Tag: Free Software
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Building Briar Reproducible And Why It Matters
Briar is a secure messenger, the next step in the crypto messenger evolution if you want. It is Free Software (Open Source), so everybody has the possibility inspect and audit its source code without needing to trust third-parties to have done so in secret. However, for security critical software, just being Free Software is not […]
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What is DNS Privacy and how to set it up for OpenWRT
The Domain Name System (DNS) enables your computer to find the actual addresses of other computers. So when you type fsfe.org in your browser, the DNS tells you that 217.69.89.176 is the actual IP address for fsfe.org. It needs this real address to make a connection to that server and present the website hosted there […]
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How F-Droid is Bringing Apps to Cuba
Only in 2015, when the government opened the first public WiFi hotspots in the country, did internet access become available to ordinary Cubans. Before that, even though modern mobile phones had already found their way into the country, they were mostly used off-line. Now, all these phones can be connected to the internet. However, at […]
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The Proprietarization of Android – Google Play Services and Apps
Android has a market share of ~70% for mobile devices which keeps growing. It is based on Linux and the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), so mostly Free Software. The problem is that every device you can buy is additionally stuffed full with proprietary software. These programs and apps are missing the essential four freedoms […]
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Is Signal a threat to Free Software?
Someone made a lot of noise regarding the LibreSignal shutdown, called it a “new threat to Free Software” and compared it with Tivoization. I was then asked to explain the situation in a discussion with RMS where I gave my own perspective on it. Since I already took the time to write it down, I […]
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Briar – Next Step of The Crypto Messenger Evolution
Update: Há uma versão em português. Who still remembers ICQ, AIM and MSN? My first messenger was ICQ and I liked the fact that it was instant. In those days, I didn’t think much about security and was probably too young anyway. We can count ourselves lucky if those tools even used transport encryption. This […]
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WhatsApp Adopts Secure End-to-End Encryption. But will it federate?
WhatsApp has announced that it is currently switching all its users to secure end-to-end encryption. It is now using a state-of-the-art protocol that was developed for the Free Software app TextSecure. This cryptographic protocol fulfills most desired security properties and is simple to use at the same time. The encryption happens without the users even […]
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What to use instead of WhatsApp and Threema?
WhatsApp is a messaging app for smartphones that allows you to send (text) messages free-of-charge. After WhatsApp’s recent acquisition by Facebook and in the face of the NSA revelations, many of the millions of WhatsApp users are looking for secure and trustworthy alternatives. Because this effects so many people, we at the Free Software Foundation […]
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Liberte seu Android at FISL15
I had been invited to present FSFE’s “Free Your Android” campaign at FISL, the biggest Free Software conference in Latin America. The talk was full and well received. Most people didn’t know about the campaign and the options they have to make their phone more free. For the occasion I updated my presentation with the […]
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Dark Mail as Next-Generation Email to Stop Spying
The people from Lavabit and SilentCircle announced their Dark Mail Alliance which is going to develop a new end-to-end encrypted protocol to better secure email. Since, the media reports about this were scarce on details, I watched the recording of their presentation and will summarize what is interesting to me below, in case it might […]