Re: [libreplanet-discuss] [Dev] Misleading information in EOMA68 news

[Christopher Waid]

On 2016-08-25 05:59 AM, Tiberiu-Cezar Tehnoetic wrote:
> On 25.08.2016 11:42, Christopher Waid wrote:
> > I'm having a hard time taking you seriously. Wake me when you've
> > actually contributed something of significance and aren't just trying 
> > to
> > undermine those working on solving these problems. For some of us it
> > isn't about financial gain. We actually want to see 100% free 
> > hardware.
>
> I don't need you to take me seriously. I'm merely stating the facts and
> drawing logical conclusions. I could be just a new free software user
> with no contribution what so ever.

No. Your selectively quoting with the clear intent to mislead. You are 
doing exactly what you propose we're doing. There is a difference 
between accidentally misstating something technical and selectively 
pulling quotes that make it sound as if I was misleading people.

> If you believe that what I'm doing is undermining your projects, then
> you might be do something wrong in your projects. Like claiming your
> proprietary BIOS laptops and desktops are OK in regard to software
> freedom as your WiFi adapters.

I never made that claim. You are twisting words around as if that is 
what I was saying. It was clear from the video and I'd encourage anybody 
who believes this to watch it.

> Like claiming EOMA68 board is libre
> hardware although no one has access to the PCB CAD files under a
> free/libre license.

Everything is already available with one exception that was clearly 
stated and the reason why. Luke was upfront about everything:

"The only exception to this rule to release everything in advance is the 
PCB CAD files for the Computer Card. We’re planning to release the PCB 
CAD files for the Computer card once sufficient units are hit that 
ensures any third party manufacturing runs will not undermine the 
project’s development or stability."

I also already explained that someone has already attempted to undermine 
the project. The decision to withhold this is temporary, and nobody said 
it was beholden on the success of the campaign even, and given that we 
have already released everything else our intent is clear.

It's also unusual to release this kind of thing if it is released at all 
prior to the shipping of the rewards. It's not even wrong to release 
nothing until after the crowd funding campaign is done or the rewards 
ship. The fact it is being done prior is in spirit with the philosophy 
and a mark of good will toward the community.

> Like not guaranteeing EOMA68 campaign backers that
> they will receive the PCB CAD files under a free license along with the
> EOMA68 product when shipped.

It's already abundantly clear that it's going to be released. We're at 
$145,300 of $150,000 as of this moment. That is 97% and there is still 
25 hours to go. There is zero chance we won't hit that target and 
technically we already surpassed the number needed for us to proceed 
because the # we estimated could not be 100% determined until we knew 
the ratios of rewards. Given that I don't see any reason Luke won't post 
the files soon. If he doesn't though it still won't matter from an 
ethical stand point because they will be released well before anybody 
gets these devices and it will be within the statements/promises made. 
Nobody is breaking a promise here.

> Like claiming EOMA68 board is a
> breakthrough in the line of software freedom. Like undermining 
> Libreboot
> project and spreading FUD about it (that Libreboot is only for old
> x86-based laptops).

While it supports a newer ARM laptop or two it's not any better 
ethically speaking from a freedom stand point than using free versions 
of Uboot. These Chromebooks are actually hostile to users freedom and 
I'd highly discourage people from going this route. The older X86 
LibreBoot laptops don't depend on proprietary firmwares for the wifi 
chips. With the older X86 laptops you can replace the internal wifi 
cards with free ones. That's not possible on the newer Chromebooks. This 
is just one great example of why EOMA68 matters so much.

LibreBoot's value when you talk about freedom is on older X86 laptops. 
This is not FUD, just fact. There may be other features that are 
desirable and therefore support of EOMA68 devices makes sense. However 
it is not an ethics or freedom issue.

> Like not providing config file to build LibreCMC.

You are flat out lying. We ship it with every router on CD.

> Like LibreCMC not building at all lately.

This is nonsense. There are better directions for building LibreCMC than 
just about any other project and we are frequently complimented on how 
easy it is to get working. The Software Freedom Conservancy even used 
our routers as an example of how to do GPL compliance properly: 
https://copyleft.org/guide/comprehensive-gpl-guidech22.html. If there 
are issues building LibreCMC it's not something we did explicitly. It 
could be any number of problems.

This is telling:

"If an investigator of average skill in embedded firmware construction 
can surmise the proper procedures to build and install a replacement 
firmware, the instructions are likely sufficient to meet GPL’s 
requirements."

Given they were able to build an image independent of us and are not the 
only ones it's reasonable to state you are full of it. We even improved 
the directions to make them better in the one area that they indicated 
improvement could be made (it was still completely GPL compliant despite 
this).

> Like corrupting FSF to recommend your proprietary BIOS laptops and 
> desktops.

Is anybody here buying this? The FSF is a totally independent 
organization that we have zero effective influence over. There is 
insignificant amounts going to the FSF relative to the donations and 
monies coming from other sources. It might not have been a good idea for 
them to word this as they did. However I did not have any involvement in 
this wording and there is no money being exchanged here.

Here is the disclaimer: 10% of our regular eBay sales go to the FSF. 
This amount is donated via proxy and therefore I don't even think the 
FSF is aware that said donations are coming from us. I have an associate 
member subscription with the FSF. I have purchased a lot of t-shirts 
from the FSF over the years. We have sponsored Libre Planet for a number 
of years. I was once in a bidding war for a GNU stuffed animal and a GNU 
30th cup at the GNU 30th b'day party that resulted in less than $600 USD 
going to the FSF. These were less than $50 and you could buy them before 
and after the auction. During the holiday one year we did contribute 
some amount from each sale to the FSF during the holiday promotion 
guide. So did others I believe.

Now we do contribute to the Trisquel project 25% of the profits from any 
user purchasing through http://libre.thinkpenguin.com. This is the link 
that the FSF uses, many freedom conscious bloggers, Trisquel/FSF 
members, and so on. We have also sponsored Ruben's (Trisquel founder) 
accommodations or travel in the past when has come to Libre Planet. This 
pre-dates Ruben's employment with the FSF.

I think that sums it up. Nothing of significance relative to the million 
dollars they have (https://www.fsf.org/about/financial).