Thought of this the other day. I bet a lot of us are like this, because in today’s world a lot of things we used to tinker with are gone (electronics are made to be single use and unfixable, cars are proprietary and can rarely be modified or worked on without many many thousands of dollars now, etc).
Sure, there are still hardcore electronics projects going on and people doing massive restoration projects and such, but i consider them basically geniuses, not just tinkerers who enjoy messing around and learning in their spare time while working 50 hours a week.
Im glad linux gives us a space to exist!
Is it?
I mean, you can “tinker” just fine on commercial, proprietary hardware. That’s the point of programmable computers in the first place.
Microcode that runs the chip: what does it do? Is it back doored? Closed source chip architecture means we can’t develop for it or know the operation
So just to be clear, OP is here saying owning a Raspberry Pi goes beyond tinkering and is for engineer nerds and you’re jumping in to propose that you want to develop your own microcode or you riot?
You may be in the wrong thread, friend. If you want to chat about how afraid you are of what AMD and Intel are putting in your morning cereal you may want to start your own conversation about it instead.
Yeah you might be right. I dont like microcode locked down.
Already burned by 2017 null password vulnerable on IME.
MS and government will use proprietary crap to become more invasive.
Try modifying a tesla and get remotely locked out when it phones home (actual scenario)
Thats the future of all electronics corps want!
Yeah, no, but that’s my point. Cars, and particularly certain cars, have become less accessible and more locked down.
But a bunch of other stuff has popped up that wasn’t there before, too. Try home automation, self-hosting, 3D printing or energy self-generation back when you remember servicing your own car or modifying the exhaust on your motorcycle (teenagers here didn’t have cars in the first place, actually).
That’s why I’m saying you’re mixing up two things. It’s one thing that corpos are closing down mainstream consumer products, it’s a very different thing to claim there is no tinkering left outside of… installing Linux in your old laptop and having to troubleshoot it constantly or whatever that scenario is.
It’s just not true. There’s plenty of tinkering left, new and old, in a bunch of spaces. Which is not connected to whether or not you get to upgrade the RAM in your Mac Mini. Different things.
Today’s equivalent is building your own ebike, and it’s awesome and way easier than rebuilding an engine.