OS 🇪🇺:
Community-led Proof-of-Concept for a free Operating System for the EU public sector
- https://eu-os.gitlab.io
- https://matrix.to/#/#eu-os:kde.org
- follow @eu_os
We need support to improve the idea, gather like-minded migration projects and gather political support!
Are you fucking kidding me?
Jack Dorsey is a main track speaker at FOSDEM this year:
https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/event/fosdem-2025-4507-infusing-open-source-culture-into-company-dna-a-conversation-with-jack-dorsey-and-manik-surtani-block-s-head-of-open-source/
🤮
I am at a loss of words. I also owe sincere apologies to everyone flagging issues with FOSDEM over the years, whose concerns I often somewhat minimized. I am sorry, you were all right and I was wrong.
FOSDEM is now explicitly platforming AI/blockchain bro fascists. 🤬
👉 Edit: Drew DeVault is organizing a sit-in, and explains why: https://drewdevault.com/2025/01/16/2025-01-16-No-Billionares-at-FOSDEM-please.html
is inaccessible for those with:
- mobility issues
- scent sensitivities (no policy against perfume, uses smelly soap in bathrooms); this affects around 30% of the population
- who need/want CC for videos
And refused:
- to have a code of conduct for years; have no real means of enforcing the one they have now
- to implement any kind of sickness mitigation (COVID, "FOSDEM Flu", or other), including encouraging masks and ventilation
And promotes:
- cryptocurrency
- billionaires
I brought my CO2 sensor prototype to #FOSDEM!
In K.3.401 (a tightly-packed dev room with closed windows), I measured a CO2 concentration of over 3000 ppm.
For reference: Outside air is currently ~420 ppm, and a common suggestion is to ventilate rooms to <= 1000 ppm.
My 2024 in tech – UPDATED
- Jan-May: same old same old
- mid-Jun: I started the blog #TheFutureIsFederated
- Jul: I started doing interoperability tests between #Fediverse projects
- Aug: I federated my Wordpress site, joined Friendica and 3 content aggregators. More tests
- Sep: I federated 2 more WP sites
- Oct: I joined #Sharkey
- Nov: I got a #RaspberryPi5 and installed Ubuntu on it; started learning #Linux
- Dec: I joined #Misskey & am researching VPSs
🔜 heading to #FOSDEM next Feb 🥳