The Ultimate CAPTCHA for Embedded Linux Developers
Description
A meme formatted as a CAPTCHA test, commonly used to verify a user is human. The top blue banner instructs the user: 'Select all squares with SoCs which can boot mainline linux'. Below this, there is a 4x4 grid containing sixteen close-up images of various System-on-a-Chip (SoC) and other microprocessors. Each square displays a different chip with visible branding and model numbers from manufacturers like Rockchip, Qualcomm, Allwinner, Intel, Broadcom, and Samsung. The joke lies in the extreme level of niche technical knowledge required to pass this 'test'. Identifying which specific SoCs have mainline Linux kernel support is a highly specialized task, effectively satirizing both the difficulty of modern CAPTCHAs and the deep, esoteric knowledge required in fields like embedded systems development
Comments
12Comment deleted
This CAPTCHA's true purpose isn't to verify you're human, but to identify the three people on Earth who are qualified to maintain the ARM SoC device tree for the next kernel release
reCAPTCHA: “Select every SoC that boots mainline Linux.” I tap the lone Rockchip tile and get auto-verified - no bot would still have nightmares about rebasing a 3.4 vendor tree’s 4-kLOC board file
The real test isn't identifying which SoCs support mainline Linux - it's explaining to management why your perfectly working vendor kernel from 2016 with 47,000 out-of-tree patches isn't 'just a simple rebase' to mainline 6.x
A CAPTCHA that only embedded Linux kernel maintainers can solve - because knowing which obscure SoC actually has upstream device tree support versus requiring a franken-kernel from a sketchy vendor BSP is the ultimate test of whether you're human or just another Android OEM
reCAPTCHA: Select all SoCs that boot mainline Linux. Me: Is there a square for “after replacing U‑Boot, fixing DT bindings, and pretending the GPU doesn’t exist?”
The CAPTCHA that sorts upstream heroes from downstream blob serfs in one grid
Finally, a CAPTCHA that separates bots from embedded seniors: click the upstreamed ones, skip anything still shipping a 3.10 vendor kernel and a 2GB BSP
I'll remove some off-topic comments, aye for moderation requests, don't ping linegel though, please ping me or @yuki_the_girl Comment deleted
turns out, there were 0 on-topic comments, bruh Comment deleted
lol good ducking to the topic of the chat, also im sorry for my messages there Comment deleted
no problem man, I was just cleaning up. you can still discuss offtopic stuff in here Comment deleted
only if there's too many. spam and such Comment deleted