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posted by Fnord666 on Monday March 08 2021, @10:36PM   Printer-friendly
from the same-old-M$ dept.

Developer Gavin L Rebeiro has posted[*see note below] a five-part article series at Techrights on how to deal with the ongoing Raspberry Pi fiasco by salvaging existing hardware with a replacement operating system.

He covers the background, the technical principles, some methods for mitigation, proposes using NetBSD in place of the GNU/Linux, Raspberry Pi OS. Finally, he walks through installation of NetBSD.

We don't want to be spied on; what happens when we're faced with an operating system that spies on people? We throw it in the trash where it belongs! I am boycotting the Raspberry Spy myself (you're free to join me in doing so) but I don't want people to waste hardware that they already have. So we're going to walk through an interesting path of installing a different operating system on the Raspberry Spy; I want to show you a few things that will empower you to take greater control over your computing.

We'll gently walk through and explore the following: how to install an operating system on an embedded device (a Raspberry Spy, in this case) over a USB-to-UART bridge (UTUB). This is the main project we've got on our hands. Don't worry if you've never touched embedded systems before; everything here is accessible to people with a modest set of prerequisite knowledge and some basic apparatus.

We'll delve into things with more depth as we move forward with our project; if you don't understand something when you first encounter it, just keep reading.

NetBSD might be a bit of a leap for some, so it should be noted that there are other GNU/Linux distros for the Raspberry Pi which do not include the problems addressed above.

The focus of the series is on individual privacy, but a parallel threat exists for institutions because, after the recent changes, any use of Raspberrry Pi OS will show up at their most hostile competitor, Microsoft. The company has had a do-not-lose-to-Linux-at-any-cost attitude for decades and has various slush funds available to fund attacks. EDGI was one such program which did a lot of damage around the world and has been described in fair detail in the Comes v Microsoft case.

[* Ed's Note (2021-03-12): The author has let us know that his original article is available as a PDF, as techrights' version wasn't faithful. -- FP]

Previously:
(2021) Raspberry Pi Users Mortified as Microsoft Repository that Phones Home is Added to Pi OS


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by Marand on Tuesday March 09 2021, @05:18AM (7 children)

    by Marand (1081) on Tuesday March 09 2021, @05:18AM (#1121669) Journal

    Thanks for the reminder of why I usually ignore your comments and have them collapsed by default. I attempted to actually talk to you for a change and all you did was insult me, making claims of "propaganda" and suggestions that I'm repeating some party line (presumably paid shilling?) just for having an opinion that doesn't fully match yours. I don't quite get if your insane remark about "No idea who actually wrote it" is supposed to be implying I'm shilling for MS or Raspberry Pi or what, but it's pretty fucking offensive that I made the effort to actually discuss something just to be casually dismissed and told I didn't write it just because it wasn't what you wanted to hear. And all because I suggested that defaults should cover the majority of use cases and be accessible for people that won't know better, with more advanced options still made available for the people like most of us here that won't benefit from it.

    Well, good job continuing to be the same unlikeable, holier-than-thou cunt you were when I first demoted your comments to -1 purgatory. Even on the rare occasions when you say something vaguely sensible it's not worth engaging with you and dealing with your obnoxious attitude. Who knows, maybe I'll try again in another five years when I have another lapse in good sense.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by Arik on Tuesday March 09 2021, @06:08AM (2 children)

    by Arik (4543) on Tuesday March 09 2021, @06:08AM (#1121694) Journal
    Hey!

    "Thanks for the reminder of why I usually ignore your comments and have them collapsed by default."

    Umm, you're welcome?

    Yeah, you're welcome. I'm going with "you're welcome." Final answer. <kick>

    "I attempted to actually talk to you for a change and all you did was insult me"

    Wait wait wait, wait, what?

    Insult you?

    Nah I just went back and reloaded and checked. I gave you props. Why you be trippin, yo?

    "No idea who wrote it" - nah it's a meme, it's not you. You probably picked it up in childhood, before you remember maybe. We all swim in a sea of memes, the ones we absorb most deeply are the ones we have the hardest time to see.

    That was no insult; to imply you're human? Chill. Here.

    ___
    (__ `-._                _____
       `-._ `-._          .'     `.
           `-._ `-._     .=========.
               `._ /`-..-          .
                  `-._             .
                      `-.._______.'

    "Well, good job continuing to be the same unlikeable, holier-than-thou cunt"

    Oy, oy, oy oy oy oy!

    And he's done it. He went and called me a bloody c*nt, he did.

    Marand; sir or madam or otherwise encharicaturated as your preference and circumstance might suggest or constrain;

    purely at your own preference.

    I assume you are a speaker of a variety of English well outside of direct US influence; of /ENGLISH/ English or perhaps a really old Aussie or Kiwi or something?

    Yeah, you can't call anyone the "c word" mate. It's just not done.

    Not in the US, not even in Canada. Gotta step over the line into Mexico, if you want to get away with that shite over here in the New World.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYaKUzax8xY

    "Unlikeable"

    /UNLIKEABLE/

    I never asked you to like me.

    NO ONE EVER ASKED YOU TO LIKE ME!

    Cheers!

    --
    If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
    • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 09 2021, @07:19AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 09 2021, @07:19AM (#1121707)

      This is a new intensity of autism from you. Or is it your Microserft brain implant malfunctioning? Either way, it is entertaining.

      • (Score: 1) by Arik on Thursday March 11 2021, @01:30AM

        by Arik (4543) on Thursday March 11 2021, @01:30AM (#1122540) Journal
        "new"

        Just how long have you been watching, that you think you have a baseline?

        "it is entertaining."

        You're welcome.

        You should make an account so I can remember who aren't.
        --
        If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
  • (Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 10 2021, @01:45AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 10 2021, @01:45AM (#1122097)

    Thanks for the reminder of why I usually ignore your comments and have them collapsed by default. I attempted to actually talk to you for a change and all you did was insult me, making claims of "propaganda" and suggestions that I'm repeating some party line (presumably paid shilling?) just for having an opinion that doesn't fully match yours.

    Marand has always been touchy this way. Was back in the day when I used to insult him for fun.

    Well, good job continuing to be the same unlikeable, holier-than-thou cunt you were when I first demoted your comments to -1 purgatory. Even on the rare occasions when you say something vaguely sensible it's not worth engaging with you and dealing with your obnoxious attitude. Who knows, maybe I'll try again in another five years when I have another lapse in good sense.

    But, he came back. Glutton for insultitude, evidently! Marand! You are a doo-doo head! (Watch! The reaction should be fantastic!) How much does Micro$oft pay you to say such things? (Oh, that should make him blow! ) Hey, Marand, your whining has contributed nothing to the conversation. Even Arik is more of a Soylentil than you are!

  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 10 2021, @04:26AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 10 2021, @04:26AM (#1122139)

    Luckily they use such an atrocious font making it much easier to just scroll past. Nothing of value will be lost.

    • (Score: 2) by Marand on Wednesday March 10 2021, @06:41AM (1 child)

      by Marand (1081) on Wednesday March 10 2021, @06:41AM (#1122165) Journal

      That was actually what led to me setting him to foe and -6 karma modifier originally. A few of us tried asking him to stop using the code blocks for general comments and his response was basically "if you don't like it change your font". Tried pointing out that we're using the fonts as intended and the problem was that he's misusing code blocks for general text, which forces other people to see the wrong fonts at random. He doubled down claiming that fixed-width is the proper way fonts should look and if people don't like it they should override their browser's fixed-width fonts with variable-width ones.

      So he basically suggested that everybody on the site should change their code fonts to be bad for reading code just because he wants to see his text as fixed-width but doesn't want to change his font to do it, which is asinine. So I decided a better solution was to fudge the karma system to collapse his comments instead, because that's the kind of shitty attitude I don't generally want to interact with anyway. Win/win.

      Every so often he'll respond to a comment of mine and I get a reminder of why his comments are auto-collapsed. I have more pleasant interactions with the ACs at 0 usually.

      • (Score: 0, Troll) by Arik on Tuesday March 16 2021, @01:42AM

        by Arik (4543) on Tuesday March 16 2021, @01:42AM (#1124675) Journal
        "A few of us tried asking him to stop using the code blocks"

        OMG you're one of /those/ idjits.

        And even after obsessing for all these months or years blaming me for your own inability or unwillingness to understand how computers work, you still don't have a clue...

        "just because he wants to see his text as fixed-width"

        That's what I'm talking about. You're so disoriented you don't even know which side is up!

        Post mode has nothing whatsoever to do with which fonts I instruct my browser to use! The server is not the client! I see your posts in the same font as mine!

        "I have more pleasant interactions with the ACs"

        Yes, I'm sure it's more pleasant for you to deal with someone closer to your own mental level.

        --
        If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?