A new UN report finds that humanity is generating 137 billion pounds of TVs, smartphones, and other e-waste a year—and recycling less than a quarter of it.
IMO its fine for vendors to abandon their products but they should be required to release all technical documentation and software used with the device into the public domain so enthusiasts can continue where companies stopped.
I’m continually mystified as to why companies don’t want to release the old technical documentation and software. Is it all so bad that they are THAT embarrassed to show it?
The changes for the company in releasing old software is minor, the vast majority of users don’t have the skill to deploy it and people who do have the skill can earn enough money doing a variety of technical work that repairing old phones isn’t going to be an attractive option.
What portion of phones capable of running LineageOS etc end up being used in that way? 1%?
IMO its fine for vendors to abandon their products but they should be required to release all technical documentation and software used with the device into the public domain so enthusiasts can continue where companies stopped.
Exactly. Right to Repair should include software and whatnot, not just parts and schematics.
I’m continually mystified as to why companies don’t want to release the old technical documentation and software. Is it all so bad that they are THAT embarrassed to show it?
The changes for the company in releasing old software is minor, the vast majority of users don’t have the skill to deploy it and people who do have the skill can earn enough money doing a variety of technical work that repairing old phones isn’t going to be an attractive option.
What portion of phones capable of running LineageOS etc end up being used in that way? 1%?