3 ms·
"why can we have a top of the line desktop PC which is totally libre, but not a smartphone?" "totally libre PC"? All major CPU manufacturers implement hardware
by kbart 9y ago
"why can we have a top of the line desktop PC which is totally libre, but not a smartphone?"
"totally libre PC"? All major CPU manufacturers implement hardware level backdoor we can't disable. The newest version of the most popular OS tracks your every step by default. All of these tiny chips in pretty much any modern electronic device are full of binary blobs you have no way to inspect. Maybe we live in different worlds then.
- api 9y agoPCs are comparatively much more open than phones, and it is actually possible to disable some of that stuff with various hacks on some systems. Phones are closed, locked down, and bugged by design.
- kbart 9y agoI don't deny that, but saying "PCs are totally libre" is vast overstretch. PCs are getting more and more complex, include high number or sub-systems, that are actually mini-computers themselves, so by installing an open-source OS on the topmost layer we only get an illusion of the open system. But unless we have an open hardware along with source code for firmware running on all those sub-systems, we can't call PCs "libre".