Open Hardware: Pureos and Arduino

Published on Tux Machines (http://www.tuxmachines.org) Home > content > Open Hardware: PureOS and Arduino Open Hardware: PureOS and Arduino By Rianne Schestowitz Created 07/01/2021 - 7:39am Submitted by Rianne Schestowitz on Thursday 7th of January 2021 07:39:57 AM Filed under Hardware [1] PureOS: freedom, privacy, and security [2] A recent blog post from Purism?the company that developed PureOS to run on its security- focused hardware?celebrates three years of FSF endorsement of the Linux distribution. While this endorsement is an achievement that is not as highly valued by our communities as one might think, the work done to obtain and maintain that endorsement is useful even to those who disdain the FSF or disagree with its definition of what makes a distribution "free". While Purism and PureOS have been on our radar for a few years now, it seems worth a look at where things have gone with the distribution?and the company behind it. The blog post notes that PureOS and Purism "sit on a three-legged stool of Freedom, Privacy and Security". The three are intertwined, of course, since PureOS consisting of only free software allows users to ensure there are no antifeatures being slipped into the OS or applications that would impact their privacy or security. Beyond that, free software is an excellent defense against various software supply-chain attacks; in addition the scrutiny of the code afforded to free software, it can also be built in a manner that provides more security... [...] As might be guessed, security and privacy features do not come for free?or even inexpensively. The Purism hardware products are generally quite a bit more expensive than their less secure competitors, but the availability of the systems and services is a boon for those who need that level of assurance. To a large extent, we humans have sacrificed our freedom, privacy, and security on the altar of convenience?and low cost. Over the years, LWN has looked at various aspects of these problems, including the recent efforts by Mozilla to "take back" the internet from the forces of surveillance capitalism (inspired, in part, by The Social Dilemma movie). In early December, we also looked at the movement away from allowing general-purpose computing on our devices; hardware like that provided by Purism is a way around that problem?at least for now. But the bottom line is that these options will only exist if at least some consumers are interested in buying them. Purism looks to have a lot of the right answers, but, with any luck, the market will be large enough to support multiple options for hardware and software of this sort. PureOS and PureBoot are all free software that can be adopted and improved by others as needed. In order for that to go anywhere, though, people are going to have to start changing their thinking and prioritize freedom, privacy, and security over convenience and price. In truth, that all seems rather unlikely, sadly. This system turns on your range hood automatically [3] As noted in Peter Turczak?s project write-up, having a kitchen hood only works when it?s turned on. To avoid having his apartment constantly smell like ?appetizers,? the hacker hooked up an Arduino-based system to trigger it automatically. The setup senses power input to the stove using a current transformer, processing this input with an Arduino Nano. The Nano subsequently switches on the fume extraction hood via a transistor and relay setup, pumping cooking fumes out to the environment. Arduino Blog » This sensor-based tic-tac-toe game looks like some touchless fun![4] Tic-tac-toe is normally played with a pen and paper, or perhaps with a physical marker, but maker ?techiesms? has put a new spin on this classic pastime. His build, as seen here, takes the form of a wooden box that mounts onto the wall with nine square sections arranged in a grid pattern. Players take turns, activating a square by moving their hand near an IR proximity sensor inside each one. Hardware Source URL: http://www.tuxmachines.org/node/146221 Links: [1] http://www.tuxmachines.org/taxonomy/term/39 [2] https://lwn.net/Articles/841105/ [3] https://blog.arduino.cc/2021/01/06/this-system-turns-on-your-cooker-hood-automatically/ [4] https://blog.arduino.cc/2021/01/06/this-sensor-based-tic-tac-toe-game-looks-like-some-touchless-fun/.

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