4 ms·

This blog is now hosted on a GPS/LTE modem (2021)

• xx_ns 10mo ago
  Just a little play on the recent HN post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46016902 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46016902 Project that I did a few years ago. You might also be interested in the retrospective where I detail what all went wrong: https://blog.nns.ee/2025/04/01/modem-blog-retrospective/ https://blog.nns.ee/2025/04/01/modem-blog-retrospective/
• Havoc 10mo ago
  That’s pretty awesome Isn’t such an old kernel dangerous for hosting though?
  • xx_ns 10mo ago
    Good question! I wasn't too concerned about this, because the only way you could even interact with the OS where the server was running was via HTTP requests, which are fairly limited in nature. The OS or kernel itself wasn't directly exposed per se.
    • pabs3 10mo ago
      ISTR Linux has had RCEs in IPv6 related stuff in recent years. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-6200 https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-6200
• yjftsjthsd-h 10mo ago
  There was also work to replace the modem OS wholesale: https://hackaday.com/2022/07/12/open-firmware-for-pinephone-lte-modem-whats-up-with-that/ https://hackaday.com/2022/07/12/open-firmware-for-pinephone-... That would, I expect, help with the unfortunately old kernel version and generally give greater confidence in what's running on the second computer inside the computer.
  • pabs3 10mo ago
    That isn't wholesale, it only replaces the OS on the ARM processor of the modem, the OS on the Hexagon processor of the modem handles radio stuff and lots of the layers of LTE. https://github.com/the-modem-distro/ https://github.com/the-modem-distro/
• 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 10mo ago
  Symbiogenesis is 100% true for computers huh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiogenesis#Mitochondria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiogenesis#Mitochondria