Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Reverse Engineering

[Giuseppe Molica]

>Fabio Pesari <fabiop@gnu.org> writes:


> That's why I say we should build our computers from hardware components
> with libre designs.
>
> I think reverse engineering can be a waste of time, if what it achieves
> is being able to run free software on a single outdated, underpowered
> and out-of-production device after many months of research.

I agree with you, but there are "technical limits". Designing and
creating a new hardware is more difficult than write a software, and
it requires too many resources.

> That's my main criticism of Libreboot. Instead of freeing old boards,
> the community should focus on building its own. Yes, that's expensive
> and needs experts and it's more about hardware than software, but there
> is no "Free Hardware Foundation" and the free software community should
> be able to fund its own research just like corporations do.

And what about CPUs? If you want to use x86 ISA you have to ask for a
license. The same for ARM.
So? MIPS? Then you have to modify a lot of programs who were (and are,
right now) built for x86.

> Reverse engineering in the future will only become harder, thanks to
> cryptography and DRM, and more and more people won't be able to switch
> to a free GNU/Linux distro simply because they'd have to throw out their
> machines.

Reverse Engineering will become almost impossible, 'cause Intel (and
others) will introduce some kind of "wall" which will block you to read
the instructions your own CPU is executing.

-- 
Giuseppe Molica

- Collaborator at www.lupokkio.it

"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" - Juvenal