R.NF

A process that started roughly a year ago with just changing browser and search engine, now feeling that I got somewhere. The journey ended up being more than just degoogle, but also demetaing and taking more control over my data and privacy.

Before and after picture with notes:

Chrome -> Zen browser (Firefox on iOS)

Google -> Qwant

Gmail -> Proton Mail

NordVPN -> Proton VPN (I don’t use VPN very often, but have NordVPN through another subscription, now replaced with Proton across my devices)

Google Drive / Photos -> Proton Drive

Google Password Manager -> Proton Pass

Google Authenticator -> Proton Pass / Ente (Ente Auth is only used to store my 2FA keys for the Proton account, other keys are stored in Proton Pass)

Google Translator -> DeepL

YouTube -> FreeTube (Unwatched on iOS)

Google Maps -> Magic Earth (OSM on desktop)

WhatsApp -> Signal

Notion -> Anytype

Keep / Notes -> Notesnook

X -> Mastodon / Bluesky

Reddit -> Lemmy (Voyager on iOS, dreaming of an eventual complete migration)

Instagram -> Pixelfed

Facebook -> stopped using

Windows 11 -> Ubuntu (Only personal laptop, work laptop still windows)

Archived link

In the era of Trump 2.0, the first question British defence companies are facing when trying to export their weapons abroad is whether they are independent of the US arms industry. Or simply, are they “Itar-free”?

Itar, which stands for the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, refers to a set of longstanding US rules that govern the items on the United States Munitions List, which is aimed at safeguarding national security.

The list contains US-produced software, components and other technology that can be used for either military purposes or serve a dual use. If a weapon is subject to Itar, it cannot be built, sold or supplied to someone else without US consent and support.

One defence industry source said: “Even if you have US engineers, you become Itar-tainted.”

To employ ex-US military employees, UK companies would become subject to Itar restrictions if they have not been granted an exemption.

Although the restrictions are nothing new, a combination of Trump’s tariffs, vague threats to Canada and Denmark and pause on providing military aid and intelligence to Ukraine has left defence companies and governments thinking twice before investing in American components or equipment.

...

Helsing, a European defence tech company, and Auterion, a supplier of drone operating systems with a European headquarters in Munich, also pride themselves on having Itar-free equipment.

Helsing has pursued the policy because it “was founded on the principle of providing sovereign capabilities for a strong Europe”, according to Amelia Gould, the company’s global maritime director.

“Europe has this technology, we don’t need to import everything from the US,” she added.

Brinley Salzmann, the director of overseas and exports for ADS, a defence trade association, said that what was once a preference for Itar-free weapons was quickly becoming a requirement.

He said: “As international collaboration increases and governments seek greater control over their supply chains, the ability to operate without US extraterritorial export restrictions is becoming a strategic consideration.”

...

American drone manufacturers are facing a serious dependency on Chinese components in their products.

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://militarnyi.com/en/news/usa-unable-to-make-drones-without-components-from-china/

Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.

15. Parliament, the Courts and the Charter

The Conservative Party believes that Parliament, rather than the courts, is the law-making body of Canada. We support the establishment of a parliamentary judicial review committee to prepare an appropriate response to those court decisions that Parliament believes should be addressed through legislation. We re-affirm the legitimacy of the entire Charter of Rights and Freedoms including section 33 (notwithstanding clause). We support legislation to remove authority from the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to regulate, receive, investigate or adjudicate complaints related to section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/62057136

120 GB.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.nl/post/32712724

Hungary launched an anti-EU campaign featuring Zelenskyy and EU leaders, vetoes Ukraine military aid, blocks declarations, and spreads disinformation about Ukrainian migrants.

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://euromaidanpress.com/2025/04/20/eu-considers-stripping-hungary-of-voting-rights-over-ukraine-obstruction/

Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.

As a fun experiment, I asked ChatGPT to create an image of me based on my chat history. I've been chatting with it for a while, so it has some ideas. Here is an example prompt that you could use to try this too:

Create an image of how you imagine me to look based solely on our chat history. Estimate my age, gender, hairstyle, skin tone, body type, clothing, and background scene. Use clues from my personality, interests, and writing style to visualize a realistic portrait.

If you use ChatGPT, feel free to share how the AI imagines you to look - based solely on your conversations!

Pope Francis was history’s first Latin American pontiff who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change.

Archived version: https://archive.is/20250422000849/https://apnews.com/article/vatican-pope-francis-dead-01ca7d73c3c48d25fd1504ba076e2e2a

Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.

Look, I've only been a Linux user for a couple of years, but if there's one thing I've learned, it's that we're not afraid to tinker. Most of us came from Windows or macOS at some point, ditching the mainstream for better control, privacy, or just to escape the corporate BS. We're the people who choose the harder path when we think it's worth it.

Which is why I find it so damn interesting that atomic distros haven't caught on more. The landscape is incredibly diverse now - from gaming-focused Bazzite to the purely functional philosophy of Guix System. These distros couldn't be more different in their approaches, but they all share this core atomic DNA.

These systems offer some seriously compelling stuff - updates that either work 100% or roll back automatically, no more "oops I bricked my system" moments, better security through immutability, and way fewer update headaches.

So what gives? Why aren't more of us jumping on board? From my conversations and personal experience, I think it boils down to a few things:

Our current setups already work fine. Let's be honest - when you've spent years perfecting your Arch or Debian setup, the thought of learning a whole new paradigm feels exhausting. Why fix what isn't broken, right?

The learning curve seems steep. Yes, you can do pretty much everything on atomic distros that you can on traditional ones, but the how is different. Instead of apt install whatever and editing config files directly, you're suddenly dealing with containers, layering, or declarative configs. It's not necessarily harder, just... different.

The docs can be sparse. Traditional distros have decades of guides, forum posts, and StackExchange answers. Atomic systems? Not nearly as much. When something breaks at 2am, knowing there's a million Google results for your error message is comforting.

I've been thinking about this because Linux has overcome similar hurdles before. Remember when gaming on Linux was basically impossible? Now we have the Steam Deck running an immutable SteamOS (of all things!) and my non-Linux friends are buying them without even realizing they're using Linux. It just works.

So I'm genuinely curious - what's keeping YOU from switching to an atomic distro? Is it specific software you need? Concerns about customization? Just can't be bothered to learn new tricks?

Your answers might actually help developers focus on the right pain points. The atomic approach makes so much sense on paper that I'm convinced it's the future - we just need to figure out what's stopping people from making the jump today.

So what would it actually take to get you to switch? I'm all ears.

archived (Wayback Machine)