Report: Chinese phone comes preloaded with spyware • Hacker News Board

Re: Report: Chinese phone comes preloaded with spyware

#41

Post by gress » Wed, Jun 18, 2014, 4:20 PM UTC

fpgeek wrote: post #36

gress wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

False. The software running on your Android phone's application processor is not open source. A significant fraction of it is based on a closed source fork of AOSP. The rest (both the Google Mobile Services layer, and the manufacturers customizations) are all closed source and have never been open.

> False. The software running on your Android phone's application processor is not open source. You're skipping over an important practical distinction: The precise software running on the application processor may not be open source, but it is closely related to usable software that is. Given that, it's possible to learn quite a bit by comparing the behavior of the closed-source fork and the open-source base. Is tha…

I'm not skipping anything, and at least you are agreeing that shipping Android phones are not using open source software.

I do not dispute that having a related system that is open-source can aid in reverse engineering.

However the source of commercial Android phones is not open source, and does not have the benefits that open source would imply.

Re: Report: Chinese phone comes preloaded with spyware

#42

Post by coldtea » Wed, Jun 18, 2014, 11:10 PM UTC

fpgeek wrote: post #40

coldtea wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is that as good as "open source all the way down"? Of course not. But it is a hell of a lot better than the "opaque binary blobs all the way down" offered by most of the alternatives. I fail to see how. It's not like a partial binary blob is better than a full on binary blob. The opaque part might do anything too...

Well, consider the example of Carrier IQ. The Carrier IQ software was installed on some Android phones, some iPhones and some Blackberry devices: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/print/9222319/AT_T_Sp... Where was Carrier IQ found first? Why?

>Where was Carrier IQ found first? Why?

The link doesn't say. And if anything it was not because there was an open-source part of the phone OS.

For one, on active, sold, phones, the device code is compiled anyway.

Re: Report: Chinese phone comes preloaded with spyware

#43

Post by slashdotaccount » Thu, Jun 19, 2014, 4:00 AM UTC

nnnnni wrote: post #22

etiam wrote: post #12

How are we doing for FOSS cell phones again?

I think that there may be ONE option. RMS probably has it...

It really depends on how FLOSS you want to go?

On the software side of things the closest you can get is a phone running OsmocomBB. That only runs on some dumphones and is not useful from a user perspective, it is only for research. For smartphone software, the closest you can get is a phone running Replicant. That still has all the embedded proprietary software; baseband OS, bootloader, wifi/bluetooth/camera firmware etc.

On the hardware side of things, we have no ASICs with libre designs. I think there have been some cases with libre designs but none manufactured in large quantities. There are myriad patents covering various hardware processes, instruction sets, CPU stuff etc. See bunnie's talk about layers of openness and the Novena laptop for more on this.

RMS uses other people's phones, he doesn't have one himself, mainly due to the network side of things though.

Re: Report: Chinese phone comes preloaded with spyware

#44

Post by varkson » Thu, Jun 19, 2014, 6:41 AM UTC

hucxsz wrote: post #34

varkson wrote: post #17

I'm currently using an offbrand Chinese Android phone, so this news has made me very very nervous.

Why you think this is true?

Well, I just don't know. I don't have the same phone this but it's made me wonder.

Re: Report: Chinese phone comes preloaded with spyware

#45

Post by nnnnni » Thu, Jun 19, 2014, 10:28 AM UTC

slashdotaccount wrote: post #43

nnnnni wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that there may be ONE option. RMS probably has it...

It really depends on how FLOSS you want to go? On the software side of things the closest you can get is a phone running OsmocomBB. That only runs on some dumphones and is not useful from a user perspective, it is only for research. For smartphone software, the closest you can get is a phone running Replicant. That still has all the embedded proprietary software; baseband OS, bootloader, wifi/bluetooth/camera firmwar…

Wow, I guess that there aren't really any "fully open" phones in that case.

For the truly paranoid (with or without reason), I guess that they would have to go the RMS route -- or find a payphone that isn't within sight of a security camera.