Is this your human right?
We should have the ability to run any code we want on hardware we own
441–450 of 1001 posts
Re: We should have the ability to run any code we want on hardware we own
#442> In this context this would mean having the ability and documentation to build or install alternative operating systems on this hardware It doesn't work. Everything from banks to Netflix and others are slowly edging out anything where they can't fully verify the chain of control to an entity they can have a legal or contractual relationship with. To be clear, this is fundamental, not incidental. You can't run your o…
This is the crux of the matter. Maybe conceptually you will be able to run some kind of open operating system with your own code, but it will be unable to access software or services provided by corporate or governmental entities. This has been obvious for some time, and as soon as passkeys started popping up the endgame became clear. Pleading to the government definitely can't save us now though, because they want t…
> passkeys started popping up the endgame became clear.
This logical leap puzzles me, as it is completely unrelated to HW lock-in and a rather generic medium.
This is more of a case of OP diverting a topic to shove in his pet peeve on technology they don’t like or understand.
Re: We should have the ability to run any code we want on hardware we own
#443Earlier quoted context omitted.
My parents are getting old and they aren't tech savvy. The missing piece here is that I want my parents to have a computer they can safely do their banking on, without leaving them vulnerable to scams and viruses and the like. I like that they have iphones. Doing internet banking on their phone is safer than doing it on their desktop computer. Why is that? The reason is that the desktop PC security model is deeply fl…
Everything in life is about trade-offs. Certain trade-offs people aren't going to make. - If you want to run an alternative operating system, you got to learn how it works. That is a trade off not even many tech savvy people want to make. - There is a trade-off with a desktop OS. I actually like the fact that it isn't super sand-boxed and locked down. I am willing to trade security & safety for control. > Personally…
> If you want to run an alternative operating system, you got to learn how it works.
The typical user doesn't know how Windows works, and they can run that. These days, users can run a friendly GNU/Linux distribution not knowing how it works. So, disagree with you here.
Re: We should have the ability to run any code we want on hardware we own
#444In my country two groups most hated by educated, civilized and self-labeled liberal people are miners and farmers. There are good reasons to not like them, especially miners (they have lot of privilege and cost a lot of money, whereas our (coal) mining industry is useless), but I came to the conclusion that the actual reason behind the hate is the fact that those two groups are able to force government to do their will, even though they are a small minority in the overall population. They achieve this by blocking streets, burning tires and causing overall mayhem, and are very consistent about it. At the same time those educated, civilized and liberal people can helplessly complain between each other, and maybe write some hateful article in the newspaper.
Forgive me this seemingly unrelated introduction, but when I read such threads I don't have much hope something will change, for similar reasons. People that care about computer user's freedom and agency will write blog posts and create hundreds of comments about how things should look like, how government and corporations want to enslave them etc. And then do nothing to give those adversaries even a smallest inconvenience. Some will create a new "privacy-oriented" and "freedom-focused" project on GitHub, naively thinking it will solve problem that is not technical at all.
Those without power always become victims. If it is all bark but no bite, no one is going to back down.
Re: We should have the ability to run any code we want on hardware we own
#445[dead]
Re: We should have the ability to run any code we want on hardware we own
#446> In this context this would mean having the ability and documentation to build or install alternative operating systems on this hardware It doesn't work. Everything from banks to Netflix and others are slowly edging out anything where they can't fully verify the chain of control to an entity they can have a legal or contractual relationship with. To be clear, this is fundamental, not incidental. You can't run your o…
They do not benefit from having control, they risk if they don't. This is fundamental.
I do love freedom but such freedom will come with a disclaimer. You do want to use a bank app unsigned and you do not want the bank to check your latest SIM card replacement. You understand and assess the risk and will not discriminate the bank for any loss occurred. Same with Netflix and piracy.
This is fair.
Re: We should have the ability to run any code we want on hardware we own
#447As long as the hardware vendor and teleoperator are able to run arbitrary, closed-source code on baseband processors without the user even knowing that it’s happening, no mobile device is truly free (libre).
”In March 2014, makers of the free Android derivative Replicant announced they had found a backdoor in the baseband software of Samsung Galaxy phones that allows remote access to the user data stored on the phone.”
Re: We should have the ability to run any code we want on hardware we own
#448> In this context this would mean having the ability and documentation to build or install alternative operating systems on this hardware It doesn't work. Everything from banks to Netflix and others are slowly edging out anything where they can't fully verify the chain of control to an entity they can have a legal or contractual relationship with. To be clear, this is fundamental, not incidental. You can't run your o…
This is the crux of the matter. Maybe conceptually you will be able to run some kind of open operating system with your own code, but it will be unable to access software or services provided by corporate or governmental entities. This has been obvious for some time, and as soon as passkeys started popping up the endgame became clear. Pleading to the government definitely can't save us now though, because they want t…
Ironically, if everyone adopted passkeys (the real deal tied to secure enclaves or TPMs), then Android malware could not steal your credentials through any kind of social engineering.
Re: We should have the ability to run any code we want on hardware we own
#449We need a law to have mandatory storage of precise and complete technical specification to be able to write drivers for hardware peripherals. With heavy fines if they are incomplete.
Re: We should have the ability to run any code we want on hardware we own
#450If you share the post opinion, it means you believe there is value in an hardware that provides enough details in order to run any software we want on it. If that is the case, go build a company that builds such an hardware.