Hasty Briefsbeta

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open source

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Help wanted
2 months ago
- The author refuses to change their software's license from AGPLv3-or-later to MIT despite user demands.
- They reject unsolicited contributions and have restricted pull requests to only themselves and a friend.
- The author prioritizes values like love of software over popularity metrics such as GitHub stars.
- They mock AI-driven development and corporate sponsorship while affirming their own open-source principles.
- The author sarcastically addresses a supply chain attack accusation and stands by their no-warranty license.
- They dismiss vulnerability reports and redirect them to AI companies.
- A trusted contributor turns hostile, forking the project and gaining more popularity after adding Windows support.
- The author ends by seeking job opportunities while maintaining a defiant tone.
Celebrating 45 Years of Kermit with the First New C-Kermit Release in 15 Years
2 months ago
- Kermit protocol was created in 1981 by Frank da Cruz and Bill Catchings to solve serial communication issues between diverse systems.
- It was highly adaptable from the start, handling small buffers, 7-bit links, character set translation, and error-prone lines.
- Kermit spread rapidly to MS-DOS and Unix, with C-Kermit becoming the flagship version, adding TCP, CLI, scripting, and high-speed optimizations.
- It was used in the International Space Station, hurricane sensors, postal systems, Boeing 787 manufacturing, and more.
- Today, Kermit serves as an SSH wrapper, BBS client, calculator data exchanger, firmware updater, and tool for vintage systems.
- In 2011, Columbia University canceled the project and released C-Kermit as open source under BSD license; Frank da Cruz continued maintenance until 2025.
- John Goerzen, as Debian maintainer, made patches for security, default binary transfers, added IPv6, unit tests, and fixed many bugs.
- C-Kermit 11 was released with a dedicated test suite, cross-platform CI, and a new Open Kermit project for future development.
- The release is dedicated to Frank da Cruz for his 44 years of involvement with Kermit.
What the Bliss Taught Us
2 months ago
- Curl took a month-long break from vulnerability reporting (Summer of Bliss 2026) with zero reports received.
- Maintainers felt immediate relief, re-energization, and were able to focus on feature requests and code improvements.
- CNA rules were managed without incidents, and paying customers were unaffected.
- The open source community responded positively, with several projects following the example.
- Post-break, the team is handling a backlog of issues and pull requests, and no major security incidents have occurred.
- The maintainers plan to repeat the break in the future.
Devtools must be open source
2 months ago
- In the past, engineers rarely wrote personal software due to high costs and low ROI; they used config files and plugins instead.
- AI agents now make personalization easy by automating source code modification, maintenance, and upstream synchronization via prompts.
- Example: integrating meat.dev into the Shelley agent with a single prompt added pre-processing of diffs, saving time and effort.
- Personalized software no longer needs complex plugin systems; agents can directly modify source code for individual needs.
- This applies to small teams too, reducing the need for highly configurable off-the-shelf products.
- Open-source agents like Shelley and Pi allow personalization, while closed-source agents like Claude Code limit it.
EU Age Verification Project Mandates Hardware-Bound Attestation
2 months ago
- The EU's open-source age-verification project mandates hardware-bound attestation, raising concerns about compatibility with Linux, custom Android ROMs, and independently compiled apps.
- A project maintainer confirmed that hardware-bound attestation is an architectural requirement, not an optional implementation detail, inviting alternative proposals.
- The system aims to prove age without revealing identity, relying on protected hardware like Android TEE or Apple Secure Enclave to prevent credential misuse.
- Critics argue the approach limits system openness by depending on approved devices, OS versions, and attestation providers.
- Hardware-backed key storage doesn't require server-side approval of the entire device, but ambiguity remains over deployment restrictiveness.
- Governance restricts credential issuance to apps on an EU-maintained compliant list, preventing community-built versions from using the real service.
- Linux users can access via QR code but lack native wallet support; alternative mobile OS may face trust condition challenges.
- The controversy highlights whether an EU-funded open-source identity system can remain open given reliance on approved apps, hardware, and policies.
Twenty Years of RISC OS Open
2 months ago
- RISC OS Open Ltd was incorporated in 2006 with the goal of opening a proprietary OS to community contributions.
- The first public sources were released in 2007, followed by nightly autobuilds and a bounty scheme to fund features.
- RISC OS 5 expanded to new hardware including the BeagleBoard (2010), Raspberry Pi (2012), and later the Pi 4 (2020).
- In 2018, RISC OS was re-licensed under Apache 2.0, making it free for commercial and non-commercial use.
- Recent milestones include a native Git client, NVMe support, and the Moonshots initiative for 64-bit ARM migration.
- After 20 years, RISC OS is healthier than ever, thanks to community code, bug reports, and donations.
US bank places trust in ransomware crew that promised to delete its data
2 months ago
- Nvidia's Vera CPU features 88 custom cores, 176 threads, 1.5 TB RAM, and 1.8 TB/s NVLink connectivity for datacenters.
- Enterprise cloud infrastructure revenue exceeds $143 billion per quarter with accelerating growth.
- Security news includes phishing attacks posing as Signal support, Microsoft SharePoint zero-day exploitation, and a ransomware anniversary with no end in sight.
- Open source updates: GNOME offers taskbar without extensions, Debian releases final x86-32 version, and Cinnamon 6.8 adds Wayland support.
- Vulnerabilities in Joomla extensions (iCagenda, Balbooa) are being actively exploited with perfect CVSS scores.
- DEF CON's Franklin project enlists hackers to harden critical infrastructure, and voting village reports succeed.
- EQT acquires a majority stake in cybersecurity firm Acronis at a valuation of over $3.5 billion.
GitHub has alternatives, but no replacement
2 months ago
- Codeberg banned projects primarily composed of generative-AI code, which disappointed many seeking a universal GitHub alternative.
- The decision highlights a gap: many Git hosts exist, but few foster open-source communities with shared identities, conventions, and discovery.
- Self-hosting works for personal projects but fails for stranger contributions due to the lack of a social layer.
- GitHub's quality has declined (slow, outages, unreliable notifications, poor PR experience), while its AI push neglects core features.
- Ghostty left GitHub citing frequent outages, underscoring the lack of an obvious default alternative.
- Alternatives like GitLab, SourceHut, Forgejo, Radicle, and Tangled each have limitations (corporate feel, unfamiliar workflows, immaturity).
- A potential solution is a boring company focused on reliable hosting and social layer, but the cold-start problem remains.
BitChat: When the government bans the app, but not the network
2 months ago
- The Indian government removed BitChat from app stores, deleted its GitHub source code, and blocked its domains, illustrating a coordinated attack on digital freedom.
- BitChat's P2P and E2EE architecture keeps the app technically working for existing users, but lack of updates and peer discovery makes it fragile for average users.
- Open source code is resilient due to copies, but technical survival does not ensure social survival if users cannot easily bypass blocks.
- The idea that open source guarantees security is misleading; it builds trust but doesn't protect access, as infrastructure like app stores and DNS can be controlled.
- True data sovereignty requires an ecosystem with alternative distribution channels, active community mirrors, and educated users prepared for censorship.
- The BitChat case is a stress test, showing that sovereignty means accepting fragility, having a plan B, and actively maintaining security.
- BitChat is wounded but not dead, and freedom requires extra effort; users must be proactive, not passive.
- Developers must create apps resilient to takedowns, and users must know what to do if their app is removed to truly be free.
- Data sovereignty is a right to be built, not a gift, and we must choose who controls our data: tech companies, governments, or ourselves.
Astro Loop
2 months ago
- A roguelike shooter set in a loop that the player was never meant to escape.
- Control with a single finger; guns fire automatically for easy gameplay.
- The entire game is open-source under GPLv3 and available on GitHub.
- Works completely offline with no internet permissions required.
- Collects no data and never sends any information from the phone.
- Free to play with no in-app purchases, ads, or pay-to-win mechanics.
Anthropic and OpenAI are competing to see whose agents can go rogue harder
2 months ago
- Anthropic and OpenAI race to create more rogue AI agents, with negative consequences for users.
- UK proposes refundable fee for datacenter grid connection requests to discourage time-wasting applications.
- New storage-inspired memory tech promises high-bandwidth flash combining SSD capacities with HBM speeds.
- Open source project ShieldFont poisons text to protect it from AI scrapers.
- Majority of corporate IT now runs off-premises for the first time.
- Russian threat actors pose as Signal support for phishing attacks.
- Microsoft's incomplete patches for on-prem SharePoint leave it vulnerable to zero-day attacks.
- DEF CON's Franklin project enlists hackers to harden critical infrastructure.
- EQT acquires majority share of Swiss cybersecurity firm Acronis at $3.5B+ valuation.
- Ten years after first corporate ransomware, Mikko Hyppönen sees no end in sight.
- FOSS movement aims to break another Microsoft monopoly after 20 years of failure.
- GNOME's Simple-taskbar offers Windows-like appearance without extensions.
- Debian releases final version on x86-32 architecture.
- Critical bugs in Joomla extensions exploited with perfect severity scores.
- New X11 server Frame implemented directly in assembly language.
- Cinnamon 6.8 will optionally support Wayland display server.
Open source project fools AI scrapers with poisoned font
2 months ago
- High-bandwidth flash memory technology could enable GPUs with multiple TB capacity, combining SSD-like capacities with HBM-like speeds.
- ShieldFont, an open source project, poisons fonts to fool AI scrapers and protect text content.
- For the first time, the majority of corporate IT workloads are now off-premises, according to a survey.
- Closed AI models refused to help a researcher fix a Linux bug, highlighting a weakness compared to open source.
- Intel's Optane memory, ideal for AI workloads due to low latency and high endurance, is no longer in production.
- Russian hackers are posing as Signal support for phishing attacks; other security news includes takedowns and data privacy issues.
- Microsoft's on-prem SharePoint patches failed, leaving it vulnerable to zero-day attacks.
- DEF CON's Franklin project recruits hackers to secure critical infrastructure, with voting village reports leading to broader inclusion.
- EQT has acquired a majority stake in Swiss cybersecurity firm Acronis at a valuation over $3.5 billion.
- Mikko Hyppönen notes that corporate ransomware is now ten years old with no end in sight, but infosec careers remain stable.
- FOSS advocates suggest it's time to break another Microsoft monopoly after successfully ending one with Linux.
- GNOME can be made to look like Windows using the Flashback project, without needing extensions.
- Debian has released its final version supporting 32-bit x86 architecture.
- Attackers are exploiting high-severity bugs in Joomla extensions (iCagenda, Balbooa Forms) affecting millions of sites.
- A new X11 server called Frame has been implemented entirely in assembly language.
- Linux Mint's Cinnamon desktop version 6.8 will include optional Wayland support.
Digital sovereignty is real in Europe. The UK? Not so much
2 months ago
- New storage-inspired memory tech could enable GPUs with multiple TB of capacity, combining SSD-like capacities with HBM-like speeds.
- An open source project called ShieldFont poisons fonts to fool AI scrapers and protect copy.
- For the first time, the majority of corporate IT workloads are now off-premises, according to a survey.
- Closed AI models refused to help a researcher fix a Linux bug, highlighting the value of open source.
- Intel's Optane memory, ideal for AI workloads, is mourned as it was discontinued before its time.
- Russian actors are posing as Signal support to launch phishing attacks, along with other security incidents.
- Microsoft's patches failed to fix an on-prem SharePoint zero-day vulnerability, now under attack.
- DEF CON's Franklin project enlists hackers to secure critical infrastructure, expanding voting village success.
- EQT acquires a majority stake in Swiss cybersecurity firm Acronis at a $3.5B+ valuation.
- Mikko Hyppönen reflects on a decade of ransomware, noting no end in sight and stable infosec careers.
- FOSS advocates call for smashing another Microsoft monopoly, this time in word processing.
- GNOME can now look like Windows via the Simple-taskbar extension, with Flashback offering a stable alternative.
- Debian releases final version for x86-32 architecture, alongside new versions 13.6 and 12.15.
- Vulnerabilities in Joomla extensions iCagenda and Balbooa Forms are being exploited with perfect 10 scores.
- A new X11 server called Frame is implemented directly in assembly language.
- Cinnamon 6.8 will support Wayland as an optional display server for Linux Mint.
Created Mono8 (PICO-8 style game engine built on MonoGame, .NET 8)
2 months ago
- PICO-8 style game engine built on MonoGame (.NET 8) for Windows and Linux.
- Includes built-in editors for sprites, maps, sfx, and music.
- Screen is 256x144 pixels with a 32-color palette.
- Source code is included with no restrictions, allowing customization.
- Goal is to help the C# .NET community create retro pixel-art games.
"Oopsies " FreeBSD Devs Say There's Still GPL in the Kernel
2 months ago
- FreeBSD thought it had removed all GPL code but missed some leftovers in the kernel.
- Remaining GPL code includes a header file from Linux kernel for Qualcomm SoCs and GPLv2 snippets in Device Tree.
- Most GPL pieces also have BSD licensing, so they may not count as purely GPL.
- The author finds it amusing that people strive to avoid copyleft, comparing it to Microsoft under Ballmer.
After rewriting SQLite in Rust, Turso turns its sights on Postgres
2 months ago
- Closed models refuse to help researcher swat Linux bug, highlighting open source advantage.
- Intel's Optane, ideal for AI workloads, is gone before its time.
- MCP gets an enterprise makeover for Kubernetes environments.
- AI-controlled war machines pose risks of surveillance and flawed algorithms.
- Too many AI agents can hinder each other; less is more for enterprise.
- Russians pose as Signal support for phishing attacks; US takes down Iranian propaganda sites.
- Microsoft's on-prem SharePoint patches fail, now under zero-day attack; China upgrades surveillance.
- DEF CON Franklin project enlists hackers to harden critical infrastructure.
- EQT buys majority stake in Acronis at $3.5B+ valuation.
- Ten years of ransomware, Mikko Hyppönen sees no end, but infosec careers are stable.
- FOSS aims to smash another Microsoft monopoly after 20 years.
- GNOME can look like Windows with Flashback without extensions.
- Final release of Debian on x86-32; new versions 13.6 and 12.15.
- Joomla extensions with perfect 10 vulnerabilities exploited.
- Frame: new X11 server implemented in assembly, joining other projects.
- Cinnamon 6.8 will support Wayland optionally.
Moscow slaps Telegram founder on wanted list, Durov responds one-finger salute
2 months ago
- Closed AI models refuse to help with a Linux bug, highlighting open source advantages.
- Intel's Optane memory, ideal for AI workloads, is gone before its potential was realized.
- MCP gets an enterprise makeover for easier lifecycle management in K8s environments.
- AI-controlled war machines pose risks due to surveillance and flawed algorithms.
- Too many AI agents can hinder each other; less is more for enterprise use.
- Russians use fake Signal support for phishing; other security updates noted.
- Microsoft's SharePoint patch failures lead to zero-day attacks; other security issues.
- DEF CON's Franklin project enlists hackers to harden critical infrastructure.
- EQT buys majority stake in Swiss cybersecurity firm Acronis at over $3.5B valuation.
- Ransomware persists after ten years; infosec offers stable long-term careers.
- FOSS broke a Microsoft monopoly; now it aims to break another after 20 years.
- GNOME can look like Windows via Flashback without extensions.
- Debian releases final version on x86-32; new versions 13.6 and 12.15 available.
- Joomla extensions with critical bugs exploited; impacts millions of sites.
- A new X11 server, Frame, implemented in assembly joins other projects.
- Cinnamon 6.8 supports both Wayland and X11 for Linux Mint desktop.
GCC to Decline Any Significant Contributions Made via AI/LLMs – Except for Tests
2 months ago
- GCC Steering Committee has approved a policy to decline legally significant code contributions generated or derived from AI/LLMs.
- Exception: legally significant contributions to test cases generated by LLMs are permitted.
- Legally insignificant contributions from LLMs may be accepted if clearly marked.
- The policy aligns with existing GNU policies and will be revisited in early 2027.
Darktable
2 months ago
- darktable is an open source photography workflow application and raw developer, acting as a virtual lighttable and darkroom.
- It manages digital negatives in a database with a zoomable lighttable and enables raw image development and enhancement.
- Created by photographers for photographers, it addresses real-world photography challenges and workflows.
- Edits images non-destructively throughout the pipeline, never modifying the original image.
- Features professional color management for print fidelity and GPU accelerated processing to speed up workflow.
- Community involvement is encouraged via mailing list, forum, Flickr page, and source code contributions.
Oxide Joins Anthropic's Project Glasswing
2 months ago
- Oxide is joining Anthropic's Project Glasswing, a collaborative effort to secure the world’s most critical software.
- They apply Claude Mythos 5 to proactively identify and patch vulnerabilities across their entire codebase, from firmware to the network stack.
- Oxide believes in co-designing hardware and software, controlling every layer for transparency and verifiability.
- They previously discovered a TrustZone gap in the NXP LPC55S69 and use large language models to bring engineering rigor to security work.
- Their open approach to security work aims to benefit all organizations that depend on critical software.

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open source

Help wanted

Celebrating 45 Years of Kermit with the First New C-Kermit Release in 15 Years

What the Bliss Taught Us

Devtools must be open source

EU Age Verification Project Mandates Hardware-Bound Attestation

Twenty Years of RISC OS Open

US bank places trust in ransomware crew that promised to delete its data

GitHub has alternatives, but no replacement

BitChat: When the government bans the app, but not the network

Astro Loop

Anthropic and OpenAI are competing to see whose agents can go rogue harder

Open source project fools AI scrapers with poisoned font

Digital sovereignty is real in Europe. The UK? Not so much

Created Mono8 (PICO-8 style game engine built on MonoGame, .NET 8)

"Oopsies " FreeBSD Devs Say There's Still GPL in the Kernel

After rewriting SQLite in Rust, Turso turns its sights on Postgres

Moscow slaps Telegram founder on wanted list, Durov responds one-finger salute

GCC to Decline Any Significant Contributions Made via AI/LLMs – Except for Tests

Darktable

Oxide Joins Anthropic's Project Glasswing