Hopefully a blow to planned obsolescence
a end to planned obsolescence would be open sourcing the hardware drivers at the end of support, or the government requiring the driver code be released.
The same for unlocked bootloaders, etc
You can provide software updates while still having planned obsolescence.
It should be a commitment to complete register level public documentation.
That is the benchmark of true ownership.
Android is a Linux kernel google prepares so that the kernel modules (drivers) for the device hardware can be added at the last possible moment. These kernel modules are added as binaries directly on the device. This is called an orphaned kernel. The source code for these binary modules is not publicly available, and the devices hardware is not publicly documented. This is how they steal ownership of the device.
The alternative is either to merge the original source code into the kernel, which the community can then maintain for decades, or simply make the documentation public and we will write our own kernel modules to support the device.
There is no reason to obfuscate this information except for theft of ownership. There is no security in obscurity, and hiding this information makes the hardware far less safe for the end user.
No one can ever update the Linux kernel for security or their own use case. Without the ability to recompile the kernel modules for the hardware, it is impossible to completely own the device. You can never trust the hardware, because those binaries are not verified.
The modem on the device is the same. There is no documentation. Between the processor and modem, there is no way to determine what or who is connected to your device at any time. Every interface on the device is untrusted.
Fixing all of this is simple; require full register level and API documentation of all digital devices. Anything less than this simple standard is ultimately giving up democracy for neo feudalism and authoritarianism. You have a right to own your tools as a citizen; a right to autonomy. A serf does not have a right of ownership or full autonomy. Citizens are a fundamental requirement for democracy, as serfs are to feudalism. Not caring about this fundamental issue is ultimately selling your autonomy. It is a regression of a thousand years of human sociopolitical progress.
Commitment against planned obsolescence would be 20 years minimum.
20 years ago, no one owned a smart phone. And most people still didn’t have cell phones or a laptop.
20 years ago, no one owned a smart phone.
The handspring visor, one of the first smartphones, was released in 2000. I owned one, although a few years later and second hand.
It still works too, except the phone part is 1g only, so there’s no network for it any more.
Well, long before that the device would stop working. More important would be improved repairability. My current phone is in year 4 and the hardware is starting to die. But I can’t replace the battery or other parts that start breaking. 20 year software support means nothing without that hardware lasting that long.
In that regard I think 7 years is already plenty. If they pair that with easy to replace batteries and screens that would go a long way.
Why are we still relying on manufacturers for software updates?
I know there’s driver issues, but I’m pretty sure google could engineer android to at least allow direct security updates within the same android version. Google play services still provides updates for android 5. Even Yocto linux has opkg for updates.
It’s all based on Qualcomm drivers if I remember correctly. If Qualcomm doesn’t update the drivers then they can’t update the phones to the newest version. Maybe since Samsung and google make their own processors now they can guarantee longer updates? Also for Linux PCs it all uses x86 so maybe that’s why it can be supported longer without the need for manufacturers’ drivers updates?
