German state replaces Microsoft Exchange and Outlook with open-source email “The German state of Schleswig-Holstein has dumped its government email and calendar systems for open-source software. The six-month migration has replaced Microsoft Exchange and Outlook with Open-Xchange and Mozilla Thunderbird. The transfer covered more than 40,000 mailboxes and over 100 million messages and calendar entries.” Again, this is not about necessarily having better or flashier functionality (e-mail and calendaring are basically decades old and open standards). It is about digital sovereignty, preventing vendor lock-in, potentially more local economic investment, and not getting locked into annual increases in cost without any end in sight. All I can say is, be very wary of corporate PR trying to push any organisation into their cloud-owned service. Losing control of your IT is just not a strategy for the long (or short) term. See

ZDNET

This is my favorite Linux distro of all time - and I've tried them all

I've used or tested just about every Linux distribution available, and this one is my go-to, hands down. Here's why.

#technology #opensource #Germany #digitalsovereignty

LACT - Linux GPU Configuration And Monitoring Tool for AMD, Nvidia or Intel GPUs Detailed GPU information reporting, monitoring (with historical graphs), power configuration, thermals configuration, overclocking, and settings profiles. GPU configuration is handled by a system service that does not depend on a graphical session (Wayland/X11). The service can also be used standalone with a config file, for example in headless scenarios. It's even possible to have the LACT daemon running on one machine, and then manage it remotely from another. See

GitHub

GitHub - ilya-zlobintsev/LACT: Linux GPU Configuration And Monitoring Tool

Linux GPU Configuration And Monitoring Tool. Contribute to ilya-zlobintsev/LACT development by creating an account on GitHub.

#technology #Linux #opensource #GPU

Fantastic News! South Africa's Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe to steam ahead again after 19 years “The return of the Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe steam train, which was officially announced on Monday, will not just be the revival of a beloved heritage attraction, but a major economic boost for the entire region.” It really looks like everything is in place now for this to happen. This is an incredibly beautiful piece of railway line, and I'll certainly make an effort to get there to once again experience this train ride. Hopefully the ride also encourages slightly longer stays by tourists too. But it looks like the full line opening could take nearly two years to complete. See

George Herald

Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe to steam ahead again after 19 years

GEORGE NEWS - The return of the Outeniqua...

#southafrica #tourism #steamlocomotives

The Discord Hack is Every User’s Worst Nightmare — Why Uploaded IDs are a Problem “A hack impacting Discord’s age verification process shows in stark terms the risk of tech companies collecting users’ ID documents. Now the hackers are posting peoples’ IDs and other sensitive information online.” This was EXACTLY my concern about having to upload one's ID document to any private (or government) website. Neither a private organisation nor most government websites are immune to hacking. A password is easy to change, but an ID document is often a nightmare to change, and the ID number anyway stays the same. A fine does absolutely zero to benefit any end users, either. In South Africa we do have the POPI Act that has restrictions on what sort of data may be collected and stored about individuals, but in practice that is still a big problem as companies always want to collect for the sake of collecting. We've yet to see any CEO or a government official do jail time for weak controls of hacked sites. We need more severe penalties for companies (and governments) who lose control of private data, as well as for the hackers, and also to limit want really needs to be collected. At least I am finding now most banks and private organisations, who require some personal data for tax purposes, do insist it is encrypted with a password before sending over e-mail. Things are improving, but are still way behind where they need to be by now in 2025. See

404 Media

The Discord Hack is Every User’s Worst Nightmare

A hack impacting Discord’s age verification process shows in stark terms the risk of tech companies collecting users’ ID documents. Now the hac...

#technology #privacy #hacks

ProtonUp-Qt v2.14 Brings New Proton-EM Compatibility Tool “ProtonUp-Qt, an open-source GUI that streamlines the installation and updating of Proton-GE and Wine-based compatibility layers, enabling Linux gamers to run Windows-exclusive titles on their preferred distributions, has rolled out the brand-new 2.14 version. The key change in this release is the addition of Proton-EM, a new compatibility tool that places emphasis on Wayland, expanding gaming support for users who rely on custom Proton builds.” The tool has gotten really useful actually as I see you can also see which layers are not in use by any games, and the game list view shows which games are using which layers as well as which ones are compatible, and you can change those. I'm just not seeing the Proton-EM option yet for Wayland. See

Linuxiac

ProtonUp-Qt v2.14 Brings New Proton-EM Compatibility Tool

ProtonUp-Qt 2.14 adds Proton-EM support, drops NorthStar tool, and improves compatibility for Steam, Lutris, and Heroic users.

#technology #gaming #Linux

South Africans can now spend cryptocurrency directly at more than 650 000 Scan to Pay-enabled stores “The integration allows users of major exchanges — including Binance, Luno, Blink and VALR — to pay merchants using bitcoin, stablecoins and other digital assets without first converting them into rand. Payments are made instantly via QR code at checkout, while merchants still receive settlement in local currency.” I have successfully used the CryptoQR app to pay for my groceries at Pick 'n Pay a year or two back. It seems MoneyBadger works much the same way, and good to see it quickly integrated with my existing Muun wallet on my phone. It also integrates with Bitcoin Lightning accounts, so this seems like it will also cut out having to convert from one crypto networks across others, before being able to use funds. See

TechCentral

Crypto hits checkout counters in South Africa

South Africans can now spend cryptocurrency directly at more than 650 000 Scan to Pay-enabled stores nationwide.

#technology #southafrica #crypto

Google Confirms Non-ADB APK Installs Will Require Developer Registration I get there is still ADB installation as an option, but that often requires a cable connection and disabling security in the Dev settings of the phone. The whole philosophy around Android was having the freedom of choice to do what you wanted with your phone (a bit like some countries used to have freedoms of choice and speech). Many countries for example have abortion as a perfectly legal procedure, and those countries want the choice to freely access abortion apps if they want to. I get too that Android is proposing a free alternative for Devs that would still allow sideloading, but this has serious restrictions in terms of how the app can be distributed there, including limited numbers of installs. The biggest loss here would be for privacy. Apps like Bitchat are intended to be 100% private with zero registration or exposure, and the app can be directly sent to other users. The new proposal completely kills this method of transfer. I do also realise that many average/mass users do maybe need more protection from rogue apps, but then just pop up a message to make it more difficult, and to inform the user of possible risks. But let users decide whether they want to take the risk or not. There are also web apps yes, but they require online access, and usually also don't do push alerts. Google has already not been very popular since they ditched their “Do No Evil” slogan, and this just screams of more control, wanting to know who everybody is, etc. Imagine if your desktop OS would only allow you to install apps from the official store? Linux would collapse, as it was founded on the freedom to choose! As it is, Microsoft is now apparently wanting to restrict users to not being able to register their Windows OS with offline account registration. I'm for protecting mass users, but I am also FOR other users being able to exercise their own choices at their own risk. That is called a win-win. See

Hackaday

Google Confirms Non-ADB APK Installs Will Require Developer Registration

After the news cycle recently exploded with the announcement that Google would require every single Android app to be from a registered and verifie...

#technology #Android #privacy #freedoms