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
- XBox Consoles Nearly Dead by Now, the 'XBox' (ex-Box) Brand Now Stands for Something Full of Slop, Spam, Filler, and Chaff
- We're seeing the last day (maybe year) of "XBox"
- Fake IBM Retirements (IBM Gives Older Workers Ultimatums, Deadlines, and Carrots on Sticks)
- As they point out, IBM is desperate to lower costs
-
- Fewer Involuntary Interruptions This Year
- This year we're doing much better
- Prisons Are for Dangerous People Who Pose a Threat to the Public, Not People Who Inform the Public
- At the end of the week EPO workers go on strike
- Microsoft Loses Grip on Indian Ocean
- Many countries, including in older allies of the US (such as Canada and the US), look for ways to get out of Microsoft dependence urgently
- The Great "AI" CON Explained by Dr. Andy Farnell
- LLMs are basically advertisers of sorts
- Links 26/01/2026: "Journalists Detained", in Germany "Unjustly Jailed Man Gets €1.3 Million Compensation"
- Links for the day
- Red Hat Quietly Going Extinct After Bluewashing in 2026
- At this point it would be rather foolish to assume that IBM will let Red Hat just "do its own thing" or maintain its corporate culture, identity, projects etc.
- The "Alicante Mafia" - Part XII - Kris De Neef and Roberta Romano-Götsch, Who Stepped in for the Cokehead, Have No Comment on His Cocaine Usage (and the EPO's Cover-up)
- Sh-t floats to the top.
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Sunday, January 25, 2026
- IRC logs for Sunday, January 25, 2026
- Gemini Links 26/01/2026: Cold Perception, Software Patches in NixOS, and Sunk Cost Fallacy
- Links for the day
- Linuxiac is Basically a Fake News Site, But It's Being Fed by Google News
- Because Google News is run by Google, a slop pusher
- Links 25/01/2026: Slop "Tribalism", Nike Apparently Cracked
- Links for the day
- Claims That PIPs Are Abused for Silent Mass Layoffs at IBM (Without Severance) or Forced Retirements
- Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) "clearly bogus as everyone on my team who has been on one has been fired"
- WebM Version of Richard Stallman's Latest Talk (Georgia Tech Talk)
- The file size is smaller
- After Half a Decade Vista 11 is Still a Giant Failure
- Don't expect Microsoft to gain a foothold
- Details on IBM Layoffs in the EU Last Week, Same Allegedly Coming to the US Shortly
- "Around 50 people affected in Belgium."
- Technology Trends Driven by DRM Giants, Planned Obsolescence, Not the Needs of the Buyers
- The "pushers" think of customers as "users"; and they encourage passivity, Stockholm Syndrome
- Links 25/01/2026: Microsoft BitLocker Backdoored for Decades Already, Microsoft-Backed ICE Still Murders Civilians
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 25/01/2026: "Expert in a Dying Field" and Global Commands
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Saturday, January 24, 2026
- IRC logs for Saturday, January 24, 2026
- After the Slop Bubble
- At the end, looking back, we'll all generally understand that the net effort of slop was environmental destruction
- IBM CEO Says IBM is Just Reliant on Buzzwords That Are Overhyped
- IBM has nothing to show anymore and telling fairytales to shareholders is a temporary 'fix'
- The "Alicante Mafia" - Part XI - No Comment From Steve Rowan, Niloofar Simon, and Christoph Ernst About Cocaine Inside EPO
- What kind of patent office is this?
- Projection of Fanatic From Microsoft
- Microsoft Lunduke is pandering to the 4Chan 'crowd'
- Digg.com (Digg) is a Censorship Platform, Just Another Social Control Media/Network, Controlled by the Few
- We are not going to bother with any social control media
- Spam, Slop, and Fake 'Articles' Regarding "Linux"
- Serial Sloppers like these are harming real reporting about Linux and GNU
- Rape investigation dropped: Will Fowles & ALP transgender deception
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Diversity, Grooming & Debian transgender Zero
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Pauline / Maria / Alice Climent(-Pommeret) & Debian transgender offensive cybersecurity deception
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Did judge with transgender sister & Debian conflict of interest help cover-up a death?
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Giving a Voice to the Community (Even When It's Inconvenient or 'Scary')
- Once upon a time we were threatened with deplatforming for merely reposting articles by Daniel Pocock; we no longer have this problem
- Links 24/01/2026: CBS News Demolished From the Inside and Many Publishers Admit Layoffs
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 24/01/2026: Dreams and Raspberry Pi Zero 2W
- Links for the day
- Richard Stallman's First Talk in US College Since 2018: Videos and Photos
- There are some backstories
- Judge Richard Oulevey (Grandcour Choeur, Tribunal Vaud) & Debian shaming abuse victims and witnesses
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Judgment: French army vanquishes German FSFE on Hitler's birthday, Microsoft contract dispute (1716711)
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- EDPB/CNIL privacy expert Amandine Jambert (cryptie, FSFE) implicitly admitted lying about harassment when she resigned admitting conflict of interest
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Links 24/01/2026: TikTok Controlled by Alt Reich in US Now, White House Shares Fake, Manipulated, Misleading Images Already
- Links for the day
- Projection Tactics - Part IV: SLAPP by Americans Against Techrights (UK) to Hide Serious Abuses Against American Women
- "PRs need to stop being complicit in suppression of information via SLAPPs"
- Dirty Laundry at Debian and Elsewhere
- We cannot just brush aside real issues involving real people and their families
- Illegal, Unconstitutional Kangaroo Court for Patents Drops the Masks, Shows Its Real Purpose is to Serve Multinational Monopolists and Crush European SMEs
- Europe (or the EU) is rapidly becoming a corporate project, not a unified governance initiative
- The "Alicante Mafia" - Part X - EPO Strikes to Begin Next Week
- Things gradually escalate this month
- Gemini Links 24/01/2026: Snow, Boxing, and Lisp is Fun
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Friday, January 23, 2026
- IRC logs for Friday, January 23, 2026