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Plasma Mobile – Turns your phone into a fully open hacking device

plasma-mobile.org

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Re: Plasma Mobile – Turns your phone into a fully open hacking device

#181

Post by hackuser »

shmerl wrote: post #135
hackuser wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! Is it documented somewhere?

* https://plasma-mobile.org/technology/ * https://plasma-mobile.org/nexus-5/ In the second link you can see a reference to KDE Neon, which is development distro based on Kubuntu. See also: https://neon.kde.org

Thanks for responding. I'm still having trouble finding the information:

> * https://plasma-mobile.org/technology/

This page doesn't mention the OS, afaict.

> * https://plasma-mobile.org/nexus-5/

This page seems to describe installing Plasma Mobile on top of Cyanogenmod, a fork of Android. Neon is mentioned only under "OLD INSTRUCTIONS AND ERRATA (no longer needed)".

Re: Plasma Mobile – Turns your phone into a fully open hacking device

#182

Post by shakna »

dingo_bat wrote: post #168
lphnull wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to have that. It was my Nokia n900. I was able to pull up live thumbnail previews of all apps running in the background, and this included live simultaneous previews of: youtube videos in a web browser, games, and Debian, without lag. Try doing that on today's technology. It had a wonderfully acurate resistive touch screen that was pressure senstive that was really good for drawing and coloring! The camera wou…

I think the n900 was a great device but you have a case of rose tinted nostalgia. Today's android phones can do everything you described and more and better. For example, my phone can go from deep sleep to perfectly focused photo snapped in half a second. I'll give you the keyboard though. Nothing beats a full keyboard.

What's the difference in the hardware between your phone and the n900 though?

How much extra power do we have to cram into the device just to achieve the same performance?

Re: Plasma Mobile – Turns your phone into a fully open hacking device

#183

Post by biafra »

benmcnelly wrote: post #47
lphnull wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to have that. It was my Nokia n900. I was able to pull up live thumbnail previews of all apps running in the background, and this included live simultaneous previews of: youtube videos in a web browser, games, and Debian, without lag. Try doing that on today's technology. It had a wonderfully acurate resistive touch screen that was pressure senstive that was really good for drawing and coloring! The camera wou…

You are not alone, I have two good friends that still have theirs too, and nothing will ever be good enough for them again. That phone spoiled them, and is the direction they wish phones went. Alas, they have gone the way of the masses instead, but you know if someone like a OnePlus came out with a modern powered phone, with a big battery (phone size doesn't matter to us), a physical keyboard, dual sim, expandable me…

Did you hear about the neo900? Would that be an option for you?

Re: Plasma Mobile – Turns your phone into a fully open hacking device

#184

Post by biafra »

jcoffland wrote: post #165
lphnull wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to have that. It was my Nokia n900. I was able to pull up live thumbnail previews of all apps running in the background, and this included live simultaneous previews of: youtube videos in a web browser, games, and Debian, without lag. Try doing that on today's technology. It had a wonderfully acurate resistive touch screen that was pressure senstive that was really good for drawing and coloring! The camera wou…

Google made a huge mistake choosing to base Android on Java, IMHO. I know they did it because they felt it would be easier to get developers on board but it's the main reason Android is slow and memory hungry. OSes like Plasma prove that compiling binaries for ARM processors is not a big problem and that compiled code runs much faster. Java byte code may have the potential to run close to native speed but in practice…

Apparently you have no idea how Android works. There is no Java byte code running on Android devices. It doesn't even reach the device.

Google just used the Java language and APIs. But never it's byte code or VM.

Re: Plasma Mobile – Turns your phone into a fully open hacking device

#185

Post by shmerl »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #180
shmerl wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Data caps/tiers/metering is basically the only fair way to provide data service. "Unlimited" is inherently flawed as a product concept. It was proven time and again that data caps are driven by greed, not by necessity. That's clear in wireline networks where congestion isn't a problem at all, and can be as well demonstrated in mobile ones, where spectrum limit can be an issue. Caps don't prevent network congestion…

Nonsense. If you believe the whole "driven by greed" drivel, you have never looked at how a business operates in your life. It's no more or less greedy than raising prices for everyone (which would otherwise happen). The difference is, data caps are a tax on the top 1% of users, rather than a tax on everyone.

Not true. Data caps apply to everyone, not to 1% of users. And they are driven by greed, not by expenses or technical necessity, because ISPs themselves don't spend more because of more traffic. And those who have that greed will find any way to fleece their users. Raising prices for everyone without need is exactly greed, but happens when competition isn't enough to put them in place. In other words it's a sick result of lack of competition. And trying to pretend it's about some "fairness", means supporting crooks and thinking being a crook is fair.

Re: Plasma Mobile – Turns your phone into a fully open hacking device

#186

Post by shmerl »

hackuser wrote: post #181
shmerl wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

* https://plasma-mobile.org/technology/ * https://plasma-mobile.org/nexus-5/ In the second link you can see a reference to KDE Neon, which is development distro based on Kubuntu. See also: https://neon.kde.org

Thanks for responding. I'm still having trouble finding the information: > * https://plasma-mobile.org/technology/ This page doesn't mention the OS, afaict. > * https://plasma-mobile.org/nexus-5/ This page seems to describe installing Plasma Mobile on top of Cyanogenmod, a fork of Android. Neon is mentioned only under "OLD INSTRUCTIONS AND ERRATA (no longer needed)".

Old instructions show what it is. The base is the same.

See for example: https://kubuntu.org/news/kubuntu-team-launches-plasma-mobile...

Re: Plasma Mobile – Turns your phone into a fully open hacking device

#188

Post by 4goodapp »

pre wrote: post #154
amyjess wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, my USB port died too. I ended up getting an external charger and a handful of spare batteries. Did that for about a year or two before I got my Nexus 5. At least buying new batteries gave me back my battery life that had degraded to almost nothing over the years. On top of that, over the years, the kickstand broke, the screen got scratched badly, my belt clip broke in multiple places, the SIM slot became really…

Yep, also using an external charger to keep mine going. My batteries are swelling. I suspect it's no longer safe really. :-?

Well, It has the same battery has the Nokia Lumia 520. Just in case you're trying to find a new one, it'll be easier to find.

Re: Plasma Mobile – Turns your phone into a fully open hacking device

#189

Post by danudey »

jcoffland wrote: post #165
lphnull wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to have that. It was my Nokia n900. I was able to pull up live thumbnail previews of all apps running in the background, and this included live simultaneous previews of: youtube videos in a web browser, games, and Debian, without lag. Try doing that on today's technology. It had a wonderfully acurate resistive touch screen that was pressure senstive that was really good for drawing and coloring! The camera wou…

Google made a huge mistake choosing to base Android on Java, IMHO. I know they did it because they felt it would be easier to get developers on board but it's the main reason Android is slow and memory hungry. OSes like Plasma prove that compiling binaries for ARM processors is not a big problem and that compiled code runs much faster. Java byte code may have the potential to run close to native speed but in practice…

The code is written in Java, but a technical note: it's actually compiled to bytecode for the Dalvik runtime (and later, the Android runtime).

Your points are still relevant, don't get me wrong, but the system isn't running Java bytecode specifically.

Re: Plasma Mobile – Turns your phone into a fully open hacking device

#190

Post by codedokode »

I think the title is misleading. This project is about installing KDE on a smartphone over Cyanogenmod (which is a modified build of Android).

I am totally against Google and its restrictions and tracking proprietary code in Android but this project looks more like an attempt to get user base to sell them some paid services later.

Do you really need KDE to make your phone "hackable"?

Google did a lot to polish Android code and released it under an open license. I doubt that project is able to invest a comparable amount of work.

Having the same interface on desktop and mobile devices is not going to work well.

UPD: their installer installs a firmware (like twrp) that makes your phone unprotected from reflashing and stealing your data or installing a backdoor if someone gets physical access to the phone. They do not warn about it.

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