Hi. On Fri, Jul 05, 2019 at 06:54:05AM -0400, Gene Heskett wrote: > > > The idea > > > that > > > > > > > Not installing this software in the first place works even > > > > better. > > > > > > requires clarification. > > > > Easy. You don't understand what the software does (Gene's here), or > > you don't need its functions (I'm here) - you just do not install it. > > You don't fight with it, you don't try to "disable" it in myriad ways, > > and you do not build assorted kludges alongside of it - you do not > > install it, simple as that. > > > Its not quite that simple on the arm's.
But it's simple as that. dd-ready images are provided for the user's convenience, but they're not the only way one installs the OS on arm. For instance, I personally ran debian-installer on Marvell Orion, Armada and Exynos boards to my full satisfaction (i.e. - a real Debian installed with the parts I need). It's true, that some boards (namely, Raspberry Pi) aren't true Open Hardware so they require non-free blobs just to boot. There are boards (Amazon's Annapurna) which are downright hostile in this regard as there are no mainline support worthy to speak of. Debian may or may not get there - for instance, I heard some good news about Raspberry Pi support in buster (not to be confused with Raspbian). Reco