Jago Pearce <[email protected]> writes: > Just how open is a N900 running SHR compared to: > - a Galaxy S running Replicant or a > - Neo Freerunner?
Interesting question. I was recently asked something similar: if Android is open source, and you can probably run CyanogenMod on most stock Android phones instead of what they arrive with, in what way is a GTA04 or Freerunner phone more open/free than a stock Android phone? I feel the answer must be that it is, but I'm afraid I've lost track of the detailed arguments, so would appreciate if anyone can review those. I'm not sure if you intend your question to be SHR-specific. If it isn't really SHR-specific, you'd probably get a greater response by writing to [email protected]. > AFAIK: > > Galaxy S & Replicant = Software open except for the modem... might as well be > fully closed seeing as the modem has access to the rest of the memory > > Freerunner etc - Fully open software. Modem is closed but firmware source was > leaked so it's effectively open. You may also need to explain what _you_ mean by "open". For most GTA04/Freerunner/SHR folk, I think it means the ability to _legally_ see, understand, modify and redistribute all the code - which is quite different from your "effectively open" here. > A bit of background as to my motive on this. > To be honest I'm not a developer so in a sense the benefit of an open phone is > less. It's purely the thought of having control. I don't really need such > security - it's the principle. I want to know what is going on and have the > ability to go in an adjust the phone if I want. I realise rules on modem > software may prevent this. Apart from phones that can use OsmocomBB, all phones run a big and complex closed modem firmware that we can't scrutinise. In that context, I think it's difficuly to reason generally about having control. Do you have specific examples of what is important to you? > I wonder if a better approach might be to get as open as possible with > something like a galaxy S, remove the modem.bin and then use USB host mode > with > more open source hardware to replace the gaps. I guess you mean VoIP, but over what? Wifi only? > Perhaps a similar thing could be done in a clunky way with platforms > we have with various Raspberry Pi clones and a 3G dongle? Clearly the 3G dongle would have all that closed modem firmware again. But I guess your point is that it's isolated in the dongle and not able to interfere with the rest of the device. Does USB actually guarantee that? Regards, Neil _______________________________________________ Shr-User mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shr-project.org/mailman/listinfo/shr-user
