PureTryOut @bart@mastodon.fam-ribbers.com

As a proof-of-concept, changing 3 lines made our pmOS image "just work" using tow-boot!
https://gitlab.com/postmarketOS/pmaports/-/merge_requests/2870

We're ready for #SPIflash on the #PinePhonePro @Pine64, just waiting for you ;)

Because be honest, who doesn't want to see GRUB booting on your phone allowing you to choose from a multitude of installed distributions? 😉

Luckily the awesome samueld from #NixOS has made a project called #Tow-Boot: https://github.com/Tow-Boot/Tow-Boot

It does exactly this: provide "platform firmware" for devices that implements #UEFI allowing you to boot generic UEFI ARM image. Myself and @martijnbraam are going to make postmarketOS support this kind of booting and I hope we can make this mandatory for every device that uses u-boot to boot. And I need _you_ to tell other distros to support this method of booting as well!

Modules like #SPIflash are really important to achieve the goal we've set at #postmarketOS: device support for 10 years and more. Once a device is fully mainlined and can boot using a generic #UEFI image we no longer have to put any effort in supporting this particular device. Everything will "just work". Just like no distro put any effort in making it boot with my particular desktop and laptop.

Flashing so-called "platform firmware" which implements #UEFI, like u-boot, to this #SPIflash would allow the user to boot generic UEFI images not made specifically for the device in question. Finally you'd be able to properly live-boot a distribution through e.g. sdcards, USB sticks, etc. And you no longer have to wonder if your distro supports your particular device, you just have to download their generic UEFI image!

https://is-spi-on-pine64-devices-used-yet.site/

Did you notice that rather than on PC where you download a generic image which you can just live boot from USB, on ARM every distro needs to support every device individually? It's not just lacking mainline Linux support, it's also lacking a generic way to boot these devices like x86 has. #SPIflash can solve this perfectly by implementing UEFI on a dedicated chip but current new @PINE64 devices are lacking this. Let's get loud to make them add this again in new devices!

https://mastodon.fam-ribbers.com/@bart/107523844032258692

Well, I found out why. The latest PyQt5 is broken with sip4 and our package was just out of date. Also, sip6 exists nowadays... Lastly, the Python bindings are actually unmaintained in #KDE and considered "black magic" so I don't count on it existing for long.

Conclusion: I'll be dropping it again from our repos and also update our PyQt5 and sip. Too bad, I was really exicted about these bindings 😢

Recently I found out #KDE provides #Python bindings to several of its #KDEFrameworks but almost no distribution has those enabled.

Well, #AlpineLinux now does.
https://gitlab.alpinelinux.org/alpine/aports/-/merge_requests/28918

Happy hacking!

In this image: 3 different types of devices all running some form of #KDE #Plasma and some form of #AlpineLinux:

- the laptop, a #System76 machine, running Alpine Linux with the latest Plasma Desktop
- the TV, a #rockpro64 from #Pine64, running #postmarketOS with #PlasmaBigscreen
- the smartphone, a #Librem5, running #postmarketOS with #plasmamobile

Can't wait for my smartwatch next! 😜