Novena laptop will be open source
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Split this off from my original thread https://trisquel.info/en/forum/some-current-free-software-friendly-hardware as this is worth watching on its own.
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Every element of the Novena laptop will be open source.
Idea originated here in December 2012: http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=2686
Novena Info: http://www.kosagi.com/w/index.php?title=Novena_Main_Page
ZDnet Article: http://www.zdnet.com/building-the-open-source-laptop-how-one-engineer-turned-the-geek-fantasy-to-reality-7000018987/
Interesting quote: "...what Huang would really like to achieve is to demonstrate you don't need a multi-million R&D budget to compete in the hardware space.
"One of the things I've been trying to do for the past few years is change the way that people think about hardware and [to get over] that it's not just this impenetrable thing that only big companies can do," he said."
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Note that a blob-free driver for the Vivante GPU is available and improving:
Wladimir J. van der Laan
https://github.com/laanwj/etna_viv
https://github.com/laanwj/mesa
Looks to be 100% free.
Looks like it uses the Linux kernel with blobs and all. Perhaps it requires some of those blobs to work?
I'll email Bunnie and ask about that.
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I am not familiar with those details, and not knowledgeable enough in hardware or software to know how that fits in exactly, however I will add that the chip itself has something like 6000 pages of open documentation and the boot is or can be done via u-boot.
Since they billed the machine "open laptop" I wrote to Bunnie:
>I see you're using the vanilla Linux kernel with blobs and all. Are you aware of the Linux-libre project which is Linux minus the binary blobs? Have you tried whether Novena runs on Linux-libre?
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> If it does, it would surely make more sense to switch to Linux-libre instead of Linux for maximum openness.
To which he answered:
Well, there might be blobs in the distro proper, but the set of items we configure the board with don't require the blobs, so in fact the code that actually runs is blob-free. I'm not too bothered if there are inert blobs laying around on the hard drive.
A goal of ours is to incorporate our work into the mainline linux trunk, so it's easier for others to branch and make derivatives. If we start with a sub-branch, we start to fall behind the mainline -- it's already hard enough to push patches into Linus' tree.
-b.
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"(*) require a closed-source firmware blob, but the system is functional and bootable without the blob."
Not sure how much more free software friendly this actually is or isn't. I also noticed one of the wifi/bluetooth cards he links to is almost certainly dependent on non-free firmware.
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Someone brought that up re: WiFi in the comments and other cards are available and can be changed because the computer is made to easily come apart.
Initially he doesn't intend to make many units and has suggested that orders be done via github and code, sort of a hackers only thing.
Something interesting/different about this attempt, is that it is NOT community designed or built. He's doing it all himself. There are pluses and minuses to that approach. It's amazing to see.
The plans and documentation being all open forms a base for others to run with perhaps. As he speaks of using people and parts from an area in China that is full of entrepreneurs and copycats, if the machine sells at all, maybe someone there will make more of them.
He seems more "open" than "free" as he thinks the Debian teams are tough when it come to WiFi. Somehow, I think the standards are even higher around here and with FSF so he probably doesn't share the depth of purity that many or most folks here appreciate or need.
The concept of a custom machine (some people dreamed of cherry wood keys) is something I've never thought of. People (hackers) want little access doors and ways to easily plug things in. A "hackbook" as someone pointed out...seems a little different from a standard computer or laptop.
All the hardware, while not powerful, is some of the most documented, open and available hardware there is, and the chip I believe is inexpensive and used often in automotive, industrial applications and will be around and supported for years.
What is open source?
I am disappointed to learn that proprietary software is involved. We in the free software community should have higher standards. I think this is a good starting point for a minimum level of free that should be expected: http://www.fsf.org/resources/hw/endorsement/criteria
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I will go over (read and ponder) in detail your link.
I've read it more than once in the past and I do not understand some parts.
It is not a philosophical break; I do not know the details and the significance of the choices regarding some items due to my non-engineering background and experiences.
I will find some specific points and create a new thread or find an old one and get up to speed with this. Hopefully.
I thought Lemote hardware was effectively FSF hardware - or has Mr. Stallman missed some proprietary stuff with his:
http://www.lemote.com/en/products/Notebook/2010/0310/112.html
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The old leemote model was free software friendly. The closest thing short of the ben nanonote. The problem is it is a netbook, slow, dated, etc. Not something really useful for the majority. The ben nanonote is a small pocket device. Closest thing we've seen to 100% free software friendly system. Problem with it is it doesn't even have wireless (and I think networking) capabilities. At least not the original model. Plus it's not a really useful device. It's keyboard is just a few inches long. Certainly no touch typing, etc.
Ideally there would be something in the 13.3 to 15.6 category. Toward the higher end of that the better probably (hit a larger percentage of users). Then a high resolution screen (something above 1366x768). 3D accelerated graphics, free software BIOS, and no microcode in the CPU. There technically would probably still be some other non-free code in various other components (keyboards, hard disks, etc). If you were really good you might be able to eliminate a little more. Micro SDHC or maybe MMC cards are probably free of micro code. I think there isn't a controller if my memory serves me correctly. That also creates a problem though and a need for a special type of filesystem to reduce wear. While unreliable for real world scenarios I think it would reduce non-free code in the system.