Re: FSF continuously harms Free Hardware

[Leah Rowe]

On Mon, 24 Jan 2022 23:16:36 -0500
Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org> wrote:

> [[[ To any NSA and FBI agents reading my email: please consider    ]]]
> [[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies,     ]]]
> [[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]]
> 
>   > Your dismissive attitude about hardware freedom is indeed
>   > damaging,
> 
> Do I have a "dismissive attitude" towards "hardware freedom?
> Do I have any one single attitude towards that range of issues?
> 
> I can't tell.  I don't know what range of issues you include in that
> term, so I don't know what I would think of it.  All I can say is that
> I agree it is good you got the info needed for supporting the T400s
> (or any other computer model) with free software -- and I see that as
> part of the Free Software Movement.
> 
> If you explain in a few lines what issues you include in "hardware
> freedom", I could see what attitude or attitudes I have towards those
> issues.  They may be quite different from each other.

Then let me be clear. By "free hardware" I mean that the following is
available under a free license:

* Gerber files for circuit boards
* Boardview / gerber / design files
* Verilog files for making your own versions of each chip
* Built-in firmwares on chips must also be free. E.g. bootroms

(this last one is something that the FSF currently provides exceptions
for in RYF)

Essentially, "free hardware" means that you can make the hardware
yourself. You also get the most freedom possible to modify your
existing hardware. Contrary to what you believe, it's actually possible
to perform a lot of modifications on hardware. Modifying *integrated
circuits* is virtually impossible, but printed circuit boards are
another matter altogether. I can show you the dark side in that world,
and you'd be amazed what's possible.

A "boardview" file is like a schematic, but it shows the exact shape
and size of the board, and where everything is on the board. It shows
how all the little connections hook up. You can use the "openboardview"
software to browse a board this way. This is useful in repair of the
board, because you can easily see everything on the board. The
boardview file will have all the same component names as the schematic.
The schematic is better for understanding how each circuit works, cross
referenced with the boardview which tells you how to modify/repair a
circuit board.

It's often possible to make modifications to a circuit board in useful
ways, even if you don't have the ability to fab your own chips. For
example, on ThinkPad T400 mainboards I regularly replace the default
boot flash with bigger flash, and modify the board to accept quad-core
CPUs. On the ThinkPad X230 there's a mod where you can piggyback off of
the built-in displayport channel on the docking connected, and add eDP,
replacing the default LVDS connection for internal monitors. These are
useful mods, and schematics+boardview file enable such mods to be done
more quickly.

-- 
Leah Rowe <info@minifree.org>
Company Director & Libreboot developer

Do you know you have rights?
The right to privacy, free speech, the right to read
and the right to learn.

Defend freedom. Use free (free as in freedom) software.
Spread freedom. Tell everyone you know about it!
https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

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