[Oberon] Pepino LX9, USB, and other hardware running OBERON

[Lars]

On Mon, February 15, 2016 12:51 pm, Ulrich Hoffmann wrote:
> Hi Lars,
>
>> So essentially it's a blackbox abstracted away
>>
>
>
> In deed - the black box is the on board FTDI FT2232H (Dual High Speed
> USB to Multipurpose UART/FIFO IC) chip [1]. It's a typical way how
> FPGA or microcontroller systems connect to PCs nowadays.
>
...

> It all boils down whether or not you want a completely and easily
> explainable system.
>

But you could have a bunch of complex USB source files that implement USB,
and just hide them in a binary file and say "this is not part of oberon,
because it is too complex to explain, don't open these files". It's the
same difference, instead of hiding USB in hardware, you simply hide it as
a file no one can read. This is a little bit like sweeping stuff under the
rug and pretending it's not there in order to satisfy your purist ethics
that oberon has. The ethics are to be explainable. So hide some of the
complex code and just say "that stuff is not explainable, so we don't want
you opening those files" or hide it in some folder or something. Make the
folder have a warning, like a hidden windows SYSTEM folder or something.

It's just that I'm trying to point out that you've traded one pair of
shoes for a different pair of shoes.. it's still a blackbox, so if it was
a complex software blackbox it'd be the same. The ethics here are being
violated, both ways. Both pairs of shoes are corrupt. You are still buying
the shoes and using them. It's not ethically superior to just use blackbox
hardware and never give in to blackbox software.

http://cdn.someecards.com/someecards/usercards/i-just-stepped-in-a-big-pile-of-dog-shit-but-dont-worry-i-wiped-my-shoes-on-your-cat-146c6.png