It comes as no surprise that the FSF has never supported Raspberry Pi, as it depends on nonfree software for the boot process, leaving an important part of the computer outside the user's control. That is already a serious problem, and it has now been compounded by an even more intrusive restriction on user freedom.
Recent reports have drawn attention to Raspberry Pi firmware that can prevent users from replacing or upgrading the RAM on Raspberry Pi versions 4 and 5, as well as on Raspberry Pi Compute Modules. The restriction is not new: the relevant checks were introduced in the device firmware around 2024. However, these hardware handcuffs have only recently received wider attention. Though a user can desolder the original memory and install electrically compatible RAM, the nonfree firmware may refuse to recognize the additional memory, or simply decide not to boot the computer at all. Even replacement RAM of the same capacity can be rejected.
This is worse than Raspberry Pi's longstanding dependence on nonfree firmware in an important way. It is not only nonfree software, but it is Digital Restrictions Management (DRM), used in this case to prevent the owner of the computer from making a modification that the hardware is otherwise capable of supporting.
That distinction matters. Soldered RAM is difficult for most people to replace since it is a physical characteristic of the hardware. In the case of Raspberry Pi boards, users have demonstrated that the hardware itself can be modified successfully. Because of the DRM installed in these Raspberry Pi computers, machines that should be able to boot or read that there is sufficient memory are blocked from doing so.
Raspberry Pi justifies the use of DRM on the basis of being able to identify altered computers. There may be legitimate reasons for wanting to identify such altered computers. Unscrupulous sellers have reportedly replaced memory on lower-capacity boards and resold them as more expensive models, sometimes using unreliable or defective components. But preventing fraud and maintaining quality does not require taking control away from users.
A Raspberry Pi could record its original factory configuration in a cryptographically verifiable form. Raspberry Pi could use free software that warns the user when the installed RAM differs from original factory configuration. Raspberry Pi could provide tools allowing buyers to verify what hardware originally shipped with a board. None of those measures requires a software-enforced limit on what an owner may do with the computer.
This restriction is particularly troubling in 2026, because the cost of memory has risen sharply. On October 1, Raspberry Pi announced another round of price increases driven by RAM costs, including increases for the 2GB Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi 5. This matters for an organization like Raspberry Pi Foundation, whose history and educational mission have been closely tied to making computers affordable and accessible, including for people with limited resources.
Raspberry Pi itself advised customers to make sure they are not paying for more RAM than they need. That advice makes software freedom and control over the hardware more important, not less. A user may reasonably buy a lower-memory model today and later decide to repair or upgrade it. If compatible hardware can be installed successfully, the manufacturer should not create restrictions to prevent the owner from using it. Restrictions on hardware upgrades are deeply troubling from an organization like Raspberry Pi that has stated their commitment to longevity as a guiding principle.
Free software is ultimately about who controls the computer. The user should control it, not the manufacturer that sold it. When compatible hardware can work, but DRM deliberately prevents the owner from using it, the consequences of nonfree software become especially stark.
Raspberry Pi should address fraudulent sellers by giving users more information and more control, not by creating devices that are defective by design. That's especially true if their mission truly is "to put high-performance, low-cost, general-purpose computing platforms in the hands of enthusiasts and engineers all over the world." The people who own these computers must also have the freedom to modify, repair, and upgrade them, without restrictions imposed by nonfree software limiting their potential.