sorry for the late response. I actually don't use GSM/3G functionality at all. To be on the safe side we need firstly do define what do we understand as being on the safe side. For example, I understand this: 0. My talk might be recorded by the carrier. 1. My talk can be listened to by local secret service. 2. My sms's can be recorded by the carrier. Most of all, I don't want the carrier and local secret service mess with my info. That's why I don't use GSM at all. Actually sometimes I can use it, but only for Internet. But usually I am satisfied with WiFi. Here we can remember that WiFi is not safe too. (: And that's my level of safety, which I know is not absolute, however, pretty safe. Even if WiFi at cafeteria will log my MAC address, I can change it before connecting. It's much easier than changing IMEI. Then, I can use encrypted connections to chat, to read emails. Here we come to the point whether I do have safe email/chat providers. Well, I consider jabber.org, and even talk.google.com (though I don't use it) much more safe than local carrier. The better way is to use own XMPP and email server hosted by you, or by hosting provider you have serious reasons to trust. What is wrong with local carrier? First of all, we never know why local secret service may start following you. For instance, they might think that if I care about privacy then I have something to hide. Or they might not like what did I write in my blog. You never know with bees. Even if I am not interesting to them, having my info at local carrier is dangerous. I can imagine one of administrators give an access to my data to someone interested, even if it's not legal. They have power, which always corrupts. So by using encrypted connections and not using cellular networks I think I can eliminate most of the possible privacy threats.
Apart of gsm driver, afaik the rest part of the software is free - i. e. safe. I would just keep GSM shut down. Because by using it you always give information to the carrier. And if you gave that information you never know how it'll be used. N900's maemo fremantle contains non-free software - the list is published at wiki.maemo.org but I cannot provide an exact URL right now. That's why we don't have open maemo fork. We cannot have - there's too much work to rewrite or replace all the closed components. SHR is completely free distribution, and most of the code is licensed under GPL. Norayr 11/27/12 12:15 -ում, Neil Jerram-ը գրել է: > 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 _______________________________________________ Shr-User mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shr-project.org/mailman/listinfo/shr-user
