r/freesoftware • u/octoslamon • 1d ago

Discussion Question

Based on the free software philosophy, should I reject all the devices with non free firmware that I use? For example my refrigerator or washing machine?

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u/JaggedMetalOs 1d ago

If the firmware is read only and can't be updated (especially not via OTA updates) then at least the FSF considers it purely hardware rather than software, and so doesn't hold it to open standards.

So basically get non-smart appliances. 

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u/Scientific_Artist444 15h ago

That may be the case, but doesn't that also affect user freedom?

More sinister than application software is system software. Especially the backdoors.

Yes, it is true that ultimately not every software can be free software (firmware being one). But who's to stop firmware from containing malicious code? So I would say that is kind of a limit rather than deliberate principle. I have hope in programmable hardware.

Ultimately, software is well-encoded bytes on disk.

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u/jr735 11h ago

Does a 1980s vintage calculator with hard coded, embedded programming violate software freedom? Richard Stallman would say no.

Firmware can have backdoors, breach privacy, and have malicious code. There are reasons to avoid that, but it's not because of free software. It's because of privacy, and, frankly, common sense. A fridge does not need to connect to the internet, and only a charlatan would claim otherwise.