{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1", "title": "open source on Tyler Knows Nothing", "icon": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/aefe2471dd17582d4028c3cf27b70b0b?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fmicro.blog%2Fimages%2Fblank_avatar.png", "home_page_url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/", "feed_url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/feed.json", "items": [ { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2026/04/20/i-used-to-really-like.html", "content_html": "

I used to really like #System76’s Pop!_OS. I was really pumped for #Cosmic, their desktop environment. Unfortunately, they decided to supplant #GNOME with a decidedly beta release, making the distro almost unusable. I’ve been using #Fedora since. Solid. #linux #FOSS youtu.be/MwZq2_J_l…

\n", "date_published": "2026-04-20T08:43:15-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2026/04/20/i-used-to-really-like.html", "tags": ["Linux","open source","technology"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2026/03/24/well-this-is-distressing-no.html", "content_html": "

Well, this is distressing. No, it’s not law yet, but with the corruption running rampant in #USPol and #SCOTUS’s willingness to bend legal definitions beyond the breaking point, I don’t doubt this is on it’s way. Get yourself an #opensource capable router for your home ASAP. #technology #opsec youtu.be/04oL0qVSW…

\n", "date_published": "2026-03-24T11:09:44-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2026/03/24/well-this-is-distressing-no.html", "tags": ["politics","rights","open source","security","technology","activism"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2026/03/20/crapitalism-strikes-again-who-would.html", "content_html": "\"A\n

#Crapitalism strikes again. Who would have thought that a Crapitalist would want to monetize the open web 🫢 It stops being outlandish when you discover that Bain Capital’s #Crypto division is the principle investor. I dumped #Bluesky months ago. Now you. #opensocial

\n", "date_published": "2026-03-20T08:12:14-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2026/03/20/crapitalism-strikes-again-who-would.html", "tags": ["capitalism","open source","technology"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/03/10/how-refreshing-it-seems-there.html", "content_html": "

How refreshing! It seems there is a new #OpenSource #Windows-compatible OS project called #Free95 on #GitHub. It is clearly in the very early stages of Alpha testing. The dev is open to contributors and would like to get Doom running. Naturally :) tech.slashdot.org/story/25/…

\n", "date_published": "2025-03-10T18:41:23-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/03/10/how-refreshing-it-seems-there.html", "tags": ["open source","technology","retro technology"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/02/14/have-you-heard-the-news.html", "content_html": "

Have you heard the news? Fascistic othering is the new #American #Freedom… as in the freedom to forcefully eradicate the freedoms of those you deem sub-human. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, as long as you’re #MAGA. #fascism #racism #oligarchy #opensource www.theverge.com/news/6128…

\n", "date_published": "2025-02-14T13:38:57-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/02/14/have-you-heard-the-news.html", "tags": ["rights","open source"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/02/05/if-youve-been-looking-for.html", "content_html": "

If you’ve been looking for a #cyberdeck, then you’ve got one more day to get in on the #Pilet #Kickstarter. They’ve already raised CA$1 million of their CA$20k goal… yeah. Popular is an understatement. #tech #raspberrypi #hardware www.kickstarter.com/projects/…

\n", "date_published": "2025-02-05T09:20:06-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/02/05/if-youve-been-looking-for.html", "tags": ["Linux","open source","technology"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/02/03/i-cant-code-myself-out.html", "content_html": "

I can’t code myself out of a paper bag, but I know the value of the skill of #programming and of #opensource, so good on #Apple for open sourcing #Swift Build. Now can you open source Mac OS Classic? Tim?… TIM?! #tech #news 9to5mac.com/2025/02/0…

\n", "date_published": "2025-02-03T13:36:46-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/02/03/i-cant-code-myself-out.html", "tags": ["Apple","open source","technology"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/01/25/i-just-happened-across-this.html", "content_html": "

I just happened across this fascinating little #ESP32 based air quality monitoring device and am excited. It’s all open source and based on low cost, high availability components. While the campaign hasn’t started yet, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t affordable. #tech #climatechange #health www.crowdsupply.com/networked…

\n", "date_published": "2025-01-25T14:40:09-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/01/25/i-just-happened-across-this.html", "tags": ["science","open source","technology"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/01/14/in-a-move-designed-to.html", "content_html": "

In a move designed to protect #Mastodon, founder Eugen Rochko is ceding control to be wholly owned by a non-profit organization to establish that “…the intent that Mastodon should not be owned or controlled by a single individual.” #tech #capitalism arstechnica.com/tech-poli…

\n", "date_published": "2025-01-14T14:21:49-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/01/14/in-a-move-designed-to.html", "tags": ["capitalism","open source","technology"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/01/06/the-socalled-cyberdeck-inspired-by.html", "content_html": "

The so-called #CyberDeck, inspired by cyberpunk culture, has become quite popular in recent years, facilitated by all manner of DIY computer components available for cheap. The upcoming Mecha Comet is one such device, and I think I’m in love! #tech #hardware #linux #opensource liliputing.com/mecha-com…

\n", "date_published": "2025-01-06T16:50:20-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/01/06/the-socalled-cyberdeck-inspired-by.html", "tags": ["Linux","open source","technology"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/01/04/ive-never-seen-a-video.html", "content_html": "

I’ve never seen a video as compelling as this one, and I’m not even an #Adobe user, at least not any more. But it’s a lot more than about ditching Adobe, but leaving #Windows and rediscovering our technological #agency through #Linux and #opensource. #tech www.youtube.com/watch

\n", "date_published": "2025-01-04T14:37:38-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/01/04/ive-never-seen-a-video.html", "tags": ["Linux","open source","technology"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2024/11/26/now-this-is.html", "content_html": "

Now, THIS is very cool! I’ve been quite excited about the rise of so-called cyberdecks in the last few years, and this looks like one of the coolest ones I’ve ever seen. Powered by the nicely capable Raspberry Pi 5, the Pilet 5 (5" with integrated controls) and Pilet 7 (7" with a unique modular design) are full-on #handheld computers with a lovely #retro esthetic. The #Kickstarter campaign starts soon, as well. #tech #raspberrypi #rpi5 #cyberdeck liliputing.com/raspberry…

\n", "date_published": "2024-11-26T22:42:50-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2024/11/26/now-this-is.html", "tags": ["Linux","open source","technology"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2023/12/14/its-time-to.html", "title": "It’s time to open source MacOS 9: An Open Letter to Tim Cook", "content_html": "\n
The now legendary Mac OS 9 desktop, a refinement of what came before and the influence for today’s macOS releases. Even to this day, untold thousands, likely tens of thousands, classic Mac OS machines are being used & loved, traded & developed for. [SOURCE: Wikimedia Commons]
\n

Dear Tim,

\n

How’ve you been? Good, I hope. I’ve been watching Apple’s events and your production quality is just top notch. Serious kudos to your production team. Gotta love those drone shots and slick transitions :) I’ve also been tracking the transition to Apple Silicon and I’ve been impressed. I got myself an M1 Mini that I’ve very pleased with, so much so I bought one for my wife.

\n

Having been born in ’68, I was exposed to Apple ][, ][e, and //c machines at school and the local Boys & Girls Club, though my dad bought me a TRS-80. I didn’t care. I loved it, even the ridiculous, clunky cassette player straight out of a kindergarten playroom to load programs. What I didn’t know at the time was that kind of child-like joy and excitement in reaction to technology would last my lifetime.

\n

For my first Mac, a friend gifted me a PowerBook 145b, then later I purchased a PowerMac 7300/200 new, used a PowerBook “Pismo” for seven years thanks to a G4 upgrade card, added a top spec 15\" PowerBook G4 for a few years, followed by migration to an Intel 15\" MacBook Pro. For wide-ranging reasons, apart from a few iPads, I wouldn’t buy another new Apple machine until the M1 Mini, but that’s another tale…

\n
\n
\n
My actual PowerBook 145b, the very machine that I made my first forays into cyberspace in the mid-90’s. My friend Seth gifted this machine to me and he’s the one responsible for that bomb ass dragon sticker. I added the Dilbert comic strip. Don’t judge me. I did it back in the 90's…
\n

I still have my two oldest machines. To be sure, they’re in storage and I donated the good laptops to good causes when the time came, but I collected a bunch of other old Apple systems, as well. I’ve got a laundry list of machines from a boxed Mac Classic, a sizable selection of PowerBooks, a box full of Newtons of all models except an actual 2100, one or two PowerMac G3, loads of floppies and optical media, a confusing selection of accessories and peripherals and a metric ton of cables, connectors, and adapters of all stripe, classics like SCSI and Apple Desktop Bus.

\n

Oh dear god, so many cables…

\n

Tim, I’ll be honest with you. I don’t have a long list of deeply analytical or philosophical arguments on why you should open source Classic Mac OS. I just think it’s the right thing to do. However, in the spirit of being thorough, here’s a list of sorts which I hope you’ll appreciate:

\n\n

What exactly are these people doing with these old Macs? Well, one answer to that is Sean’s channel on YouTube, Action Retro (linked below) followed by an example from YouTube.

\n
\nAction Retro
Extreme amateur vintage broken computering.www.youtube.com\n
\n
\n
\n

\n
\n

\n
This is Luke Miani. He’s a Mac nerd, like me. He loves old Macs so much, he has a YouTube channel with nearly half a million subscribers. This video is from two years ago. How many views do you think this video has? Did you guess 1.6 Million? No, you did not :) \n

Now, if you want to get your retro fix, you can check out InfiniteMac linked below, where you can emulate Apple’s OS from 1.0 through 9.0. While it’s nostalgic and fun, it’s not entirely practical.

\n
\nInfinite Mac
A classic Mac loaded with everything you'd want.infinitemac.org\n

So, whaddaya say?

\n

Apple is, in part, its fans. Apple of today wouldn’t be the same were it not for the decades of active effort made in your name by millions upon millions of dedicated Apple fans. And yes, some of us are a bit more excitable than most, but I think that’s a positive.

\n

You should bring back the Apple Evangelism program. Probably call it something else, though.

\n

It’s been crystal clear for years that you prefer to maintain Steve’s course to keep tight control over the Apple experience, to preserve the intent so that the vision would live. You’ve done that, but MacOS 9 isn’t a part of the mural of Apple today.

\n

It’s now time to let others see if we can make something more from it.

\n

Sincerely,

\n

Tyler K. Nothing

\n

PS: When making decisions, please take human life into consideration as one of the first ideals and not the last. I think we’d all appreciate that. Thanks!

\n

\n

", "date_published": "2023-12-14T21:01:18-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2023/12/14/its-time-to.html", "tags": ["Apple","open source"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2019/06/04/how-open-source.html", "title": "How open source software can save you from the horrors of Social Media", "content_html": "

" “>

\n
\n
\nFacebook. WhatsApp. Instagram. Adult Friend Finder. Yahoo. Marriot. Anthem Health. eBay. JP Morgan Chase. Target. Equifax. Adobe. RSA Security. The US Office of Personnel Management. [SOURCE]\n
\n

This is a partial list of organizations that have been hacked and lost control of millions of user accounts since 2011. In the case of Yahoo, it was 3 billion.

\n

That’s billion, with a capital “B”.

\nPhoto by Matthew Henry on Unsplash

That’s a lot of people’s personal and, as in the case with Anthem Health, very confidential, data. In some cases it was just email addresses and passwords, some of which weren’t even encrypted. In others, complete packages of personally identifying data was taken. Many of these people are now targeted by scammers to steal from them or hold their data for ransom.

\n

I found this to be an unacceptable relationship, but I already had an out. I’ve been a proponent of Free and Open Source Software (often notated as FOSS) for a few decades now. Back when we had a converted garage office in New Mexico, I taught myself how to build out early versions of Caldera Linux into a workable desktop and used that for my writing work for two full years.

\n

But then, I’m a nerd.

\n

A few years ago, my wife Rima and I were chatting in Facebook Messenger about something we were interested in purchasing. Neither of us had searched for it or mentioned the product in any social networking service. Regardless, ads for the product started showing up on Facebook and various sites on the web. I’m sure you’ve had a similar experience, and out experience embittered me towards Messenger. I felt that there had to be something better from people who were acting for the benefit of human beings, not the bottom line.

\n

It was then that I started looking into alternatives that would offer my family the peace of mind that we had always desired, and I found Telegram. After some prodding, I got both my wife and daughter, as well as a handful of close friends, to open accounts, and we’ve been using it ever since. While my wife retained her Facebook account because of her sizable following, I closed my account, and haven’t found any interest in returning since.

\n

The number of data breaches in all sectors has been on the rise, almost since the inception of the public internet, and this will continue to be a real issue that will affect real people and cause real damage as long as capitalism is the sole player on the internet at large.

\n

What you can do that’s not all that difficult

\n

First, you can stop using Facebook and their related services, WhatsApp and Instagram and develop a strong sense of skepticism when you are offered something for free. After being burned by Facebook, I did just that. I went out and leveraged my tools to track down services that would allow my family to communicate securely, and carefully vetted them for the values I was seeking. I had even considered WhatsApp back then, not aware that Facebook had already, or was about to, acquire them.

\nPhoto by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

After an exhaustive amount of research, I signed up for an account on Telegram, and now I doubt I’d be able to get my wife and daughter to give it up, either. But, don’t take my word for it. Do your own research. Find out for yourself what circumstances would lead someone like Pavel Durov, the Co-Founder of Telegram, to say something like this.

\n
\nEvery one of us is going to die eventually, but we as a species will stick around for a while. That’s why I think accumulating money, fame or power is irrelevant. Serving humanity is the only thing that really matters in the long run. -Pavel Durov, Co-Founder of Telegram, 2019 [ SOURCE]\n
\n

There are a number of other things you can do to give yourself the best possible chance in this increasingly difficult world:

\n
    \n
  • \nSwitch to Mozilla’s Firefox for browsing. It’s fast and supports many of the same or similar extensions that Google’s app does, but doesn’t contain all of the invasive stuff that the browser from the Big G shoehorns into Chrome.
    • \n
  • \nUse an ad-blocker and tracker blocker in combination, no matter how much some sites complain. I’d suggest uBlock Origin and the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Privacy Badger.\n
    • \n
  • \nStop using Google. Period. Their old slogan, “Don’t Be Evil,” died off a long time ago and their singular focus is now on dominating the internet with revenue-generating free services where they pump ads at you while selling your data to anyone with money.
    • \n
  • \nIf you need an email service, check out ProtonMail or Tutanota. These privacy-oriented services offer webmail and apps for iOS and Android. Tutanota is the more reasonable at only $13.41 a year for Premium (it’s a German company, so their rates are in Euros), but some people prefer ProtonMail (which is a Swiss company).
    • \n
  • If those seem too nerdy for you, use Microsoft’s Outlook.com service through Office 365. A personal account costs just $7 a month and includes the complete office suite for Windows AND MacOS and a ton of other features. Yes, I know a lot of people complain about Microsoft “spying” on everyone, but CEO Satya Nadella has been on a crusade to change the entire culture of the largest operating system maker in the world, including a deep embrace of FOSS technologies and an ethic that will challenge the status quo over privacy in the coming years. I’ve been using the service for years now and not once have I ever seen private communications used to push ads at me. NOTE: The free version does display ads, but you can turn off personalization.
    • \n
  • \nStop using stupid passwords. Get LastPass or KeePass and use it to not only store your credentials, but also generate unique ones for each service you use. Sure, LastPass is a division of LogMeIn, but it’s inexpensive (at $24 a year) and has a good track record for security. KeePass, on the other hand, is FOSS and requires some additional nerding, but is well worth it, if you’re technically minded.
    • \n
  • \nStop using SMS. It’s stupid old, is slow, has loads of limitations, and some carriers still charge per message. For chat with your friends and family, use Telegram or Riot.im. Telegram is fully integrated on all common platforms and supports a wide range of features, many of which WhatsApp copies (and not very well, I might add). Riot.im is what’s called a federated networking system that connects privately run servers in a loose network to form a large-scale social chat system. It’s a touch more fiddly than Telegram, but it has a lot of fantastic features you can’t find anywhere else.
    • \n
  • \nLearn about the world of FOSS. It’s a diverse, engaging, and surprisingly complete world where millions of people live and work and play without being subjected to the whims of irresponsible corporations who are only driven by profit at any cost. Check out sites like It’s FOSS or, if you are a programmer for Windows or Mac and would like to dig into FOSS, check out GitHub’s OpenSource.Guide.
    • \n
  • \nStop selling yourself. You’re worth more than $12 a year, which is what companies like Facebook and Google make off each user through ad views. It’s critical to their bottom line that they hook as many eyes as possible to make as much money as possible, and values aren’t really a consideration. You are priceless, and you need to use tools and services that don’t treat you like a piece of meat that pulls in a few pennies a day. You. Are. Priceless. Treat yourself that way.
    • \n
\n

Why should I pay for something I can get free?

\n

The simple answer is to shift the balance of power back to the consumer. Right now, you give away your personal data, where you go, what you search for, what you buy, what you write and delete, which sites you go to, how you relate to other people, and much, much more in exchange for seeing advertisements.

\nPhoto by Samantha Sophia on Unsplash

Your data earns companies like Facebook money, as does the ad revenue. All of this free data people willingly give up dis-incentivizes them from offering real customer value and support, from fixing security flaws, and generally being good corporate citizens. The same applies to Google and others. Since Facebook has a few BILLION users, they don’t really give a damn about how it hurts anyone or risks the privacy and security of individuals. It’s not, after all, their problem.

\n

The best way to fight this is to remove from these companies the source of their revenues, i.e., leaving their services and paying moderate fees and making donations to projects that do NOT sell your data and that do NOT earn revenue from advertising*. This generally means switching to some kind of open source-based projects, like the newly created project from Purism called Librem.one.

\n

*some advertising isn’t bad, such as advertising on a news site, but it shouldn’t be targeted and it shouldn’t rely on spying on you to figure out what you want. A good advertiser will do the hard work to reach out to their target markets.

\n

Librem.one is a set of services, using a range of open source projects, that are designed to replace things like Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Gmail, and Google Drive, among many more which are planned. We pay for this service in lieu of having our data scraped and ads blasted at us. The more of us who speak with our money and our choices, the more these services can develop into better, more accessible tools that help us through our daily lives.

\n

All I ask if that you reevaluate what it is that you get from the internet and how those choices are affecting you and those around you, and choose to take a different approach that might actually benefit everyone instead of just people like Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, or the Google machine.

\n

\n
\n", "date_published": "2019-06-04T12:00:00-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2019/06/04/how-open-source.html", "tags": ["open source","security"] } ] }