[nmglug] replacing FireOS

[Anthony J. Bentley]

Mark Galassi writes:
> 
> Arlo writes:
>
>     Arlo> Wherever we meet, in two weeks anyone wanna help me get 
>     FireOS
>     Arlo> off a workshop-donated tablet and something more
>     Arlo> freedom-friendly [...]
>
> I investigated it in detail in November 2016 and found that at the 
> time
> Cyanogenmod (now LineageOS) only ran on specific revisions of the 
> Fire7
> tablet, and those were not the ones amazon was selling anymore. 
> The
> result of installing was to completely brick the Fire7 
> (fortunately
> amazon takes returns).

I recommend buying only devices that explicitly support flashing with a
new operating system. In the phone/tablet world that more or less limits
you to the first-party Google stuff, namely the Nexus line and now Pixel.

Two reasons:

 - Putting a new OS on a device whose manufacturer didn't intend it,
   while an interesting technical exercise, is often very difficult
   or impossible and thus immensely frustrating.

 - It's better to financially support companies that are open to this
   kind of thing, and to explicitly not support companies that are
   close-minded.

I realize Arlo said this one was a donation. Just a note for future
buyers.

One last aside: the Android variant I'd be most interested in trying is
CopperheadOS. I haven't tried it yet because it only works on a very
limited subset of (expensive) devices (the only ones that meet their
hardware security standards): Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Pixel, Pixel 2.

I've been fairly unimpressed with some of LineageOS's security decisions
like reportedly mislabeling security patchlevels and not providing
verified boot. That's partly a sacrifice made in the name of increased
platform support but partly a lack of good security culture (IMHO).

-- 
Anthony J. Bentley