'Librephone' project for handsets announced: What is it?
What's the story
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has announced a new initiative called "Librephone," aimed at providing complete freedom in the mobile computing environment. The project will focus on overcoming challenges that hinder mobile phone freedom. The FSF's Executive Director, Zoe Kooyman, said that while technology has advanced over the years, their commitment to freedom remains unchanged.
Goals
FSF's commitment to mobile computing freedom
The FSF's new project, Librephone, is a major step toward bringing software freedom to mobile devices. The organization has been advocating for computing freedom for 40 years and now aims to extend these rights to mobile phone users. Kooyman emphasized that the FSF is willing to do what it takes to bring freedom back into cell phones, even if it takes time due to device complexity.
Leadership
Leadership and funding for the project
The FSF has appointed seasoned developer Rob Savoye to lead the technical development of Librephone. He is now assessing the state of device firmware and binary blobs in other mobile phone freedom projects, with a focus on LineageOS. The initial funding for this project comes from FSF board member John Gilmore, who has been using a mobile phone running LineageOS with MicroG and F-Droid for years.
Strategy
Approach to achieving mobile phone freedom
The FSF and Savoye plan to reverse-engineer and replace non-free software with free alternatives as part of the Librephone project. The initiative will support existing developers and projects looking to create a fully functional, free Android-compatible OS. Gilmore said he was pleased to find Savoye, an experienced engineer in free software, embedded systems, and project management.
Project commitment
Savoye's insights on the project
Savoye, a veteran embedded systems engineer with decades of experience working on mobile devices, expressed his eagerness to work on this project. He acknowledged that creating fully free software for a modern commercial phone would be neither quick nor cheap. However, he also noted that their project benefits from previous work done by others in the field.