Georg Weissenbacher

Computer Scientist at TU Wien.

Website: https://www.georg.weissenbacher.science
DBLP: https://dblp.uni-trier.de/pid/15/3636.html
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=1KfaH-QAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Last Notes

2026-07-16 13:53:06 UTC

This opinion piece by Jim Larus really resonates with me. I canceled my #ACM membership years ago, when the ACM signed a letter addressed to Trump, supporting 135 commercial publishers and opposing Open Access with the argument that "[Open Access] force[s] us to give away American intellectual property to the rest of the world". They backpaddled since then.
With only close to 100000 members, the ACM is dwarfed by the Austrian Alpine Club in Vienna (yes, just Vienna, not all of Austria!), which has more than twice that number. As an association, the ACM is completely irrelevant.
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3815435

2026-06-11 22:55:05 UTC

Seems the #Trump #t1 is a reasonably good deal (if you are willing to pay with your dignity).
https://www.ifixit.com/News/117789/teardown-confirms-the-trump-phone-is-a-gold-painted-htc-u24-pro

2026-02-15 19:42:10 UTC

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I agree to most points, but #postmarketos is working on getting a mainline kernel working on the Fairphone 5. Fairphone actually supports these efforts.

2026-01-13 22:31:34 UTC

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it does feel very liberating to run #Emacs on my phone 🙂

2026-01-13 21:09:59 UTC

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the #fairphone6 even aims to provide support for the mainstream Linux kernel (Ubuntu Touch depends on an Android Linux kernel for now), so there is hope for a fully open #mobilelinux im the future.

2026-01-13 18:08:38 UTC

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a good option, too, I just wanted to go all the way.

2026-01-13 17:26:31 UTC

Over the last year, I've wondered how to reduce my dependency on US tech giants. Especially for mobile phones, this is quite difficult - you either go for a de-googled system such as #GrapheneOS (but might end up having to buy that device from Google) or you accept some compromises (regarding the quality of the device or functions of the OS).
I've finally decided that perfect is the enemy of good and bought a #fairphone5 on which I installed #ubuntutouch. While a number of things are still missing (#Signal - @npub1rkw…5q62 and banking apps, for instance), a lot of the stuff that I do on a daily basis already works (phone calls, text messages, emails, calendar, podcasts, photos, web browsing, Mastodon, and Matrix, for instance). Yes, I had to change my habits a bit, and I do still depend on a secondary device for some Apps, but overall, I'm quite happy. I am confident that in the not so distant future, #ubuntutouch and #postmarketos will become viable alternatives to #iOS and #android
And I haven't enjoyed playing with an electronic device that much in a long time.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/115/888/907/979/056/856/original/fed6d8afca628cb6.png

2025-10-02 10:31:50 UTC

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despite your reservations, I think Jude the Obscure is still well worth reading (but then again, I did attend Christmin.. uhm, Oxford). 😉

2025-08-31 19:46:23 UTC

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There’s a problem with point 1 - who decides what “can be built”? For instance: Many legislators want companies to implement encrypted communication in a way such that they - and only they - can listen in. Numerous experts believe such a system can’t be built (at least not securely).
If I’d run a company I’d rather not end up in court where a lawyer explains to me what can be built and what not.