They release software updates for both devices at the same time. There was no hacked version with all the same feature upgrades, it was, and always has been the official software update. They to this day still release all the same features to both devices.
3.x support will come to toltec, I've been blocked by stuff outside of my control a couple of times. Including things happening in my life that I won't get into.
Thanks for mentioning oxide :) kinda cool to see people find my stuff exciting.
As for the statement that they don't respond to requests for source that they are obligated to release. They have everything that they are obligated to release on GitHub, and they have always released updated toolchains (that include a bunch of source) when. requested of them. They have been kinda late with the latest request, so yes they aren't timely right now. I've been poking what contacts I have, but I think a bunch of people had some extended vacations around the holidays or something.
Could you provide a source on the software updates being more frequent, as well as clarify what you mean by rM being bad at updates? rM has been pushing out updates fairly regularly this year, especially if you include their beta channel.
Not exactly true. there is an experimental display driver that does not require xochitl[0]. There hasn't been enough need for replacing the current rm2fb solution yet to drive completing it yet.
Half as many cores, half the ram, and way less battery life due to higher power draw during suspend for some reason. It doesn't support the keyboard folio either. Depending on your criteria, one, or the other, is the better device.
Usually the reason is that people want to continue using the built-in interface with just some additions, instead of replacing and maintaining a separate installation.
It would be nice if someone were to start working on an aftermarket linux distribution/ecossytem that targets eink devices. It's a lot of work to do, though, so I'm not surprised that nobody has picked up that torch yet.
Some notes on the reMarkable, it is running a custom linux distribution that is based on Openembedded Core[0]. The company publishes their modifications to the linux kernel[1], so one person has created their own linux distribution for the original reMarkable tablet [2]. The reMarkable 2 currently has no native framebuffer driver for the screen, due to it being software controlled by the UI application, which requires a workaround for custom applications[3].
https://remarkable.guide/ has a bunch of current information on the state of hacking your device. You have root access out of the box, which means how invasive it is depends on how you go about it. The community is trying their best to stick to a set of standards that keeps things from being too brittle, and "just works".
> I didn't know there's different kinds of bricking.
There are two types of bricking[0]. A hard brick, where the device no longer functions, and may not be recoverable, and a soft brick, where the device is still working, but fails to boot to a usable state.
> It does NOT sound like having root access.
Could you clarify what you mean by this not sounding like you have root access? You have the ability to sign in to the device as the root user out of the box, which is exactly what root access is.
> This big warning is on the front page:
>
> > Warning: Toltec does not support OS builds newer than 2.15.1.1189. You will soft-brick your device if you install before support is released. See remarkable2-recovery for information on how to recover your device if you have done this.
Yes, I know about the warning, I wrote it. When it was less strongly worded, way too many people were ignoring the warning, trying to install toltec on an OS version that didn't have the offsets required for rm2fb yet, and did not write down their SSH password or set up an SSH key.
There is no jailbreaking. You are given root access out of box[2]. They don't discourage external developers, they even provide a toolchain[1] to build for the device upon request. Hell, their CTO at the time (not sure if they still are) wrote some non-official software that people can install[4], and helped some of the initial members of the community get their stuff working. They just don't provide official support for external software on the device.
As for bricking your device: It will not hard brick, it may only soft-brick[0], as in, the display will not update on the rM2, because the software driving the screen needs to be updated to support the new OS. You can still SSH in and revert the changes and then downgrade. If you were silly enough not to write down your SSH password, or set up an SSH key and can't get into SSH, you can still recover your device[3] on your own.