Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Freedom respecting SBC?

[Thompson, David]

On Sun, Dec 6, 2015 at 1:37 AM, Steven Hamilton <oz@scorch.net> wrote:
>
> Ah, when I first read your email I thought you already had a plan. I'm
> afraid you're in for an awakening. Depending on what functionality you
> want will constrain your board. Basically, anything with wifi and/or a
> GUI beyond basic console (headless) will not be free as you'll need
> non-free firmware to get wifi and GPU working. I have a Hummingboard
> from Solid-run. It's imx.6 based and runs headless with no firmware
> blobs. Even the bootloader is free although not mainlined into U-Boot.
>
> TL:DR - You're board will be headless only in order to be Free.

This is less true these days.  I'm actually thinking about buying a
Hummingboard specifically because it uses the same Freescale i.mx6
processor that is in the Novena.  This chip contains a Vivante GPU
core, which is currently being liberated via the etnaviv project that
was partially funded by one of the Novena's stretch goals in their
crowdfunding campaign.  Thus, I think Freescale ARM chips are very
attractive from a freedom perspective.  It should soon enough be
possible to have 2D/3D graphics acceleration in total freedom.  I want
to build my own handheld gaming machine that runs 100% free software,
and provided the etnaviv driver is working acceptably it's a very
achievable goal.

- Dave