From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: References: From: "James A. Robinson" Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2016 11:22:12 -0800 Message-ID: To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <9fans@9fans.net> Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=94eb2c07ef347b308e05411f8856 Subject: Re: [9fans] Purism laptops Topicbox-Message-UUID: aa91ab90-ead9-11e9-9d60-3106f5b1d025 --94eb2c07ef347b308e05411f8856 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On Sat, Nov 12, 2016 at 8:19 AM, Andr=C3=A9s Dom=C3=ADnguez wrote: > D=E2=80=8B=E2=80=8Bo they really make open hardware? In what aspect > is their hardware more open than any other laptop? Hi, A summary would bet hat typically the hardware drivers that are run on a computer come in two possible forms, either closed source or open source. A closed source driver, a binary blob, would have an externally documented API but nothing telling you what is going on inside the API to drive the hardware, it's a black box from our perspective, and of course it's an executable targeted at a specific OS such as Windows, or on the rare occasion Linux. An alternative is open source. Either the manufacturer is releasing the source code for the driver or they are documenting the details of the hardware internals and making it openly available, so that someone with motivation can write an open source driver. So I think that leaves us with three possible states for the components of a computer: 1. Undocumented hardware, and the manufacturer releases a black-box binary blob to drive it for a specific set of operating system. 2. Fully documented hardware, and someone has written an open source driver for the hardware. In some cases this a "white room" situation where one person signs an NDA in order to get the documents but are then allowed to release a freely available driver (I think this is the case with a few driver used in Linux on the Raspberry Pi). 3. Fully documented hardware and paired with an open source driver for the hardware from the manufacturer. I was having a discussion with someone about a variant of this issue a month ago. They planned to write a driver for a piece of hardware, but the ideal situation of the hardware specification being available was not the case. However, a Linux open source driver was available, so he thought he'd be able to examine that and reverse engineer it for Plan 9. Jim --94eb2c07ef347b308e05411f8856 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
= On Sat, Nov 12, 2016 at 8:19 AM,
Andr=C3= =A9s Dom=C3=ADnguez <andresdju@gm= ail.com> wrote:
> D=E2=80= =8B=E2=80=8Bo they really make open hardware? In what aspect
> is their hardware more open than any other laptop?=

Hi,

A summary would bet hat typically the hardware
drivers that are run on a computer come in=C2= =A0two possible<= /div>
forms,= either closed=C2=A0sou= rce or open source.=C2=A0 A closed
source=C2=A0driver, a binary=C2=A0blob, would have an externally
documented API=C2= =A0but nothing=C2=A0telling you what is going<= /span>
on inside the API to drive the hardware, it's=C2=A0a black=C2=A0box
from our perspective, and of course it's = an executable
targeted at a specific OS such as Windows, or on the<= /div>
rare o= ccasion Linux.

= An alternative is open source.=C2=A0 Either the manufacturer
is releasing the source code for the driver or they are
documenting the details of the hardware internals
and making it openly available, so that someone with
motivation can write an open source driver.

So I think that leaves us with three poss= ible states
for the components of a computer:

1. Undocumented hardware, and the manufacture= r
releases a black-box binary blob to drive it for a
=
sp= ecific set of=C2=A0operating system.

2.=C2=A0 Fully documented hardware, and someone has
written an open source driver for the har= dware. In
some cases this = a "white room" situation where one
person signs an NDA in order to get the documents=
<= span style=3D"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">but are then allowed = to release a freely available driver
(I think=C2=A0this is=C2=A0the case with a few driver used in Linux
on=C2=A0the Raspberry Pi).

3. Fully documented hardware and paired with
an open source driver for the hardware from the=C2=A0<= /font>
manufacturer.=

I was having a discussion with someone about a<= /div>
variant of this issue a month ago.=C2=A0 They plann= ed to
write a driver for a piece of hardware, but t= he ideal
situation of the hardware specification be= ing available
was not the case. =C2=A0 However, a L= inux open source
driver was available, so he though= t he'd be able to
examine that and reverse engi= neer it for Plan 9.

Ji= m

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