The insatiable urge to dunk on FOSSbros proposing utopian, but completely unrealistic technology infrastructures for society to operate on.

I just get tired of hearing all talk and no game.

FSF announces librephone project to reverse engineer phone components

https://www.fsf.org/news/librephone-project

Ok, and how does any of this manage to address the actual problems surrounding modems and getting carriers to commit to the introduction of supporting new phones? Including any required testing for things like calling emergency services?

Like, they get so excited to go and work on building something new. Which is appreciated, but then they never take any time to actually address the structural and cultural challenges that prevent free software from truly embedding itself in the world.

The FSF is so deadlocked on getting folks to publish their source code that they forget just how seriously intellectual property is taken. And make no effort to try and support freedom in other ways.

@soulfirethewolf I have a very hot take on the so called "intellectual property" but I'll pass for now.

@nlupo same, but it is what it is.

@nlupo @soulfirethewolf with wireless firmware intellectual property is imo the smaller issue, the bigger issue is that radio regulations effectively ban open source firmware from being used

@nlupo @soulfirethewolf the source raccode can be public, you just can’t modify it without going through the certification process again

@charlotte @soulfirethewolf cell phones are a lost cause imo. They are a proprietary and authoritarian technology by design. You can still use SDR radio without any certification, but it's good to have a radio license, just in case.

@nlupo @soulfirethewolf for listening, sure

for transmitting you need at least one of (you, the transmitter) being certified, exact details depend on what you are trying to transmit, and you might also need to register the transmission location too

@nlupo @charlotte phones in general have always been a lost cause. At least in the US, where the company founded by the individual known to invent landlines in the US had to eventually be broken up as a Monopoly. And then phones became wireless and nobody really adapted anything except “make sure it doesn’t cause cancer or reproductive harm”

@nlupo @charlotte aka most individuals don’t care about the ease of the exchange of information, they don’t usually know how else it would be, this is the way it’s always been. They’re usually
more concerned about their physical health and safety (as they mostly should be). Hence the stacks of paper when purchasing most devices that few ever actually read, let alone understand.

Also, the priority, moreover, the safety of 5G (and tons of claims of it causing cancer), rather than the difficulty of creating a 5G enabled device.

I mean, have you noticed that most legislation only happens or gets considered when someone actually dies (and the proposals get named after them), or in the case of Taylor Swift, folks can’t get into the concert because Ticketmaster couldn’t handle the demand, leading others to question what they are actually capable of doing?

@soulfirethewolf @charlotte And they also don't care about the cost of that ease which is not good in a long run. The health issues can be solved without that much of bureaucracy, because in the end of the day it's not about the health but about power and money. After all no paperwork can stop a bad actor from making a dangerous equipment.