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I want a computer that I own

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Re: I want a computer that I own

#391

Post by bayindirh »

_sgws wrote: post #385
bayindirh wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does it automatically run when I leave my phone on the charger for the night?

It can if you charge from your PC and set up some very convoluted scripts (not recommended). I use `adb backup` solely as a means of transferring my settings & app library between devices. These are full system backups including potentially gigabytes of APKs, so I wouldn't want to run it every night. It is possible to use `adb backup` to only backup settings (no app files) if you want a lighter backup, but those back…

Thanks for the answer. I just wanted to highlight that, I can just take my phone for the day, throw it under a bus, go to an apple store, get a new phone and continue where I exactly left off (minus a couple of 2FA keys, which I have backups of).

This is what I like about iOS. I tested this method a couple of times (with less destruction though), and it just works.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#392

Post by 0x008 »

marcodiego wrote: post #63
koverda wrote: post #8

> Except for a handful of very over-priced models that I can't afford to buy. This statement here made me pause for a bit. He wants a computer with specific features, but doesn't want pay for the models that offer those features because they are too expensive? Everyone wants to have their cake and eat it too, but unfortunately, reality has constraints.

They're not overpriced, they're expensive. And they are expensive because they are rare. And they are rare because vendors stopped manufacturing them. And vendors stopped manufacturing them because most people do not refuse to buy a device "that is designed largely to maximize the profits of the computer industry".

Most people have very limited use cases with devices and very unspecific requirements. So the majority wins. Makes sense, I think.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#393

Post by vbezhenar »

kokx wrote: post #15

I have a similar feeling, but with modern smartphones. Owning my computer is still relatively possible. I can build a computer from parts which I can choose, and have a choice in which operating system to install on them. Laptops are slightly more closed, but even on those I can choose the OS myself. Modern smartphones however, seem like walled gardens in which I have no control at all. I cannot choose any of the par…

I can somewhat relate to you, but in different aspect. I own iPhone and I'm thinking about some home automation. I can program iPhones, I tried to find out some way to put my code onto my phone without restrictions and I did not find any. I can use web app, but it's restricted and I might need some API that's not available for web. I can install my development build, but it'll expire in a few days and I don't want to reinstall it over and over again. That's an absurd situation when I'm as a programmer can't put my own program onto my own device.

I love iOS in almost every way except sideloading restriction.

If I missed some way to implement what I want, I'd love to hear how can I do that. I don't need much, but I need push notifications from server and I need push notifications when I'm close to some particular location (like open a door when I'm near it). I might need NFC push notification, I'm not sure.

I don't agree that Android suck, I have second phone for testing and while I love iOS more as it feels more polished, I probably will switch to Android in the future, just because I want to run my code on my device.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#394

Post by fouuler »

kokx wrote: post #15

I have a similar feeling, but with modern smartphones. Owning my computer is still relatively possible. I can build a computer from parts which I can choose, and have a choice in which operating system to install on them. Laptops are slightly more closed, but even on those I can choose the OS myself. Modern smartphones however, seem like walled gardens in which I have no control at all. I cannot choose any of the par…

> Owning my computer is still relatively possible. I can build a computer from parts which I can choose, and have a choice in which operating system to install on them.

Where can I find, how can I build a computer---that isn't 13 years old---with open firmware of which one doesn't reasonably suspect that the NSA put a backdoor into it?

Re: I want a computer that I own

#395

Post by NotPavlovsDog »

NoImmatureAdHom wrote: post #179
a5withtrrs wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The (not cost effective) solution is to carry both. Shut off the 'normal' smart phone when you don't need it (for banking or what have you). Use the web version of Whatsapp ( https://web.whatsapp.com/ ) if you must use it. You could even consider having a WhatsApp specific phone if you have an older model that you've upgraded from that contains no other data. That was my solution anyway.

Check out Beeper (beeperhq.com). They have an all-in-one service that'll get you Whatsapp without hilariously dubious security promises from Facebook. Basically what they do is build and maintain a bunch of Matrix bridges for you. Whatsapp, Imessage, Telegram, Facebook, Slack, Twitter, Skype...

It appears the Beeper service by default runs on the beeper servers, with a subscription fee, yet I see there is a solution one can run locally https://github.com/spantaleev/matrix-docker-ansible-deploy

Does anyone have experience running the open version on their machine? (self-hosted)

Re: I want a computer that I own

#396

Post by 0x008 »

dirkt wrote: post #300
andagainagain wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. I want these things too. But I'm also willing to pay for them. Everyone wants the best stuff for free. That's not controversial. But it is controversial to complain that the best stuff is more expensive than the cheap stuff. Of course it is. That's the type of stuff they sacrificed to make it cheap. If they want low end free btw, they do have that too. Pinebooks are super cheap.

> But it is controversial to complain that the best stuff is more expensive than the cheap stuff. Nah. Technically, and in terms of manufacturing cost, it would be even easier to make a simpler computer, without all those bells and whistles that can be turned against the user, without the Intel Management Engine, TPM, and what have you. > That's the type of stuff they sacrificed to make it cheap. No, it's economies o…

Yes and no. Companies don't exclusively decide what they design based on the expected manifacturing cost. The decide based on the return of investment.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#397

Post by bmn__ »

sammorrowdrums wrote: post #346
kokx wrote: post #15

I have a similar feeling, but with modern smartphones. Owning my computer is still relatively possible. I can build a computer from parts which I can choose, and have a choice in which operating system to install on them. Laptops are slightly more closed, but even on those I can choose the OS myself. Modern smartphones however, seem like walled gardens in which I have no control at all. I cannot choose any of the par…

Well it is early days but Librem and System76 (and several others like Pine64) are making huge headway in the open hardware space. I know there have been lots of failures in this area but I think we are getting to a threshold point where building on top of these companies acheivements is quite possible. Linux on Mobile and open EC and Coreboot etc. are all making rapid progress at the moment. I would still say we are…

> desktop Linux user like me, open hardware is already a reality

Power or RISC-V ISA hardware are in low stock, have very few, specialised vendors and are not affordable. I have great sympathy for people who refuse to pay the outrageous difference to off-the-shelf hardware that can be bought anywhere just to gain a level of privacy that they should have in the first place.

AMD and Intel have rootkits in their hardware which are designed to be exceedingly difficult to remove. If the customer is a spy agency, they will ship with the rootkit disabled. If the customer is just a normal person like the one writing the article, one will not be able to have one for money or good words.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#398

Post by approxim8ion »

FourthProtocol wrote: post #364
approxim8ion wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most old flip phones support up to 3G, which is being phased out. The 4G ones run either Android (so a worse experience with the same spyware) or KaiOS (which is still fine but not very available).

KaiOS is sponsored in part by Google, and includes Google software. I know because I have the yellow banana phone (Nokia clone). I bought that with exactly the expectation that it's free of trackers and so on, but no. Apps on KaiOS cannot be uninstalled.

It's getting harder and harder to have free phones then.

They're slowly tightening SafetyNet which makes it harder to use free custom android ROMs as well.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#400

Post by TeMPOraL »

0x008 wrote: post #392
marcodiego wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not overpriced, they're expensive. And they are expensive because they are rare. And they are rare because vendors stopped manufacturing them. And vendors stopped manufacturing them because most people do not refuse to buy a device "that is designed largely to maximize the profits of the computer industry".

Most people have very limited use cases with devices and very unspecific requirements. So the majority wins. Makes sense, I think.

Most people don't know the anti-features present, and even if they did, the price hike to get rid of them is so big they wouldn't buy. Some may call it the market working as intended, but I see it as a problem - this is very far from "voluntary transaction between informed parties", and there's little ability for customers to use money to voice their preferences. It's a purely vendor-driven market: vendors get to dictate features and anti-features, with little to no way of opting out.

I'd like to see this fixed, but I don't think there's an easy way to do it. The issue dovetails with intellectual property laws - situation could've been different if money could be made in gutting hardware, firmware and software and removing anti-features at scale. But we can't have that, because every single piece of a computer is its own IP minefield.

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