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4 points4 pointsPosted Oct 6, 2006 12:16 UTC (Fri) by alexbk (subscriber, #37839)In reply to: 4 points by mingo Parent article: Similar in spirit?
Much better case than a Tivo would be latest Nokia phones, which *are* general purpose computers that happen to have smaller than normal screens and keyboards. These phones also have a sophisticated mechanism for verification of installed applications called Symbian Signed. That mechanism ensures that only Nokia and vendors approved by them can write software that does interesting things such as getting coordinates from built-in GPS receiver or working with the phone's microphone and speaker. They can legally use GPLv2 software to do that, and keep the keys to themsevles. Saying "don't buy the phones if you don't like that" is not really an option - there are no other devices that offer similar functionality.
Also, when you say "desire to trust a piece of hardware" you should be more specific - who has that desire, and who owns the hardware?
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4 points Posted Oct 6, 2006 14:15 UTC (Fri) by sepreece (subscriber, #19270) [Link] "Saying "don't buy the phones if you don't like that" is not really an option - there are no other devices that offer similar functionality."
I would argue both with the statement (there are devices with similar functionality from other manufacturers) and the apparent conclusion that the uniqueness of a particular device would somehow create a special obligation to allow you to modify it. If you don't like what the device allows, don't buy it. It's not life-critical that you own one.
Note that there is no real asymmetry here, either. Only you (or someone you have authorized, like your service provider) has access to the device to load software into it. Nokia can't, because it has no access (unless you take the phone in and ask them to). You can choose to load various software into it, but that software comes from a constrained set. That's different from "you can modify the software but I can't".
4 points Posted Oct 6, 2006 15:30 UTC (Fri) by alexbk (subscriber, #37839) [Link] Uhm, you seem to have misunderstood me. My point was that if Ingo thinks Tivo is a bad example because it's only a narrow-purpose appliance, I can give a different and hopefully better example of an increasingly popular (24 million units shipped H1 2006 vs 14 million in H1 2005) general purpose programmable computer running Symbian OS, where access to some (but not all!) important APIs and hardware peripherals is restricted.
The manufacturers don't have an obligation to give me that access of course, but then I don't want them to use and modify my code for their benefit *and* disallow everyone else including me to do the same thing. Once again: they're not producing a Tivoesque appliance but a real computer. Nothing to do with demanding freedom to tinker, everything to do with being fair.
If you know similar devices that are less restricted, please name them, I always want to know about new gadgets :)
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