Yes, you can get Signal using the Aurora Store, which lets you download and install apps from the Google Play Store without an account.

Alternatively, you can add the Guardian Project repo to F-droid, which AFAIK also has Signal available.

As Admiral Patrick said, KaiOS phones are a viable alternative to traditional smart-phones, and tend to fill a space between a dumb phone and an android phone.

However, a downside of Kai OS is limited application support, which can be a particular downside when it comes to privacy-respecting encrypted texting apps. From what I can see, KaiOS does not offer any options there on their store.

SMS is now a pretty insecure way to communicate due to the infrastructure being compromised. Having access to a reliable encrypted chat application, like Deltachat or Conversations is a big plus for Android phones.

The downside of Android phones is that the OS is controlled by Google, and many manufacturers force bloated software or offer fairly short lifetimes for security updates, making the phone insecure to use past the End of Life date.

Personally I would suggest getting a Google Pixel phone, which is ironically the most open to having its OS replaced with a privacy respecting OS like GrapheneOS (which is quite easy to install). GrapheneOS is the only OS that can you can really trust to completely turn off the radio chip when you turn on airplane mode, cutting any and all communication with cell towers (but GPS will continue to function).

This would also give you access to F-droid, which only contains open-source software with no paywalls or malware, and access to the best possible privacy communication apps.

Google Pixel phones offer some of the longest support timelines for security updates, which is 7 years from the date of release. A Pixel 9a, as an example, would lose support 6 years from now in 2032. You could continue to use the phone past that point if you stay offline most of the time and don’t log into any sensitive accounts. If your battery degrades or screen breaks, the phone is popular enough that you will easily be able to replace either of those at a local phone repair shop, keeping it alive for a very long time.

Per wikipedia:

Wero is managed by banks via their mobile apps. This creates a dependency on iOS (Apple) and Android (Google) systems. Consequently, Wero exchanges its reliance on payment networks like Visa and Mastercard, for a reliance on two Big Tech giants—Apple and Google, with the new dependency focusing on online availability and distribution through their application stores.

Needing to rely on two pro-fascist tech companies seems like a particularly bad idea. Wero also does not appear to be anonymous.

A better alternative to Wero is GNU Taler, which is a properly open standard that is a true anonymous digital cash, and offers real independence from tech-bro corporations.

We have a community that discusses GNU Taler over at [email protected]

I think what’s now known as Utopian Scholastic has a particularly solarpunk-y vibe, IMO. You can hear an example here.

Movim could be a good alternative. It supports group chats and group voice/video calls, and uses XMPP on the backend.

This, pretty much. The IWW offers a great organizer training 101 program to members, and they’ll take on any shop, no matter the industry and no matter how small (even if it’s just two people).

Their dues are also very low, and as of a few years ago, have set up a strike fund to help striking workers make ends meet.

From what I understand, the limitation in speed/scalability for lemmy/piefed/mbin is the database, not the back end language, so the specific language used appears to matter much less than it would seem.

Piefed has some some pretty great features over lemmy, but for the sysadmin side of things, it has a noticeable improvement regarding network resource usage, and potentially raw speed.

Piefed also appears to be less buggy overall. As an example, Lemmy has suffered from a persistent memory leak that’s been around for years, with no fix in sight. You can see the opinion of our sysadmin who has been running slrpnk.net (lemmy instance) for 5 years now to find that just because lemmy is built in a memory-safe language, it doesn’t automatically translate to a good experience.

I was surprised to learn a year ago that window AC units with heatpump heating are now available. I imagine they’re a good option when combined with a good window seal.

Catalonia during the Spanish Civil war did a good job of demonstrating that smaller communities could federate and work together cooperatively without a centralized hierarchical government.

https://kolektiva.media/w/pKgGZtPdpr8MBeMxNTQjGJ?start=35m23s

I was anticipating a negative take on Solarpunk based on the title, but it’s actually quite a well made video with good points. I do wish she had touched on the ideology behind solarpunk (Anarchism), but otherwise good stuff.

Over on the r/Solarpunk community on reddit, there’s often debates as to what constitutes solarpunk, with many arguing that AI and greenwashed buildings should count. I’ve even seen an argument for solarpunk being compatible with capitalism once or twice, and this video would make for a good rebuttal against that co-option.

The despair you feel toward the average person’s lack of interest or outright dismissal of these very real problems is unfortunately common. As others have said, the magnitude of the problems we face is often paralyzing. How to begin addressing these massive problems was a question asked by a mother to Noam Chomsky in 1992, and I think his answer still holds up quite well. One of his big points is that it’s pretty much impossible to tackle any of this alone, you need a group to brainstorm ideas on how to solve things and not feel so helpless as a single individual surrounded by a sea of uncaring people.

In a way, this community, slrpnk.net, and even the fediverse as a whole is acting as a place for people to come together and know that they’re not entirely alone, though finding a group in real life who shares your values would allow you to really start enacting change, even if on a small scale.

It can often take empathy to be able to even see or care beyond oneself and towards a bigger picture. An unemphatic person could, and often does, simply reject an ideology that may not place their own wants or desires above that of others, even if they are in the same class as those who would benefit from such an ideology.

An average right-wing libertarian is often not terribly wealthy and works for a living, putting them in the working class, but they may find Ayn Rand’s flavor of selfish ancap/libertarianism appealing due to a lack of empathy, even if practically it does not improve their circumstances.

There are other people doing things, too and you can find them.

Short guide for how to find those like-minded folk: https://infosec.exchange/@tinker/113589807117870451

Speaking for myself, I’d love to see a StorySeedLibrary community here on slrpnk, if it’s something you’d be interested in :)

Step 1 of enshittification is to provide a high value asset to consumers at a low cost or even free to capture the market from competitors, then once that’s secure, they can begin to squeeze their now much larger customer base until it becomes unbearable, yet they won’t want to leave since they committed so much muscle memory and time already.

Open-source software is the only safe haven from this practice. Consider donating to Krita, Inkscape, Darktable, and Scribus instead.

What sort of truck things could an old 4 cylinder hilux do that a slate couldn’t? (besides tow a light load long distances, which EV’s aren’t very good at due to how drastically reduces the range from added drag, but that’s the compromise made for buyers who are concerned about climate change).

Could always take a page from the aussies and call 'em a Ute. Everybody loves a good ute. :)

Ah, well to each their own as to what makes something fit into a classification.

The slate certainly won’t be able to perform the same tasks that a large truck can, but there’s already many options for large trucks, and currently no options for small trucks. A 1980’s Toyota Hilux with only 100hp and 130lb-ft wouldn’t have been able to perform the same tasks as a 1980’s Ford F-350, but many people don’t perform the tasks a larger truck is capable of. For them, the cost savings that come with a smaller lighter, and more simple truck with enough capabilities for their needs may be a far more appealing option.

As for it being a unibody, I don’t think that will be much of a detriment for the types of tasks people have in mind for it, and supposedly it’s designed to be stronger than a traditional unibody, though we’ll have to see if that claim is accurate.

If you’re not familiar with it, the Slate is modular and can be converted from an SUV with rear seats to an open-bed truck. In the truck configuration, it’s similar in size to the older style mini-trucks that were common in the 80’s and 90’s.

I also thought buying the name for so much money (over a million, and Peri refinanced his house to afford it) just wasn’t worth it.

But with so much invested now, they’re likely to fight it out in court to the end. Apparently the Italian company’s ownership of the name is dubious, but it will still be costly to fight.

That’s… Unexpected and pretty darn cool.