Follow-up Comment #3, task #15731 (project administration): Hello Ineiev, thank you for your response. I saw something in your last message about "replied off-item" so I'm not sure why Savannah wouldn't track the mailing list, but nonetheless I'll now reply directly from the Savannah interface.
> The problem is: there is no free software that could realistically replace the nonfree parts on that device. > Using that tablet implies using proprietary software I would like to dispel that myth. I have ported Debian to the tablet with a window manager and access to free programs through apt[1], and there are free reading applications like KOReader[2] and Plato[3]. Furthermore, there are free drawing programs, like rmHarmony[4]. [1]: https://old.reddit.com/r/RemarkableTablet/comments/gkktxy/desktop_linux_on_remarkable_xournal_doom_and_more/ [2]: https://github.com/koreader/koreader [3]: https://github.com/darvin/plato [4]: https://github.com/raisjn/rmHarmony [1] is the very first RCU-compatible package ever created (RCU facilitates installing free software to the device). [2], [3], and [4] currently must be installed somewhat manually, but a feature of RCU makes it accessible to ordinary computer users. So, it is entirely possible to use the reMarkable tablet with all-free user-facing software, with programs providing an adequate level of parity with the proprietary notebooking software (Xochitl). > When hosting Android programs, we require that people make sure those programs work on Replicant, a free version of Android. I'm sorry if we don't understand each other, but it's not like that situation. The OS of the reMarkable tablet is free. The manufacturer publishes the complete sources through GitHub--a smattering of licenses for sure, but all free. Therefore, the OS is already free, and it's not like Android where the OS necessarily depends upon nonfree parts. Today, a user may compile this free OS themselves and install the user-facing free programs mentioned above. Link [5] contains the necessary (pre-compiled) bits for loading a 100% free OS. These are from the manufacturer: an initramfs, uboot image, and the imx_usb utility to load it into the device's RAM over USB boot. [5]: https://github.com/reMarkable/imx_usb_loader [6]: https://github.com/reMarkable/linux [7]: https://github.com/reMarkable/uboot [8]: https://github.com/reMarkable/meta-openembedded etc. Even furthermore, RCU does not run on the reMarkable device--it runs on a free operating system on a PC and communicates to the device over the network, so I don't think your analogy is very compatible in the way you stated. RCU will work 100% with this all-free operating system, explicitly minus the proprietary blobs and Xochitl. Looking at it another way, RCU provides a package manager that allows the user to install free software. And so, for an ordinary (techno-illiterate) user to even get free programs onto the device, it would require a program like RCU to carry out that operation. So, there are _currently_ few free options available for the tablet, and they are fragmented. RCU is a catalyst for free software usage because most users do not have the technical skill to manage their device's software, and RCU is the first good manager to exist to make that process simple. Yet another way it could be seen is that out of the 6 core functions RCU provides (please see the draft manual linked in the application), 4 do not even imply having nonfree software: taking partition-level backups, taking screenshots, managing documents, and installing software packages all work 100% with the free software available today. The latter makes it possible to install free software in the first place. So, out of the core functions, 100% work with free software, but 33% don't yet align with user-facing free replacements (managing notebook templates and sleep wallpapers) but those functions do still work when the tablet is running a 100% free OS. > It is ok for the program to run on nonfree platforms or nonfree operating systems, and to work with well-known nonfree applications, in addition to working with free software, provided it gives the free software at least as good support as it gives to nonfree counterparts. I think it does, and if you have a suggestion about how to make my program better, I will gladly listen. I think there is enough evidence here to show that your assumptions were mistaken. Thanks, Davis _______________________________________________________ Reply to this item at: <https://savannah.nongnu.org/task/?15731> _______________________________________________ Message sent via Savannah https://savannah.nongnu.org/
