Before I buy... is PinePhone actually open source?
#18
Modem is not the only issue.

As pointed before pinephone also uses closed blobs for wifi, camera and booting process (although last is worked on?). Situation is better on librem5 but it is expensive and not functional yet. Also librem BT adapter seems to be a big mistery since I'm not aware of wifi/bt cards working w/o blobs, so they might be hiding some info on that part.


I would stick to rock64 or rockpro64 and build uboot from source + linux kernel w/o closed sources firmwares + fully open source packages. It is possible for rock64pro, should work on rock64 too:

https://stikonas.eu/wordpress/2019/09/15...rockpro64/

this way you get completely librem/open source starting from uboot, firmware, kernel etc. You can do it on gentoo (as in article), or by using debian/devuan

you can also stick to other distros - but will have to deblob kernel yourself

Also keep in mind init system, you don't want to run bloated systemd suspected to carry vulnerabilities. also I've seen myself systemd service de-anonimizing vpn through dns look-ups (call it a bug) on fedora so I would not trust it

than something like gentoo or devuan look as good options

As for wifi you can use Atheros usb card. Also pine team works on fully open source wifi/bt card:


For modem I guess you have your own solution. By adding enclosure, external screen (there are ones for rockpro64) + battery you should get fully open source and as private as it can get communication device on the go

Other option is necunos phone w/o modem, but it seems pricy:
https://necunos.com/


Messages In This Thread
RE: Before I buy... is PinePhone actually open source? - by misha64 - 11-24-2020, 02:17 PM

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