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Librem 5 USA

puri.sm

121–130 of 148 posts

Re: Librem 5 USA

#121
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I value this sentiment and do feel charitable, but $2000 is not a small amount for me - I could buy 10 or more used Android phones for the same price and flash them with open source software to give to friends and family. Wouldn't that maximize my contribution to collective privacy instead?

For two years until the non-replaceable batteries in the used phones wear out, so you'd also have to do it again every two years. Whereas with this, it's expensive because it's uncommon, but the more people who buy one the faster they can cover their development costs or fund further development that makes them more popular and achieve economies of scale, and the sooner it is that they can be making them at commodity…

PinePhone (with even a real Linux system instead of Android) has a replaceable battery too and is 150$

Re: Librem 5 USA

#122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is that you can neither hear call audio nor transmit any audio, and it'll be fixed when the fix is in the hands of the customers that got the device.

Yes, that's the issue I'm talking about. It already works both ways on CI images, which every customer can grab and install themselves - it simply has packages taken directly from git, as opposed to explicit releases from regular images. I have said that because of: >It seems less like a bug and more like a major design flaw/hurdle. to show that it's not true.

Do you have installation instructions on how to do this?

Re: Librem 5 USA

#123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is the only phone, where updates make it better, not worse. I don't know how you can even begin to support this claim. My phone updates apply a bunch of security patches, which by definition make the phone better and more secure. This is certainly the only "phone" that literally can't place phone calls. If this was a minor issue that could be addressed by a simple software patch in a timely manner, they would…

If that would be the only reason holding up the shipment, I'd definitely want to receive my early device (that I explicitely opted in for) before it's fixed.

You'd be an exception I think, especially given what the FAQ here states: https://puri.sm/posts/librem-5-batch-faq/

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.

The expectation is that you'd receive a "fully functional phone". Until an update has been released with a fix to the not being able to place calls problem, this expectation is not met.

Re: Librem 5 USA

#124
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AOSP is absolutely open source: the code can be viewed, modified, built and deployed as desired. There's good reason to be skeptical of Google-developed software, but your characterization of AOSP as "not open source" is simply not tenable.

Android versions in development are not open to contributions or community participation. Android is developed in secret behind closed doors. The end product AOSP spits out is open source, but to call it an open source project would be an extreme mischaracterization. And it is developed by Google, an ad company, not the community that eventually uses it.

You seem to totally misunderstand what the term "open source" means, despite it being self explanatory: It's about the SOURCE licensing being open (vs closed), not at all about the circle of developers behind it being an open community vs a closed company. the latter is totally irrelevant to the question whether a software project is open source or not… as is the question whether it's developed by an "ad company" or not.

Re: Librem 5 USA

#125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that's the issue I'm talking about. It already works both ways on CI images, which every customer can grab and install themselves - it simply has packages taken directly from git, as opposed to explicit releases from regular images. I have said that because of: >It seems less like a bug and more like a major design flaw/hurdle. to show that it's not true.

Do you have installation instructions on how to do this?

https://arm01.puri.sm/job/Images/job/Image%20Build/ - buster+ci images

Re: Librem 5 USA

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Give them Samsung Galaxy S5s, which do have replaceable batteries.

Then you've got five year old phones. Even if you can get batteries for them in two years, then they'll be seven year old phones.

And? Can we not use hardware that's five years old? I have one as my main phone.

Re: Librem 5 USA

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that would be the only reason holding up the shipment, I'd definitely want to receive my early device (that I explicitely opted in for) before it's fixed.

You'd be an exception I think, especially given what the FAQ here states: https://puri.sm/posts/librem-5-batch-faq/ 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. The expectation is that you'd receive a "fully functional phone". Until a…

Judging from all the opinions from actual owners I've seen so far, I definitely wouldn't be.

As I said in another thread, that point still stands. Birch will be a fully usable device. Shipping announcement explicitly stated that there will be only a basic, initial release of software that doesn't include everything and that it will improve in time.

Re: Librem 5 USA

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

No, it doesn't. The question wasn't whether this phone at one point after receiving it becomes a fully functional phone, it was explicitly asked if it's a fully functional phone when they receive it. And Putism's answer was yes.

Purism also wrote in earlier blog posts that the phone in its current state of course can make phone calls. For example they wrote more than one month before anyone outside of Purism got their phone:

> In the Wild: People have been using their Librem 5 while traveling, working and relaxing to connect to WiFi hotspots, browse the internet, use social media, play games and yes… to call and send text messages.

They explicitly tried very hard to not make it sound like the device in its current state is basically completely unusable as a mobile device or phone. If someone actually expected a device which has no standby mode, lasts less than an hour on battery, has a smaller battery capacity than advertised, can't be charged reliably while turned on, can't make phone calls, can't send/receive messages reliably, ... then that's because they listened to the so called haters and trolls, not Purism.

Re: Librem 5 USA

#129
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt that this would be nearly as useful as you think since so many apps are dependent on Google services these days and even the client libraries for them are proprietary. And then there's the fact that you're constantly playing catch up with what is effectively a closed platform with no real public roadmap that throws the occasional source drop over the wall and says 'good luck!' It's unlikely today's Google is…

How do you know how useful I think it will be and in what ways? F-Droid exists. People installing APKs exist. In some cases these options are better than literal nothing, and especially if momentum builds around these it's possible that app developers may notice. For lineage, it is popular to install Google Play anyway. I guess that to be a copyright violation that Google looks the other way for and if a real world c…

There's also microG for some of those proprietary google services.

Re: Librem 5 USA

#130
post #65

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's also microG that aims to implement google services while being open source.
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