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PinePhone – Beta Edition Linux SmartPhone Preorder

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Re: PinePhone – Beta Edition Linux SmartPhone Preorder

#91

Post by mhaberl »

viro wrote: post #68
wwarner wrote: post #20

I personally think that the effort to create open source phones is the single most important technology project going on out there. We have open source browsers, we have open source social apps, but we definitely do not have open source phones. Phones that can be truly owned and controlled by users will reshape the privacy discourse, from one of complaining and legal coercion, to one of choices and markets.

I must really like down votes because "single most important technology project going on out there" is quite the stretch. Hell, I would argue that over the last year during a pandemic doordash was more important(feeding people while letting them be socially distanced). People on this site like overestimate the avg. persons concern with privacy. the hardware toggles are cool tho.

'single most important' is maybe a bit much, but..

Privacy is not the only concern, phones are massively used (about a 50% of population) and we all use them for all kinds of purposes - and that part is also growing.

Not to have an open-source option for someting this widespread is not a good idea by my opinion.

> People on this site like overestimate the avg. persons concern with ....

The "average person" concerns come from "average" understanding of the subject. Average person didn't even need a smartphone 20 or 30 years ago - SF toys :)

Re: PinePhone – Beta Edition Linux SmartPhone Preorder

#93

Post by cesarb »

danShumway wrote: post #53
amelius wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point was: if it doesn't change the duopoly then who will write apps for the open platform? Not banks. Not governments. They will keep on developing only for Android and iOS. And people with a pinephone will have a great phone with a great OS, but with a shitty selection of apps.

I already use Linux with my bank and when I'm interacting with my government. And unlike on Android, the barrier of entry for me to write apps and set up quick solutions to problems is much lower. I don't need to run my code on a completely separate environment with no overlap. Emulation is going to be easier. I don't need to install Eclipse or whatever the heck Android devs tolerate now. That's part of the point of…

> I already use Linux with my bank and when I'm interacting with my government.

I also use Linux with my bank. All banks I know of in my country require you to install an invasive "security software" (warsaw), even when you're using the web browser; some also require the phone app to be used as a second factor (for instance, one bank generates a dynamically changing QR code after you enter your password; you have to open its phone app and scan that QR code, which the phone app uses to generate a number to be typed below the QR code).

For the government, it's easier, you just have to install the ICP-Brasil root certificates (since they haven't been accepted yet by Mozilla).

Re: PinePhone – Beta Edition Linux SmartPhone Preorder

#94

Post by mindcrime »

Just (pre)-ordered mine. And I have to say, this has me feeling that I'm on the cusp of fulfilling a dream that I've had for around a decade (or more?) now.

Every since the days of the OpenMoko[1] I've wanted a real "open source mobile device" - something that runs Linux (or a BSD, or FreeDOS, or ReactOS or something open), that can make/receive calls, get on the net, and that I can carry in my pocket. Not being ludicrously expensive is also a desirable feature. And now between this PinePhone, and the Purism phone, it looks like what I've been wanting finally exists. I can't overstate how happy this makes me.

Edit: and yes, I know that an "Android Phone" running F-Droid is close to the same thing, and I am glad F-droid is out there. But this still feels like a step further in the right direction.

[1]: http://www.openmoko.org/wiki/Main_Page

Re: PinePhone – Beta Edition Linux SmartPhone Preorder

#95

Post by CivBase »

viro wrote: post #68
wwarner wrote: post #20

I personally think that the effort to create open source phones is the single most important technology project going on out there. We have open source browsers, we have open source social apps, but we definitely do not have open source phones. Phones that can be truly owned and controlled by users will reshape the privacy discourse, from one of complaining and legal coercion, to one of choices and markets.

I must really like down votes because "single most important technology project going on out there" is quite the stretch. Hell, I would argue that over the last year during a pandemic doordash was more important(feeding people while letting them be socially distanced). People on this site like overestimate the avg. persons concern with privacy. the hardware toggles are cool tho.

Importance is subjective. Personally, I think the PinePhone project is much more important than an expensive restaurant delivery service.

Re: PinePhone – Beta Edition Linux SmartPhone Preorder

#96

Post by mindcrime »

wwarner wrote: post #20

I personally think that the effort to create open source phones is the single most important technology project going on out there. We have open source browsers, we have open source social apps, but we definitely do not have open source phones. Phones that can be truly owned and controlled by users will reshape the privacy discourse, from one of complaining and legal coercion, to one of choices and markets.

is the single most important technology project

I'm not 100% sure I'd rank this as #1 on my list, but if not, it'd probably be at least #2 or #3. Open source phones (and tablets) are something I've been dreaming about and looking forward to for a very long time, and I'm happy this is finally starting to come to fruition.

Re: PinePhone – Beta Edition Linux SmartPhone Preorder

#97

Post by zepto »

fsflover wrote: post #69
swiley wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope the pinephone never has app stores. The "work with the community to merge your software into the repo" model is much better for things that actually help people. Apple's AppStore is best for extracting money from people while siloing their data.

There is nothing wrong with App Stores. See: F-Droid and GNU/Linux repositories. The problem is in multinational monopolies.

I think it’s worth making a distinction between App Stores and other kinds of software package catalogs. They might have similar user interfaces in certain ways, but they aren’t the same.

Re: PinePhone – Beta Edition Linux SmartPhone Preorder

#98

Post by fsflover »

bullen wrote: post #83

I ordered one and then realized the GPU is from 2008, doesn't even support OpenGL ES 3!!! Trying to cancel the order, even if supporting the initiative would be nice, my 3D MMO needs OpenGL ES 3!

This one supports OpenGL ES 3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Librem_5.

Re: PinePhone – Beta Edition Linux SmartPhone Preorder

#99

Post by 74d-fe6-2c6 »

wwarner wrote: post #20

I personally think that the effort to create open source phones is the single most important technology project going on out there. We have open source browsers, we have open source social apps, but we definitely do not have open source phones. Phones that can be truly owned and controlled by users will reshape the privacy discourse, from one of complaining and legal coercion, to one of choices and markets.

Next on the line is the open source electric vehicle.

Re: PinePhone – Beta Edition Linux SmartPhone Preorder

#100

Post by zepto »

amelius wrote: post #70
Freak_NL wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not even the lack of apps directly but the effect of not having one of the two supported OSes. For example, the Dutch government is slowly pushing everyone to either use their authentication app (for DigiD, the national digital government authentication service), or just stop using digital government services all together and just digitally mandate friends or family to handle your digital affairs. This latter op…

Hence smartphone OSes are a public utility, and should be opened up.

That really doesn’t follow. The web is already open, and banks are already regulated. Just mandate that banks provide access to their services via the web.
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