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I believe I have a right to computing freedom, and actively try to use free software on my personal computer and on servers I develop on and deploy to. I have E

I believe I have a right to computing freedom, and actively try to use free software on my personal computer and on servers I develop on and deploy to. I have EOMA68 laptop and desktop housings[0] coming, hopefully in the spring. I am also about to build a server with a motherboard that is supported by Libreboot[1] and processors that work fine without microcode updates. I use Android phones and tablets, but as long as they have non-free components, I will never accept the "convergence" paradigm. If I can't have freedom all of the time, at least I won't surrender it all of the time. [0] https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop [1]https://libreboot.org https://libreboot.org

gshulegaard 10y ago
Just curious, did you support the Ubuntu Edge effort a couple years back? Why or why not? https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ubuntu-edge#/ https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ubuntu-edge#/ I ask because my perspective is that the convergence effort started a long time ago...perhaps as early as Canonical's original controversial release of the Unity desktop...and these efforts by larger players are more or less followers (albeit higher powered followers with larger market reach). This being the case, I actually support the "convergence" paradigm...particularly Ubuntu's efforts but even from players like Microsoft...since I see convergence as a way of cracking open (to some extent) the walled gardens mobile devices have become. But I wonder if there is some part of the Ubuntu Edge that was "closed" and I didn't notice.
- gyigdjjlpp 10y ago
  I think the opposite. Microsoft has a "legacy" on x86 that its open and standardized. Once it moves to ARM, all bets are off (see surface). I wonder if I'm going to be able to install Linux on a "PC" in ten years
  - my123 10y ago
    They standardized ARM with UEFI and ACPI. All bets are not off, Secure Boot was defeated :)
- ralmidani 10y ago
  Even if the OS itself is free, using the modem requires a non-free blob. That's why I prefer to keep my phone and PC separate.
  - eropple 10y ago
    Do you have access to the firmware code in your keyboard? Your monitor? I'm not criticizing your decision, and it's certainly yours to make, but people (and also Stallman) draw such very strange lines of demarcation about this stuff.
    - ralmidani 10y ago
      You raise a good point, which prompts a genuine question: does having a free OS and BIOS help safeguard against "rogue" peripherals (since the system knows what they're supposed to do)?
      - eropple 10y ago
        The system doesn't, though, not really. I mean, consider something running over Thunderbolt. A device that doesn't even tell you it supports Thunderbolt (and triggers it via USB3 alternate modes) then has direct, unimpeded access to the physical memory space of the computer. PCMCIA cards, PCI cards, FireWire...USB, itself is more intermediated--but that's also why latency is higher. You can disable DMA in the BIOS, but then lots of devices won't work at all. If you're doing free-all-the-stuff for principle, I think it gets un-comfy drawing the line at stuff that runs on x86 and ARM ('specially as your monitor probably has an ARM in it anyway). If you're doing it for security, I think you must strive for peripheral openness too, or you're mostly wasting your time.
        ralmidani 10y ago
        Thanks for your insights. I believe computing freedom is a right people should assert, and I should inform them why they should assert it, but I don't go as far as saying it's unethical to use non-free devices and/or software. At least not when non-free is more readily available and, from the perspective of the average user, more "convenient" than free. Personally, I like Debian because it removes non-free blobs from the kernel (and I check the license on a package before I install it). But let's say Ubuntu was the only available GNU+Linux distribution. I would still choose it over Windows or MacOS because mostly free is better than completely non-free, and I would rather support Ubuntu (or Android, for that matter) than enable and give money to Microsoft or Apple. As for peripherals, from a practical point of view, doesn't the type of peripheral matter? A monitor or printer (output devices) going rogue seem far less dangerous than a rogue webcam, for example.
AWildDHHAppears 10y ago
Well, alrighty then. This topic is not for you.
cylinder714 10y ago
Crowd Supply has a page up for an upcoming mini-PC/phone project called Minotaur One: https://www.crowdsupply.com/qutecha/minotaur-one https://www.crowdsupply.com/qutecha/minotaur-one

gshulegaard 10y ago

Just curious, did you support the Ubuntu Edge effort a couple years back? Why or why not? https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ubuntu-edge#/ https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ubuntu-edge#/ I ask because my perspective is that the convergence effort started a long time ago...perhaps as early as Canonical's original controversial release of the Unity desktop...and these efforts by larger players are more or less followers (albeit higher powered followers with larger market reach). This being the case, I actually support the "convergence" paradigm...particularly Ubuntu's efforts but even from players like Microsoft...since I see convergence as a way of cracking open (to some extent) the walled gardens mobile devices have become. But I wonder if there is some part of the Ubuntu Edge that was "closed" and I didn't notice.

gyigdjjlpp 10y ago
I think the opposite. Microsoft has a "legacy" on x86 that its open and standardized. Once it moves to ARM, all bets are off (see surface). I wonder if I'm going to be able to install Linux on a "PC" in ten years
- my123 10y ago
  They standardized ARM with UEFI and ACPI. All bets are not off, Secure Boot was defeated :)
ralmidani 10y ago
Even if the OS itself is free, using the modem requires a non-free blob. That's why I prefer to keep my phone and PC separate.
- eropple 10y ago
  Do you have access to the firmware code in your keyboard? Your monitor? I'm not criticizing your decision, and it's certainly yours to make, but people (and also Stallman) draw such very strange lines of demarcation about this stuff.
  - ralmidani 10y ago
    You raise a good point, which prompts a genuine question: does having a free OS and BIOS help safeguard against "rogue" peripherals (since the system knows what they're supposed to do)?
    - eropple 10y ago
      The system doesn't, though, not really. I mean, consider something running over Thunderbolt. A device that doesn't even tell you it supports Thunderbolt (and triggers it via USB3 alternate modes) then has direct, unimpeded access to the physical memory space of the computer. PCMCIA cards, PCI cards, FireWire...USB, itself is more intermediated--but that's also why latency is higher. You can disable DMA in the BIOS, but then lots of devices won't work at all. If you're doing free-all-the-stuff for principle, I think it gets un-comfy drawing the line at stuff that runs on x86 and ARM ('specially as your monitor probably has an ARM in it anyway). If you're doing it for security, I think you must strive for peripheral openness too, or you're mostly wasting your time.
      - ralmidani 10y ago
        Thanks for your insights. I believe computing freedom is a right people should assert, and I should inform them why they should assert it, but I don't go as far as saying it's unethical to use non-free devices and/or software. At least not when non-free is more readily available and, from the perspective of the average user, more "convenient" than free. Personally, I like Debian because it removes non-free blobs from the kernel (and I check the license on a package before I install it). But let's say Ubuntu was the only available GNU+Linux distribution. I would still choose it over Windows or MacOS because mostly free is better than completely non-free, and I would rather support Ubuntu (or Android, for that matter) than enable and give money to Microsoft or Apple. As for peripherals, from a practical point of view, doesn't the type of peripheral matter? A monitor or printer (output devices) going rogue seem far less dangerous than a rogue webcam, for example.

AWildDHHAppears 10y ago

Well, alrighty then. This topic is not for you.

cylinder714 10y ago

Crowd Supply has a page up for an upcoming mini-PC/phone project called Minotaur One: https://www.crowdsupply.com/qutecha/minotaur-one https://www.crowdsupply.com/qutecha/minotaur-one