> Another important note - some binary blobs and other non-free software components are used today in PebbleOS and the Pebble mobile app (ex: the heart rate sensor on PT2 , Memfault library, and others). Optional non-free web services, like Wispr-flow API speech recognizer, are also used. These non-free software components are not required - you can compile and run Pebble watch software without them. This will always be the case. More non-free software components may appear in our software in the future. The core Pebble watch software stack (everything you need to use your Pebble watch) will always be open source.
example, could one create a "VM" to run a virtual pebble watch without any of the firmware blobs? (I'm not saying that one exists today, just speaking theoretically, ala a virtual android environment).
Does that mean their software isn't open source? I'd argue no.
One could argue that trying to pass off the pebble watch itself as open source is perhaps "wrong" (but as you say, can debate the value of worrying about blobs), but I don't think that means the "pebble watch software" isn't open source as the title says.
Or better put, there's no legal restrictions on someone creating a "pebble competitor" using the pebble watch with different hardware (that doesn't depend on the blobs included for current hardware).