I want a computer that I own • Hacker News Board

Re: I want a computer that I own

#411

Post by rubin55 » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 9:38 AM UTC

fiddlerwoaroof wrote: post #107

autoexec wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also think selecting parts is limited by the fact that there are so few manufacturers. Processors these days mostly come down to AMD or Intel and nothing there is transparent or audit-able. "trusted computing" and backdoors make even your hardware suspect.

There are capable desktop computers with open hardware, down to the silicon: you just have to pay for it. For example, for $4k, you can get this with specs roughly equivalent to a normal developer machine: https://www.raptorcs.com/content/BK1SD1/intro.html

Actually, for about 1700 you have the Blackbird BK1B01 mainboard + cpu from Raptor, with 4 cores, 16 threads: https://www.raptorcs.com/content/BK1B01/intro.html

I bought two of these last year and they're great, stuff your own memory in there, add some storage and off you go.

Edit: clarified that this would be a mainboard + CPU.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#412

Post by Naracion » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 9:38 AM UTC

If you vibe with this article, you might be interested in the framework device ecosystem. They're about to release a laptop, and a mobile device is also in the plans.

While this will not provide the kind of freedom on the software side that the thread seeks, at least you get the freedom to choose the hardware components that run your device.

https://frame.work/

HN thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26263508

Re: I want a computer that I own

#413

Post by emrah » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 9:39 AM UTC

kokx wrote: post #15

I have a similar feeling, but with modern smartphones. Owning my computer is still relatively possible. I can build a computer from parts which I can choose, and have a choice in which operating system to install on them. Laptops are slightly more closed, but even on those I can choose the OS myself. Modern smartphones however, seem like walled gardens in which I have no control at all. I cannot choose any of the par…

Choosing an OS doesn't mean you get to own it unless you choose Linux.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#414

Post by Psychlist » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 9:41 AM UTC

crabmusket wrote: post #290

tyingq wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"simple reparation tasks like replacing a battery is a nightmare these days" Had a recent experience with a Motorola phone with this. And there was no obvious technical reason they couldn't have held the battery down with something other than a shite ton of glue.

I'd like to quickly plug Fairphone here. They've made a phone which does everything you'd expect of a smartphone, but is also very easy to disassemble. Replacing the battery is extremely easy, same with the screen itself. The other "modules" tend to have a few different components on them, e.g. USB plug and vibration motor are on the same module AFAIR. I've been using the Fairphone 2 for a bit over 5 years and while…

I just bought a 3+, shipped to Australia via a friend in Austria. I'm glad to hear that your 2 has lasted, albeit the phone I replaced was also about 5 years old (a Samsung, from the days when those had replaceable batteries and uSD slots. And on battery number three, although I am pretty sure battery number two was a fake because it never worked properly)

I'd love to run a more open software stack, but even just Linux on the top layer would mean not running the apps I need to get through daily life... it's why I had to retire my perfectly working Android 3 phone, so many things stopped working (the Covid tracking app FFS). But under linux are the various radio, camera, wifi etc modules and a lot of those have their own firmware. Pinephone has really struggled with that.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#415

Post by MrGilbert » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 9:41 AM UTC

DeusExMachina wrote: post #410

navaati wrote: post #409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s frustrating to have to pay, but I think you can shell out something like a 100 bucks to get an Apple developer account and it allows you to install your own code on your own phone. I hope it’s a 100 bucks forever and not once per year… Can someone confirm ?

It's once per year. Source: I have a paid developer account.

But I also need a mac for signing, don't I? Like, a Mac Mini? That's the most annoying part, tbh. I feel fine-ish for paying 8 $ a month for my dev account (if you calculate it that way), but buying additional, expensive hardware? No, not really.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#416

Post by rubin55 » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 9:42 AM UTC

fogihujy wrote: post #382

aiisahik wrote: post #105

This is literally something that NEVER crosses the mind of the average consumer. We should have a HackerNews version of "first world problems" and call it "HackerNews Problems". You now have a computer that is 10,000 times faster than one you had 30 yrs ago at half the price. Oh and it fits in your pocket. A lot of time and money went into creating that. Those people need to get paid. And yes you pay for it with some…

You're right; freedom of computing is a non-issue for most people. What I don't agree upon is that "NOBODY" would want open platforms; there's probably a larger market for that than there was a personal computing market in the 70's. There's businesses like Raptor that sell fairly open workstations, and they simply wouldn't if there wasn't a market for it. The main issue is the disconnect between engineers/programmers…

Raptor systems are not fairly open, they're fully open. Purism and to a lesser extent System76 could be classified as fairly open though.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#417

Post by franga2000 » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 9:42 AM UTC

bmn__ wrote: post #397

sammorrowdrums wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well it is early days but Librem and System76 (and several others like Pine64) are making huge headway in the open hardware space. I know there have been lots of failures in this area but I think we are getting to a threshold point where building on top of these companies acheivements is quite possible. Linux on Mobile and open EC and Coreboot etc. are all making rapid progress at the moment. I would still say we are…

> desktop Linux user like me, open hardware is already a reality Power or RISC-V ISA hardware are in low stock, have very few, specialised vendors and are not affordable. I have great sympathy for people who refuse to pay the outrageous difference to off-the-shelf hardware that can be bought anywhere just to gain a level of privacy that they should have in the first place. AMD and Intel have rootkits in their hardwar…

I seriously doubt either Intel or AMD ship different silicon to the NSA or whoever else. At least from what I've read, the only difference (at least on Intel) is the "NSA bit", that can actually be turned on on any chip these days. System76 actually ships machines with it enabled by default.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#418

Post by xxs » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 9:43 AM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #374

xxs wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Honest question: is it simply the fact you can't use a Gecko engine on iOS that makes it useless to you? No plugins/add-ons effectively.

Because you need plugins on a mobile browser?

That was supposed to be an honest question with an honest answer. There was no need for a snarky remark. But yes, totally.

The topic is about owning your own hardware/software combo - so having addons/customization is the definition of it.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#419

Post by demosito666 » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 9:43 AM UTC

XorNot wrote: post #373

bayindirh wrote: post #348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Authenticator data is not backed up. Microsoft Authenticator can be backed up, but you need to go through a few extra steps (and have a Microsoft account). Other secrets are not included either - my banks PhotoTAN app doesn’t store any credentials etc. AFAIK, applications allow their secrets to be backed up or not, and I'm not mad that my 2FA keys are no backed up and shipped overseas. I keep another copy of my 2FA…

Pretty much noone should be using any of the authenticator apps. Get Keepass2Android, and it'll track TOTPs just fine. Throw Syncthing on their and you can securely get those to any device you own without involving Google.

Congrats, you have just negated the second factor in 2FA by having all your keys at one place in one application.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#420

Post by shrew » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 9:43 AM UTC

xxs wrote: post #362

shrew wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: is it simply the fact you can't use a Gecko engine on iOS that makes it useless to you? My impression is that the Firefox shell offered is still able to provide the various anti-tracking privacy features that many would point to Firefox for, and the variety of browser shells available should mean that you'd be able to find a UI to your liking if Safari's isn't. At that point, the only thing I can see…

> Honest question: is it simply the fact you can't use a Gecko engine on iOS that makes it useless to you? No plugins/add-ons effectively.

Gotcha, that's completely fair and not something I'd considered. Thanks!

As a vague counter point, I use Firefox Focus[0][1] which touts the tracker blocking and ad blocking I'd rely on extensions for normally. It meets my needs as the only additional extensions I use on desktop are for tab and session cookie management, both of which are moot points in a browser without tabs and a "clear cookies after each session" policy.

[0] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mozilla.fo... [1] https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/firefox-focus-privacy-browser/...