This general is dedicated to the creation of a list of hardware that is relatively botnet-free. The Intel ME and other components are a serious threat to user privacy.
>"b-but how can I avoid this? Im scared, user!" That's the point of this thread. To highlight options that are out there that are relatively free of botnets. This will include the typical Librebooted memepads and whatnot, but a big part of this is also exploring alternative architectures.
(2/4) For inclusion into this list, if the processor is made by Intel Corporation or Advanced Micro Devices, the device must be 100% free as in Libreboot. Otherwise, a less-extreme stance is taken, and something like Coreboot or U-boot will suffice.
(3/4) In general, your biggest concern with ARM is the GPU drivers. Mali is fucked. PowerVR too. Vivante GC and Qualcomm Ardreno are fine. Broadcom VideoCore is partial. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_graphics_device_driver#ARM MALI MIGHT BE GETTING OPENED UP PRAISE LINUX TORVALDS TECH TIPS lwn.net/Articles/738225/ Some anons have reported that lighter environments like XFCE are usable on stuff like Mali without the driver, but it's not ideal. One user said he couldn't remove the ChromeOS on his libreboot C201. This github issue talks about a solution. github.com/altreact/archbk/issues/3
OpenPOWER (Supported Distros: Fedora, Debian, CentOS/RHEL, OpenSUSE, Ubuntu, BSDs): Raptor Engineering sells POWER9 workstations, that may soon be getting RYF certification. They're expensive as fuck, but probably the most powerful non-botnet computers that exist. Comparable to Xeons/Epyc. raptorcs.com/TALOSII/
SPARC (Supported Distros: *BSD, Gentoo, Illumos): Legit server stuff here. Open ISA and Open Boot firmware. code.coreboot.org/p/openboot/source/tree/1/ Below link is a big list of options, from ancient 80s shit, to modern servers released this year with 5.0GHz and 32 cores And of course, everything in between en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPARC#Implementations
No problem. It actually started on 8 chon when someone asked about libre computers that weren't the thinkpads, and I had a burst of autism and wrote up a massive paragraph about the options out there. I then decided to bring it here, got lots of new suggestions, and now it's a general I guess.
Mason Flores
A big problem which I think still exists is there is no easy way for regular people to check firmware code used on the chips and in my opinion it is pretty hard to guarantee that exactly that the exact open source firmware has been burned onto your chips. Computers move though multiple "hands" before reaching the consumer, it's stupid to assume that everything is as the manufacturers state it to be without checking. On the software side there is also the Ken Thompson hack which applies to software binaries, OS code and I presume firmware as well.
We are far from a desired state.
William Barnes
Stop posting gays. Gays are part of the botnet.
Charles Rivera
gays are libre as fuck
Agreed. None of this is perfect, but it's a lot better than the average shit, and gives us some options.
Any new suggestions for devices to add are appreciated.
Levi Clark
We've been getting a lot of great suggestions lately, such as the powerpc macs, SPARC, GnuBee, etc.
John Parker
>gays are libre as fuck where can i get a cute libre bf that crossdresses for me :c
Juan Ward
uwu?
Lucas Thompson
t-thats not a cute boy
Carson Young
Proof that 2D is better
this is also getting off-topic
Gabriel Myers
It is said, that ME CPU works even if main CPU is off. That means, that it consumes power. If it consumes power, that LGA-socket have power on some pins all the time. Turn on the PC, take the multimeter, ground black probe, and probe all pins. After that take electrical tape and cover these pins on CPU. Intel ME should be off by that point, but there is no guarantee that CPU will start without these pins.
Elijah Sullivan
i wish i could kiss a 2d cutie in his lips
also im sorry for getting off-topic, i'll shut up now.
Jose Lewis
>this is also getting off-topic Wasn't this a hrt thread, how isn't that related to traps?
Cameron Roberts
Sister thread: HRTGen
Ethan Nguyen
This is interesting
Jaxson James
It's a hardware removal of botnet thread, but trap-themed because Sup Forums is Sup Forumsay
>there is no guarantee that CPU will start without these pins. yeah exactly.
Grayson Bennett
bump + status on things.
VIA has been left in the list, because they have coreboot potential. Apparently there are some VIA things already on the Coreboot supported boards list, but they have a latest known good of "Unknown".
As mentioned in the last thread, I sent the PogoLoonix guy another email asking for some clarification on their ARM servers, as he didn't have a clear answer. Will let you guys know if he responds.
An user in the last thread was in contact with Raptor Computing Systems (the TALOS II guys), and due to IBM delaying the release of POWER9 for whatever reason, the workstations won't be shipped until January. Once they do ship, the Free Software Foundation will be getting one to evaluate for RYF. It looks like it's gonna happen too, as Leah Rowe also apparently told the various Libreboot refurbisher companies to stop selling the D16 and promote the TALOS II, as it might be a way to escape x86.
Isaac Nguyen
Supported distro listings have been added to the architecture sections. It's by no means comprehensive, but it gives a rough idea of some things you could use on the architecture.
It's gonna be fantastic when we get that Mali driver. Chromebookfags can enjoy their laptops in a 100% more comfy way.
Thomas Jackson
Debian is still unofficially supported on PPC, PPC64, SPARC, and M68K (also HPPA and Alpha, but they have proprietary ISAs + boot code AFAIK). I haven't personally tested them yet, but my girlfriend is going to give it a try on her G3 and G4 iMacs.
The M68K port is known to work on the KISS-68030 homebrew retrocomputer.
I should clarify, the ppc64 and ppc64el ports are different. ppc64el is still officially supported.
Jason Murphy
and thanks to the user who provided the sources for ppc OpenFirmware and SPARC OpenBoot. Any anons who have access to those old Macs will be happy to know that they can run *nix on them and be botnet-free, and the SPARC stuff looks excellent for server use.
same to the user who found GnuBee. Those little NAS boxes look cute, and they are committed to Free Software.
Grayson Green
PowerPC is too slow, outdated and power hungry. Arm is too slow because they're all made for mobile devices. I'll stick with my modern Intel chip.
Mason Richardson
The "ppc64el" is a bit confusing. despite the name, it is actually meant for POWER stuff (like the TALOS) >"Debian/ppc64el requires, at minimum, a POWER8 processor machine"
Henry Hernandez
You forget though that GNU/Linux, BSD, Illumos, etc are more capable of running on old hardware, and are very scalable. You can make them very minimal or very heavy, and even the heavier environments are often lighter than something like Windows.
Gavin Wilson
What do you do that >requires modern hardware >an internet connection >is free from the botnet?
You could easily use a PowerPC machine for daily online use, and have an airgapped Wintel for video editing, or whatever.
Carson Flores
I have Debian installed on an iBook g4 and it runs like absolute garbage, probably worse than OSX Tiger did.
Caleb Clark
Furthermore, how can PowerPC be outdated when there are companies such as NXP who are making new PowerPC chips? Like, right now. They're making new ones.
Also, why is arm all made for mobile when there exist laptops with them, as well as 48-core server machines?
I realize i'm replying to bait, but this thread has been quite slow this time around, so whatever.
Bentley Peterson
Why no mention of LibreCMC? It's actually very easy to install on supported routers…
Andrew Hill
Perhaps this thread should be renamed /hrbt/ for better clarity?
James Lewis
Oooh routers. That's something I should add. Thanks! Also, the GnuBee NAS devices can apparently also run LibreCMC.
Added a mention that Powerbook G4 and PowerMac G5 are ideal. The G5 actually looks pretty nice as a desktop, as it can have up to 2.5GHz quad-core, and up to 16GB of RAM.
Jose Martin
nah I'll keep it /hrt/ because of Sup Forums memes and traps and programming socks and OwO
Angel Richardson
Added the libreCMC routers in their own section, as they might have multiple architectures.
Blake Sullivan
I would pen test her bootloader, if you catch my drift
Michael Cooper
Probably also why it's shortening is hrt/, which can be Hormone Replacement Therapy. Nothing gay about traps though.
Cameron Kelly
>Probably also why it's shortening is hrt/, which can be Hormone Replacement Therapy That's the joke
Robert Edwards
bump
Ayden King
>Nothing gay about traps though. o-o-ok
Landon Sanchez
They're quite gay, owo
Isaac Thomas
So while we post more faggotry, let's discuss RISC-V, as we haven't brought it up in a while.
Does anyone know any distros/OSes that support this? Also, are there any projects that I'm missing?
Jordan Perez
I mean, it seems like a good thing, but it seems very early, and there's not a lot of stuff that seems to use it. When do you think it'll start blowing up?
Josiah Perry
final bump
Nathan Smith
>imac g3 does it actually run properly on those now? i had one years ago but there was only one obscure distro with no package manager or x server that would boot on it
Lucas Gomez
I saw someone using it with LXDE and Firefox a few years ago, it seemed usable enough if you don't care about streaming HD video. It was even snappier with windowmaker.
Jaxson King
>lwn.net/Articles/738225/ >It was said that everybody within ARM is in favor of solving the problem by open-sourcing ARM's driver — except for one recalcitrant high-level manager. For fuck's sake.
Connor Brooks
Yep! It's one guy in management separating us from libre GPUs on ARM Chromebooks and many SOCs
Andrew Stewart
What a cumstain.
Caleb Cook
indeed.
Gabriel Price
I need the best SBC, either be ARM or whatever but I want it to have h265. I want it for low power consumption server that'll be running 24/7, but I want it botnet free.
Colton Hughes
FreeBSD supports it although I don't know if there are any premade images
Bentley Nelson
bump
Wyatt Phillips
I'm buying a Talos 2 motherboard with 2k worth of bitcoin profits, hopefully it actually ships.
Landon Murphy
It should ship in January or so. It was gonna ship this month, but IBM delayed the POWER9 launch for whatever reason, so you'll be getting it next year.
Austin Collins
Should I wait while Talos will become more cheaper(not a poorfag, but 5k for it is really a lot. I can buy myself mr2/celica in nice shape for that cost) or assemble libreboot desktop using Asus kfsn4-dre? How much of performance i'm gonna lose?
Colton Lewis
>performance I don't have a benchmark, but IBM POWER9 is supposed to be in competition performance-wise with modern Xeons/Epyc.
Easton Cruz
Kfsn4 = two 2009 quad/six core opterons. How it will compare with one power9?
