6 ms·

Idea: take the open source Beagle Bone Black, which has open source schematics, put into (probably chunkier) phone form factor, add 4g phone modem. Use contai

Idea: take the open source Beagle Bone Black, which has open source schematics, put into (probably chunkier) phone form factor, add 4g phone modem. Use containers to segregate any apps, e.g. web browser, maps, Signal/Telegram all in a separate container from each other. Would this allow for less privacy-invasion from Google etc.?

seba_dos1 5y ago
BBB requires non-free drivers for the GPU, which are a huge PITA even if you don't mind them being non-free. You would end up with more-or-less a Nokia N9 clone. It's better to use something like i.MX 8M Quad - you may want to take a look at the Librem 5; or if you want something lower-end than that then there's also the PinePhone which is based on A64.
- marcodiego 5y ago
  i.MX still needs binary blobs. I think the only ARM SBC today that can run blob-free today is Radxa's Rock pi 4.
  - CameronNemo 5y ago
    Why only that particular rk3399 board? My rock64 runs blob free, as I would imagine most rk3328 boards do. The rk3399 type c port does require a blob, but I guess that is optional and boards without the USB3 type c port do not need it. Other than that the only blob I need for my PBP is for the broadcom WiFi modem. Are there any ac WiFi modems that work without blobs? I have only seen the ath9k chipsets which top out at 802.11n With that said, I worry an rk3399 would run hot in a phone. Hopefully the thermals on the rk3588 are better. But rockchip is dedicating die space to a poorly supported "neural processing unit" now, so we will have to see.
    - marcodiego 5y ago
      The USB-c port on the rock pi 4 is for power only, no eDP or any blob required for HDMI. The model A has no wifi, so no blob required for that too.
  - fsflover 5y ago
    > i.MX still needs binary blobs Which ones? Librem 5 runs an FSF-endorsed OS and is recommended by the FSF: https://www.fsf.org/givingguide/v11/ https://www.fsf.org/givingguide/v11/.
    - marcodiego 5y ago
      AFAIK fsf recommending a distro doesn't says much about the hardware it runs on. With regard to the blobs still required, see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28189184 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28189184
      - fsflover 5y ago
        FSF recommends hardware which runs purely blob-free OSes. Such hardware can still have proprietary components, which can be considered "hardware, not software", i.e., have no access to RAM, CPU or network and do not require updates. Purism solved the problem with the RAM here: https://puri.sm/posts/librem5-solving-the-first-fsf-ryf-hurdle/ https://puri.sm/posts/librem5-solving-the-first-fsf-ryf-hurd....
        marcodiego 5y ago
        This was posted a long time ago. The phone has been available for a more than a year now and it still is not ryf-certified. I don't think it will ever be.
        fsflover 5y ago
        Have a look at my first link. FSF did not certify the phone, because they did not receive the units yet. Purism is struggling with delivery due to the supply chain problem. Nevertheless, FSF recommends Librem 5 every year, and they never recommend anything requiring binary blobs. I have no doubt it will be certified (later rather than sooner).
        marcodiego 5y ago
  - seba_dos1 5y ago
    Every i.MX blob combined is an order of magnitude less problematic in practice than PowerVR blob on OMAP.
pinusc 5y ago
If Google privacy invasion is what you fear, then there are simpler solutions. Simply installing lineageOS on a supported android device yields a functioning, de-googlified phone. Install only open source apps (from F-Droid, for example) and you're all set. Android itself containerizes/isolates apps, with better & better security features in modern versions. LineageOS also adds their own layer of security (ex-PrivacyGuard) on top. Granted, not all phones are created equal, meaning some of them will have restrictive bootloaders/need more proprietary drivers. It's possible some of them have spyware built in their bootloader/recovery/hardware, although I haven't heard of it. And of course there's 0 fully open-source android hardware phones. Which, speaking of... this would be excellent on pinephone, which runs linux. Would allow running android apps on it, which is very very useful of course. I might finally bite the bullet and buy it...
dvdkon 5y ago
You could just use a PinePhone, you'd probably get similar performance in a much more convenient form factor.
- marcodiego 5y ago
  See the video comparing a pinephone to a librem-5 running supertuxkart: https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Benchmarks https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Benchm... They are not on par in terms of performance.
fsflover 5y ago
Your idea has been (in principle) implemented here: https://puri.sm/products/librem-5 https://puri.sm/products/librem-5.

seba_dos1 5y ago

BBB requires non-free drivers for the GPU, which are a huge PITA even if you don't mind them being non-free. You would end up with more-or-less a Nokia N9 clone. It's better to use something like i.MX 8M Quad - you may want to take a look at the Librem 5; or if you want something lower-end than that then there's also the PinePhone which is based on A64.

marcodiego 5y ago
i.MX still needs binary blobs. I think the only ARM SBC today that can run blob-free today is Radxa's Rock pi 4.
- CameronNemo 5y ago
  Why only that particular rk3399 board? My rock64 runs blob free, as I would imagine most rk3328 boards do. The rk3399 type c port does require a blob, but I guess that is optional and boards without the USB3 type c port do not need it. Other than that the only blob I need for my PBP is for the broadcom WiFi modem. Are there any ac WiFi modems that work without blobs? I have only seen the ath9k chipsets which top out at 802.11n With that said, I worry an rk3399 would run hot in a phone. Hopefully the thermals on the rk3588 are better. But rockchip is dedicating die space to a poorly supported "neural processing unit" now, so we will have to see.
  - marcodiego 5y ago
    The USB-c port on the rock pi 4 is for power only, no eDP or any blob required for HDMI. The model A has no wifi, so no blob required for that too.
- fsflover 5y ago
  > i.MX still needs binary blobs Which ones? Librem 5 runs an FSF-endorsed OS and is recommended by the FSF: https://www.fsf.org/givingguide/v11/ https://www.fsf.org/givingguide/v11/.
  - marcodiego 5y ago
    AFAIK fsf recommending a distro doesn't says much about the hardware it runs on. With regard to the blobs still required, see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28189184 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28189184
    - fsflover 5y ago
      FSF recommends hardware which runs purely blob-free OSes. Such hardware can still have proprietary components, which can be considered "hardware, not software", i.e., have no access to RAM, CPU or network and do not require updates. Purism solved the problem with the RAM here: https://puri.sm/posts/librem5-solving-the-first-fsf-ryf-hurdle/ https://puri.sm/posts/librem5-solving-the-first-fsf-ryf-hurd....
      - marcodiego 5y ago
        This was posted a long time ago. The phone has been available for a more than a year now and it still is not ryf-certified. I don't think it will ever be.
        fsflover 5y ago
        Have a look at my first link. FSF did not certify the phone, because they did not receive the units yet. Purism is struggling with delivery due to the supply chain problem. Nevertheless, FSF recommends Librem 5 every year, and they never recommend anything requiring binary blobs. I have no doubt it will be certified (later rather than sooner).
        marcodiego 5y ago
- seba_dos1 5y ago
  Every i.MX blob combined is an order of magnitude less problematic in practice than PowerVR blob on OMAP.

pinusc 5y ago

If Google privacy invasion is what you fear, then there are simpler solutions. Simply installing lineageOS on a supported android device yields a functioning, de-googlified phone. Install only open source apps (from F-Droid, for example) and you're all set. Android itself containerizes/isolates apps, with better & better security features in modern versions. LineageOS also adds their own layer of security (ex-PrivacyGuard) on top. Granted, not all phones are created equal, meaning some of them will have restrictive bootloaders/need more proprietary drivers. It's possible some of them have spyware built in their bootloader/recovery/hardware, although I haven't heard of it. And of course there's 0 fully open-source android hardware phones. Which, speaking of... this would be excellent on pinephone, which runs linux. Would allow running android apps on it, which is very very useful of course. I might finally bite the bullet and buy it...

dvdkon 5y ago

You could just use a PinePhone, you'd probably get similar performance in a much more convenient form factor.

marcodiego 5y ago
See the video comparing a pinephone to a librem-5 running supertuxkart: https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Benchmarks https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Benchm... They are not on par in terms of performance.

fsflover 5y ago

Your idea has been (in principle) implemented here: https://puri.sm/products/librem-5 https://puri.sm/products/librem-5.