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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

#211

Post by [deleted] »

majewsky wrote: post #142
erikb wrote: post #117

Okay, let's summarize: There is a need, but this may not be its satisfaction. A pity that it made it to front page entry 1 already before really working on user needs. E.g. if you make a video, don't make it 6 minutes long, don't use such kind of annoying background music, don't advertise that you can call someone. It's like advertising a computer by showing that it can connect with a USB mouse. Show us the dev envir…

> A pity that it made it to front page entry 1 already before really working on user needs. The old free software dilemma: Do you wait until your product is polished, thus cutting yourself off all possible publicity? Or will you be vocal about your development efforts, and stand the complaints about rough edges, in order to attract helping hands?

[deleted]

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

#212

Post by bshah »

codedokode wrote: post #190

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 Androi…

We do require device to be unlocked, how different is it from installing twrp? At this point installer is not finalized and that wouldn't be part of released product.

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

#213

Post by erikb »

majewsky wrote: post #142
erikb wrote: post #117

Okay, let's summarize: There is a need, but this may not be its satisfaction. A pity that it made it to front page entry 1 already before really working on user needs. E.g. if you make a video, don't make it 6 minutes long, don't use such kind of annoying background music, don't advertise that you can call someone. It's like advertising a computer by showing that it can connect with a USB mouse. Show us the dev envir…

> A pity that it made it to front page entry 1 already before really working on user needs. The old free software dilemma: Do you wait until your product is polished, thus cutting yourself off all possible publicity? Or will you be vocal about your development efforts, and stand the complaints about rough edges, in order to attract helping hands?

This is not a question of an unfair world and you must decide either one of the choices you give. You can do both, if you can communicate well. Communication is a skill, like programming, that can be learned. And especially if you communicate with the masses it is less about understanding people and more about understanding patterns. Totally possible for developers to learn.

E.g. both your messages target different people. Why inform users about your work in progress product instead of developers who may help you? And is this page really the best way to generate helping hands or is this more a user ad?

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

#214

Post by macco »

agumonkey wrote: post #69
benmcnelly wrote: post #30

The power of things like this taking off is not what they are now, but what they can be. There are lots of real people with their own good reasons to not be tied to Google/Apple, and whats really impressive here is that unlike firefox OS, they are (in my opinion) doing this in a much better way. As this catches on, it only helps improve linux hardware (ARM) support, telephony applications for linux, and the like. As…

I never liked KDE looks nor ergonomics. Nor their attempts at grand projects (plasma makes me cringe everytime I see the word now). But I appreciate "simpler" open linux platform for smartphones. Wish them the best. ps: I was actually looking into FDroid to free myself a little from Android locks, wishing for a simple linux + ssh + any signed code I wish.

Me too, then I tried Plasma 5.8 and I am delighted. It is by far the best DE I ever used - and yes, macOS included.

The polish it has is unbelievable.

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

#215

Post by owaislone »

abrowne wrote: post #157
owaislone wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

.. on the other hand Gnome2 used to be pretty great. It didn't look pretty and took quite some effort to make it look good with themes and icon sets but it was a highly usable, easy to use and yet powerful desktop. I hate the direction Gnome3 is going in. Every Gnome3 app feels like designed for iPad instead of keyboard+mouse. iPad apps and Gnome3 apps basically have same UI philosophy. I can't even begin to explain…

Have you tried MATE, such as with Ubuntu MATE? I prefer Xfce, but MATE is a great fork and update of GNOME 2.

No, I've not. Do they keep it fairly updated or is it just old Gnome2 maintained? What would be great for me is Unity7 + Gnome2 apps ported to GTK3 without turning them into iPad apps but looks like that will get even harder with Unity8 :(

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

#216

Post by teekert »

lphnull wrote: post #174
amiga-workbench wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would kill for a Nokia N950. A proper keyboard, and a true Linux operating system with the usual userspace software you would expect.

My raspberry pi 3, encased in a rainbow colored 3d printed case and with a 3.5" touch screen, is what took the place of my n900. It's a fraction of the cost of an n900, but with a standard rpi linux distribution and modern specs. Sure I can't make calls with my pi, but the sacrifice is well worth it for the nerd appeal of having a fully functional computer in your pcoket.

Do you have an image of this? It Sounds like something I'd like!

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

#217

Post by pre »

4goodapp wrote: post #188
pre wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Cool, good to know. Cheers.

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

#218

Post by Shugyousha »

qwertyuiop924 wrote: post #51
benmcnelly wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Have you looked into sailfish? No physical keyboard, AFAICT, but it's based on the successor to Maemo. Also, look into the neo900 project and Pyra. Neo900 is trying to upgrade the n900, and Pyra is the successor to Pandora, which is a pocket computer in a semi-similar vein to the old nokias. Neither is finished, but they're worth a look.

I would have bought a Jolla ~4 years ago if their UI components (Silica) were open source. They said then that they plan on Open Sourcing them but they still haven't.

Plasma Mobile and Tizen are my only hopes for getting a non-Android Open Source OS on my phone.

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

#219

Post by OOPMan »

pjmlp wrote: post #195
jcoffland wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

You obviously aren't aware that since Android 5 there isn't any bytecode being interpreted. Android is 100% native code since that version. Even the changes in Android 7, although they use an intepreter written in Assembly, the code is JITed with profile information, both are cached and it gets ultimately fully compiled to native code when the device is charging. Also in case you didn't notice, Apple is pushing for L…

Unfortunately, despite all this Android is still a turd of an OS.

Just about every Android device I've used has been painful in some way or other and invariably I've ended up rooting it and installing a custom firmware, generally the most light-weight one I can find.

Unfortunately, despite these antics Android remains annoyingly prone to sluggishness, freezing, reboots and various other random problems.

Ultimately it seems that with Android you're either forced to use a stock ROM which imposes a heavy memory footprint due to all the "wonderful" tweaks Samsung/Sony/HTC/Xiaomi have made or drop down to a user-built AOSP-based variant that is inevitably plague by its own issues.

I'm horrified to think this kind of thing is the height of the mobile user experience.

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

#220

Post by OOPMan »

dingo_bat wrote: post #210
shakna wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

It's not the same performance by any measure. But you're right that android seems to be needlessly inefficient.

That is something of an understatement by any measure.
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