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FSFE Open Letter hand delivered to German Parliament
"The universal right to install any software on any device"
November 15, 2023
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In the summer of 2022, The Lunduke Journal signed an open letter -- penned by The Free Software Foundation Europe -- entitled "The universal right to install any software on any device".

That letter was hand delivered to the Chair of the Digital Affairs Committee at the German Bundestag on November 14th, 2023.  

That open letter contained four key requests of legislators in the European Union:

  1. Users have the right to freely choose operating systems and software running on their devices

  2. Users have the right to freely choose between service providers to connect their devices with

  3. Devices are interoperable and compatible with open standards

  4. Source code of drivers, tools, and interfaces are published under a free license

That first request being of particular interest to The Lunduke Journal -- the ability to install whatever software you wish (including any operating system) is critical to the future of computing.

The Lunduke Journal was joined by a number of organizations and companies who also signed the letter, including: GNOME, /e/ Foundation, Fairphone, KDE, Purism, The Software Freedom Conservancy, and many others.

Upon receiving the letter, the Chair of the Digital Affairs Committee, Tabea Rößner, stated the following:

“So many devices end up on the scrapyard after just two or three years. But the devices are still in good condition and could be made to last with new software. We could bring them back to life, especially with Free Software. It would be a real sustainability effect if we had the right to install any software on any device. That's why this initiative is absolutely worth supporting.”

What impact this will have remains to be seen.

For the moment, all we can say for certain is that Tabea Rößner stated that she would hand over the letter to Germany's Federal Minister for "the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection".

Which, at least, is something.  It's not a lot, mind you.  Little more than someone taking a piece of paper and saying "I'll make sure this gets all the attention it deserves."  But, just the same, it never hurts to try.

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Emacs, Vim, & Desqview/X Lunduke Journal Lifetime Walls:
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Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links? Check here:
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This episode is free for all to enjoy and share.

Be sure to subscribe here at Lunduke.Locals.com to get all shows & articles (including interviews with other amazing nerds).

"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

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Lunduke's Week in Tech : June 28 - July 4, 2026

Lunduke’s Thoughts of The Week

Yesterday was the 4th of July.

As such, time that I normally would have spent writing up some thoughts on the Tech News of the Week (tm) was, instead, spent eating hamburgers, watching fireworks, and generally goofing off with my kids.

So allow me to briefly summarize my thoughts using as little effort as possible:

Rust is weird, Sony sucks, and America is awesome.

… Yup. That just about covers it.

I hope all of my fellow Americans had a truly splendid Independence Day.

Biggest Tech Stories - June 28 - July 4, 2026

Here are the major stories from the last week, with direct links to X and Substack.

See Lunduke.com for all other platforms (Rumble, RSS Audio Podcast, etc.).

  • Git Takes Another Step Towards Making Rust Mandatory (X, Substack)

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  • BCacheFS Adding Rust Dependency Even Though “Rust doesn’t have a stable ABI” (X, Substack)

  • Git Without Rust From Dev of XLibre (X, Substack)

  • Sony Says No More Physical PlayStation Games (X, Substack)

  • Ubuntu Sponsors Rust Clone Foundation (X, Substack)

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Huge thank you to all of The Lunduke Journal’s subscribers. You make all of this possible.

-Lunduke

 
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Last call for Emacs & Vim Walls!

The “Emacs” & “Vim” Lunduke Journal Lifetime Subscriber Walls are on track to be full some time tomorrow (Monday) afternoon!

If you want to get your name on one of these, chop chop!

 

As soon as these Walls are full, I will update Lunduke.com (check the bottom) and send out the final result.

Will “Emacs” or “Vim” be the first to fill up?

I’ll let you in on a secret: It’s going to be very close.

  • So if you already have a Lifetime Subscription (and are not on any other Lifetime Wall), email me (bryan at lunduke.com) and let me know which Wall you want to be listed on.

  • Or grab a new Lifetime Subscription (scroll down, the details are below). They’re mega discounted and it takes 60 seconds.

Either way. You’ve gotta move quick to get on one of those two Walls.

How to Grab a Discounted Lifetime Subscription:

Through the end of July, Lifetime Subscriptions are only $125 (regularly $300).

And you only pay once. For life. Which means that every month, the “cost per month” gets lower and lower. Save money, and show your support for The Lunduke Journal at the same time. Win-win.

There are 3 different ways to pick up a Lunduke Journal Lifetime sub (Substack, Locals, & Bitcoin). All of them work great and are listed below. Choose whichever is easiest for you!

Get a Lifetime Subscription via Locals:

  1. Go to Lunduke.Locals.com/support.

  2. Select “Give Once“.

  3. Enter “125“ into the amount field.

  4. After checking out, Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status. (This usually happens within a few hours.)

Get a Lifetime Subscription via Substack:

  1. Go to Lunduke.Substack.com/subscribe.

  2. Select the “Lifetime Subscription” option.

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If you would also like full, Lifetime access to Lunduke.Locals.com (which is included):

  1. Make a free account on Lunduke.Locals.com.

  2. Email “bryan at lunduke.com” with the email address you use on both Substack and Locals (can be different email addresses).

  3. Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status on Locals.

Get a Lifetime Subscription with Bitcoin:

Bonus: Save an extra $10 with the Bitcoin option, as Bitcoin processing has fewer fees associated with it.

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  • Email “bryan at lunduke.com” with the following information: What time you made the transaction, how much was sent (in Bitcoin), and the email address you use (or plan to use) on Locals.com or Substack.com.

-Lunduke

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Emacs & Vim Walls almost full!

Quick update on The Lunduke Journal Lifetime Subscriber Walls:

These bad boys are filling up fast. If you don’t have a Lifetime Subscription yet, you can snag one at a mega-ultra-discount right now and get your name on one of these sweet, sweet Walls… show the world your support for The Lunduke Journal!

  1. The Emacs” and “Vim” Lifetime Subscriber Walls are almost full! Which one will be completed first? I expect to announce the victor some time this weekend! If you want to be sure your name gets onto either “Emacs” or “Vim”, let me know very quickly. Like… today.

 
  1. The “Desqview/X” Wall (aka “Wall 17”) launched a few days ago and is off to an awesome start. The first request to add a name to “Desqview/X” arrived literally 2 minutes after I posted it. I can’t blame him. This Wall makes me smile! But there’s still over half of the space left, so you’ve got at least a few days to get your name on this one.

 
  1. The “BeOS R5” Wall has just one spot left. ONE. First come, first served.

Thank you to everyone for the massive outpouring of support for The Lunduke Journal.

If you don’t have your Lifetime Sub yet, get one while they’re discounted!

You make all of this possible!

-Lunduke

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