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0 pointsdisconnected8y ago0 comments

> ARM could be a affordable alternative to x86 if that works for you.

Even the open source friendly Raspberry Pi relies on proprietary blobs and proprietary firmware, with vast parts of the documentation only being available to system integrators (meaning: not you) under an NDA.

Theirs is a Broadcom chip, but my understanding is that the scenario is pretty much the same for other ARM vendors. If the chip is anything more complicated than your average 8-bit micro-controller, expect it to be running some kind of "system" which is, of course, closed source.

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khedoros18y ago

The stuff running on the ARM itself is all open, but the firmware blob runs on a separate CPU with a different instruction set, which has a view of the entire memory map of the device and ultimate control over the device's behavior (sound familiar?).

I may be wrong, but my impression is that a lot of the other ARM boards out there have the ARM chip as the main CPU, and without a management chip watching it. In any case, a board like that, or a Pi with a reverse-engineered firmware blob (currently in development) would be better than the Raspberry Pi as it is now.

wolfgke8y ago

> Even the open source friendly Raspberry Pi

Broadcom (producer of the chips used on the RPi) and open source friendly? A sense an oxymoron.

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