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"... about 150 closed source binaries and libraries that make the modem work. Biktor is working on replacing all of them with 3 open source alternatives ..." T
by marcodiego 6y ago
"... about 150 closed source binaries and libraries that make the modem work. Biktor is working on replacing all of them with 3 open source alternatives ..."
That means we can dream with proprietary blob-free phones in the not too distant future?
- kop316 6y agoTotally blob free? Unfortunately not: "We aren’t touching the modem’s ADSP firmware, because in addition to the inherent difficulties that come with it, modifying the ADSP firmware could lead to problems with RF regulations or certifications." The ADSP firmware is the firmware that does all of the heavy lifting for physical communications.
- marcodiego 6y agoClose enough for me. I don't know how (un)reasonable it may be, but I think the "put it on a read-only chip and run on a 'secondary processor'" maneuver would be enough for fsf ryf certification[1]. The way it is now is free and open enough for me nevertheless. [1] https://puri.sm/posts/librem5-solving-the-first-fsf-ryf-hurdle/ https://puri.sm/posts/librem5-solving-the-first-fsf-ryf-hurd...
- megous 6y agoIt may have 150 binaries on the ARM side, but most are a) not used, b) don't don anything interesting or very involved c) some are FOSS already, like busybox, or have some code available if you look hard enough on github. That's also why it's feasible to re-create userspace from scratch. Anyway, it's gonna be nice having a lot of space to do interesting stuff in the modem's SoC.
- biktor_gj 6y agoThat count is only of quectel and qualcomm binaries and libraries, busybox, sysvinit, scripts, config files etc. where not in that pack. True though, most of them don't do anything interesting, or only one interesting thing for the thousand that could do in a typical scenario