Hi Fil, Thanks a lot for the effort.
First of all, one important correction. As I tried to explain in a previous email[1], we got the meaning of the "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" wrong at first. As Wikipedia explains[2]: > the respective phrases refer to upsides, downsides and the parts that > could, or should have been done better, but were not. The following illustration will make it even more clear for you: https://www.deviantart.com/chillyfranco/art/The-Good-The-Bad-and-The-Ugly-320626352 Replicant clearly classifies as the Ugly ("parts that could, or should have been done better") and not as the Bad. The correct title should thus be: "The Good enough, the Bad subjugation, the Ugly hack" Where: - "The Good enough" is a phone that meets and perhaps goes beyond RYF. - "The Bad subjugation" is a phone, much like many that are sold nowadays, that gets everything wrong and poses all kinds of threats to user's freedom and privacy. - "The Ugly hack" is Replicant, something that grabs "The Bad subjugation" and then tries (and fails) to make it behave like "The Good enough". > utopia can also define an infernal system like 1984 That's a dystopia. > Also, I did not understood if we have a shape of an imaginary phone. > Could someone let me know? We don't have one right now but I hope that Fil Bergamo will be able to find one or draw it himself. I liked your division of the issues into categories: > app > system/drivers > firmware But I would also add hardware in there: app > system/drivers > firmware/hardware because some of the issues you mention, like the modem isolation, are a mix of both hardware and firmware. These categories can be made more clear through colour/shape coding on the final illustration. As for the captions, that was a good start. Bellow I am giving it my push, that makes the following modifications: - Puts everything into the correct category according to the proper interpretation of "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly". - Instead of repeating the same apps throughout all versions, uses the info at PRISM Break[3] to display varying examples. - Adds more examples in system/drivers and firmware/hardware. I had no time right now to write the full captions for each bullet point. Fil Lupin, I hope that you can grab this and give it another push from your side. I am sure I forgot lots of stuff. # The Good enough ## Apps - F-Droid modified to filter anti-features - Syncthing - Conversations - Linphone / Jami - Mastodon - Fennec F-Droid / Tor Browser - OpenStreetMap / OsmAnd ## System/drivers - All components supported by free software and upstreamed drivers. - Shares kernel, drivers and userspace with GNU/Linux distros. - System runs up-to-date software on the entire stack. ## Firmware/hardware - All firmware is free software and can be modified and updated by the user (including the modem, bootloader, etc.). - Hardware is fully free, comes with schematics and manuals. - Hardware is modular and meant to be replaceable (e.g. battery, USB port, screen). # The Bad subjugation ## Apps - Google Play / App Store - Dropbox / iCloud - WhatsApp - Skype / Facetime - Facebook / Twitter - Google Chrome - Google Maps / Waze ## System/drivers - Drivers are proprietary and opaque. - Drivers can include bugs and/or backdoors, intentional or unintentional (e.g. Samsung Galaxy Backdoor). - Drivers are written once and forever forgotten (time to market). Won't get updates. - Kernel is years old and riddled with bugs. ## Firmware/hardware - Firmware in all auxiliary chips (modem, Bluetooth, WiFi) is proprietary and cannot be updated/modified. - Bad modem isolation, which allows it to access all data in the main memory. - Hardware locked with proprietary/non-standard screws and all sorts of measures to prevent users from refurbishing it themselves. - All components soldered to a single PCB. - Battery cannot be removed without destroying the phone. # The Ugly hack ## Apps - F-Droid - Syncthing - Conversations - Linphone / Jami - Mastodon - Fennec F-Droid / Tor Browser - OpenStreetMap / OsmAnd ## System/drivers - All drivers are free software. - Some internal devices (e.g. graphics acceleration, SatNav) are unsupported due to lack of free software drivers. - Graphics are slow and battery life is poor as rendering must be done on the CPU. ## Firmware/hardware - The modem firmware is proprietary but at least the modem is physically isolated and cannot access data from main memory. - Bootloader is locked. - Removable battery. - Hardware manuals are proprietary and exclusive to official repair shops. - Some hardware parts are replaceable (e.g. screen) while others are soldered to a single PCB (e.g. USB port). References: ----------- [1] https://lists.osuosl.org/pipermail/replicant/2019-November/002255.html [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good,_the_Bad_and_the_Ugly#In_popular_culture [3] https://prism-break.org/en/categories/android/ _______________________________________________ Replicant mailing list [email protected] https://lists.osuosl.org/mailman/listinfo/replicant
