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Librem 5 USA

puri.sm

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Re: Librem 5 USA

#101

Post by seba_dos1 »

wander_homer wrote: post #85
bluGill wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have been upfront about that from what I can tell. They are only shipping phones to those who are either working on making it work, or those who have indicated willingness to accept the flaws to be first. There is every reason to believe it will work. There are things to not like about the company, but releasing like this is not one.

> They have been upfront about that from what I can tell. Not really: > Q: If I receive the Librem 5 from one of the first batches, will I have a fully functional phone? > A: Yes! Even the very earliest batches will be capable smartphone, including a modern web browser and core cell phone functionality. https://puri.sm/posts/librem-5-batch-faq/

That point still stands. It will be a capable smartphone, including a modern web browser and core cell phone functionality.

Re: Librem 5 USA

#102

Post by seba_dos1 »

tluyben2 wrote: post #100
seba_dos1 wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does not; from the system perspective it's just a USB-on-M.2 peripheral that works perfectly well with free software such as Linux, libqmi, ModemManager, oFono or fsogsmd. You don't usually say "printing requires non-free software" just because your USB printer runs some non-free firmware inside, even though it's technically true.

> You don't usually say Some people (me as well) do. It is very frustrating that we have this legacy thing where any radio devices are ‘protected’ like this.

Sure, but most people don't and saying that without making sure they know what you mean is at best misleading.

Also, counting the modem as making the whole device non-free would require you to count plenty of other things as well, such as microSD cards, accelerometers, audio codecs, SIM cards, even USB-C cables, as all of those things (and more) contain non-free blobs inside. In my opinion it's not a useful stance to hold if you care about freedom - even FSF doesn't do that.

Re: Librem 5 USA

#103

Post by kop316 »

unlinked_dll wrote: post #98
kop316 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The down votes are because it can place and receive phone calls, there is just a bug that doesn't allow audio on the call. EDIT: according to someone below, that bug is fixed too. In addition, the backers getting the phone now were explicitly told that the software isn't polished yet, and that they are getting beta hardware. The backers were offered also to be allowed to wait for a later batch if they wanted to. It d…

That's absurdly pedantic. If it can't use audio during a phone call, then the device is incapable of making phone calls. That's like arguing you have a functioning heart because it's connected to your veins but can't pump blood.

If you look at another reply, the bug was fixed already.

But to your original comment, I'd argue it's not. Saying it can't make phone calls implies there's a much more severe issue than it apparently was.

Re: Librem 5 USA

#104

Post by seba_dos1 »

filmgirlcw wrote: post #87
jolmg wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> why wouldn't they simply fix the issue and then release the phone? Hadn't they pushed the release date many times already? I think making progress more palpable was important. Isn't it better to ship something flawed and continue improving while already in the hands of people than to ship nothing at all and appear more and more like vaporware?

> Isn't it better to ship something flawed and continue improving while already in the hands of people than to ship nothing at all and appear more and more like vaporware? If you position it purely as a hobbyist project and do not guarantee it for day to day use, I think that’s fine. This is fine for a dev kit. I think taking preorders and trying to sell it as a privacy-focused phone that can be a real alternative to…

None of the pre-ordered (after the campaign) devices shipped yet, those are early batches sent to early backers who were given a choice to either get them now, or wait for mass produced version.

Re: Librem 5 USA

#107

Post by tluyben2 »

seba_dos1 wrote: post #102
tluyben2 wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You don't usually say Some people (me as well) do. It is very frustrating that we have this legacy thing where any radio devices are ‘protected’ like this.

Sure, but most people don't and saying that without making sure they know what you mean is at best misleading. Also, counting the modem as making the whole device non-free would require you to count plenty of other things as well, such as microSD cards, accelerometers, audio codecs, SIM cards, even USB-C cables, as all of those things (and more) contain non-free blobs inside. In my opinion it's not a useful stance to…

I agree with you but I think it is better that people realise this and then use the device as ‘as free as we can get without making me a hermit’ instead of just hiding it.

Re: Librem 5 USA

#108

Post by seba_dos1 »

tluyben2 wrote: post #107
seba_dos1 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but most people don't and saying that without making sure they know what you mean is at best misleading. Also, counting the modem as making the whole device non-free would require you to count plenty of other things as well, such as microSD cards, accelerometers, audio codecs, SIM cards, even USB-C cables, as all of those things (and more) contain non-free blobs inside. In my opinion it's not a useful stance to…

I agree with you but I think it is better that people realise this and then use the device as ‘as free as we can get without making me a hermit’ instead of just hiding it.

The point is - it is truly 100% free at the level that actually matters: the user controlled operating system. This is the point where I feel completely comfortable with calling it "100% free" without further explanation (especially when the last, and I think the only, smartphone to ever reach that level was GTA02 from 2008), just as I am completely comfortable with saying "I made this cake from scratch" without having invented a universe.

Re: Librem 5 USA

#109

Post by faissaloo »

zozbot234 wrote: post #20
icefog wrote: post #12

I'm unsold on spending $2,000 or even $700 on a new phone, but I also care deeply about privacy and security. Is there any strong reason to choose "Librem" over a cheaper Android running LineageOS or GrapheneOS? They can be purchased for a fraction of the cost and have been quite reliable for me.

The PinePhone will likely be preferable to most LineageOS phones, since it will run a closer-to-mainline kernel. It's also expected to be available for a "fraction of the cost" compared to the Librem.

From what I've been seeing, despite the PinePhone having worse specs and not as much privacy focus it's going to absolutely chew up the LibreM 5's marketshare purely because it's more bang-for-buck.

Re: Librem 5 USA

#110

Post by commoner »

bluGill wrote: post #65
asveikau wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The PinePhone will likely be preferable to most LineageOS phones IMO an android app runtme would be essential for any of these efforts to be comparable to Lineage. Anybody working on that?

Yes, but they are not working hard. Even if they had the runtime, they won't have apps because google won't give the access to the play store, so what is the point of the runtime? I've seen 3 projects working on the runtime (in 3 different ways with different pros/cons).

There are over 6,000 apps on F-Droid that don't use Google Play Services, and some of them are certain to be useful to Linux phone users.

https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroiddata/tree/master/metadata

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