Re: FSF continuously harms Free Hardware

[Paul Sutton]

-- Snip--
> All of this leads me to a conclusion:
>
> We should no longer call it the Free Software movement. No, we need a
> new term instead that combines both hardware and software. We need
> robust ideological leadership that is currently lacking from the FSF,
> when taking hardware into account.
>
> Richard, I think you should listen to the people telling you these
> things, because they are giving you good advice. They are not your
> enemy. People like me are just looking at the movement nowadays and
> dismayed because the FSF is largely ignoring the current realities.
>
> You outright reject the term "free hardware" but the free hardware
> movement already exists. Some refer to it as OSHW (open source
> hardware) but I myself call it the free hardware movement.
>
> There is good reason for people to be disillusioned with your FSF, and
> those reasons are expressed quite well by the original post in this
> thread. My only advice to you is this:
>
> Stop seeing criticism as a threat. Listen to people, they want to
> help! I think even the original poster on this thread probably has that
> same desire, otherwise this thread wouldn't exist (the OP would just
> disregard the FSF and move on, instead of trying to effect positive
> change).
>
> That's my two cents. Take it or leave it.


I agree with Leah on this one,  I am not a hardware or software 
engineer,  however I would like to be able to buy hardware that I know 
respects free software,  be able to install say Debian rather than 
Debian (non-free) so there are no hardware issues. I can download say 
Trisquel and it just works.

I understand what Leah is suggesting enough to see the value of having 
specs, circuit diagrams etc.  I have an old Oscilloscope here,  the 
manual has full circuit diagram,  my Old zx spectrum needed an external 
tape player and I am sure even that manual had a full circuit diagram.

We need to step back and think of non IT technical users, who may be say 
brain surgeons, or chemists, they just want the software / hardware to 
work with their hardware and not have to spend time struggling to get 
things working as they need proprietary components.  If they have all 
the datasheets available then at least the people with the right 
training can help repair these devices.

I would much rather save money on usb wifi adapters and put that money 
to one side to buy a replacement laptop (at some point) that I know will 
just work. Also,  users may want to upgrade the memory, and other 
hardware so this needs to be easy to do, or for others to do.

Of course right to repair is gaining traction, but how much of that is 
also due to people being conscious of the environmental impact of thrown 
away hardware, that can be in a lot of cases easily fixed by swapping 
out a single component.

People want to know is this phone, desktop laptop freedom (hardware and 
software) respecting or not before buying.

I get the impression RISC V can / has potential to really change the 
current landscape around this too.

Paul

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