What are blobs? Ive heard the term deblobbed kernel and stuff like that , what does it mean?
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The Linux kernel is open-source, meaning all the source is available to view/edit/etc. Most mobile devices need proprietary drivers in addition to the stuff included in the kernel, which the manufacturers bundle in the OS updates as binary ‘blobs’. The source to compile these blobs is not available.
So basically closed source stuff added on to open source projects. Doesn’t that kinda defeat the point of open-source?
It’s really only to make some particular bits of hardware work. The rest of the operating system works, and sometimes those devices are reverse-engineered to produce open-source drivers so the blobs aren’t needed. As someone who loves open source, it’s frustrating, but some is better than none.
