The Atheros wireless adapter (I guess it’s the QCNFA222) used in the Librem 13 (v1 as well as v2) supports not only Wi-Fi but also Bluetooth; the problem is that there’s no free software driver. Since I “need” wireless speakers it was quite a big deal for me that Purism advertised a vacancy for a Bluetooth Kernel Driver Developer in autumn 2015.
From time to time I looked up at this job advertisement hoping that you would find someone to free our wireless adapter. Now I noticed that the listing has expired… I’d be really interested in background info about this. Is there no chance at all to get a free driver for this device? Since you obviously found no one to take up the challenge (for one and a half year) – is it a mission impossible?
If so, I think about buying a Technoethical Bluetooth adapter… Or is there a good alternative to get affordable wireless speakers? I really hate Bluetooth speakers (because of interference with 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and the short transmission range), but I am not aware of any other options.
That’s a technical mistake, there’s no reason why it should expire, so I put it back online now.
Nothing is impossible, especially when you compare this to the much more painful coreboot + Intel ME investigation work we’ve been busy with. The problem is time and manpower, and the rarity of skillsets to do that kind of job (driver development by reverse engineering). Web and apps developers are a dime a dozen… but reverse engineers are rare beasts. As far as I know, nobody has applied so far, but we’re not very well known either. To anyone reading this: please spread the word around you, on social media, mailing lists, at conferences, etc.
This would be a good short-term solution to solve your problem (well, unless you’re willing to use a driver with the blob for the Bluetooth part) instead of waiting for the prodigal reverse engineering developer to finally notice us!
Yes, you are my heros… Honestly. I’m a happy owner a Librem 13 v2 and I’m watching every step of Purism since the beginning of your crowdsupply campaign. Thanks for your great work!!
My handful of Twitter followers has a reminder of this job posting. Had I continued my career along the lines in which it began, I might’ve been able to help you, but I’m afraid I’m currently one of those dime-a-dozen apps developers…
