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
- Lies Need to be Corrected
- the Court never invited us
-
- Richard Stallman (RMS) is a Target of Defamation Campaigns Because of His Views on Software (But Politics Are the Excuse for Defaming Him)
- Here in this site we try to refrain from politics, except in Daily Links
- End of Vista 10 and Rise of GNU/Linux as Client Side Operating System
- It seems certain GNU/Linux will grow in popularity over time
- Taking Stock of a Week's Worth of EPO Leaks
- We remain committed to exposing EPO corruption as long as it keeps happening
- Mathieu Parreaux claims FINMA knew since day one
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Calumny, Libel, Joerg Jaspert & debian-private untouchable cyberbullies
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 16, 2025
- IRC logs for Thursday, October 16, 2025
- Techrights Turns 19 in 3 Weeks
- coverage of suppressed topics and protecting all sources/whistleblowers
- International E-Waste Day Same Day as End of Vista 10
- message from Akira Urushibata
- The EPO's Central Staff Committee Presents Evidence That Staff Compensation Lowered While the Office Increases Income by Illegally Granting Invalid Patents
- These people become millionaires by doing illegal things
- Second or Third Wave of Microsoft Mass Layoffs in October 2025, This Time Portugal
- Those are just the ones we know about, there may be several more
- 'Help Net Security' (helpnetsecurity.com) May Have Become a Slopfarm as Well
- Zeljka Zorz, Editor-in-Chief at Help Net Security, was reported to us
- Gemini Links 17/10/2025: Rant About Network Solutions, Strange Anomaly on Lagrange
- Links for the day
- EPO Staff Representation Lacks Social Dialogue With Relevant Management, Controversial and Sometimes Illegal Policies Implemented Without Necessary Input
- "In this open letter, the CSC requests that the President submits an agenda item in the next available General Consultative Committee (GCC) meeting on setting up regular meetings between the CSC and the higher management of DG1."
- Links 16/10/2025: Political Leftovers and Gemini Protocol Links
- Links for the day
- Slopwatch: Guardian Digital (linuxsecurity.com), Slashdot, Google News, and More
- Maybe one day, once the bubble pops completely, Google News will just outright delist all slopfarms
- Lufthansa Modern Slavery, Joerg Jaspert (ganneff) & Debian NSB Softwareentwicklung charade
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Links 16/10/2025: US Starting More Trade Wars With China, CIA War on Venezuela
- Links for the day
- SUSE Blog is Still LLM Slop, Marketing Manager at SUSE Cannot Write
- Would you buy from a company or seek support from a company that cannot even write (or fakes writing)?
- Pretend You're Not Dead: Microsoft Spent Almost Two Decades Rebranding Things as "Cloud, Then "AI", Now "XBox" and "Quantum"
- "AI" bubble pops, Microsoft harping about "quantum" already
- IBM Allegedly Found New Tricks for Silent Layoffs: LPI, Then MIS (Not PIP)
- Remember that "Red Hat layoffs" won't be reported after the bluewashing
- Links 16/10/2025: Red Lines and Feeding of Microsoft Trolls
- Links for the day
- MIT as a Propaganda Mill of GAFAM, Paid by GAFAM
- "the news" today
- Links 16/10/2025: Lies Euphemised as ‘Dueling Versions of Reality’ and Microsoft "Open" "Hey Hi" Resorts to Porn as No Business Model Was Found
- Links for the day
- The Local Staff Committee Munich (Representation of the EPO's Staff) Explains When Cluster of Pregnancies May Result in Reduced Pay
- "...even one week of part-time working is sufficient to reduce the salary you perceive during the entirety of your maternity leave."
- Another Black Eye for 'Secure Boot', Microsoft Media Tries to Blame "Linux"
- It enables Microsoft to remotely control computers, even computers that don't run Windows and never had any Microsoft software installed
- Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT, linuxsecurity.com, and Various Slopfarms in Google News Attacking "Linux"
- A new survey of the Web said that the majority of the Web is now slop (that's being said in the news this week)
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 15, 2025
- IRC logs for Wednesday, October 15, 2025
- Links 16/10/2025: Increased Use of Social Control Media Surveillance in US, French Rage Over Pensions
- Links for the day
- Links 15/10/2025: Qantas Airways Loses Control of Sensitive Data and Software Patents Are Being Thrown Out
- Links for the day
- Vista 10 is 'Dead', Here's Why People Should Move to GNU/Linux (or the BSDs)
- Today we try to make an outline of reasons move away from Windows to GNU/Linux
- Our Sites Continue to Improve
- LLM slop has had no noticeable impact on us
- Gemini Links 15/10/2025: Neovim, Helix Compared and Gemlog.blue Now Closed
- Links for the day
- Links 15/10/2025: Mass Layoffs at Amazon, OneDrive Spyware Revved Up, More 'Gen Z Protests'
- Links for the day
- The EPO's Staff Engagement Survey 2025 is Already Tainted by Intimidation by EPO Management (Trying to Influence Outcomes by Scaring Genuine, Honest Critics)
- "[W]e have received reports that, following the previous survey, teams with negative responses were reproached or questioned about their answers..."
- The DDoS Attacks by Microsoft's Scam Altman and Other Slop Charlatans and Frauds is Hurting the FSF, Delinking It From Copyleft Projects
- This impacts a lot more than access to the licences
- Microsoft Scanning Faces in Photos People Upload to Microsoft (Even Unconsciously), Slashdot Turns Report About It Into "Microsoft Sez" (Says)
- Or "let's repeat the lies from a PR person/Microsoft's publicist"
- [Teaser] Angel Aledo Lopez the Manipulator (Nepotism, Poll Rigging, and Other EPO Corruption)
- We'll discuss this later today or tomorrow, based on internal EPO material
- Attacks on Techrights Are Only Making Techrights Bigger and Even More Popular
- A week ago they offered to settle with us
- Epic Metaphor for End of IBM: "The IBM Demolition is Down to the Last Shards!"
- Nothing lasts forever
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 14, 2025
- IRC logs for Tuesday, October 14, 2025
- Proprietary and DRM Prisons Spiralling Down the Sinkhole? Not Just Yet.
- Let's hope that more people will flee to GNU/Linux
- The European Patent Office (EPO), the Second-Largest Institution in Europe, is Cracking Down on Recreational Activities
- Without AMICALE activities, and as staff already says it's pressured to work more for less, how can the EPO recruit bright people?
- Transparency: FSFE financial reports exclude speaker fees and expenses
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock