julian

2022-11-19 21:41:09

FOSS Apps Live in FOSS Forges

Software is a process, and whoever controls it ultimately decides what the developers can do and how they communicate.

Have the Freenode sell-out (2021) and the Twitter fiasco (2022) taught us nothing?

FOSS thrives in FOSS ecosystems.

The ForgeFriends “State of the Forge Federation” newsletter puts it like this:

Millions of Free Software developers forgot why it matters to own their tools. They know, better than anyone, how to fix and improve them. But when they choose to collaborate only via the most popular proprietary software forges, they are denied the right to use their skills and cannot work with fellow developers who are banned because they reside in the wrong country. They have been made to believe that the tools they use daily to craft their own software are out of reach. As if their software was a product that could be separated from the other software running the tests, allowing changes to be merged or bugs to be filed. But software is a process, and whoever controls it ultimately decides what the developers can do and how they communicate.

The source code and the development process of so many great Free-as-in-Freedom projects are currently hosted on the proprietary Microsoft Github. This makes me sad. In my strong opinion, to better serve FOSS as a whole they would GiveUpGithub and move to a FOSS software forge provider such as Codeberg.org and/or host a FOSS code forge at their own domain.

These fine FOSS people do it right

... in their own code forge such as gitea or self-managed gitlab, or on a FOSS code forge such as Codeberg or Framagit:

• Domain at Codeberg
• FediLab at Codeberg
• Fediverse Enhancement Proposals (FEP) at Codeberg
• ForgeFed at Codeberg
• Funkwhale at their own domain
• FUTO Circles at their own domain
• GadgetBridge at Codeberg
• Hubzilla at FramaGit.org
• Interpeer Project at Codeberg
• KeyOxide at Codeberg
• Libravatar at Ubuntu's LaunchPad.net
• Mobilizon at FramaGit.org
• NextPush at Codeberg
• Plume at their own domain
• Simple-Matrix-Bot-Lib at Codeberg
• (streams) at Codeberg
• Ubuntu at their own domain
• UnifiedPush at Codeberg
• Vocata at Codeberg
• Wordpress at their own domain
• ... and thousands more.

Pwned by Big Tech: these fine FOSS people need a nudge

I love these fine people. I value what they are making. I understand these fine people had to choose something and they chose to prioritise the convenience of Microsoft Github, but I feel more and more every year that our world of FOSS overall is stifled by being owned by such megacorps and I want to take a stand in support of prioritising our FOSS values. I would be joyful to see them improve their relationship to the FOSS world by putting their assets in FOSS infrastructure under their own control.

• Authelia
• Authentik
• Calibre-ebook
• Diary by Bill Farmer
• Element [matrix] software
• Elementary OS: AppCentre apps “must be hosted in a Github repository”
• Fediverse Enhancement Proposals (FEP)
• Gitea
• Healthchecks
• Homer by Bastien Wirtz
• InfiniTime
• Jellyfin
• LibreTranslate
• Mailspring
• Mastodon
• Navidrome
• Nextcloud
• ntfy
• OpenAndroidInstaller
• Photoprism
• PocketCasts
• Sandstorm
• Syncthing
• Traefik
• Vaultwarden
• WriteFreely federated blogging
• YunoHost
• ... and thousands more.

(I'm linking only to their free/libre/open home pages, not to github.)

I'll repeat and emphasise, I love these fine FOSS projects I have listed here. I value, use, support, and/or contribute to, and recommend them to you for the fine work they are doing in free software world. I would also love to see them adopt FOSS principles when it comes to their choice of code forge.

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Related: – I Can't Wait for Forge Federation– Your FOSS Project Deserves its Own Domain– FOSS Apps Live in FOSS App Stores!

More: #awesomeFOSS #selfHosted #GiveUpGithub #DitchDiscord #forgeFed #forgeFederation #ForgeJo #Codeberg

---

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• matrix me: @julian:foad.me.uk

Donations gratefully accepted

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• matrix me: @julian:foad.me.uk

Donations gratefully accepted

Explore projects · GitLab

^GitLab

julian

2022-11-19 15:43:34

FOSS Apps Live in FOSS App Stores!

Don't lock a FOSS Android app in Google's proprietary store!

Many of us are looking to FOSS solutions in order to keep our digital lives under our own control. We don't accept that any Big Tech company should hold the keys to a vast swathe of our digital life. So on our smart phones we may choose to use a FOSS version of Android. That means one that uses the open source parts of Android but avoids the proprietary Google lock-in parts. These so-called “deGoogled” Android-compatible operating systems include LineageOS, Murena /e/-OS, CalyxOS, GrapheneOS and more. Users of non-Google phones can find various “back door” ways to obtain apps from Google's play-by-our-rules-store, but that's completely the wrong way. FOSS apps should be available through FOSS app stores such as F-Droid.

F-Droid is not only an app store, it's also a protocol or “app store kit” that allows anyone to publish their own F-Droid-compatible app store. (I set up one up just to publish one camera app for myself and friends.) Each app publisher can choose whether to publish their app in the F-Droid store following its rules and conditions, or publish on their own store where they can set their own rules and conditions. Each user can decide which F-Droid-compatible stores they want to use, according to their own assessment of the publisher's reputation.

Read more about F-Droid:

• “Why curation and decentralization is better than millions of apps”

These fine FOSS people do it right

• FUTO Circles a.k.a. Circuli, matrix-based private social media — published in their own f-droid repo [1]

These fine FOSS people need a nudge

• Pocket Casts — issue filed: “Add to F-Droid” (I've up-voted it)

TODO: add lots more examples

These Fine People Understand

• EU Pilot Project: Public Apps in F-Droid

Read More

• FOSDEM '23 talk Sat 15:00 Reckoning with new app store changes: Is now our chance? — Recent legal and policy developments around app stores and what they mean for free software
• FOSDEM '23 talk Sat 16:00 EU alternative to app stores — Guardian Project tooted: “At #FOSDEM, @marcel_kolaja will present the #EU pilot project to look into open-sourcing the EU's apps and publishing them outside of #BigTech including on @[url=https://mastodon.technology/users/fdroidorg]fdroidorg[/url]. @[url=https://social.librem.one/users/eighthave]Hans-Christoph Steiner[/url] will join, talking about how F-Droid will help pull the EU towards #FreeSoftware. Join us!”

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[1] An f-droid repo link is not a web page. To use it, you open your f-droid app's “repositories” settings and add the link there.

Related: – FOSS Apps Live in FOSS Forges– Your FOSS Project Deserves its Own Domain

More: #degoogled #awesomeFOSS #selfHosted #GiveUpGithub #DitchDiscord

---

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Donations gratefully accepted

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GrapheneOS: the private and secure mobile OS

GrapheneOS is a security and privacy focused mobile OS with Android app compatibility.

^GrapheneOS

julian

2022-11-09 21:05:09

All I Want for Christmas is... a Smart Phone?

“What's it to be: Android or iPhone?”

Actually, NO! There is another way.

Time I Learned: there are freedom-respecting phones.

I'll tell you which one you need.

(For the literal minded: It's just a title. I don't really think Christmas is about buying gadgets. This article is about freedom in technology.)

What's the problem?

What's so bad about choosing either Google or Apple?

Many of us today are increasingly concerned about the vendor lock-in, advertising and data mining perpetrated by Apple and Google. They are so pervasive that it's hard at first to see all the avenues of social human interaction and creativity in which we could be harnessing the power of our computers and our electronic connection to others, all these avenues from which Big Tech have cut us off, as they steer us through their own product pathways according to their own commercial objectives.

In short, we are carrying around general purpose computers but we are artificially locked in to using their power only within the vendor's own playground. Read: The General Purpose Computer in Your Pocket. Those mega-corporations ensure everything we do is steered toward making their advertisers and shareholders richer: attention grabbing, commercial subscriptions, ads and so on. Not towards what's best and nicest for us as people.

We've been subjected so completely to their way that it's hard to imagine any other way. Hard to see that the nuggets of convenience we'd have to give up would be as nothing compared to the adventures we'd gain by switching. We can't see the wood for the trees.

Yet, the alternatives are here. We don't have to accept it's a choice between a rock and a hard place.

What we can do instead is choose tech that unlocks the power of these personal computers we carry around, and lets us use them for purposes that make no profits but enhance our own social lives. Gentle technology. Small Tech as opposed to Big Tech.

Once we make the leap and begin exploring the previously untapped possibilities, we begin to appreciate what it feels like to be released from Big Tech's constraints. It's not a stretch to say those companies had pressed us into their servitude, and now we can be free. That's what I'm feeling, and I want us all to have that opportunity.

Which Freedom-respecting Phone?

The one that stands out as best suited for ordinary people is built upon a deGoogled version of Android:

• Murena /e/OS smartphones
  
  • deGoogled, Android-compatible phone
  • with deGoogled “cloud” suite: email, docs, storage, etc. (free or €2~20 /month)
  • choice of phone models (€300~600) including Fairphone

  
  

Being freedom-software (open source), the maker guarantees your freedom to use the tools they provide or change to others. What does that mean in practice? For example, if you don't like the terms and conditions of the Murena cloud software suite, you can use a different one provided by someone else, be it an independent commercial provider, or run by your school or club, or at your best techie friend's home. And then you don't even need a Murena account.

How is this degree of freedom possible? First, with the slogan “my data is my data”, Murena is committed to these principles. It was founded by Gaël Duval, the creator of Mandrake Linux. Second, in contrast to Google's Android which merely contains some open-source software components, this technology stack is designed around open source principles. Their cloud service is not only based on Nextcloud, but is designed to be compatible and interoperable with similar services run by lots of other providers and individuals. Together, and in stark contrast to the Big G and the Big A, these mean there is neither a practical lock-in nor a legal lock-in.

How to get one?

• The no-fuss solution: buy one
• The techie friend option: ask the friend to set it for you on a second-hand phone.

“But I'm Not Average”: Other Freedom Phones

If you are not the average person, or if you want to learn more about the alternatives, read on.

I recommend Murena for the average person because their offering is so inclusive: the phone hardware, the cloud services, the freedom to take or leave parts of the system and adapt it to your needs, compatibility with most smart phone apps, and working in a way that is broadly familiar to a lot of people already. I hope we will soon see other providers like them offering a no-fuss all-included solution too.

These alternatives will appeal more to techies and to people with particular preferences or needs, and the ability to spend a bit more effort instead of buying an all-in package. With most of these, you or a techie friend will need to do one or more of: install the operating system software on a suitable phone, setting up any “cloud” services you want, or using apps that are currently less mainstream.

That said, these are quality and important alternatives.

Purism in particular is an outstanding company dedicated to making freedom and privacy centred devices. If their Librem phone isn't for you, check out their laptop, server, security key.

• Purism's Librem 5
  
  • Linux-based phone OS
  • convergence with Linux desktop: run desktop apps on the phone, or plug into a monitor and use as a desktop computer
  • company dedicated to software and hardware freedom and privacy at all levels, and working with wider FOSS community

  
  

Shiftphones in Germany sells modular repairable phones (and laptops, headphones, etc.). While their current SHIFT6mq comes with a Google Android pre-installed, the interesting thing is they offer an easy and built-in way to install an “upgrade” to a degoogled android version. Much easier than degoogling any other phone.

• Shiftphone SHIFT6mq detailed Review including thorough instructions on degoogling it, and suggestions for additional settings and apps.

Iodé is a small company in France selling phones pre-installed with deGoogled Android, with extra privacy features.

• Iodé's new or refurbished phones
  
  • deGoogled, Android-compatible phone
  • choice of phone models (€210~730) including Fairphone

  
  

For techies, there are more deGoogled Android distributions that you can download and install yourself on a suitable phone:

• LineageOS or LineageOS for microG
• CalyxOS
• GrapheneOS

The phone operating systems from the vendors mentioned, all being based on freedom software, can be self-installed too:

• install Murena /e/OS
• install Iodé
• install Purism's PureOS

(Where are the iOS-based freedom phones? That's not going to happen: Apple locks its users into its own walled garden completely. See The Neighborhood and The Nursing Home.)

What Does Julian Use?

Personally, for myself and family I am currently using LineageOS-for-MicroG. I chose that option because I am a techie, experimenting with the various options on a budget, so I tended towards those I can install myself on a wide range of old and new phones. And because it is quite close to mainstream Android so a majority of mainstream apps run on it. And because my less techie family members needed the reassurance of being able to continue using their familiar Google apps to begin with, and only gradually migrating to freedom-software, one app at a time when they are ready, from Chrome to Firefox for example.

I have experimented with others. I really admire what Murena is doing, and have self-installed /e/OS on an older phone. I am considering switching over to it on my main phone. I would want to set up my own compatible cloud service rather than using Murena's, because I will not compromise on using my own domain name as the key to my own data services. I believe Murena and other companies offering “your own data” services should for this reason always offer “bring your own domain”. For now, the situation is that Murena's service is open source with the source code repository ecloud-selfhosting in “beta” status. (It is to be congratulated also that they host their software forge on their own domain rather than using the anti-freedom github.)

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This article is part of my Open Source Gadgets series.

#fossGadgets #android #degoogled #lineageOS #eOS

---

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Beautiful, Secure, Privacy-Respecting Devices - Purism

Purism makes premium phones, laptops, mini PCs and servers running free software on PureOS. Purism products respect people's privacy, freedom, and security

^{Purism SPC}

julian

2022-12-04 16:50:42

PineTime Smart Watch -- Awesome Open Source

My smart watch is open source. Awesome!

PineTime from Pine64 (product | shop | wiki)

The PineTime is made of open-source hardware and open-source software.

Read a detailed review by It's MOSS.

Being created in order to inspire open development, Pine64 sell it directly for a very low price. It comes as a working product ready to use. For developers, the similarly priced development kit is recommended.

I haven't worn a watch for decades, but I am so happy this exists, I have ordered one.

Actually, to be candid, I ordered one because I want to be more intentional about promoting open source products. We can tell our friends we don't need Apple or Google owning us. But telling is weak. Showing is strong.

A few weeks later... here it is! Woohoo!

I installed GadgetBridge from F-Droid on my degoogled Android phone, and connected it. Upgrading the Infinitime firmware from version 1.6.0 as supplied, to the then current version 1.11.0, went smoothly.

What Does it Do?

It tells the time. It notifies me, with vibration and on-screen display, of notifications shown on my phone. It can control a music player on my phone, start/stop, track skip, and volume control. Those are the functions I find useful, at least initially.

There's an intriguing “navigation” screen, as in map directions. I have not been able to make it do anything, and on searching online found a note that it “only works with PureMaps/Sailfish OS”. That's a pity. I wonder if it can and will be made to work with the awesome open source Organic Maps.

Maybe you are more interested in the step counting and heart rate monitoring. There are also some little gadgets like timers, scribbling, metronome, and mini-games.

Where Next?

This is a hacker's watch, a hackable watch. Infinitime OS is not the only OS it can run. There is also Wasp-OS, and instructions on how to switch between Infinitime and Wasp-OS.

On either operating system, it's possible to add new functions. I would like to learn how to do so. For instance, I would like to monitor and control my smart home gadgets.

Alternatives

Other smart watches exist with open-source hardware and software designs. Some are hacker-only projects, which you can build yourself, such as Bellafaire's and more that we can find in round-ups such as this and this.

Here are the ones I know that are available to buy.

• Bangle.js reviewed in MagPi magazine, Feb. 2022
• Watchy by SQFMI

And finally, I came across an interesting project by “dcz” who has begun making a bike “computer” based on Bangle.js watch hardware with custom software: Jazda.

---

This article is part of my Open Source Gadgets series.

#fossGadgets #cloudFree #degoogled #awesomeFOSS #openHardware

---

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• matrix me: @julian:foad.me.uk

Donations gratefully accepted

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Best Open Source Smartwatch 2021 - Learn How to Hack your Smartwatch

Here are some of the best open source smartwatch in the market. Pick from different smartwatch with open source hardware and software, see the list

^{Jo Di Calivo (SmartWatch Specifications)}

julian

2022-12-06 12:00:00

What to Give: Tech Gadgets that Respect Our Freedom

“All I Want for Christmas is...” a device that works as a tool for me not as a tool that continues to work for its maker

We love a new tech gadget. What will it be? It's all about “smart” these days.

• A smart watch (full article)
• A smart phone (full article)
• A smart home (full article)
  
  • full of IoT things: doorbell, lights, sockets, security cameras

  
  

What do You Mean, “Freedom-Respecting”?

Today there's a huge gulf between the Big Business approach and the freedom-respecting approach.

What do I mean by “freedom respecting” and why would I care this much? After all, we might ask,

“Dear Julian, we know you love Open Source, and we know those Big Tech prorietary vendors are out to get us with their vendor lock-in, their advertising, and their data collection. Yes it's annoying but it's how things are in today's world. We put up with it because we just want something that's easy, that does what we want. They make that stuff, and it works. Why are you still getting so upset about it?”

For insight, read or listen to The Future of Computing and Why You Should Care and The Neighborhood and The Nursing Home.

For some of my personal recommendations, read on. There is a longer article linked to each one.

Smart Watch

There's an open source smart watch → the PineTime (main | shop | wiki) from Pine64

• Both its hardware and software are open source
• A review | DDG search for “pinetime review”
• Being created in order to inspire open development, Pine64 sell it directly for a very low price
• There is working software so you can just use it. For developers, there is a development kit

→ Read the full article: PineTime Smart Watch — Awesome Open Source

Smart Phone

“What's it to be: Android or iPhone?”

Actually, NO! Apple and Google both press us into their servitude with their extreme vendor lock-in, advertising and data mining. We don't have to accept it, once we learn there's an alternative.

What to buy:

• Murena /e/OS smartphones
  
  • deGoogled, Android-compatible phone
  • with deGoogled “cloud” suite: email, docs, storage, etc. (optional, free or €2~20 /month)
  • choice of phone models (€300~600) including Fairphone

  
  

Being freedom-software (open source), the maker guarantees your freedom to use the tools they provide or change to others. What does that mean in practice? For example, if you don't like the terms and conditions of the Murena cloud software suite, you can use a different one provided by someone else, be it an independent commercial provider, or run by your school or club, or at your best techie friend's home. And then you don't even need a Murena account.

→ Read the full article: All I Want for Christmas is... a Smart Phone?

Smart Home Automation

Automating our lights, security cameras, all the Things? We'll be needing some IoT Gadgets and a home automation system.

Recommendation for home automation control centre:

• Home Assistant controls and monitors everything

“Open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first”

There are different ways to run Home Assistant. You can buy it as a tiny device pictured above, code-named “Home Assistant Yellow”. Alternatively, because Home Assistant is freedom software, it's open source so your best techie friend can set it up for you on more or less any old computer you have, if you prefer.

For lots of information about using Home Assistant, listen to The Self-Hosted Show podcast.

For recommendations on security cameras, also consult The Self-Hosted Show.

For your smart switches, plugs, lights, temperature sensors etc.: mylocalbytes.com (UK) or cloudfree.shop (USA).

→ Read the full article: A Freedom-Respecting Smart Home

---

#fossGadgets #openHardware #awesomeFOSS

---

Feedback:

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• matrix me: @julian:foad.me.uk

Donations gratefully accepted

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The Future of Computing and Why You Should Care – Purism

Purism makes premium phones, laptops, mini PCs and servers running free software on PureOS. Purism products respect people's privacy and freedom while protecting their security.

^{Purism SPC}

julian

2022-11-19 21:41:09

FOSS Apps Live in FOSS Forges

Software is a process, and whoever controls it ultimately decides what the developers can do and how they communicate.

Have the Freenode sell-out (2021) and the Twitter fiasco (2022) taught us nothing?

FOSS thrives in FOSS ecosystems.

The ForgeFriends “State of the Forge Federation” newsletter puts it like this:

Millions of Free Software developers forgot why it matters to own their tools. They know, better than anyone, how to fix and improve them. But when they choose to collaborate only via the most popular proprietary software forges, they are denied the right to use their skills and cannot work with fellow developers who are banned because they reside in the wrong country. They have been made to believe that the tools they use daily to craft their own software are out of reach. As if their software was a product that could be separated from the other software running the tests, allowing changes to be merged or bugs to be filed. But software is a process, and whoever controls it ultimately decides what the developers can do and how they communicate.

The source code and the development process of so many great Free-as-in-Freedom projects are currently hosted on the proprietary Microsoft Github. This makes me sad. In my strong opinion, to better serve FOSS as a whole they would GiveUpGithub and move to a FOSS software forge provider such as Codeberg.org and/or host a FOSS code forge at their own domain.

These fine FOSS people do it right

... in their own code forge such as gitea or self-managed gitlab, or on a FOSS code forge such as Codeberg or Framagit:

• Domain at Codeberg
• FediLab at Codeberg
• Fediverse Enhancement Proposals (FEP) at Codeberg
• ForgeFed at Codeberg
• Funkwhale at their own domain
• FUTO Circles at their own domain
• GadgetBridge at Codeberg
• Hubzilla at FramaGit.org
• Interpeer Project at Codeberg
• KeyOxide at Codeberg
• Libravatar at Ubuntu's LaunchPad.net
• Mobilizon at FramaGit.org
• NextPush at Codeberg
• Plume at their own domain
• Simple-Matrix-Bot-Lib at Codeberg
• (streams) at Codeberg
• Ubuntu at their own domain
• UnifiedPush at Codeberg
• Vocata at Codeberg
• Wordpress at their own domain
• ... and thousands more.

Pwned by Big Tech: these fine FOSS people need a nudge

I love these fine people. I value what they are making. I understand these fine people had to choose something and they chose to prioritise the convenience of Microsoft Github, but I feel more and more every year that our world of FOSS overall is stifled by being owned by such megacorps and I want to take a stand in support of prioritising our FOSS values. I would be joyful to see them improve their relationship to the FOSS world by putting their assets in FOSS infrastructure under their own control.

• Authelia
• Authentik
• Calibre-ebook
• Diary by Bill Farmer
• Element [matrix] software
• Elementary OS: AppCentre apps “must be hosted in a Github repository”
• Fediverse Enhancement Proposals (FEP)
• Gitea
• Healthchecks
• Homer by Bastien Wirtz
• InfiniTime
• Jellyfin
• LibreTranslate
• Mailspring
• Mastodon
• Navidrome
• Nextcloud
• ntfy
• OpenAndroidInstaller
• Photoprism
• PocketCasts
• Sandstorm
• Syncthing
• Traefik
• Vaultwarden
• WriteFreely federated blogging
• YunoHost
• ... and thousands more.

(I'm linking only to their free/libre/open home pages, not to github.)

I'll repeat and emphasise, I love these fine FOSS projects I have listed here. I value, use, support, and/or contribute to, and recommend them to you for the fine work they are doing in free software world. I would also love to see them adopt FOSS principles when it comes to their choice of code forge.

---

Related: – I Can't Wait for Forge Federation– Your FOSS Project Deserves its Own Domain– FOSS Apps Live in FOSS App Stores!

More: #awesomeFOSS #selfHosted #GiveUpGithub #DitchDiscord #forgeFed #forgeFederation #ForgeJo #Codeberg

---

Feedback:

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• matrix me: @julian:foad.me.uk

Donations gratefully accepted

---

Feedback:

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• matrix me: @julian:foad.me.uk

Donations gratefully accepted

Explore projects · GitLab

^GitLab

Julian Foad

2021-05-11 21:04:46

I made my first Android app. Well, I didn’t write it from scratch, I took an open source camera app and just renamed and modified it a bit, and rebuilt it.

I called it Trax Cam.

It is a fork of Open Camera. The initial, test version of Trax Cam makes just two small improvements over Open Camera:

• (old)
• Trax Cam
• (old)
• Trax Cam

1. improving the visual difference of the shutter buttons between video and photo mode, recording and not recording, by contrasting colour and style;
2. not forgetting the zoom level when temporarily switching to another app and back, switching between photo and video modes, and the like.

Impressive? Is this everything you have ever wanted from a camera app? No, I didn’t think so. That’s not the point of it. Dear reader, it’s not for you. Not yet, anyway. Sorry!

Trax Cam is not yet intended as a product for ordinary users. Rather, the purpose of this project, at least initially, is as a learning exercise for me. The status of it, at the time of writing, is it is stable, being based on a stable version of Open Camera, and I am running it as my main camera app on two different phones, but I am not committing to making further fixes or updates. I might or might not continue developing or updating it. Switching to other projects will give me a broader and probably more useful learning experience.

Default Camera for /E/-OS

/e/-foundation‘s /e/-OS comes with OpenCamera as its default camera app. I had previously installed OpenCamera on my main LineageOS-powered phone, alongside the default LineageOS camera code-named ‘snap’.

I would sometimes switch between OpenCamera and ‘snap’. I like different things about them, mainly the range of options in OpenCamera and the simplicity of ‘snap’, with neither of them managing to bring the best possible combination, and both still having annoyances and room for improvement.

It was while evaluating /e/ that I noticed again several of the shortcomings of OpenCamera, and decided it could be time for me to do something about it. I had some ideas noted in my head, and have now written them down in a bug tracker.

Trax Cam Issues: https://lab.trax.im/trax.im/traxcam/-/issues . Issue #1 is Remember my zoom level , #2 is Boldly indicate photo/video/recording states (both still “open” as I am not satisfied that I have yet completed them as well as could be done), and I have opened several more.

At the same time, I discovered /e/-foundation is recruiting among other positions a Camera developer: “[You want] to make open source camera apps as good as high-end camera apps?” (If you are an “experienced (5+ years) Android developer”, check it out.) It’s good to see that /e/-foundation recognizes the need and seems to have some resources to tackle it.

In my opinion, one thing /e/ could do to encourage volunteer developers to develop OpenCamera (or another) in a useful direction for /e/ and other libre Android uses, would be to publish a road map or a prioritization of issues for what they consider needs to be done. I feel that projects providing a summary of what they want done is often missing and often a surprisingly effective driver in open source development. Developers tend to be quicker and more efficient at implementing something that is at least loosely specified (along with rationale to explain why) than creating something that they need to invent from scratch.

Comparing with Other Cameras

Besides OpenCamera and Lineage ‘snap’ I also briefly tried FreeDCam and OxygenOS camera (proprietary). Those each have some very slick UI designs which bear studying and would be nice to bring in. In particular, if I recall correctly they both use swipe to review the last and earlier taken pictures, which seems to me more intuitive and easier to use.

I noticed the OxygenOS camera used slick-looking rotary dials for analogue settings such as exposure compensation. I really liked this at first sight. In use, I found their behaviour a bit fussy and skiddy, easy to leave it on a random in-between value, hard to return quickly to the previously used value. It would be great if we could create something along those lines of analogue beauty, but with more positive and robust behaviour to set and leave a desired value. For example, I think it is common and so needs to be easy to switch between “auto” and the last used non-auto value. (Not just for camera controls, indeed, but for all kinds of settings in all apps.)

Available on My F-Droid App Store

You can try out Trax Cam if you like, even though it is not (currently) aimed at general use. https://fdroid.foad.me.uk/fdroid/repo/im.trax.cam_80.apk is a direct link to the installer file for my initial test version. It’s not published on Google Play store. You will need your “install from unknown sources” option enabled in Android settings.

I also put up my own F-Droid app store, and put Trax Cam up on it, so we can install it on phones through the f-droid app. This too is not currently intended for general end users. However, you are welcome to try it. First install the f-droid app (https://f-droid.org/), then add my repository’s URL (https://fdroid.foad.me.uk) under settings, repositories, add.

If you are unfamiliar with F-Droid, it comprises:

• an Open/Libre app store system by which anyone can set up and serve their own app repository, and anyone can browse and install apps from such repositories; and
• the F-Droid app, for browsing and installing apps from any such repositories; and
• a repository of Free/Libre apps for Android, which is the default repository that the F-Droid app connects to until you tell it about other ones.

Putting up my own app store is part of my ambition to support independent creation of free/libre software and self-owned services.

https://blog.foad.me.uk/2021/05/11/introducing-trax-cam/

Issues · Trax / traxcam

Android camera based on Open Camera · Development repository · Introduction blog post

^GitLab

julian

2023-10-04 09:19:34

I Can't Wait for Forge Federation

I was just preparing a Merge Request to contribute upstream, when I noted,

You can review my merge request in the web UI at my TraxLab (gitlab) repo. Obviously you can't click the “Merge” button (until Forge Federation is done — there's an awesome project to check out).

It still grieves me that open source devs push me into working with Microsoft Github. Sure I understand the argument to use it “because it's convenient right now and 'everyone' is there” but to me there's a more important value I wish to uphold:

Millions of Free Software developers forgot why it matters to own their tools.

... says ForgeFriends.org, continuing ...

They know, better than anyone, how to fix and improve them. But when they choose to collaborate only via the most popular proprietary software forges, they are denied the right to use their skills and cannot work with fellow developers who are banned because they reside in the wrong country. They have been made to believe that the tools they use daily to craft their own software are out of reach. As if their software was a product that could be separated from the other software running the tests, allowing changes to be merged or bugs to be filed. But software is a process, and whoever controls it ultimately decides what the developers can do and how they communicate.

I'm looking eagerly to the great work of the forward thinking folks involved in ForgeFriends, the ForgeJo forge and Codeberg.org hosting, who are turning forge federation from a dream into reality. They are creating one of the most important movements in the open source software world today. I am keeping my eyes open for a grant opportunity or other financial support, as I would love to join them in making it happen.

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Related:

• FOSS Apps Live in FOSS Forges
• GitLab: some discussions ongoing

#awesomeFOSS #selfHosted #giveUpGithub #forgeFed #forgeFederation #ForgeJo #Codeberg

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Feedback:

• email me: julian@foad.me.uk
• matrix me: @julian:foad.me.uk

Donations gratefully accepted

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Feedback:

• email me: julian@foad.me.uk
• matrix me: @julian:foad.me.uk

Donations gratefully accepted

ForgeFed

ActivityPub-based forge federation protocol

^Codeberg.org