Bradley M. Kühn — 🔜 FOSDEM (19)
@bortzmeyer overheard at #FOSDEM
> “There is a guy who does a lot of work to help the fediverse and to push people toward it. His name is Donald Trump.”
This statement contains multitudes b/c #TruthSocial is a fork of #Mastodon. Initially, $DJT violated the #AGPLv3, but AFAIK they now comply with the license. I examined the fork & they primary code they added was an advertising platform. Obviously it doesn't have federation turned on.
Cc: @jzb
😷🫵
Last year @ #FOSDEM, I got COVID. I ∴ missed my own keynote.
@karen & @ossguy filled in for me well, but I also *could not work on #FOSS for a WHOLE MONTH after*!!!
We all have important work after #FOSDEM2026. Why let the #FOSDEM26 flu/COVID slow down #OpenSource?
Wear a mask all day today & tomorrow unless you're on stage or asking a question.
If you need a mask or hand sanitizer, visit #SoftwareFreedom Conservancy's stand at K level 2 (group A).
https://fosdem.org/2026/stands/
Cc: @akareilly
You have many choices at #FOSDEM26, but my colleagues (list below) & I bring you the 14th edition of the Legal & Policy Issues DevRoom today in UB5.230 :
https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/track/legal/
If ever you wonder: “code is amazing but code is also law (as Lessig once wrote) so how do we build better policies in the world WITH #FOSS?” — then this DevRoom is for *YOU*!!!
BTW, UA is the least “sensory overwhelming” bldg at #FOSDEM2026.
Brought to you by:
@lexelas @kirschner @karen @tmarble @richardfontana & me
😍
…It is wonderful to be loved by the Norwegian #FOSS community. Last year, @sjn brought me 500g of #Brunost at #FOSDEM. This year, a larger group — incl. @Liks0m & @Foxboron & @aslakr — conspired to bring me 3kg of Brunost & 1kg of Geitost!
They now joke (?) that it'll continue to progress: .5kg->2.5kg->12.5kg
I keep reminding them I have to prove to USA CBP it's all for personal consumption. I can totally eat 12.5kg in 1 year, but CBP might not believe me!
♥️NORGE_FOSS!
To old guard of #FOSS:
When you reach ages ≥ 0x32 —as I have— ∃ a saying: you're old enough to “have no 🤬s left to give”. It's liberating, but take care w/ that new feeling; it *can* turn you into a mean person.
I'm watching a talk by ███¹ who has some interesting things to say, but is flippant & rude to the audience who ask about any issue not of ███'s interest.
No matter how smart you are: as a speaker, your audience has something to teach you.
Open your mind.
#FOSDEM #FOSDEM2026 #FOSDEM26
Note that since University staff are not available during weekend, FOSDEM bathrooms are cleaned periodically by young #FOSS enthusiasts every few hours.
I have given up a lot of convenience & comfort in my life for FOSS, but I've *never* cleaned a toilet that wasn't my own toilet.
These toilet cleaning volunteers ARE THE TRUE HEROES OF FOSS & #FOSDEM!
They are literally cleaning up our FOSS 💩!
Thank them for their service!!!
@chillicampari thanks for posting this!
As a vegetarian & diabetic, I really have trouble as the decades have gone by (Year 17 (?) at #FOSDEM) finding food in #Brussels. I will add this to my list!
I just wish I'd seen this last night as it'd've been a great option!
The key challenge of doing charitable & community work in repressive capitalist regimes is understanding how to take funding but never fear losing it.
My strategy: basically always overcompensate in the other direction. Since #SFC receives donations from $GOOG, I make sure I'm quicker to criticize their bad behavior before — say — $AAPL who'd never give a dime to @conservancy.
This strategy isn't ideal but does avoid corruption.
Cc: @jzakotnik @t0k
This post from @preya is my favorite “en route to #FOSDEM” post this year yet!
Coming from the west coast of the USA, the number of times I've have that alarm time, or my standard 3:15 one, even for a trip to the USA Eas6 Coast is more times than I can count.
https://mastodon.social/@preya/115980830709788030
