TikTok Owner Bytedance Goes Big On Open-Source Firmware

[fitzie]

I hate TikTok but I really like this news!

It is a bit sad though that the only ones who currently seem to be able to get open source firmware are the tech giants, I wish open source firmware was more readily available for consumer hardware.

I'm surprised that companies like supermicro doesn't feel incentivized to move to coreboot/openbmc firmware. Ultimately intel/amd may never get their act together, as the hyperscallers could very well abandon x86 ISA, and amd/intel will have no reason to put any effort into opensource firmware.

[bug77]

At first glance this seems weird, but then when you actually think about it, open source is a nice platform for good support if it's handled well.

Except that we know in China they have the obligation to install backdoors when the government asks them to. So this functionality will be baked in. Presumably disabled for outside of China, but it's not a stretch to imagine hackers finding a way to enable it regardless.

Hopefully this will get the proper scrutiny and will lead to something useful and trustworthy.

[davidhendricks]

I'm surprised that companies like supermicro doesn't feel incentivized to move to coreboot/openbmc firmware. Ultimately intel/amd may never get their act together, as the hyperscallers could very well abandon x86 ISA, and amd/intel will have no reason to put any effort into opensource firmware.

Supermicro is getting involved: https://review.coreboot.org/q/owner:supermicro.com

Lenovo also discussed their porting efforts during the ByteDance CloudFW summit. (Full schedule is at https://juejin.cn/live/3263773)

[Old Nobody]

Looks like China listened to Snowden.
Europe not so much.

[unwind-protect]

Yeah. Let's not forget that closed source firmware threats are at least as bad for China as they are for the West. A lot of software is made in the West and becoming independent is important.

[rogerx]

COME ON GUYS!

This is just the owner of TikTok doing his own TikTok video!

You know, the ~15-30 second, now you see it (the interest), now you don't!


Next, Bill Gates records a TikTok video pretending being enthralled using Linux.

[pgeorgi]

Looks like China listened to Snowden.
Europe not so much.

While Europe didn't quite listen to Snowden in particular, note that coreboot likely wouldn't exist today without the investment of the German BSI (Federal Office for Information Security) since 2005. (one source, but their contributions go way beyond that)

[stiiixy]

COME ON GUYS!

This is just the owner of TikTok doing his own TikTok video!

You know, the ~15-30 second, now you see it (the interest), now you don't!


Next, Bill Gates records a TikTok video pretending being enthralled using Linux.

Here I am being surprised at opening a box with, surprise!, nothing in it!

[qarium]

While Europe didn't quite listen to Snowden in particular, note that coreboot likely wouldn't exist today without the investment of the German BSI (Federal Office for Information Security) since 2005. (one source, but their contributions go way beyond that)

The BSI is well known there are others more secret ones for example:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Office_for_Information_Technology_in_the_Security_Sector

[board]

I have a feeling that this announcement is an attempt to gain favor with the field experts and developers in the Western IT sector. The same people who generally love free and open source software. Also, the same people (or at least a portion thereof) who are currently informing and warning the government about the threats of espionage and PSYOPs through the CCP controlled app TikTok.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=OPTy8pH5OJY

At this very moment there is an ongoing campaign to fight back against Chinese espionage and PSYOPs from TikTok by implementing bans and introduce new laws to protect against this novel threat. ByteDance are sweating profusely, and I think that they're desperate to do anything to appease the IT sector in the West along with policymakers.

ByteDance is practically an extension of the CCP, which is one of the most totalitarian governments in the world. It's ironic seeing them propagate for open source firmware. But as unwind-protect mentioned, OSF benefits them, and what they are advocating for seems to be open source firmware for cloud computing, not for devices that help track the Chinese population.