alt Hacker NewsI'm not going to read or respond to most of what you wrote because frankly I don't care to because a lot of it is nonsense (a real example: I'm not going to repair my $600 washer when the part I need costs $500), but I'll respond to this:
> Companies can't stop you from taking a screwdriver to an object in your possession, the issue is that by using non-standard components they make what should be an easy repair extremely difficult if not impossible without going through them, allowing them to effectively prevent repair. Smartphones are the poster child for lack of right to repair.
This is objectively wrong. You can't repair your own phone without voiding the warranty. Which is to say, you don't have the legal right to repair your own phone, even if you sourced compatible parts.
The right to repair is the right to repair your device on your own terms, and for other companies to be able to offer compatible parts. An iPhone screen that comes with DRM makes it impossible to do that. Licensing rules that prevent companies from offering service for devices (e.g., screen repair) makes it impossible to do that. Having a tricky PCB doesn't impede your rights.
The existence of proprietary parts doesn't in any way invalidate your right to repair unless those parts are specifically designed to make it physically impossible to repair your device. Hell, even the most technically complicated parts in popular consumer devices can be replicated by third parties and have been for years, but selling those parts is often illegal and the devices are designed to detect and reject those parts.
> You can't repair your own phone without voiding the warranty. Which is to say, you don't have the legal right to repair your own phone, even if you sourced compatible parts.
You have the legal right to void your warranty. You warranty likely voids itself in a reasonably short period of time regardless of whether you conduct repairs, and it would be absurd for the seller to offer a warranty that covers objects that have been arbitrarily tampered with. That's emphatically NOT what right to repair refers to.
> The right to repair is the right to repair your device on your own terms, and for other companies to be able to offer compatible parts.
Yes, this is the correct definition, and the one I have been using in this thread, and the one that mandates making replacement parts reasonably available.
> An iPhone screen that comes with DRM makes it impossible to do that. Licensing rules that prevent companies from offering service for devices (e.g., screen repair) makes it impossible to do that. Having a tricky PCB doesn't impede your rights.
Yes, these are all right to repair issues caused by the over-use of proprietary components.
> The existence of proprietary parts doesn't in any way invalidate your right to repair unless those parts are specifically designed to make it physically impossible to repair your device. Hell, even the most technically complicated parts in popular consumer devices can be replicated by third parties and have been for years, but selling those parts is often illegal and the devices are designed to detect and reject those parts.
I don't think you know what the word proprietary means. You are complaining about the use of proprietary components.