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Posts: 79 | Thanked: 719 times | Joined on May 2014 @ Buenos Aires, Argentina
#9
Originally Posted by Bearserker View Post
security OS developpers
For most of the development, a Neo900 would look just like a N900. Developers of a different OS would only really need a Neo900 prototype if they want to explore special features, things like the modem monitoring.

So let me bounce that question back: what's keeping those security OS developers from already porting their work to the N900 ?

RYF certification
And you'd think the story of the monster of Loch Ness was persistent :-) As far as phones are concerned, RYF is a red herring. There are numerous components that have upgradeable closed firmware that will never be Free.

Personally, I also wouldn't trust the "don't recommend non-Free software" clause. It practically begs for discretionary application and is likely to lead to conflict in the community, especially when actively encouraging an open platform. And there are a few more items that leave a bad taste and don't contribute to the objective at hand.

Neo900 is basically as free as practically possible for a smartphone-type device. In fact, it goes well beyond what others do. But that still doesn't help with RYF, and that's why those discussions (it comes up every few weeks) never lead anywhere.

If you want a RYF-compatible phone, please talk to the the regulatory bodies that define telecommunication technology and that control spectrum use. Convince them that regulations must allow for RYF-compatible hardware. Once you've done that, talk to makers of telephony chipsets or modules and convince them of the general benefits of openness, at least where the firmware-hardware interface is concerned. Or, if they won't listen, develop your own chips. Last but not least, implement a Free telephony stack, or convince the telephony chip makers to open theirs, and renegotiate any licenses on components that are not compatible with RYF. There may be a few more obstacles, but that's basically the preconditions before someone like Neo900 would be able to incorporate RYF-compliant telephony.

In any case, despite lacking RYF compliance, people are free to look at all specifications and details of the project and decide for themselves if it meets their own criteria for sufficient openness, i.e., whether it respects the freedoms they are personally interested in.

Maybe we should make our own certificate, call it UYL (Upholds Your Liberties), that drops/modifies the incompatible bits and adds, say, open schematics (which RYF doesn't have), then celebrate Neo900 as the first product meeting the stringent certification requirements ;-)

- Werner
 

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