Notices by switching.social (switchingsocial@mastodon.at), page 19

Microsoft is shutting down its ebook store, and deleting all its customers' libraries:

https://boingboing.net/2019/04/02/burning-libraries.html

The only reason they can do this is DRM, which means you never really own anything you've paid for.

Physical books are the most obvious alternative, but there are also DRM-free ebook shops. @libreture has a good selection here:

https://www.libreture.com/bookshops

You can find more book-related alternatives here:

https://switching.social/ethical-alternatives-to-amazon-and-goodreads

(via @yogthos )

#eBooks #Books #Bookshops #Bookstores

@pixelfed

Yeah, Lifehacker are really being good about this topic 👍 🎉

https://lifehacker.com/how-to-find-websites-that-wont-give-out-your-private-in-1832395514

WordPress people,

Can you recommend WordPress paid and managed hosting services that *don't* use Google Fonts by default?

(i.e. a service easy enough for non-techies to use, but which doesn't automatically put Google's claws into their site)

It seems like every default WP theme has some kind of code that loads up Google Fonts, even if you don't use Google Fonts.

#WordPress #AskTheFediverse

@mcpaccard

The most frustrating thing about Uber etc is that people think they're cheap because they're somehow innovative.

They're not. Uber and similars are just using an age old scam where investors' money is used to dump cheap goods on the market to kill competition. There's nothing new going on here. The apps are just window dressing for a scheme that should be illegal.

Do you know someone with an older or lower-end laptop that struggles to run properly?

#Lubuntu is a good way of bringing old/slow computers back to life, and is very easy to use with a familiar Windows-style start menu and icon desktop 👍

Lubuntu is based on Ubuntu and runs the same Linux apps, but it has a lighter interface with much lower system requirements.

You can find out more here:

https://lubuntu.me

You can also follow Lubuntu on here:

@lubuntu

#Alternatives #DeleteWindows

@yunohost @freedomboxfndn @freedombone

It's bad news, I'm afraid :blobcry:

https://twitter.com/Senficon/status/1110509970213294081

"Dark day for internet freedom: The @Europarl_EN has rubber-stamped copyright reform including #Article13 and #Article11. MEPs refused to even consider amendments. The results of the final vote: 348 in favor, 274 against"

#Carnet is a free open alternative to Google Keep. It includes text, images, audio, todo lists and syncing features.

It's currently available for Android (on Google Play and F-Droid), Linux, and NextCloud.

You can follow it here:

@Carnet

You can find out more and contribute on its git page:

https://github.com/PhieF/CarnetDocumentation

The lead developer is here:

@PhieLaidMignon

#GoogleKeep #Alternatives

If you want to show #PeerTube to friends but you're worried about NSFW videos appearing on the front page, you could try showing them this instance:

https://peertube.social

A couple of other safe interesting instances too:

VidCommons: a collection of creative commons and public domain films
https://vidcommons.org

Blender: the official PeerTube instance for the Blender foundation, including their films
https://video.blender.org

It's... #FollowFriday 🍹

🎙️ @librelounge Libre Lounge: Podcast about free open software development by @cwebber and @emacsen

⛵ @manyver_se Manyverse: Distributed social network app (part of Scuttlebutt) by @staltz

😃 @mutantstd Mutant Standard: Project to make a more inclusive and unusual emoji set

🕵️ @OCCRP OCCRP: Official account for the investigative journalism organisation, focusing on organised crime and corruption

🐢 @Koopa Koopa: Regular photos of a very cute tortoise

#FF #FFed

#Patreon is putting up their prices, creators will get less of their fans' donations.

There's a free open source alternative, #LiberaPay, which is non-profit:

https://liberapay.com/

LiberaPay is itself funded by donations.

You can follow them on the Fediverse:

@Liberapay

(alternative at request of reader @mjog 👍 )

#Alternatives #Donations #Payment

Thanks to reader @attac_hl for pointing out the customisable route planning site OpenRouteService:

https://maps.openrouteservice.org

It uses OpenStreetMap data, but offers more options for routing and vehicles.

#Maps #OpenStreetMap #Alternatives

From Zom's build metadata file (https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroiddata/blob/master/metadata/im.zom.messenger.txt): the latest version requires proprietary dependencies which isn't allowed in F-Droid. Additionally, the goal is to include the original .apk signed by Zom's developers, but so far we weren't able to reproduce their .apk.

Help on bringing Zom into F-Droid is highly appreciated!

CC: @thoughtcrime @switchingsocial @mattlaff @skynebula @ajroach42