Technology in the age of the Internet

Category: FSF

  • Coreboot installation on Chromebook ASUS C201PA

    Goal In this manual I will try to explain how to install Coreboot (2018 year version) on the Chromebook ASUS C201PA (later referred in the manual simply as C201) with the Paper build system. At the time of writing up this manual (Q1 2018), Libreboot didn’t have any updated sources for this laptop, so I…

  • Libreboot with Debian on Chromebook C201

    A few months back I obtained a Google Chromebook Asus C201. It arrived preinstalled with Chrome OS as default operating system. This laptop was listed as one of the possible laptop models that can use Libreboot. Free Software developer Paul Kocialkowski has ported Libreboot to this Chromebook. Libreboot is a free BIOS or UEFI replacement…

  • GNU is 33 years old

    GNU is an operating system and an extensive collection of computer software. GNU is composed wholly of free software, most of which is licensed under GNU’s own GPL. GNU is a recursive acronym for “GNU’s Not Unix!”, chosen because GNU’s design is Unix-like, but differs from Unix by being free software and containing no Unix…

  • I will buy a Lemote Yeeloong laptop

    Chinese company by the name Lemote produced a few batches of FSF endorsed laptops called Lemote Yeeloong back in 2010 – 2012. First Yeeloong was the model 8089B with a 8.9″ screen, followed by 8101B with a 10.1″ screen size. These laptops are now out of sale and only obtainable on a second hand market.…

  • Free hardware designs

    In the recent years the Free Software Foundation has encouraged (computer) hardware manufacturers to start producing free (free as in freedom) hardware. Most hardware produced and sold today has proprietary design (Apple, Intel, etc.) and is therefore restricted/encrypted and hard to use with free software, requiring programmers to use reverse engineering methods and write the…

  • International Human Rights Day reminds us about Free Software

    The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a nonprofit organisation with a worldwide mission to promote computer user freedom and to defend the rights of all free software users. As our society grows more dependent on computers, the software we run is of critical importance to securing the future of a free society. Free software is…

  • libreCMC on TP-LINK TL-WR741ND

    I was lucky that I already had TP-LINK TL-WR741ND ( version 1.8 ) previously installed with OpenWRT (libreCMC strips down OpenWRT to remove non-free software and binary blobs from the code) so that I could test out the libreCMC. At this stage the router seems to be (fully) functional with wired and wireless networking enabled.…

  • libreCMC

    libreCMC is a FSF endorsed embedded GNU/Linux distribution replacement for your wireless router which does not contain non-free software or binary blobs. The project’s goal is to provide an embedded distro that respects user freedoms and allows users to control what their hardware does. Since libreCMC is 100% free software, it allows the user to…

  • Two-step verification from Google

    Google offers Two-step verification for some time now, but I have only discovered it recently, when my Gmail account notified me with the warning : State-sponsored attackers may be attempting to compromise your account The warning doesn’t say “which” state attackers and there don’t seem to be any information or logs from break-in attempts in the…

  • iPhone handcuffs

    Apple has launched a new model in their iPhone line called iPhone 5S on 20th of September 2013. The newly implemented functions of 5S are: Touch ID, a fingerprint recognition system built directly into the home button which can be used to unlock the phone and authenticate App Store and iTunes Store purchases, and an…