Given that I see calls for better support for those random opensource devs that happen to maintain some of the most important pieces of software on the planet: a good friend of mine is maintaining expat - possibly the most important+popular xml library out there - and he has a message in his latest changelog that you may want to read: github.com/libexpat/libexpat/b…
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Although no Debian stable versions are known to be affected by CVE-2024-3094 the next point release for 12.6 has been postponed while we investigate the effects of this CVE on the Archive. lists.debian.org/debian-securi… micronews.debian.org/2024/1711… #debian

@masukomi Stripe payment links, Cash App, Ko-Fi, Buy Me a Coffee (looks like a Ko-Fi clone?), Liberapay, GitHub Sponsors, and (if it exists) your bank’s p2p payment portal seem like better options than Patreon and PayPal. I use everything on this list except BMAC and bank-provided p2p payments on my support page.

All except CashApp have small Stripe processing fees; CashApp probably makes money off user data instead of fees (i don’t really know). Anybody know any others? And how does BMAC compare to Ko-Fi?

(quoting a post by @masukomi)
RE: connectified.com/users/masukom…

CVE-2024-3094 concerning a backdoor exploit in XZ Utils 5.6.0 and 5.6.1 releases are currently being analyzed, for the moment we have paused Archive processing. We will advise as soon as possible. For more reading and information: tukaani.org/xz-backdoor/ micronews.debian.org/2024/1711… #debian
in reply to Debian

I know this is not directly related to the recent Chinese (?) backdoor, but the XZ format has all kind of problems and I personally avoid using it. Having a better compression ratio is not a reason to prefer XZ, IMHO. See nongnu.org/lzip/xz_inadequate.…
#gnulinux #opensource #Debian

This security-related article was cited on Slashdot, and it's somewhat disturbing.
theregister.com/2024/03/28/ai_…
#security #AI #MachineLearning

So, while the xz backdoor disaster has us thinking about how we interact with maintainers of open-source dependencies, I thought I'd ask for advice on resolving a dilemma I'm facing with AccessKit (github.com/AccessKit/accesskit). I want to add this dependency: crates.io/crates/immutable-chu… Like xz (before the long attack began), immutable-chunkmap is a one-person project; he's doing it in his spare time. But, at the risk of sounding entitled, there are things I want fixed before I depend on it. 1/?
in reply to Matt Campbell

The two main problems with this potential dependency are:

1. It brings in a handful of transitive dependencies for (IMO) marginal gain. This is easily fixed.

2. It uses unsafe Rust code, for a few functions that I don't need. I would rather stick to 100% safe code (outside the standard library) for the platform-independent parts of AccessKit.

Both of these things are relevant in light of the xz scare, because it's likely that open-source dependencies will now come under more scrutiny. 2/?

in reply to Matt Campbell

So now, I see three options:

1. Wait and see if the upstream author accepts my PR, putting on hold the AccessKit work that requires this dependency, and accept that there will be some unused unsafe code in there, which might make my project look bad if you look hard enough.

2. Copy the parts of this library that I need into my own code, with attribution (the license isn't a problem).

3. Release a fork of the library, and depend on that in AccessKit.

4/?

in reply to Matt Campbell

What I definitely don't want to do is be pushy about getting my PR merged, or about modifying his library to prioritize 100% safe Rust code over having all the functionality that he clearly wanted it to have. At the same time though, if I embed his code into my library (even with attribution) or fork it, then I'm denying him the gratification that would come from having my library depend on his, with the accompanying boost in download counts and similar statistics. 5/?
in reply to Matt Campbell

Are there tests?

I think pragmatically I would depend on it for now with a blocking issue before my next feature release (or before merging the feature branch to main), submit upstream patches to enable CI and put the undesirable transitive dependencies and unsafe code behind a feature (can stay on by default, but you'll use --no-default-features). If there are no tests, I figure I'd have to write some even if I forked, so would try sending them upstream.

in reply to Matt Campbell

You could send the contributions upstream, but vendor/fork it for now while you wait for them to be accepted or discussed. That's what I usually do when I have changes that need to be made to a dependency; I would rather not maintain a vendored/forked copy indefinitely, so I send patches upstream, but I vendor or fork it until they're accepted, at which point I can move back to depending on it (or not, if they're not accepted).
in reply to Brian Campbell

@unlambda Honestly, if I reduce the vendored copy of the Rust library down to 100% safe code, and only the functions I actually need, I could probably leave it alone indefinitely afterward, as it wouldn't be the kind of thing that has to be perpetually updated for security. The only question is whether embedding that library inside mine (with attribution), as opposed to openly depending on the upstream library, would be considered a dick move.
in reply to Matt Campbell

I don't think it's a dick move, with proper attribution.

It might be worth checking with upstream if they'd accept a PR to put everything that requires unsafe behind a feature flag (if it really is some optional functionality that could be separated out).

I do notice their readme says "written using only safe rust" which indicates that they find this desirable, even if the library doesn't actually match that any more.

in reply to Matt Campbell

IMO, a fork, making it clear that your preference is to not have a fork, is fine and quite respectful of the maintainer's time. A project I co-maintain got briefly forked because they needed additional functionality to ship as a default part of NixOS, they had a release schedule, and we were low on time to figure out how we wanted to land it, and I am quite delighted to see that people found it useful enough for it to be a default part of NixOS one way or another! github.com/nix-community/nsncd
in reply to Matt Campbell

Honestly the embed alternative sounds not too bad if (and only mostly if) you foresee that the attention towards the PR, be it accepted or rejected, will come in around the same timeframe. Your attention will be on and around this subject already, so you can more easily and safely take the path of embedding the code and, say, de-embedding it later and depending on the lib if the PR is accepted. Yes it is more work but IMO, it's something that at least both parties stand to gain or tie from regardless of the result of the PR.

Also, honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about unsafe in deps of your deps. It's the simplest tradeoff in engineering: either you trust someone else to do their work (including them trusting other people) and also the easiest to deal with if you go the embed option (again: regardless of PR results).

But that's just me, and I usually prefer embed + attribution to work on my 1PPs.

in reply to Jason Petersen (he)

@jason No, I don't have one. A few reasons. I'm visually impaired (legally blind), so I wouldn't be able to directly judge whether a picture is good. But I'm told that I look much younger than I am, so I wouldn't want an actual picture of my face to give the wrong impression. And I have no idea what else I'd want to use as a picture. And generally, I just want people to see my name and what I write.

Me ha asaltado una de esas locuras que a veces me da. Voy a ponerme a leer este libro de 1670 que he encontrado escaneado por la biblioteca del Banco de España.
Se trata de la "Historia de la conquista de la China por el tártaro" de Juan de Palafox y Mendoza.
Palafox es un personaje interesantísimo del s. XVII, muy importante en su época, pero hoy bastante olvidado. Fue obispo y político, llegando a ser virrey de Nueva España. Por la conexión tan directa que tenía México con Asia a través de Filipinas, Palafox conoció de primera mano todas las noticias que llegaban de China y las plasmó en este extraordinario libro.

Abro hilo para ir compartiendo citas de la lectura.

Fuente: repositorio.bde.es/handle/1234…
#historia #literatura #libros #PalafoxChina

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The abusive behavior that was being used to manipulate Lasse Collin into bringing on more maintainers for #xz went unnoticed because abusive behavior in Open Source communities is so pervasive. In context, we can clearly see it was part of an orchestrated operation. Out of context, it looks like just another asshole complaining about stuff they have no right to complain about. robmensching.com/blog/posts/20…
#xz
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#AndroidAppRain at apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid today with 13 updated and 1 added apps:

* Bura: a weather app with graphs and thoughtful data visualization

At apt.izzysoft.de/magisk 4 #Magisk #modules were updated.

Enjoy your #free #Android #apps with the #IzzySoftRepo :awesome:

I wholeheartedly agree with what Russ wrote here:

"Also if there's anything the community can do for Lasse personally, please pass that along."

"Anyone can be the victim of social engineering."

"I suspect many of us here have had nightmares about being in Lasse's
position, and probably will have more of them in the future."

Indeed.

openwall.com/lists/oss-securit…

I can’t tell you how angry this makes me feel for this maintainer.


I don’t know who Jigar Kumar is, or what the motivation was behind the emails that the author is referencing, but I can tell you if I was trying to get a bad actor in as a trusted developer, this is how I would approach it.

Good post.

robmensching.com/blog/posts/20…

»Open source projects don't have a top down approach. People work on whatever they find interesting and fun. You can't force volunteers to work on whatever you consider "core issues". Get over it.«

»#GNOME left the chat.«

phoronix.com/forums/forum/phor…

In a candid interview, one of the co-founders of Applause Group, which owns Voice Dream Reader, addresses some of the concerns expressed by some members of our community regarding the move to subscriptions for all. We also talk about future features including Kindle support, which is close to release. It’s available now for our Plus subscribers and to everyone in 72 hours. Join Plus for as little as 59 US cents a month. LivingBlindfully.com/plus

IAAP wants disabled people, including photographers, to do work for free. And not even just for the course, the license is CC-Zero which allows anyone to do anything with it.

IAAP charges for these courses. Do not submit your photos. Everyone, but especially people who are disadvantaged, have the right for fair and just compensation. Outrageous!

Link: linkedin.com/posts/internation…

#a11y via @kc

Tuta turned ten this week! 🥳🎉

Time to celebrate - and to take a look at how the team grew from 4 to 30 people! 😍

Read more on our exciting journey of bringing #privacy to the world: tuta.com/blog/road-to-success

Addressing indoor air quality saves lives and helps us achieve at work, in school, and in self-governance.

Brain function declines by 15% as CO2 levels hit 945ppm, and by 50% at 1400ppm.

Have you ever measured CO2 at your desk or a contentious City Council meeting? What you find might surprise you!

These scientists recommend mandating clean air in public buildings, with 800ppm as the upper limit. That's good policy: science.org/doi/10.1126/scienc…

#IAQ #COVID #HealthAndSafety #PublicHealthPledge

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Why can’t you suspend users in Pixelfed? Why is the only option marking their accounts as spam?

Why are mod management tools in Pixelfed still the worst of any software across the fediverse?

You want to talk about a commitment to improve moderation meaningfully? Why are you worried more about some ridiculous-ass reel app over key moderation features?

I held back before, but now it’s clear you’re just a bad faith actor looking to fulfill your own childish impulses of fame and building the “next big thing”.

If Loops and Sup are anything like how you treat the Pixelfed project, they’ll be jokes at the expense of the users and admins who try their best to make the most out of these broken platforms.

I don’t know how you sleep at night.

#pixelfed
RE: mastodon.social/users/dansup/s…

Hey Fedi,

Off the back of my last post, I'm compiling a list of publishers that sell ebooks and whether or not those ebooks come with DRM.

Shout me if there are particular publishers or vendors, whether they are DRM-free or not, that you know that I can add to my (publicly available, CC-0) list.

(Or raise a PR, whatever floats your boat!)

Ta!

This entry was edited (1 year ago)

Unmute Presents Unmute Presents – Thomas Domville

Today, Marty spoke with Thomas Donville from AppleViz about his tech journey from COBOL programming to network administration, facing challenges post-vision loss in 2005, and his role at AppleViz. Thomas highlighted the limited accessibility tools available, challenges working with servers, and the community-driven nature of AppleViz. He also shared podcasting equipment recommendations and AppleViz's expansion into various tech discussions beyond Apple products. Our talk explored Thomas's commitment to tech accessibility and AppleViz's growth as a valuable resource for the visually impaired community.

iacast.net/unmute-presents-unm…

HT to @wdormann here - somebody has backdoored the open source project XZ which has downstream impacts.

For example, although OpenSSH doesn’t use XZ, Debian patch OpenSSH and introduced a dependency which translates as the XZ changes introducing a sshd authentication bypass backdoor it appears.

One dude bothered to investigate in his free time about why ssh was running slow, so it was caught fairly early - i.e. hopefully before distros started bundling it.

openwall.com/lists/oss-securit…

in reply to Kevin Beaumont

Another two thoughts on XZ -

- sshd itself has no dependency on the XZ utils library. The streams got crossed in a way I don’t think anybody understood (except the threat actor).

- had that backdoor been performant with sshd, I don’t think anybody would have spotted it.

The way this played out opens a window of opportunity to go back and look at both issues.

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As we hear reports that it will take 10 years (🤯) to replace the 1.6 mile Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore, remember that China built the Danyang-Kunshan bridge and Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay Bridge in 4 years each.

Danyang-Kunshan Bridge is 102 miles long, and 100 ft above the water.

Jiaozhou Bay Bridge is 16 miles and 623 ft tall, earthquake and typhoon proof, and can withstand a direct strike from a 300,000 ton cargo ship. That last point is unfortunately topical.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=U7iQqogV…

This entry was edited (1 year ago)