ThinkPenguin's new RYF router is here
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Looks pretty nice: https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/free-software-wireless-n-mini-vpn-router-v3-tpe-r1300
Works with openVPN and now also wireguard, which is very cool.
Phoronix website laughed at it calling it ancient technology: https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=802.11n-WiFi-Adapter-FSF-2021
But the Phoronix readers were mostly supportive because they also would like to run hardware that they can run without proprietary bits: https://www.phoronix.com/forums/forum/phoronix/latest-phoronix-articles/1254172-it-s-2021-the-fsf-is-still-endorsing-802-11n-wifi-hardware
The last free/libre wireless NICs (including those used in routers, etc.) are ath5k/ath9k models. There is no 802.11ac or later models that don't require non-free firmware to operate.
Rumors say that certain Realtek ones work "out of box" on Debian or Trisquel. This is because they have copies of firmware stored somewhere on the cards. The firmware is still loaded and executed, and is equivalently dangerous as its counterpart loaded by the operating system. This is why we should not endorse those Realtek cards even if they do work on Trisquel.
Indeed.
The comments on that Phoronix article also clearly point to the fact that 802.11n is more than enough for average daily wireless networking.
See for instance this one and the next few.
I personally thought the best comment was this one by an obviously genius level commenter who noted that Phoronix's writer was actually bringing more business to ThinkPenguin by his sarcastic headlines:
https://www.phoronix.com/forums/forum/phoronix/latest-phoronix-articles/1254172-it-s-2021-the-fsf-is-still-endorsing-802-11n-wifi-hardware?p=1254177#post1254177
That commenter, whose genius is so obvious and overwhelming that it jumps off the page and hits you right in the face, should be given his own editorial byline on the Phoronix website. In my totally humble opinion.
That Phoronix troublemaker of an andyprough is such a trickster. I could swear that comment appeared after I first visited the page, which undoubtedly means that it was slyly inserted retroactively in order to turn the tide of the conversation and reverse the dismissive tone it had been started with. Which is a highly commendable and efficient tactic.
Accordingly, I would duly report that usurper if I were you, lest your reputation be irreparably damaged among the poor victims of versionitis, featuritis, upgraditis, state-of-he-artitis, dernier-criitis and other cool and fashionable diseases that end in "-itis" and rule the world.
They must feel so upset about the time that has passed since homo sapiens sapiens appeared. Humans are so obsolete, everyone should have morphed into superconductors long ago. And to think that the FSF has only just completed the RYF certification of CMOS chips.
Phoronix is a very funny place. I think the number one question among readers and the main writer right now is, "how soon will I be able to run Ubuntu or Fedora on the new Apple laptops with the M1 ARM chips, and will I be able to play my proprietary video games on it with Steam?" Or, "How do I get Waaaaayland to work with my new $900 video card???"
I always find it both puzzling and refreshing to see the diversity of people's priorities in life, including in their computing life.
That said, there must be some hidden sting that keep some people being dismissive of libre computing. Most probably, guilt for living such an unprincipled life. They would not be making such a fuss about it otherwise.
> Rumors say that certain Realtek ones work "out of box" on Debian or Trisquel. This is because they have copies of firmware stored somewhere on the cards. The firmware is still loaded and executed, and is equivalently dangerous as its counterpart loaded by the operating system.
Yes, but according to the FSF definitions, firmware that is embedded on a device and which does not change or upgrade is not a freedom problem. It could still be a security problem. I'm not aware of specific security vulnerabilities for those Realtek chips, but I'll bet if I researched it enough I might find some.
For PCI/e-based wireless NICs, non-free firmware is extremely dangerous due to their DMA capability. Those cards with "preloaded" firmware are even worse, because such firmware is basically immutable, therefore the "bombs" in such executable codes could never be "defused". Even if this doesn't constitute a freedom issue, using such cards is very unadvisable.
On the other side, the "preloaded" firmware on certain bluetooth modules are barely acceptable. They may have similar security problems. But those bluetooth modules are USB based, not PCI/e, and therefore don't have DMA capability. They can do far less harm than PCI/e-based peripherals.
For example, a PCI/e-based peripheral with malicious firmware can steal everything from your memory (including your private keys), but at the same time you can't remotely defend yourself using any security mechanism running on your host CPU. The peripheral firmware is beyond the reach of such mechanisms.
I don't need a router at the moment but I will be picking up either this or something similar from Think Penguin when I do.
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