Hi, thank you for your feedback on accessibility and open source technologies. I always read your posts with great interest in order to improve the accessibility of FreeBSD, a UNIX and open source operating system.

At the FreeBSD Developer Summit in Dublin 2024, I showed other developers (using simulators) the challenges faced by color-blind, low-vision, and blind users. The @FreeBSDFoundation is currently sponsoring the "Vision Accessibility" project to improve accessibility for users with visual impairments.

At the Developer Summit in Zagreb 2025, I presented the new accessibility handbook docs.freebsd.org/en/books/acce… focused on the assistive technologies currently available in the system, including practical examples to help developers better understand these challenges.

I am in contact with organizations supporting people with low vision, blindness, and deafblindness to implement Braille display subsystem for FreeBSD and to develop interfaces specifically designed to be used with screen readers.

Any feedback or suggestions are very welcome.

#accessibility #FreeBSD #UNIX #openSource

3/3

HOW EASY IS IT TO MOVE FROM MICROSOFT?

TECHNICALLY: Very feasible. Strong FOSS alternatives exist for everything:
Windows → Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora)

Office → OnlyOffice, LibreOffice

Exchange/Teams → Matrix/Element, Nextcloud

SQL Server → PostgreSQL, MariaDB

Benefits: No per-seat licenses, data sovereignty, transparent security, longer hardware life, no forced obsolescence.

THE REAL CHALLENGE: Organizational, not technical

Legacy Windows-only apps & VBA macros (need rewriting or VMs)

User retraining & change management (people lose muscle memory)

Political will & leadership commitment (critical!)

External partner expectations (.docx, Outlook, Teams)

SUCCESS FACTORS (proven by Lyon & Gendarmerie):
• Strong political backing at highest levels
• Adequate budget & realistic timeline
• Comprehensive training programs
• Willingness to maintain hybrid systems during transition
• Local/regional procurement (Lyon: 100% French contractors)

CURRENT MOMENTUM:
Denmark, Germany (Schleswig-Holstein), Netherlands, Italy, and Slovenia are all pursuing similar digital sovereignty initiatives through FOSS

Bottom line: #France proves that digital sovereignty through open source works at massive scale (103K+ workstations). They're not reinventing wheels—they're making smart use of mature, proven technology with European hosting and governance.

Lyon Register article: theregister.com/2025/06/26/lyo…

#OpenSource #DigitalSovereignty #Linux #FOSS #France #Lyon #PublicSector #Ubuntu #Matrix #GendBuntu #Europe #Microsoft

(3/3)

French city of Lyon ditching Microsoft for open source office and collab tools

: Ingredients of future software salade Lyonnaise will include Linux, PostgreSQL, and OnlyOffice

^{Simon Sharwood (The Register)}

In our journey to #DigitalSovereignty, here's where we are:

- Domain registration: TransIP and Prolocation 🇳🇱
- Email, calendar, collaborative writing, and more: mailbox.org 🇩🇪
- Document store: Tresorit 🇨🇭
- Critical infra hosting: Hetzner 🇩🇪
- Discourse hosting: Communiteq 🇳🇱
- Security: 1Password.eu 🇨🇦/🇪🇺 and Yubico 🇸🇪

Next up: GitHub —> Codeberg 🇩🇪

To-do: Slack —> Zulip, Matrix, Mattermost?

#OpenSource #DNS #BGP

Frankreich ersetzt MS Teams und Zoom durch eigene Videokonferenzsoftware

Mit Visio führt Frankreich seine Open-Source-Videokonferenzen für Behörden ein. Bis 2027 sollen 200.000 Beamte unabhängig von US-Anbietern arbeiten können.

heise.de/news/Frankreich-erset…

#DataAct #DigitaleSouveränität #EU #IT #MicrosoftTeams #Netzpolitik #OpenSource #Wirtschaft #news

Frankreich sagt Microsoft Teams und Zoom den Kampf an

^{Moritz Förster (heise online)}

If you are looking for a messenger that doesn't depend on US infrastructure (or any other country actually) take a look at #DeltaChat, an #European alternative messenger, it is #anonymous, #decentralized, end-to-end #encrypted, #openSource and free!

it is multi-platform, get it for your system at get.delta.chat

#sovereignty #Europe #sovereign #diday

Contributions of governments to #OpenSource are often unsustainable - fragmented, short term subsidies, feature work or new things. Nothing shifting billions of tax money from Big Tech to open source!

The public sector should work with existing communities that have managed a sustainable financial model. Commit to deploy these & shift real procurement money!

Debate me at #FOSDEM - between 12:55 and 13:40 on tis. Get involved!

fosdem.org/2026/schedule/track…

FOSDEM 2026 - Collaboration and content management

^fosdem.org

Just landed in #Brussels for the #EUOpenSourceWeek #FOSDEM I am less sure about my luggage, but will find out soon.

Looking forward to talking about #accessibility #OpenSource & #DigitalSovereignty

Friendly reminder of why #Google is just plain evil: they've taking down #IzzyOnDroid (a third party Open Source Android "app store" like #FDroid) *twice* in the past 30 days over false positive malware scanning.

See floss.social/@IzzyOnDroid/1158… and floss.social/@IzzyOnDroid/1159…

(More detailed history on gitlab.com/-/snippets/4909577#…)

#Android #OpenSource

Netcraft false positives, Google Safebrowsing shenanigans ($4909577) · Snippets · GitLab

GitLab.com

^GitLab

IzzyOnDroid ✅

2025-12-30 01:35:27

We are receiving reports that Google flags our repo as "having dangerous apps" or being a "dangerous site" – texts being very vague, no proof given (nor did they inform us). They also link to a page they call "Transparency Report" – which is of the same vagueness, but definitely not transparent (transparencyreport.google.com/…)

We're not aware of any such dangerous content. All apps on our repo are properly scanned, see izzyondroid.org/about/security…

#IzzyOnDroid #serviceToot

Security - IzzyOnDroid

Security measures taken at IzzyOnDroid

^{izzyondroid.org}

Will you be at #FOSDEM or in Brussels next week and want to meet some of the team? 👀

We have a few more spots open to register for the event at Little Delirium on Jan 31! If you haven't registered yet, do so before space runs out 👇🏼

#HomeAssistant #SmartHome #HomeAutomation #OpenSource
luma.com/ptshwcqn

Meet the Home Assistant team - FOSDEM Brussels

We'd love for you to join us 😎 Join the Open Home Foundation and key members of the Home Assistant team for a meetup in Brussels during FOSDEM 2026! 🤩 We're hosting a casual evening for the open-source community to connect.

^luma.com

We're excited to announce the release of Gitea 1.25.4! We strongly recommend all users upgrade to this version, as it includes important security fixes, numerous bug fixes, and overall stability improvements.

blog.gitea.com/release-of-1.25…

#OpenSource #Gitea #DevOps

I am speaking with Maurice Hendriks at #FOSDEM:

“Procurement Is the Biggest Form of Fundraising for FLOSS”
Track: Funding the FOSS Ecosystem 

Thesis: donations are optional and fragile. Procurement is structural. If public buyers require open deliverables and upstream work, they create durable funding for maintenance and security.

Event: fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event… 
“Public Money, Public Code” context: publiccode.eu/en/ 

#FOSDEM #FOSS #OpenSource #Procurement #PublicMoneyPublicCode

Public Money, Public Code

Public Money, Public Code - A campaign for releasing publicly financed software as Free Software

^{publiccode.eu}

Next week in Brussels, I'm speaking at Drupal4Gov EU as part of #EUOpenSourceWeek

The #WAD, the #EAA & #Drupal. Now what?

The June 2025 deadline has passed. The risk now is false confidence & operational debt.

10:35am, Jan 29, 2026

drupal4gov.eu/

#Drupal4Gov #OpenSource #FOSS #Accessibility #EAA

Digital Europe - Powered by Drupal

Join us for a day of knowledge sharing and networking in Brussels

^{drupal4gov.eu}

It's not GNOME, it's not KDE, it's not the new Vanilla OS DE, it's new, uses <100M of memory, is accessible (for real) and uses GTK4 (but not libadwaita).

#Linux #Windows #OpenSource #FOSS

Do you have a map with downloads per capita?
China having a huuuge population, comparing it with Germany or France isn't really relevant of the roots of LibreOffice in each country.
Thanks!

#LibreOffice #foss #openSource #freesoftware

🌟 Ready to shape the future of collaboration, all while driving innovation in #opensource? We are hiring! 🌟

Are you a great listener and a curious product person with experience in leadership and engineering? Then you might be a great fit for our Product Tech Lead role at @openproject.

You’ll lead a team of experienced engineers and help shape product direction based on the needs of our users. careers.openproject.org/o/prod…

#productmanagement #productleadership #techleadership #fediHire #foss

OpenProject GmbH - Product Tech Lead (all genders)

At OpenProject, we build open source project management software that helps teams plan, collaborate, and deliver work more effectively. We believe great software should empower people to organize work

^{OpenProject GmbH}

Mozilla wants your input. Please provide it.

mozillafoundation.tfaforms.net…

Here's mine.

#OpenSource #OpenWeb #Privacy #AI

Who has still a #FOSS project hosted on #GitHub? Why?

Don't you prefer a development platform that is aligned with the values of free software?

Did you consider migrating to e.g. @Codeberg? Is there something holding you back?

codeberg.org/about

#opensource #software #git #gitforge #bigtech

Codeberg.org

Codeberg is a non-profit community-led organization that aims to help free and open source projects prosper by giving them a safe and friendly home.

^Codeberg.org

The ⚙️ FOSDEM 2026 Schedule ⚙️ app for Android is now available:

🛒 f-droid.org/packages/info.meta…
🛒 play.google.com/store/apps/det…

🆕 Search filters
🆕 New session cards design
🆕 Edge-to-edge support
🆕 New settings options

#fahrplan #fosdem #fosdem2026 #opensource @fosdem @fosdempgday @fosdembsd

⚠️ We're 900 € short on funds for our stand at #FOSDEM

FOSDEM is the largest free and open source software conference in Europe. Attending FOSDEM allows us to promote #Luanti, bring the community together, and connect with other open source projects.

If you can, please help by giving to our non-profit fundraiser. Any contribution helps lighten the load

opencollective.com/luanti/proj…

#Minetest #OpenSource #FreeSoftware

Luanti at FOSDEM 26 - Open Collective

Stand for Luanti at FOSDEM 2026

^{opencollective.com}

I bloggered a post.

It's about shortcomings of FLOSS and a possible next thing.

My Next Project Won't be FLOSS:
pointless.one/my-next-project-…

#FLOSS #FOSS #FreeSoftware #OpenSource #GNU #GPL #OSI #MIT #BSD #BTPL #PolyForm

My Next Project Won't be FLOSS @ PointlessOne

Where FLOSS fails and what to do about it. With a little bit of history.

^PointlessOne

#Camper ist ein gemeinwohlorientiertes Tool zur Organisation und Durchführung von Barcamps - ohne KI.

Gerade wollte ich darauf verweisen und stelle fest, dass die Finanzierung wohl ausgelaufen ist.

Kennt jemand den Stand der Dinge?
Wäre nicht schön, wenn es nicht weiter betrieben und weiter entwickelt würde.

barcamps.eu/
#OpenSource #Barcamp #FOSS #selbstbestimmtDigital

Jeff Bezos is saying the quiet part out loud. They want to kill local computing.

You will own nothing and be happy. You will rent your computing power from the cloud. You pay a subscription for the privilege of using a computer.

AI demand is artificially spiking DRAM prices and Big Tech is pushing "AI PCs," the squeeze is on to force us into a rental model.

Reject this future.

Keep your hardware local.

Run #Linux.

Own your data.

The "cloud" is just a landlord for your data.

#NoAi #FOSS #OpenSource #Privacy #SelfHost #SelfHosting #BigTech #RightToRepair #RAM #Amazon #EatTheRich

windowscentral.com/artificial-…

2026 will see #deMicrosoft trending - what's your pick?

#NoAI #MS365 #DigitalSovereignty #OpenSource

Not ready to pay increased prices for AI? Choose alternatives: tuta.com/blog/microsoft-365-pr…

EU calls FOSS experts to come and talk about FOSS for the EU. @sesivany Koho zainteresujeme z ceska?

cadeproject.org/updates/europe…

#eu #foss #opensource #consultation

European Commission launches consultation on building open digital ecosystems in the EU - CADE – Civil Society Alliances for Digital Empowerment

The European Commission has published a call for evidence for an upcoming initiative titled Towards European open digital ecosystems, inviting stakeholders to provide input ahead of a planned Communication to the European Parliament and the Council e…

^{CADE – Civil Society Alliances for Digital Empowerment}

#XMPP Community

The Chat of the Future initiative has its first session today from 19:00 CET!

xmpp.org/2026/01/chat-of-the-f…

#jabber #chat #interoperability #rtc #xeps #standards #opensource #decentralization #federation #messaging

just reported a possible @libreoffice Calc bug

overflow appears to be reported as zero, and then used as such.

MS Excel at least throws an error and refuses downstream calculations.

bugs.documentfoundation.org/sh…

#libreoffice #opensource

Durch sightviews.de/316-oskar bin ich auf oskars.org aufmerksam geworden (die sind auch hier seit einigen Jahren aktiv, s. chaos.social/@oskar_mbr).

Dieses Projekt bearbeitet bereits einige derThemen, mit denen ich mich ebenfalls beschäftigen möchte (3D-Druck, taktile Beschriftungen und Karten, barrierefreie Zugänge zu OpenStreetMap...).

Großartig!

#blind #Inklusion #OpenSource #OpenHardware #OSM #Barrierefreiheit

Hilfsmittel gemeinsam entwickeln - das Open-Source-Projekt OSKAR

OSKAR ist ein Open-Source-Projekt, das Hilfsmittel für blinde Menschen gemeinsam entwickelt und frei zugänglich macht. Baupläne, Software und Anleitungen stehen offen zur Verfügung und können angepasst und weiterentwickelt werden.

^Sightviews

I'm not fucking around anymore. If you're actively trying to make shit harder for me, I am going to let you know.

bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugrep…

#OpenSource #BurnOut #Debian

```/bin/bash``` just turned 38.

Happy birthday, bash!

To display bash shell version press `Ctrl+x Ctrl+v`

#unix #linux #opensource

#XSF Announcement

Join the 28th #XMPP #Summit taking place in #Brussels, #Belgium from 29th January.

xmpp.org/2025/11/xmpp-summit-2…

And visit the #FOSDEM 2026 were you can find the #Realtime Lounge, too!

#jabber #chat #interoperability #rtc #opensource #decentralization #federation #messaging

EU is calling for comments on open source strategies. MAKE YOURSELF HEARD!

Even non-EU citizens have a voice here.

NOW is a time to stand up and stand out! YOU want to help the Fediverse? Here's just one way today that YOU can REALLY make a difference:

The European Open Digital Ecosystem Strategy will set out:

• a strategic approach to the open source sector in the EU that addresses the importance of open source as a crucial contribution to EU technological sovereignty, security and competitiveness
• a strategic and operational framework to strengthen the use, development and reuse of open digital assets within the Commission, building on the results achieved under the 2020-2023 Commission Open Source Software Strategy.

ec.europa.eu/info/law/better...

#EU #open #foss #openSource #source #linux #activitypub #AP #fedi #fediverse