@SuperDicq totalitarian dictators are often also doing very good in some areas.

"not doing actively evil things" and "consistent ethical standards" is a much better metric imo. FSFE did participate in canceling RMS while their leadership is themselves credibly accused of sexual harrassment.

they are 100% morally bankrupt, putting woke good boi points before free software. they never would write an article about the importance of free expression, they hate the idea of true free expression.

@SuperDicq
@bonifartius

The FSFE is plagued with blatant bad actors and corporate agents, which can be seen as such even on Fediverse.

I remember that stupid lady, bitching about the GPL being "too well written" and proposing worse, weaker licenses instead "because the average user can't understand GPL", which is patently false. I take a peek at her profile and it turns out it's some big name on the FSFE. The FSFE should be replaced by another, proper group that does more rigorous selection on who's allowed to represent them, because corporate agents like these do nothing but to fuck shit up all the time.

@sally@freesoftwareextremist.com @bonifartius@qoto.org I know exactly who you're talking about and I was the one who responded to that post first about why she was wrong.

She was in fact not a "big name" or part of the council. She was part time contractor at the FSFE.

@sally@freesoftwareextremist.com @bonifartius@qoto.org There are many bad things I say about the FSFE like how they got caught up at the wrong side of the Stallman drama and other things like that.

But I still think the FSFE existing is a net positive for promoting the use free software in the European Union. I especially support their "Public Money? Public Code!" campaign.

@SuperDicq
@bonifartius

Can you mention one example where their campaign achieved something other than good PR for themselves?

@sally@freesoftwareextremist.com @bonifartius@qoto.org The FSFE has played in key roles in many EU legislation. They do a lot of lobbying. Of course there is no way to tell if these things would've ever happened without the FSFE, but I do know that they played a role in these.

Like for example in the EU we have router freedom in most countries now.

We also have laws that state that rooting your phone no longer voids your warranty.

Software patents are also mostly illegal in the EU.

On top of that the FSFE provides legal support for many people, such as winning antitrust lawsuits against Microsoft and other GPL violators.

@SuperDicq @bonifartius @sally >that state that rooting your phone no longer voids your warranty.
Why was it the case that it would ever void the hardware warranty?

>Software patents are also mostly illegal in the EU.
Unfortunately, they're granted anyway - a huge amount too.

@Suiseiseki@freesoftwareextremist.com @bonifartius@qoto.org @sally@freesoftwareextremist.com

Why was it the case that it would ever void the hardware warranty?

Because the end user agreement said so.

Unfortunately, they're granted anyway - a huge amount too.

There's definitely a lot of limits in place and many generic software patents that are legal in the US are not enforceable here thankfully. But yes, far from perfect.

I mean in my opinion the entire patent system should just go out of the window for any sector of industry. It's like we hate innovation or something.

@Suiseiseki@freesoftwareextremist.com @bonifartius@qoto.org @sally@freesoftwareextremist.com I have a few older rooted phones from before this legislation that show the user on the bootscreen that the warranty is voided.

Samsung phones in particular (like the S2 and Note) had the "knox warranty bit" in their "Odin Mode".

@SuperDicq @bonifartius @sally >the end user agreement said so.
Something so ridiculous should never have been legal.

>There's definitely a lot of limits in place
Unfortunately "limits" never work, as there's always a way to torture language to get around any sort of limits.

The only thing that will work is to make software patents totally illegal and mandate a criminal investigation into the granting of any software patents.

>It's like we hate innovation or something.
The whole idea is that patents are an expensive lottery that can be used to put a stop to innovation and to fleece anyone who tries to innovate.

@Suiseiseki@freesoftwareextremist.com @bonifartius@qoto.org @sally@freesoftwareextremist.com

The whole idea is that patents are an expensive lottery that can be used to put a stop to innovation and to fleece anyone who tries to innovate.

I agree, all patents should be abolished.

@SuperDicq @sally i'm not convinced that "doing good" by lobbying is enough if the organization is morally bankrupt, participating in politically motivated witch hunts.

ino the beauty of the GPL is that it's a private contract, not a law. so the legal support is about the only thing i think is really good (bet they won't finance fighting GPL violations of projects made by people they don't like? ;)

@newt @SuperDicq @sally @bonifartius funny how europe never had a silicon valley

@mischievoustomato@0.5dollah.click @newt@stereophonic.space @sally@freesoftwareextremist.com @bonifartius@qoto.org Except most of the world's silicon can not be produced without our precious ASML and NXP Semiconductors.

@SuperDicq @newt @bonifartius @sally @mischievoustomato Semiconductor manufacturing is a worldwide thing - most countries play a part, whether that's Silicon mining, refining, ingot growing or doping etc.

@Suiseiseki@freesoftwareextremist.com @newt@stereophonic.space @bonifartius@qoto.org @sally@freesoftwareextremist.com @mischievoustomato@0.5dollah.click We did invent things like CDs and Bluetooth, but those glory days over.

@SuperDicq @bonifartius @sally > rooting your phone no longer voids your warranty

i'm not sure thats actually a sensible law. why am i required to support something after you've fucked with the fuses?

@icedquinn@blob.cat @bonifartius@qoto.org @sally@freesoftwareextremist.com Rooting a phone does not require tampering with the hardware lmao

@SuperDicq @bonifartius @sally you say this as though i hadn't literally read one of those guides recently where it involves running exploit kits and reflashing sectors.

@icedquinn@blob.cat @bonifartius@qoto.org @sally@freesoftwareextremist.com You call it an "exploit", I call it my right as the owner of the device.

And still that does not alter the hardware.

@SuperDicq @bonifartius @sally i do agree that if you've paid the thing off they should just give you the dev keys.

i just don't think manufacturers should have to support arbitrary fuckery after they specifically told you not to do it.

@icedquinn@blob.cat @bonifartius@qoto.org @sally@freesoftwareextremist.com Look if I brick the bootloader because of my own stupidity I don't think they should fix it either, but if the hardware fails in a way that is completely unrelated to what software fuckery I did (which is very common) they should just repair the damn device.

@SuperDicq @icedquinn @bonifartius @sally The device really should be unbrickable - you should be able to just flash a working bootloader via usb no matter what.

@Suiseiseki@freesoftwareextremist.com @icedquinn@blob.cat @bonifartius@qoto.org @sally@freesoftwareextremist.com I mean, even RYF certified computers are very brickable.

If you can't boot your OS, you can't use flashrom and now you have to buy yourself a hardware programmer, screw open the computer case and then try and recover by flashing it externally.

@SuperDicq @bonifartius @Suiseiseki @sally some chipsets are 'nearly' unbrickable in the android case. MTK has one all the way down to being an emergency bootloader. Although Huion et all intentionally disable it

@SuperDicq @icedquinn @bonifartius @sally >even RYF certified computers are very brickable.
A SPI flash brick is a walk in the park with the hardware.

I've never had internal "flashrom" programming fail myself, as I make sure to always run the right command and flash the right image.

>you have to buy yourself a hardware programmer, screw open the computer case and then try and recover by flashing it externally.
For thinkpads you need to remove the keyboard and rest and flash externally to GNUboot them.

Once you've worked out how to do it once, doing it again is trivial.

@Suiseiseki@freesoftwareextremist.com @icedquinn@blob.cat @bonifartius@qoto.org @sally@freesoftwareextremist.com

I've never had internal "flashrom" programming fail myself, as I make sure to always run the right command and flash the right image.

That is true because the images are tested extensively. However, there are also many "untested" images on the GNU Boot status page which may need an external flasher to recover if you want to be the first person to test them.

And yes, if you've done it once it is trivial to do it again. But I'm speaking from the perspective of a less technical RYF certified computer buyer.

People who buy a RYF certified machine from one of the FSF endorsed vendors with everything preinstalled may not have the knowledge and hardware required to make their system working again, but then again maybe those people won't be playing with flashrom in the first place.

@SuperDicq @icedquinn @bonifartius @sally >That is true because the images are tested extensively.
Most GNUboot images are only slightly tested due to a lack of freedom enjoyers that love teeeestttttiiiinnng; https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuboot/web/status.html

Although, the KGPE-D16 RDIMM images are indeed extensively tested (easy to de-brick too, as you just swap the DIP-8 flash chip with a known good version).

>which may need an external flasher to recover if you want to be the first person to test them.
The images are expected to work, it's just that nobody has tried them.

Usually, at worst something will break and then well you just flash an older version.

>but then again maybe those people won't be playing with flashrom in the first place.
People who pay to have GNUboot flashed pretty much never update, as the existing BIOS version works for them.

@Suiseiseki@freesoftwareextremist.com @icedquinn@blob.cat @bonifartius@qoto.org @sally@freesoftwareextremist.com I mean to be fair, before attended the GNU Boot install party at 38C3 I was still running Libreboot 2016 on my Thinkpad.

Simply because I was lazy and it just worked and I didn't have any good reason to update it to a newer version.

@SuperDicq @icedquinn @bonifartius @sally As soon as GNUboot came out, I replaced libreboot, as I don't treat betrayal lightly.

@icedquinn @sally @SuperDicq @bonifartius For Android, they are legally required to give you all required installation information under the GPLv2, due to how the device has Linux as the kernel.

It's irrelevant if you've "paid it off" or not, as soon as the transfer is made, the user is entitled to the 4 freedoms.

@icedquinn @sally @SuperDicq @bonifartius The fuses things is manufacturer sabotage and has nothing to do with the user.

It would be reasonable to no longer offer software warranty after the software is modified, but it is not reasonable to refuse to honor a hardware warranty just because the user changed the software.

@sally @SuperDicq @bonifartius the EUPL doesn't actually protect the four freedoms lol

@icedquinn@blob.cat @sally@freesoftwareextremist.com @bonifartius@qoto.org That's not true. The EUPL is approved by the American FSF as well.

@SuperDicq @bonifartius @sally i remember reading this when they were fresh bragging about it and its less restrictive than the GPL was

i forget the exact clauses they ripped out but i asked and they were just like oh yeah we took stuff out lul

@icedquinn @sally @SuperDicq @bonifartius The GNU General Public Licenses are written to be a set of permissions.

The restrictions are set by the government - the GNU gives permission to be free from the restrictions as long as you don't attempt to restrict others.

@SuperDicq @icedquinn @bonifartius @sally It is a free license, but it doesn't do a good job at defending the 4 freedoms and license compatibility is a pain; https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#EUPL-1.2

@Suiseiseki@freesoftwareextremist.com @icedquinn@blob.cat @bonifartius@qoto.org @sally@freesoftwareextremist.com I'm not saying the EUPL is a good license, but it is a free one.

Of course the GPL is still the best license.