This blog is now hosted on a GPS/LTE modem (2021)

This blog is now hosted on a GPS/LTE modem (2021)(blog.nns.ee)

68 points by xx_ns 173 days ago | 7 comments

xx_ns 173 days ago |

Just a little play on the recent HN post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46016902

Project that I did a few years ago. You might also be interested in the retrospective where I detail what all went wrong: https://blog.nns.ee/2025/04/01/modem-blog-retrospective/

yjftsjthsd-h 173 days ago |

There was also work to replace the modem OS wholesale: https://hackaday.com/2022/07/12/open-firmware-for-pinephone-...

That would, I expect, help with the unfortunately old kernel version and generally give greater confidence in what's running on the second computer inside the computer.

pabs3 173 days ago | |

That isn't wholesale, it only replaces the OS on the ARM processor of the modem, the OS on the Hexagon processor of the modem handles radio stuff and lots of the layers of LTE.

https://github.com/the-modem-distro/

01HNNWZ0MV43FF 173 days ago |

Symbiogenesis is 100% true for computers huh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiogenesis#Mitochondria

Havoc 173 days ago |

That’s pretty awesome

Isn’t such an old kernel dangerous for hosting though?

xx_ns 173 days ago | |

Good question! I wasn't too concerned about this, because the only way you could even interact with the OS where the server was running was via HTTP requests, which are fairly limited in nature. The OS or kernel itself wasn't directly exposed per se.

pabs3 173 days ago | | |

ISTR Linux has had RCEs in IPv6 related stuff in recent years.

https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-6200