Well, of course, not having to deal with distributing and handling the firmware in your OS is a very nice bonus. However, I could have worded myself better: FSF

Well, of course, not having to deal with distributing and handling the firmware in your OS is a very nice bonus. However, I could have worded myself better: FSF's RYF certification actually isn't about "downloadable firmwares", it's about "upgradable firmwares". IOW, if the user is able to install the software by themselves, the preinstalled one must be free, period - and no closed alternatives can be advertised or suggested. Redpine releasing a tool to flash the proprietary firmware would likely make the Librem 5's RYF certification void, which is a thing that IMO isn't helpful to anyone involved. Openmoko already went through that route, although AFAIR there was no formal RYF programme yet back then. Freerunner was all fine from FSF PoV until Openmoko released a firmware upgrade for the Calypso baseband that fixed some ugly bugs, suddenly making it not free enough for FSF. Which is especially funny considering that it basically opened the way to run OsmocomBB on that thing.