Back to academia
Some of you might have read the story[1][2] of my fight to be able to defend my BSc
thesis. How during pandemic I refused to run proprietary software (including
those mainstream videoconferencing tools) on my devices.
Today, after a 3-year break, I'm finally enrolling in an MSc course — which this
time happens not to be computer science but cybersecurity 😎️ Since the story
mentioned above went public, it seemed right to make a post about my present
enrollment as well.
It also seemed good to mention changes to my approach so that nobody has a false
image of myself and my actions. Also, I can now refer people to this post to
explain my position.
- I used to be only concerned about software I run on my own hardware. I would
agree to use a proprietary videoconferencing platform if I could do so either
through some SIP gateway or on the university's lab computer. Now, I conclude
this is not good enough in case of software that (1) sends personal data to a
third party or (2) actively encourages all other users to use its nonfree
client software. So I plan to avoid these regardless of the device. - Quite a few times I went to the lab outside of my classes just to do some
homework that required a nonfree tool — I'd like to avoid this as well
although I'm not making commitments here. Or maybe just a commitment of
always complaining about the tool in the first place. - I am now willing to make an exception and run nonfree software when it is used
less as a tool and more as a target. For example in a pentesting exercise
with a Windows VM. - When some university teachers insisted on using MS Teams or Cisco Webex, I
used not to take these matters to the dean because I didn't want to be a
tattletale. Now I think I am ready to seek help more actively (although still
not with the goal of causing my teachers problems). - When students were required to put themselves on some list using a tool like
Google Sheets, I used to message a friend who was already doing this and ask
him to add my name as well. If such situations happen this time, I plan to
instead complain directly to the author of the list. - Instead of refusing all nonfree JS, I am now going to accept it if it serves
as just an extension to a page's markup and not a real application. I plan to
classify the scripts subjectively (no strict criteria like those in LibreJS).
That's it. Sorry for boring you, dear reader.
Wish me luck :) Also, please don't blame me if I somehow fail my commitments due
to family reasons (unfortunately, not everyone is completely healthy here).
Jacob K likes this.
Christmas reflection
While us, libre software folks, get constantly rejected by the society, it's helpful to notice we're not the first. Christ was as well — both in adult life and on his birthday.
When down in the dumps over the rejection, let's at least realize we're in a cool company — think about Mary and Joseph looking for a place 2k years ago.
Merry Christmas to all hackers!
Jak obejrzeć Mszę online używając wolnego oprogramowania?
Za pomocą niektórych stron można łatwo znaleźć transmicje Mszy św. o prawie każdej godzinie. Przydatne. Ale... takie transmisje z reguły wymagają włączenia w przeglądarce JavaScriptu, zazwyczaj JavaScriptu od YouTube'a.
Może kiedyś będzie lepiej i niektóre transmisje przeniosą się np. na etycznego PeerTube'a, dla którego istnieją oficjalne aplikacje na wolnej licencji. A jak poradzić sobie teraz?
Transmisję-stream z YT da się pobierać znanym skryptem youtube-dl (i kompatybilnymi forkami) i odtwarzać w odpowiednim desktopowym playerze (ja używam mpv).
Na początek trzeba znaleźć kod filmu. W przypadku msze.info wystarczy wejść w kod strony z transmisją (dodając "view-source:" na początku adresu) i znaleźć element z kodem filmu na YT (w tym przypadku "71phvw-OIFk").
Dla kodu konstruujemy URL filmu, w tym przypadku "https://youtube.com/watch?v=71phvw-OIFk". Upewniamy się, że zainstalowane są mpv oraz aktualny youtube-dl i włączamy transmisję komendą
mpv 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=71phvw-OIFk'
Co, jeśli nasza dystrybucja nie oferuje aktualnej wersji youtube-dl'a? Możemy oczywiście zainstalować youtube-dl z gita. A możemy też uruchomić mpv z GNU Guix'a. Guix to distro, którego aplikacji da się używać też pod innymi GNU+Linux'ami. Po zainstalowaniu Guix'a lub zaktualizowaniu go (komenda `guix pull`), możemy np. odpalić dany program ad hoc, w jednym kroku i bez permanentnej instalacji. W naszym przypadku — komenda
guix shell mpv -- mpv 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=71phvw-OIFk'
Zaletą jest to, że wersja mpv z Guix'a z automatu pociąga za sobą yt-dlp (jeden z zamienników dla youtube-dl) i używa go. Na + jest też to, że Guix jest dystrybucją rolling-release i można się spodziewać, że yt-dlp będzie często aktualizowany.
Niestety, ten sposób wciąż daje Google'owi poznać nasz adres IP. Można spróbować ukryć się za VPN'em (bo Tor tu raczej nie zda egzaminu).
Rosary for digital/software freedom
Less than 3 weeks ago I started Our Lady of Pompeii Novena[1] for digital freedom in my country. I have since come to consider it an extraordinarily good decision because it also helps myself a lot.
Every1 can feel invited to join and pray for other countries 🙂 After years of the Free Software Movement failing to achieve much socially, it is clear something has been missing — simple prayer. Here's my suggestion: let us give our digital freedom efforts a spiritual aspect
[1] It consists of daily rosary prayer. Look it up if you don't know it