[floatboth]

> crack the firmware

In most cases, you don't have to crack anything, you can officially unlock the bootloader and flash your own OS build.

Yes, you can't touch the early boot initialization, you're still required to use vendor blobs for using wireless/modem/camera/etc things, but you can control most of the software that matters.

[djsumdog]

Yea using adb/oemunlock. Sometimes you have to get a code (like with Sony, you input your IMEI number into their website and get one). I've had one Sony that was unlockable; a condition of the original cell provider.

Still, it's bizarre considering you can install Linux on any PC/laptop you buy.

The bigger issue of course, is that you can't just install Linux on a phone. They're all random pins soldered to random chips and all use patched to hell Kernels with binary blobs. Linux distros can release images that are designed on boot on x86/x86_64/PPC/Sparc and they'll booth up and install on most of those machines. That's impossible with nearly all Android/ARM devices.

PostmarketOS is trying to change that from the other direction, but Librem is a huge step in giving developers embedded hardware that doesn't require carefully modified and patched kernels/bootloaders.

[yogthos]

Yeah, I think the fact that you have to request your IMEI number and then use additional tools to unlock the device you bought is absurd. Nowadays, a phone is no different from any other computer, and you should be able to buy one that lets you run whatever you want on it without jumping through any hoops.

[ndnxhs]

Some of them make you wait weeks/months before you get their approval to unlock.

[josteink]

> Still, it's bizarre considering you can install Linux on any PC/laptop you buy.

Apple is trying to change that with their new T2-line of machines where you are effectively locked out of using the device’s storage if you try to boot a OS not blessed by Apple (like Linux).

You don’t own your new MacBook or Mac Mini.

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Apple-T2...

[sneak]

You can disable all of that and boot any code you like. For the 99% that don’t want bootkits to be possible on their hardware, you can require a signed bootloader. Best of both worlds.

[josteink]

Inaccurate. Boot yes, but you can’t access your SSD from Linux, so you can’t actually install anything on your (very expensive) internal storage.

For a Mac Mini with external storage that may be passable, but for a laptop like the MacBook that’s pretty much a no go.

This move by Apple should not be confused with generic UEFI secure boot with user-loadable keys, which yes, IMO is a good thing for most people.

Apple however has locked down the hardware in a way which only benefits them.

This move is actually what everyone feared Microsoft would do with UEFI (which they didn’t) and literally caused endless FUD and uproar on the Internet (and it’s still going on).

Now that Apple is actually doing it nobody bats an eye, because Hey shiny!

TLDR: I don’t get people.

[sneak]

Linux distro support for Apple hardware has always been pretty weak; I doubt many people run linux on apples anyway. They ship with a viable unix and better UI, and getting Ubuntu or similar to work well on them is an uphill battle. I imagine most “linux people” are buying thinkpads.

[apricot]

I run Linux on an old Macbook Air, and it's a great machine. But it's getting a bit long in the tooth (2GB RAM doesn't cut it anymore) and I've been looking around for my next laptop. That locking move by Apple ensures I won't be buying a Macbook this time, it will likely be a Dell XPS or Thinkpad.

[ascii_only]

>Still, it's bizarre considering you can install Linux on any PC/laptop you buy.

It is kinda not true. There are windows 2 in 1 and recent macbooks on which it is almost impossible to install linux.

[pmalynin]

> recent macbooks on which it is almost impossible to install linux

That's FUD, and you know it. You can disable secure boot on Mac and boot whatever you want.

[floatboth]

You can boot, but not install, as Linux won't see the internal storage that's controlled by the T2 chip.

[vbezhenar]

So Linux need some drivers or it's a fundamental restriction from Apple?

[cyphar]

Drivers won't work. According to my understanding, any unsupported operating system (those which are not signed by Apple -- even Boot Camp doesn't use the Windows UEFI certificate so Linux's shim won't work) cannot access stuff protected by the T2 chip. So it's definitely not a driver problem.

And apparently disabling secure boot still doesn't fix the issue -- see the Phronix updates[1]. I only found one article claiming you can get past over all the T2 "security" features[2], but they explicitly say (at the end of the article) that they haven't actually tested booting or installing Linux.

[1]: https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Apple-T2... [2]: https://www.imore.com/no-apples-not-locking-you-out-linux-ma...

[arthurfm]

Could the "AppleSSD" driver for Windows [1] be reverse engineered?

[1] https://twitter.com/tperfitt/status/1060995265694449664

[floatboth]

It's probably not impossible to develop a driver?? But it'd involve a lot of reverse engineering.

[_emacsomancer_]

> Still, it's bizarre considering you can install Linux on any PC/laptop you buy.*

* Unless it's a 2018 Mac ( https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/11/06/apple_mac_linux_woe... )....

[rzzzt]

The device tree is the magic feature for describing the hardware layout of a device, thereby moving "wiring"-related modifications out of the kernel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Device_tree

[esotericn]

If you can't use mainline Linux and/or have no GPU acceleration that's no use at all.

It's sort of theoretically useful whilst being practically pointless unless you want to produce your own OS.

How do I get into a Linux userland with X11 and a touch driver on my Galaxy Note 8? The answer is pretty much "write it all yourself, quickly before the hardware becomes obsolete".

I hope that the librem5 gains traction for that reason alone - producing a critical mass of developers.

[opencl]

You can chroot into a normal ARM distro and run the X11 server directly on Android. Works pretty well unless you need non-ES OpenGL.

[xnzakg]

This still requires running Android, most likely with an old kernel and nonfree blobs.