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Comment by black_puppydog | Hacker News Reader

Great, then they surely won't hesitate now to release any and all documentation for their old hardware, to prevent millions of devices from becoming useless junk even though they're perfectly fine, hardware wise. I've got a nice iPod touch 6th gen here that will be perfect as an mp3 player on linux or rockbox.

Gonna hold my breath now, okay? :)

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What exactly do you want them to release? You can still use an original iPod from 2001 if you want.

Driver source code/detailed hardware documentation for all the components. Signing keys to enable proper persistent installation of custom firmware. In a perfect world, source to whatever the final version of iOS to run on it is.

Basically, everything required for third parties to support the devices to the same level that Apple did before discontinuing them.

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(Getting downvoted for a strong right to repair stance? I wasn't really expecting that here, but OK.)

Right. It's totally feasible for a community-maintained firmware to keep these devices alive if there was no barrier to installing custom firmware, Apple ought to have a customary "EOL" update for these devices that allows them to be unlocked if the owner chooses.

I'd pay to be in your situation - at least you have the hardware and it's still perfectly usable.

I mean, you can pay to be in their situation. Just buy one.

I'd pay, just not an open-ended amount :) One of my few regrets is not buying a backup classic when I had the chance.

huh? I mean, an iPod 6 touch is gonna be much cheaper now than when it launched :P

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