News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on LinuxBoot: Linux as Firmware. Parent comment

Re:LinuxBoot: Linux as Firmware by morganvachon on Monday January 29, 2018 @06:32PM (#16261589)
I wonder why they are using the Allwinner A64 if they are concerned with FOSS though? It's one of the more serial offenders when it comes to GPL violations[1], and it has a backdoor in its custom kernel config that could be used to take over the system[2]. I'm not trying to crap on your efforts, it's just smart to vet any system even if they claim to be FOSS or open hardware friendly.

[1] http://linux-sunxi.org/GPL_Violations

[2] https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/05/chine...

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:LinuxBoot: Linux as Firmware by madez on Monday January 29, 2018 @06:36PM (#16261611)
Active mainlining of Allwinner chips is under way.[0]

I only use the devices with kernels from trustable sources, like Debian. The A20-Olinuxino-Micro works already quite good with Debian out of the box. It is even recommended by FreedomBox.[1]

Because mainling for the A64 isn't at a usable state right now, I'm holding back on buying a Teres-1.

[0] http://linux-sunxi.org/Linux_mainlining_effort

[1] https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/Hardware

[ Parent | on HN ]