Hardware News: Freedom, Modding, Hackability on the Rise
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-04-14 08:44:38 UTC
- Modified: 2014-04-14 08:54:03 UTC
ARM
ARM Compiler 6 is beginning to use the LLVM/Clang compiler.
Velocity of open source Clang and LLVM combined with the stability of commercial products improve code quality, performance and power efficiency on ARM processors
With the release of Compiler 6 today, ARM moves from a proprietary architecture to one based on open sourced Clang/LLVM. Although there is going to be a lot contributed back the greater DS-5 Ultimate Edition are initially not going to be as fully open as SemiAccurate would like.
UK microprocessor-design company ARM has decided to move to an open-source compiler for the latest release of its software development tools, moving away from its own technology.
Raspberry Pi
Seven tutorials for seven days as we take you from Pi beginner to Raspberry Pro, and we also show you how to develop Android apps with Python in Linux User issue 138
Soon, there could be Pi in just about any device that needs embedded computing power. The Raspberry Pi Foundation has announced a new version of the Raspberry Pi platform that is aimed at a whole new class of devices and applications. Called the Raspberry Pi Compute Module, the new product puts all of the Pi’s core functionality onto a small board the size of a laptop memory module, allowing it to be plugged in to custom-built hardware.
As we've reported many times, the diminutive $25/$35 Linux computer dubbed Raspberry Pi has emerged as one of the biggest open source stories anywhere over the past couple of years. It's attracted all kinds of developers and tinkerers, is now running many different flavors of Linux, and there is even now a supercomputer consisting of many Pi devices lashed together with Lego pieces. In some of the more exotic new applications for Raspberry Pi, it's being used in music, robotics and security scenarios.
The compute module contains the guts of a Raspberry Pi (the BCM2835 processor and 512Mbyte of RAM) as well as a 4Gbyte eMMC Flash device (which is the equivalent of the SD card in the Pi). This is all integrated on to a small 67.6x30mm board which fits into a standard DDR2 SODIMM connector (the same type of connector as used for laptop memory*). The Flash memory is connected directly to the processor on the board, but the remaining processor interfaces are available to the user via the connector pins. You get the full flexibility of the BCM2835 SoC (which means that many more GPIOs and interfaces are available as compared to the Raspberry Pi), and designing the module into a custom system should be relatively straightforward as we’ve put all the tricky bits onto the module itself.
With the new Compute Module, the Foundation manages to pack the Raspberry Pi’s SoC with 512MB of memory and 4GB of storage onto a board the size of your standard DDR2 laptop memory. The Compute Module is seen above to the left of the standard PI unit. It's not entirely a size thing here though, the company is looking to offer a more universal version of the system, stuffing it on a board with a much more standard connector. This will allow developers to implement the system in whatever way they want as opposed to being tied to the traditional Pi I/O.
Qualcomm
Qualcomm revealed 20nm, 64-bit Snapdragon SoCs featuring Cortex-A57 and –A53 CPU cores, 4K video encoding, LTE Advanced, DDR4 RAM, and more.
Qualcomm announced this morning their next-generation 64-bit processors for what they hope yields "the ultimate connected mobile computing experiences" with a ton of new features and capabilities.
This is all done at 20nm compared to Beast’s 45nm and about 100 watts less power waste. I probably wouldn’t even have a fan to annoy me, not on the PSU, and not on the CPU. Beast’s replacement will likely be just big enough to hold a few hard drives or SSDs. Qualcomm will ship in 2014, probably just in time for Christmas.
Development
Embedded Linux Pioneer Launches Yocto Project-Based Linux BSPs for Boards in the Freescale Vybrid Controller Solutions Ecosystem
Habey unveiled a tiny, open-spec, Freescale i.MX6-based SBC that runs Ubuntu and Android, and features stackable daughter boards, PoE, and wing extensions.
Mainline Linux kernel support enables ease of migration by providing consistent access to new devices and the latest features
Open Hardware
For more advanced robots, there will be other available parts such as an infrared distance sensor. TinkerBots’ use of the Arduino-compatible micro-controller platform enables older enthusiasts to dabble in programming (C) for their TinkerBots creations.
I bought an Arduino Mega and started putting together the custom electronics in the form of a daughter board (Arduino calls them "shields"). However, it needed to be a standalone unit, so what could I do for user interfacing to the Mega that was flexible? Touch screens.
Novena
At 8-years old, Andrew "Bunnie" Huang appreciated the fact that his Apple II came with schematics and source code because it allowed him to figure out how it worked.
Andrew “Bunnie” Huang lists a bunch of reasons why you’ll want his open-source laptop, the Novena. You can modify it yourself so that its battery will last however long you want it to. You can inspect the software to see if there’s any present from the National Security Agency. And you don’t have to pay a tax to any big corporation just because you want to do some computing.
In a post-Edward Snowden’s disclosure world, where people and companies are seriously exploring options to keep their digital data and communication secure from NSA (or other illegitimate) snooping, here’s some good news.
Project Novena is alive and kicking, promising to bring you the world’s “almost” fully open source laptop. And it doesn’t just have open source software, but open source hardware. Hardware with open designs for anyone to manufacture and implement as they deem fit.
Hackers Bunnie Huang and Sean “xobs” Cross have launched a fundraiser for their open source laptop, the Novena. It looks very different from its prototype, but the idea behind it remains the same: a computer with transparent and easily modifiable hardware and software.
Mods
The last time I wrote about the best hacks available for a board, I had so much to choice between; now instead, writing about Arduino Yún and all of its best hacks, it was difficult to me to find really good projects, because the platform is so young. While Raspberry Pi had a strong community, Arduino Yún is still growing up.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part XV - Nazi-Like Thinking at the European Patent Office (EPO) Not a Thing of the Past
- antisemitism inside the EPO
- Links 17/07/2026: Microsoft is Cutting OneDrive Coverage, Larry Ellison Sued by Paramount Investor
- Links for the day
- Microsoft Whistleblowers Explain How Brutal the Latest Cull is (Layoffs in Seconds-Long Calls, Mass Elimination of Whole Studios and High-Level Officials)
- we see anonymous leakers or whistleblowers in the media today
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- ServiceNow/ServiceLine and Slop at the EPO is Becoming a Health Risk to Staff
- PD44 has historically been the oppressor at the EPO
- IBM Can Burn Pensioners to Appease Wall Street and Protect the Billionaire CEO With His Humongous Bonuses
- Its stock it set to open 2.82% in the red
- IBM SHAREHOLDER INVESTIGATION: Potential Securities Claims Involving International Business Machines (IBM)
- there's a risk of criminal action against executives
- Tux Machines Moving Onwards and Upwards
- "...tasks expand to fill the time available"
- The Register MS is Publishing Spam for Gartner Group to Spread Hype About "AI", Mentioned 30 Times in the Paid (Fake) Article
- One sure thing is, the so-called 'tech media' is profoundly compromised by American corporations
- "Market Share" of GNU/Linux Nearly Trebled in Cambodia This Month
- GNU/Linux is still measured at 8% by statCounter
- GitHub is Dying (Traffic Down Despite Bots and Slop), Microsoft Will Eventually Cull it - Just Like XBox - to Limit the Losses
- Do not stay on GitHub (Microsoft) under the false assumption that it is "free hosting" or will always be around
- Teaser: Daniel Pocock is About to Go Mainstream Again
- Stay tuned, Pocock has something in store
- Microsoft Has Just Been Sued Over Layoffs
- If the rumours are true, there is yet another wave of layoffs at Microsoft
- Richard Stallman Always Cautioned, Upfront, That His Political Views Were Wholly Separate From His Scientific Work or GNU
- Notice that he already spoke a lot about politics
- Nichirei and Asahi Beer Need to Take Cyberattacks as Hint of Opportunity to Move to Free Software
- Windows TCO
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 16, 2026
- IRC logs for Thursday, July 16, 2026
- Gemini Links 17/07/2026: Sunlight in the Clouds, Techno-Therapy, and Sloppifying Original Text
- Links for the day
- Links 16/07/2026: Slop Recognised as a Waste of Energy, Hong Kong Cracking Down on Dissent/Opposition Some More
- Links for the day
- GNU/Linux Approaching 5% "Market Share" in Oceania, Almost Trebling in 12 Months
- It is difficult to ignore the gains made by GNU/Linux this month
- Gemini Links 16/07/2026: esp32-gemserv, Slop-Contaminated Free Software, and Moving Systems
- Links for the day
- Last Summer Microsoft Mass Layoffs Came in Two Large Waves, Rumours Say Next Week Another Large Wave is Coming
- If many more Microsoft layoffs are formally admitted next week we will not be surprised
- Tomorrow is Another Strike Day at Europe's Second-Largest Institution, the Media is Still Deliberately Ignoring It
- Fridays are now recommended “anchor days" for EPO strikes
- Public Interest News Foundation Shows News Drought or News Deserts in the United Kingdom
- Public Interest News Foundation shows that we should be deeply concerned
- Illusions of Choice
- Choices can be differently bad or equally bad
- Windows Down to 10% in India
- Windows is a "burning platform"
- One Year Has Passed
- Our aim is to repair an injured system wherein "abuse of process" can be turned into a weapon, leveraged even by foreigners who are funded by affluent third parties
- Techrights is Annoying People Who Work for (and Serve) People Who Annoy (and Abuse) Society
- Working against us (instead of with us) has historically been a bad strategy
- No Skinnerboxes, No Slop, No False Idols or Corporate Prophets
- Torvalds does not understand the everyday struggles of tech workers and tech users because he is a millionaire
- IBM's Next Stop: $199 (Market Cap Already Under 2.5 Times IBM's Debt)
- Don't rush to call us "sensationalist" over it
- Links 16/07/2026: Solar Greenwashing by Energy-Wasting GAFAM and Growing Concerns About Harm by Social Control Media
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 16/07/2026: Photography, Agility, and "Today I have Truly Become a Linux User."
- Links for the day
- Rebellion Brewing at Microsoft
- As always, we welcome Microsoft whistleblowers
- Technology Against Human Nature
- Losing a sense of what it means to be alive
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 15, 2026
- IRC logs for Wednesday, July 15, 2026
- IBM Down to $211.20, the Market in General is Up
- No recovery for IBM today
- UEFI 'Secure Boot' Still Not Secure in 2026, New Holes (or Bypasses) Still Being Found
- In 2026 there are still many people who call it "secure" and pretend to themselves that it is about security. It's not. It never was.
- Gemini Links 15/07/2026: Lab 6, Retrospective 2, and "Getting Back Into Gemini"
- Links for the day
- Links 15/07/2026: "Gianni Infantino Under Fire" and "Todd Blanche's Record Raises Alarming Questions About the Future of the US DOJ"
- Links for the day
- Allegedly More IBM RAs (Mass Layoffs) Same Day the Stock Crashed
- No paper trail, so it never happened, right?
- Techrights Was Right: Microsoft's Layoffs Tally Was False, Far More People Are Being Sacked
- "The Xbox Bloodbath Is Actually Way Bigger Than It Seems"
- Get Ready for Increase in PIPs and RAs at IBM, Red Hat, and Other Companies Devoured by IBM
- IBM's "market cap" has just fallen to 199 billion dollars and it has about 70 billion dollars in debt
- IBM Sinking to Lowest Levels Since 2024, But Will Any Executives Be Arrested for Securities Fraud?
- 52-week high of $332.46 and now down to $212.94
- Microsoft Whistleblowers Say "The Entire Thing is Going to Fall Apart" and There Are "No Benefits" to Being Part of Microsoft
- "Multiple sources, who chose to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal"
- IBM's Crash Continues Today
- Stocks go up and down, but they don't typically go down by over 25% in a single day
- Like Kyndryl, Multiple Securities Fraud Investigations Into IBM
- Remember what happened to Kyndryl
- How Long Before GNU/Linux is Measured at 20% in Chad?
- The main way to get people to adopt Vista 11 is to sell them a new PCs and in poor countries it happens a lot less
- Making Techrights Faster Down Under (Australia and New Zealand)
- there's more to life than speed
- Strikes at the EPO Approved for the Rest of the Year, "€1,3 Billion Taken From Staff Income"
- Intensity can be revised and increased over time
- Focusing on What We Really Ought to Focus on
- Today we'll focus mostly on EPO affairs
- Violence is Not a Joke
- "Police say Widdecombe killing was targeted but motive remains unclear"
- How to Properly Measure the Performance of a Patent Office
- A "contribution from staff [which] is published by SUEPO Munich."
- Who Next After IBM? (Bubbles Don't Last Forever)
- the demise of companies with "ai" in their name/domain
- EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part XIV - "Not One of Us" (How the Group Dubbed by EPO Insiders "Alicante Mafia" Pushes Out Talent, Replacing It With Friends)
- misuses the EPO's budget like it is a fountain of money for his friends
- LibreTech Collective Abandons Microsoft GitHub and All Other Proprietary Software
- Each time a project eliminates control by a hostile party it stands to gain
- GNU/Linux Estimated at 8% "Market Share" Today (in statCounter)
- Days ago it said 7.1%, then 7.3% or 7.4%
- Links 15/07/2026: US Regime "Cuts Two Utah National Monuments by More Than 90%", "Hormuz is Less Crucial Than It Was"
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 15/07/2026: Old Computer Challenge, "Trial by Fire", LLM Slop Destroying Companies
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 14, 2026
- IRC logs for Tuesday, July 14, 2026