Linux already on HP Prime G2!

[OtakuLab]

(11-21-2020 05:07 PM)Han Wrote:  From the tinker's side - if their goal is to actually tinker beyond just breaking security - it's a waste of their time trying to break new security just so they can go back to doing their tinkering. Sure, there will be those who want to break security simply as an academic endeavour, but I don't think that is the majority of the tinkering group. I.e. people try to get around security measures for the purpose of other interests (e.g. custom firmware), and not just for the sake of breaking security.

It's difficult to say which interests are in the foreground, the only thing that is certain is that it's primarily about freedom, regardless of whether it's about the exam mode or another firmware. No one would bother to crack a system, just for fun, it's always about a particular purpose that brings one or the other advantage. Of course there are also people who just want to know which technology is behind a security system, but these are rather harmless, as they are only interested in it for purely technical reasons. The classic hacker already belongs to a very small but elitist group, which can also make a business with it. There are no more secrets in electronics that you couldn't bring to light!
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"Move forward and do what you think is best. If you make a mistake, you’ll learn something. But don’t make the same mistake twice." - Akio Morita

[Sukiari]

I can see Tim's point but the fact is, allowing people to access the system in un-intended ways is a danger to the integrity of exam mode, and it seems that this is going to become an issue either way. Perhaps exam mode can be made to boot into a "clean" but temporary image of the system from ROM? That way you could flash the newer official ROMs with HP's keys ensuring that only correct ROMs get flashed, but leave the user to their freedom outside exam mode? EDIT: I mean to say also, disabling access to the stored user data and programs in exam mode.

I'm not sure what the various testing authorities' stances on stored programs is anyway but it seems to me they mostly want you to clear them out before a test.

I just hope this isn't a decoupling from HP and their inherent hacker base, long time fans and new alike.