RED ALERT

U.S.-based independent contractors, like myself, are about to have our health care costs triple.

Many of us have two weeks to reinvent ourselves and this WILL harm Free and Open Source efforts.

At best, we will volunteer less. At worst, key contributors will cease participation.

I am happy to discuss strategies to preserve what so many have worked to hard to build.

@thunderbird should at least open a path to allow us to replace their OpenPGP implementation, RNP, with other implementations, like @sequoiapgp's Octopus.

Integrating #Enigmail was not seamless. Functionality was lost, including #GnuPG's keyring and trust model. (e.g.: bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.…)

They may have their rationale on which they made these decisions, but the negative effect on the usability of Thunderbird+PGP for those who have them for many years is real.

I installed FreeBSD 15 on Vultr and the psychos set /etc/hosts to

127.0.0.1 vultr.guest
::1 vultr.guest

so you know what that does when software wants to resolve "localhost"?

#FreeSoftwareAdvent day 13: Thunderbird

I've used various open source email clients over the years, but right now, my email client of choice is Thunderbird, on desktop and mobile. When I installed the mobile app, I was pleased to find that I could create a QR code on the desktop that my phone could scan to set up my accounts there. Much simpler and quicker than manually entering all the account details.

One of Thunderbird's killer features for me is the Send Later add-on. I have it configured so that when I click "Send" on an email, it delays sending by five minutes. That gives me a chance to realise that I'd missed something, and edit the email before sending.

But it can also set a much longer delay. Sometimes I work in the evening, but any emails that I write then are scheduled to be sent the next morning at a more sensible time.

thunderbird.net/

@thunderbird

Send Later

True "Send Later" functionality to schedule the time for sending an email.

^{addons.thunderbird.net}

Would you be willing to skip upgrading your computer/laptop/smartphone for a year and give that same amount of money to Mozilla so they don't have to raise funds through ads or AI related partnerships?

We're talking anywhere from $500-$2000

Renovando mi apoyo al cliente de correo @thunderbird que utilizo en mi día a dia.

Donar — Thunderbird thunderbird.net/es-ES/donate/

TIL why Sun Microsystems (Bill Joy and all) bought an office suite company in 1999. 🤨

"In August 1999, Star Division was acquired by Sun Microsystems[81][82] for US$59.5 million (equivalent to US$112 million in 2024), reportedly because the acquisition was less expensive than licensing Microsoft Office for Sun's 42,000 employees.[83][84]"

😄

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LibreOff…

And that's how eventually LibreOffice became available for many. 😇

#SunMicrosystems #staroffice #openoffice #libreoffice

free and open-source productivity software suite

^{Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)}

Why would the Firefox flatpak do this:

- a) Updated it automatically circa 1 month ago; it lost all my containers and sessions. I think it restarted empty.

- b) Updated it automatically about 5 days ago; again it lost all my containers and sessions, and restarted with my REALLY OLD windows and tabs from before (a).

Neither update lost my bookmarks or anything critical. I just have to re-do my logins in the appropriate containers; no big deal, but it's annoying.

Tis the season for political resignations fa la la la la
la
la la la

ledevoir.com/politique/quebec/…

Christian Dubé démissionne de ses fonctions

Dans un message publié sur ses réseaux sociaux, il dénonce l’entente de principe conclue avec les médecins.

^{Marie-Michèle Sioui (Le Devoir)}

I gave to @thunderbird today to #freetheinbox. Join me to support communication privacy. thunderbird.net/

updates.thunderbird.net/en-US/…

#donate #thunderbird #foss #opensSource

Only 3% of users support Thunderbird

Thunderbird is a free email application that’s easy to set up and customize - and it’s loaded with great features!

^Thunderbird

Used Theremin

Like new. Never been touched

I’ve built a few Braille-related apps, and I’m learning the hard way how difficult this space really is.

Discoverability is hard, onboarding takes time, and even motivated users often need practice before the apps become useful. Some software concepts are innovative, powerful, but slower compared to hardware tools.

I’m still iterating and listening carefully to feedback.

#Blind #Braille #Accessibility #a11y

Hello Mastodon 👋

I’m Stefan, an indie developer working on accessibility-focused apps for blind users.

My current work explores how light, color, and structure can be translated into sound and haptics without being overwhelming. A lot of it is learning by listening — to users, not just to code.

I’m here to learn, exchange ideas, and hopefully contribute something useful.

Happy to connect, and grateful for thoughtful feedback along the way.

#Accessibility #a11y #Blind #IndieDev

A miserable complaint:
You know what really grinds my gears? When people who speak English as their first language have no fucking clue what they're talking about and have the gall to correct you about something they're wrong about, about their own language.

I learned the fucking rules and grammar! I checked the spelling in the dictionary! I read the style guides and the outlines of prose and poetry, I studied the classics! Sit the fuck down and go home to learn your own fucking language you silly oblivious little git. 👿

Sit as an Independent? NOT GOOD ENOUGH. How many doctors did we lose because of this jackass? cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ch…

#polQC #QCpoli #assnat #santeQC #QChealth

Kauai Coffee is a 3,000-acre farm on the south side of the island, the largest coffee farm in the US. Its lease is being threatened by the landowner and they may have to close shop.

I have mixed feelings about this because, a) The company provides jobs for the island, but b) Their coffee is absolute shite. They grow it in sandy soil near sea level and it tastes like dog's balls. Sorry not sorry.

#coffee

Mozilla right now.

#firefox #mozilla