diff options
| author | Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli <GNUtoo@cyberdimension.org> | 2024-01-09 16:15:03 +0100 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli <GNUtoo@cyberdimension.org> | 2024-01-09 17:46:09 +0100 |
| commit | 222ba3af8c9745736815cf72272f34d8b95c73f2 (patch) | |
| tree | 06b9df73f4a5d2a7dffc1e20a956f0b9d6d8cdcd /37c3/Replicant_struggle/summary.txt | |
| parent | e8ff42800e97a56d7e303029054c99cfc600da3a (diff) | |
| download | presentations-222ba3af8c9745736815cf72272f34d8b95c73f2.tar.gz presentations-222ba3af8c9745736815cf72272f34d8b95c73f2.tar.bz2 presentations-222ba3af8c9745736815cf72272f34d8b95c73f2.zip | |
37c3: Add 'Replicant struggle: past and present successes and failures' talk.
Signed-off-by: Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli <GNUtoo@cyberdimension.org>
Diffstat (limited to '37c3/Replicant_struggle/summary.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 37c3/Replicant_struggle/summary.txt | 65 |
1 files changed, 65 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/37c3/Replicant_struggle/summary.txt b/37c3/Replicant_struggle/summary.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..aced9fa --- /dev/null +++ b/37c3/Replicant_struggle/summary.txt @@ -0,0 +1,65 @@ +Replicant is an Android distribution that is certified by the FSF that +supports some Smartphones and Tablets. + +Historically Replicant has united different struggles / concerns +within the same project: + +It enabled to use hardware way longer, limiting damage on planet and +workers. + +Compatible hardware could be found second hand in various ways (shops, +free, etc). This made it accessible by a wide variety of people. + +Many of the supported hardware were made and sold in big numbers so +they have a wide ecosystem around them like replacement batteries, +repair knowledge, second hand shops. + +While all the supported hardware contains nonfree software +(bootloader, sometimes another operating system loaded on the same CPU +alongside Android/Replicant, details will be explained in the talk), +Replicant itself is fully free, which appeals to people caring about +free software. + +It avoided backdoors and chose to support only specific phones to +limit the privacy damage (this was done by isolating the modem, more +will be explained in the talk). + +While Replicant always had to take difficult strategic decisions that +affected the above, with effects on both the amount of work required +to support devices and the amount of work required to move to new +Android versions, things also changed a lot in the last years. + +Modern off the shelf smartphones hardware made it impossible to +address the same concerns than before: Replicant depends on hardware +design features like modem isolation to provide some privacy +guarantees (details will be in the talk). Supporting devices with +batteries that cannot be replaced also lead to lot of complications +for users (batteries that last less on second hand devices, limited +lifespan, etc) that in turn put impossible constraints on contributors +(supporting new devices as soon as they are released). + +Other issues like the disappearance of 3G networks, or the status of +some Android related project also affect Replicant in big ways. + +On another hand Replicant also ended up with way more resources than +before: it has enough money (about 200 000$) to fund development work +during few years and also managed to get funding from NLnet to work on +specific tasks. + +All that brings huge changes in the project and makes strategic +decisions harder than before. + +The talk will start with information on why having 100% free software +Android distribution(s) is still relevant today when GNU/Linux +smartphones are becoming a reality again. It will also explain all the +background needed to understand the rest of the talk (how smartphones +work, what is a modem, what is TrustZone, how Android is different +from GNU/Linux from the hardware support and contributor perspective, +etc). + +A lot of the focus of this presentation will be about the project +strategic decisions: Given the difficult context Replicant operates +in, what difficulties it faced, how it solved them. But also current +and longer term issues we have. In this talk we are also looking for +feedback on our new strategy and/or ideas to address some of the +longer time concerns we have, some of which other projects also faced. |
