LaF0rge

#Osmocom founder. Mobile Communication expert. Former netfilter/iptables hacker, freedom fighter. nerd., kinky; #retronetworking. Mensch mit Kommandozeilenhintergrund. searchable via tootfinder. Director of sysmocom - s.f.m.c. GmbH (npub13m2…cazz)

Homepage: https://laforge.gnumonks.org
Blog: https://laforge.gnumonks.org/blog/
Presentations: https://media.ccc.de/search/?q=Harald+Welte
PeerTube: https://tube.tchncs.de/a/laf0rge/video-channels

Public Key

npub1mq406ah8xfcdga4vfsfkxhcjrgq4ay8ueccsvv38ynmmx7f9udest9wwak

NIP-05 Address

laf0rge_at_chaos.social@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsds2hawmnnyux5w6kycymrtufp5q27jr7vuvgxxgnjfaan0yj7xucpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsvmdkw7

Publishing to

relay.nostr.bg

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1mq406ah8xfcdga4vfsfkxhcjrgq4ay8ueccsvv38ynmmx7f9udest9wwak

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Last Notes

2026-03-29 02:56:30 UTC

I'm currently looking to expand my social network and would love to get in touch with anyone in the "global south" (especially African countries) involved in #hamradio, wireless community networks, #FOSS or #OSHW development or the #maker and #hacker communities. I'd be very happy if anyone from the above target groups would reach out and introduce themselves #followerpower

2025-12-15 19:51:21 UTC

I'm currently looking for one or more volunteers to maintain the Openmoko USB PID + OUI service at https://github.com/openmoko/openmoko-usb-oui as the existing maintainer is no longer available. This is a service providing free USB Product IDs and Ethernet MAC addresses for the #FOSS and #OSWH community. Volunteers have to review of the PRs fulfill FOSS/OSHW licensing requirements before merging PRs. #usb #opensource

2025-11-26 20:25:21 UTC

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yes, of course we operate ISDN BRI and PRI services at @npub1lv5…mdpz - also again at #39C3. Using an actual Siemens EWSD exchange. We also offer analog POTS ports, and all relevant services like Fax G3, G4 and ISDN Videotelephony, PPP dialup IPv4 and V.120/X.75 BBS dialup.

2025-10-24 15:00:50 UTC

Just completed the disassembly of another two Siemens EWSD digital telephone exchanges, which are now in a truck on their way to the Telecom Museum Dresden (Fernmeldemuseum Dresden). Largest time sink was untangling the hundreds of cables (mostly with proprietary Siemens connectors).. #retronetworking #telecom #ewsd #isdn
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/115/429/732/774/544/199/original/f80416f2d10cb3e1.jpeg

2025-09-15 13:15:27 UTC

We'll be rescuing another Siemens EWSD digital telephone exchange. If anyone is interested in helping us with disassembly and loading into the truck in Munich on October 23rd/24th, please let me know - more information in German at https://discourse.osmocom.org/t/ewsd-abbauhilfe-in-munchen-am-23-24-10-2025/2312 #retronetworking #telephony #telecommunications #isdn

2025-09-01 05:16:03 UTC

So there's a decades-old mechanism (and actual standard) how programs lock serial ports on unix-like systems in /var/lock. it's used in practice even in 2025 and #systemd >= 258 simply breaks it with "we don't care". I am not a systemd opponent, but that kind of behaviour [without a prior community-wide discussion or providing patches for known-affected projects and a grace period] is just alienating users and developers https://github.com/systemd/systemd/issues/38563 https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1110980 #systemd #debian

2025-07-17 04:09:26 UTC

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well, basically you are saying that working with entities that exhibit a [almost certainly irrational] fear of GPLv3 is more important than using a stronger copyleft license thst would give end users more rights. That's everyones' own choice to make. I know there are heavily regulated markets like automotive where there are real legal problems with GPLv3. But beyond that, what exactly is the rational, well-founded reason for those OWMs fear of GPLv3?

2025-06-30 05:46:41 UTC

lT security 101: Don't leave your company laptop with authentication smart card inserted, applications open and without screensaver at your seat when using the lavatories on a train. Unbelivable...
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/114/770/727/313/508/583/original/95cf4f8e481017d5.jpg

2025-05-13 05:02:20 UTC

In case you haven't seen it yet, check out the analysis of the devastating state of [mostly] modern #OpenSSL by members of haproxy at https://www.haproxy.com/blog/state-of-ssl-stacks - hard to imagine such massive performance regressions getting into mainline linux distributions unnoticed by the distributors. #linux #ssl

2025-02-03 13:36:41 UTC

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yes I presume OpenEZX might have been the first attempt at open source software for the application processor of a smartphone. At least I didnt know any other such project back then. It sadly never went very far, as several key contributors including I got "distracted" with doing #openmoko - but that was also a good thing, of course

2025-01-05 13:13:10 UTC

Just saw this beautiful teardown of a 3.5" floppy drive with beautiful shots by Richi's Lab (CC-BY-NC): https://www.richis-lab.de/floppy.htm #retrocomputing #floppy
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/113/775/918/521/804/478/original/847188ef468693e7.jpg
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/113/775/918/835/857/429/original/289d764d050f7825.jpg

2024-12-06 18:17:15 UTC

Whenever some product is advertised with "unmatched performance", the RF / signal integrity part of my brain goes "who would ever want that?". #electronics

2024-11-25 11:25:45 UTC

In case anyone still happens to have a spare #38C3 ticket: One of the kind people wo was supposed to help us with building+operating the #CCC #ISDN network apparently didn't get one. I know it's unlikely, but I had to ask... #followerpower @npub1lv5…mdpz

2024-11-25 11:22:11 UTC

Do any of the #iPhone hackers in my timeline know of a method of exchanging arbitrary APDUs with the eUICC (likely similar/same to the SIM) on hacked/rooted Apple devices? I want to find out some properties of the eUICCs used by Apple. @npub1sdq…mrnn #followerpower

2024-11-17 05:39:05 UTC

#38C3 Service Announcement: There will be #ISDN and analog telephony at the event. Now is still time to find your old ISDN and/or modem/fax/telephony gear in the attic[ or obtain something on eBay] to bring and connect to the network. #retronetworking #ccc
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/113/496/681/606/671/037/original/9e4e4e95c812d541.png

2024-10-26 06:38:44 UTC

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again I'm not seeing the chain of evidence in that commit. If I find something that violates a technical spec, then my commitlog would contain a reference to which specific section of which spec says what. Why not have the same level of commit log quality here? Why are we satisfied with "some undisclosed lawyer gave advice to do this" as follow up to an email thread...

2024-10-26 04:19:00 UTC

my take on recent regrettable events in the #linux kernel community. https://laforge.gnumonks.org/blog/20241025-linux-maintainers-russian/

2024-10-13 20:15:57 UTC

Now with the #ccc #38C3 CfP out at https://content.events.ccc.de/cfp/38c3/index.html I'm wondering if there's anything I could/should submit a talk about [within the given tracks]. If you're planning to attend: Is there any topic [within cellular, retro-tech, ...] you'd want me to talk about? #followerpower

2024-10-09 07:57:22 UTC

Feeling like a TV repair man 30 years ago: Fixing the CRT part of [Germanys?] first #ISDN video phone "BildTel 001" #retronetworking - detailed debug journey at https://osmocom.org/issues/6587
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/113/276/387/565/998/281/original/12a8bbc6d92e28b0.jpg
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/113/276/389/701/543/547/original/6aff95a773c4b7bb.jpg

2024-09-07 10:34:47 UTC

TIL: The second "A" in the name of the historical French telecom supplier ALCATEL actually stands for atomique (nuclear): "Société Alsacienne de Constructions Atomiques, de Télécommunications et d'Électronique" #retronetworking

2024-08-29 04:25:34 UTC

Marking the 20th anniversary of my gpl-violations.org activities, I have the opportunity to present the keynote "The Dark Ages of GPL Compliance 20 Years ago" at #linuxfoundation #opencompliancesummit in Tokyo https://sched.co/1j5BC #GPL #licensing #copyleft

2024-08-20 13:05:33 UTC

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I didn't find it hard; went for a Fronius Symo GEN24 inverter and a BYD HVM battery, both of which are safely locked away in an Ethernet VLAN that has no outbound connectivity / internet access. I really don't understand why anyone with a common sense about IT security would ever deploy any kind of device that is remotely controlled by some so-called "cloud" service.

2024-08-20 08:01:03 UTC

If somebody with a clue about Android development in Kotlin wants to help out: I have no clue what I'm doing but trying to improve EasyEUICC to use a preference to determine whether or not to list/filter certan eSIM profiles - any help is appreciated: https://gitea.angry.im/PeterCxy/OpenEUICC/issues/30#issuecomment-165

2024-08-19 15:30:46 UTC

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If you want an #android device to use the 3GPP-specified way of connecting to an ePDG defined on your USIM, please consider +1 on the "I am impacted" button of that bug report. This would allow you to use #VoWiFi more easily in private cellular networks: https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/359593400