The Ladybird browser is ready to do the impossible, Canonical announces a Docker image, a Raspberry Pi-powered ePaper iPod, and FUTO releases an Android keyboard that doesn’t suck.
Listen:
Subscribe Podcast Index | Spotify | Apple | Pandora | TuneIn | RSS | More
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:10 Steam summer sale picks
02:14 Reverse-engineering the RME Digiface
04:09 Ladybird browser attempts the impossible
11:20 Distroless Linux images from Canonical
14:19 What Android keyboard do you use?
16:13 Is FUTO Keyboard Open Source?
23:04 Pi-powered ePaper ePiPod
Ladybird browser (RTheren)
- We last talked about this all the way back in 2022.
- Ladybird started as a component of the SerenityOS hobby project. That’s why it’s a big old ball of C++.
- It has since split off to become a standalone browser.
- No “default search deals”, crypto tokens, or other forms of user monetization, ever.
- Ladybird is funded entirely by sponsorships and donations from companies and individuals.
- Why do we need another option for web browsers?
- Simply, we need a browser that’s not owned by a corporation or almost entirely funded by one.
- First “alpha” is expected in summer 2026.
- Until then, if you want to mess with Ladybird, build it from source.
- They even provide build instructions for Haiku.
- Having the ex CEO and co-founder of GitHub, Chris Wanstrath, donating a million dollars and on the board of directors shows you how committed they are to bringing a new web browser to the market.
- And Ladybird becoming independent from SerenityOS shows their commitment.
- Also, they created a Ladybird Browser Initiative, a US 501(c)(3) non-profit, to work on the browser and get sponsors.
- People say that building a modern browser with a small dedicated team is impossible.
- Impossible is just a challenge with a few extra steps thrown in to keep things interesting.
- Also, bring back the blink tag or you’re dead to me.
Distroless
https://www.zdnet.com/article/canonicals-distroless-linux-images-are-a-game-changer-for-enterprises/
- Canonical, makers of Ubuntu Linux, just made a big announcement with something cool called “Everything LTS.”
- “Everything LTS” is a new initiative where Ubuntu Pro customers get up to twelve years of Long Term Support for ANY open source Docker image.
- These are distroless Docker images, which are custom built, and can include upstream software not found in Ubuntu.
- And there is also support by Canonical to fix critical CVEs within twenty-four hours.
- Also, “Everything LTS” is huge in another big way, this support includes Docker images on RHEL, Ubuntu, VMware, and public cloud K8 instances.
- Steven Vaughan-Nichols from zdnet states:
- “With these new Open Container Initiative images, Canonical is embracing the “distroless” container paradigm in which images contain just enough of the operating system and software to run a specific application. These hardened, minimal containers have a reduced attack surface, making them much more secure than conventional Linux VMs or containers.”
- As I was reading this announcement, I couldn’t help but think about all the years the Linux community and companies have been making small Linux distros on CDs, and later USBs, for specific needs, and this is the next evolution of that.
FUTO Keyboard
- Couple of weeks back I told everyone about Heliboard.
- A customizable and open-source keyboard with glide typing if you didn’t mind installing a closed-source lib.
- Some people tried it and hit me back on Discord and YT saying they really liked it.
- I’m a big fan, and have been using it myself.
- Well, a challenger has appeared.
- The FUTO organization has released the alpha of their FUTO Keyboard.
- Like Heliboard, it’s 100% offline and security focused.
- FUTO was started by the gent behind Yahoo games and has funded development of OSS software like GIMP, Asahi, VLC, and PeerTube.
- FUTO Keyboard is based on the AOSP keyboard with some extra bit thrown in.
- The FUTO Keyboard is licensed “FUTO Source First License 1.0” and that has caused some confusion / screeching.
- By the letter of the law it means that the keyboard is not open source, but source-available minus any crazy restrictions.
- You can modify and share modifications and redistribute it for non-commercial purposes.
- Large organizations are obligated to pay for it. Full stop.
- Think of the FUTO Source First License as an alternative to closed source commercial licenses, but open.
- I love the security of the offline voice input, where no data is collected or stored on the FUTO Keyboard.
- In fact, they even have a separate FUTO Voice Input app that you can download and use, and it works with other keyboards that are compatible.
- It let me know when I launched it that Gboard is not compatible because it has its own voice typing system.
- But it is compatible with one of my other favourite keyboards, the Emoji Keyboard.
Slice of Pi
iPie
- What a perfect use of an e ink screen, a handbuilt homebrew iPod clone.
- You can get the PCB from the PCBWay website:
- And the software and instructions are available over at the GitHub repository:
