Gard Spreemann dijo [Wed, Aug 24, 2022 at 08:58:47AM +0200]: > On August 23, 2022 5:38:52 PM GMT+02:00, Simon Josefsson > <si...@josefsson.org> wrote: > > I have no problem > >with builtin non-upgradeable firmware -- see > >https://ryf.fsf.org/about/criteria for rationale. > Hi! > > I've always had a really hard time understanding that rationale, > despite not doubting the FSF's good intentions. Would you indulge in > an exaggerated thought experiment to help me understand?
We are famous for our thought experiments, aren't we? > Machine A is a pretty normal laptop. It runs whatever you want, but > in order for it to be usable, it needs non-free firmware. Say CPU > microcode and some GPU firmware blob. Said firmware is upgradable > (the user has to initiate the upgrade, but may not be able to load > any code they want). > > Machine B has two independent CPUs. CPU 1 is wonderfully free, and > in itself requires no non-free firmware to run. However, CPU 2 is > completely outside of the user's control. It runs 10 GB worth of > proprietary OS. On top of that is a proprietary emulator for CPU > 1. CPU 1 is hard-wired to pass any instruction it executes on to the > proprietary OS running on CPU 2, which executes it in its > proprietary emulator. But hey, all that stuff running on CPU 2 is > completely non-upgradable, burned in at the factory only and > physically unchangeable. Are you talking about a situation comparable to Transmeta's chips? Well, yes, forgiving the fact that they died... But yes, it was a woefully closed chip with an absolutely closed firmware. But people regarded its freedom status as if it were a run-off-the-mill x86. (Besides, they employed Linus! Goodwill points!) We all draw our lines somewhere. We could expand on what CPU means¹; I wanted to refer also to an article that shows how little what we call "CPU" is in terms of the components on the single chip (and I don't even mean the "big" SoCs)... and the amount of black magic going around it. ¹ I like this article, and sometimes give it to my Operating Systems students: https://danluu.com/new-cpu-features/ "What's new in CPUs since the 80s?" Anyway... Off to get some lunch, as I sorely need it ;-)
