Linked by the_randymon on Fri 25th Jan 2013 09:21 UTC
After about a year of work, the ArchLinux distribution now offers a variant running on the FreeBSD kernel. Says the developer, "Why would I do this? If like me, you enjoy FreeBSD and love it, but also like the philosophy behind Arch Linux, which is a fast, lightweight, optimized distro, I figured why not combine the both. Even though you could just do it on FreeBSD using the ports, not everyone wants to compile." This now puts Arch in the same category as Debian with Debian GNU/KFreeBSD, which offers a Debian userland on top of a FreeBSD kernel.
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RE[9]: Arch BSD, right?
by moondevil on Sun 27th Jan 2013 08:05
in reply to "RE[8]: Arch BSD, right?"
Member since:2005-07-08
What can be found in 5 minute googling:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIM_lock
In Portuguese:
http://www.computerworld.com.pt/2010/08/30/mais-facil-desbloquear-t...
The important part is this one:
The mobile operator that blocked the device is the only one allowed by law to unblock it, an operation to be done up to five days limit after being requested by the customer.
Meaning you have the right to unblock the phone but only in certain scenarios as allowed by Portuguese law.
Or if you can read Spanish
http://www.liberar.ws/
Again the important part translated:
The operators are obliged by law to provide the unlocking code for a mobile. After the contract period is finished (around 18 months) you can call the mobile operator and request the device to be unlocked.
The Wikipedia link above gives similar scenarios for some European countries.
The main point is that you can not just unlocked when you feel like doing it, and additionally the operators themselves are the only ones allowed to do it.
RE[10]: Arch BSD, right?
by Soulbender on Sun 27th Jan 2013 08:15
in reply to "RE[9]: Arch BSD, right?"
Member since:2005-08-18
The mobile operator that blocked the device is the only one allowed by law to unblock it, an operation to be done up to five days limit after being requested by the customer.
Does blocking equal locking in this case?
The Wikipedia link above gives similar scenarios for some European countries.
And NONE of them states that it is illegal to unlock your phone yourself or have someone do it for you, at least not for any of the European countries on the list.
RE[10]: Arch BSD, right?
by Laurence on Sun 27th Jan 2013 11:45
in reply to "RE[9]: Arch BSD, right?"
Member since:2007-03-26
Blocking isn't the same as locking.
A block is there to stop the phone being used if it's stolen. It's the telecoms equivalent of having your bank card blocked if you suspect someone has stolen your wallet. Thus it's in the best interest of the consumers to make blocking illegal (not that it does much to stop phone theft, but at least it's intentions are honourable).
Locking is just an arbitrary restriction to prevent a phone being used on different networks (or 'carriers' as Americans refer to it). There's no good reason why you'd want to make that illegal - aside to deliberately screw consumers over.
Thus unlocking phones is -as far as I'm aware- completely legal in the EU, but unblocking is illegal.
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Member since:
2005-08-18
Again, I can't find any credible reference to exactly where in Europe having your phone unlocked by a 3rd party is illegal.