Post AofElppFRCRUMvW8Gm by jas@fosstodon.org
(DIR) More posts by jas@fosstodon.org
(DIR) Post #AofElppFRCRUMvW8Gm by jas@fosstodon.org
2024-12-01T16:55:06Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@conservancy Interesting project! Why did you choose to support hardware with proprietary firmware in it? Ethically this doesn’t seem all that different from encouraging buying an Apple Mac which also contains a mix of free and proprietary software in it.
(DIR) Post #AofElquFQ62HiirdhY by lxo@gnusocial.jp
2024-12-02T23:37:03Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@redstarfish @amszmidt @jas @conservancy it wouldn't have occurred to me to as much as suspect that the device promoted by the software conservancy was not compatible with user freedom if others hadn't pointed it out. thanks to all who made that visible. my expectations were shattered, but I feel better off now.
(DIR) Post #AofGOE8bas7OjKRTY8 by Suiseiseki@freesoftwareextremist.com
2024-12-03T09:34:30.037462Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@lxo @jas @amszmidt @redstarfish @conservancy A free software low-power router really isn't hard if you're going so far to make a custom board design - you just select a decent SoC like the QCA9531 and then you have 100BASE-TX and 802.11n; https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/free-software-wireless-n-mini-vpn-router-v3-tpe-r1300 (LibreCMC and not the proprietary "Open"WRT too).Alternately, you could select a SoC with free drivers that implements 1000BASE-T and/or PCIe and then include a mPCIe or PCIe slot, which a freedom-respecting and GPLv2-compliant 802.11n card can be inserted (of course that would give the user the freedom to replace the card with whatever they want).I already had a full GNUbooted server with 2 1000BASE-T ports, so I just made that the router and put a Qualcomm Atheros AR928X card in to get Wi-Fi, rather than getting a separate router (routing performance is negligibly improved as there's one less hop and you can get IPv4 without NAT).
(DIR) Post #AofWvK99s8QKBnVLCC by Suiseiseki@freesoftwareextremist.com
2024-12-03T12:39:45.260364Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@jas @conservancy >Ethically this doesn’t seem all that different from encouraging buying an Apple Macapple's "macs" have digital handcuffs to prevent you from changing the bootlader software and apple doesn't really actually release the modified sources from the BSD code they copy, thus it's all proprietary.Hopefully such router is free of digital handcuffs and it's possible for free peripheral software for the Wi-Fi card to be written, alas such hasn't been done for any 802.11ac card, let alone a 802.11ax card.The MediaTek Filogic 820 (MT7981B) comes with 1 lane of PCIe 2.0 and I see there's an M.2 slot on the board, but I cannot tell if that's SATA or PCIe (thanks M.2).If that slot does offer PCIe 2.0, via a physical adapter, one could just use a freedom-respecting Wi-Fi card instead - then the issue would be if the version of u-boot for it is free.https://openwrt.org/_media/inbox/toh/openwrt/openwrt_one_top.pnghttps://mirror2.openwrt.org/docs/MT7981B_Wi-Fi6_Platform_Datasheet_Open_V1.0.pdfhttps://raw.githubusercontent.com/hanwckf/wax220-gpl/refs/heads/main/doc/MT7986/Documents/Datasheet/MT7976C_iPA/MT7976CN_Datasheet_1.2.pdf
(DIR) Post #ApTFpZHhEyAXKcNoO0 by conservancy@social.sfconservancy.org
2024-11-29T18:27:38.084663Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
SFC and its OpenWrt project just released the OpenWrt One: the first router built from the hardware up by OpenWrt community. We begin today a new era in software-freedom-focused hardware design. The One puts your rights and freedoms first and an unbrickable device that will last. OpenWrt One is available today for US$89. For every purchase of the One, a US$10 donation will go to the OpenWrt earmarked fund at SFC. If you're looking to shop for gifts today, as many in the USA are, we encourage you to put the OpenWrt One on your list!https://sfconservancy.org/news/2024/nov/29/openwrt-one-wireless-router-now-ships-black-friday/https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007795779282.html