Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

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

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (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.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (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?