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FSF announces Librephone project

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Re: FSF announces Librephone project

#191

Post by seba_dos1 »

tom_alexander wrote: post #111
Razengan wrote: post #77

The world could have been very different today if Nintendo or Sony had put phone functionality in the DS and Vita. Any reason that can't happen now in something like the Steam Deck?

USB modems exist and work on Linux[0]. The Steam Deck is a Linux computer with a USB port. You could be living this reality today. [0] https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/usb-4g-lte-advanced-m...

They work fine for data and SMS, but it gets complicated once you need audio routing (it's rare for a modem to expose audio over USB) or waking up from low power mode to answer the incoming call. Could be done with M.2 USB modules and some dedicated controller in-between though.

Re: FSF announces Librephone project

#192

Post by SV_BubbleTime »

criddell wrote: post #123
le-mark wrote: post #3

> Practically, Librephone aims to close the last gaps between existing distributions of the Android operating system and software freedom. The FSF has hired experienced developer Rob Savoye (DejaGNU, Gnash, OpenStreetMap, and more) to lead the technical project. He is currently investigating the state of device firmware and binary blobs in other mobile phone freedom projects, prioritizing the free software work done…

The time is right, but I still don’t think this project can accomplish much because people are generally happy with their phones. That said, the phone market is huge. They could sell enough devices to fund future development which might be good enough even if it doesn’t slow down Apple or Google. At least then there will be a device for those of us who are not happy with the state of things.

> much because people are generally happy with their phones.

Talked to many iPhone owners this year? The 17 hardware has a bizarre choice of a camera button / pointless physical change, and IOS 26 is pretty much hated by everyone.

I use iPhone, and have happily for years but F if this isn’t the worst OS I can remember. The first downgrade really.

Re: FSF announces Librephone project

#193

Post by vlz »

thwarted wrote: post #127
SchemaLoad wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is true. I guess one of the main differences is the bank app can run a faceid check when you open the app and before you make a transaction while websites don't have access to these apis. So they are forced to make you approve the action via your phone.

Every banking phone app I've used auto-logouts after being idle or unused for a bit, and my primary bank's app requires 2fa using an app that exists on the same device -- a second factor that secures nothing. They probably are not explicitly considering the phone more secure than a computer, but rather a good 80% of this is security theater or a checkbox on some baseline security checklist that was implemented withou…

> 2fa using an app that exists on the same device -- a second factor that secures nothing

2FA on the same device secures against your login credentials becoming known to another party, e.g. by fishing, password reuse, database leaks, etc., which are real threats. It is not meant to protect against someone being in possession or full control of your unlocked device, which is of course also a real threat, though possibly less common.

Re: FSF announces Librephone project

#194

Post by LoganDark »

array_key_first wrote: post #113
userbinator wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually "open" is a misnomer, maybe it was a decade ago but it's clear that Big G has an effective monopoly over browser(s), the web "standards", and is gradually making them more user-hostile.

It's still significantly more open than any other platform. Believe it or not, Mozilla is not asleep at the wheel, and neither is Apple.

I use Safari as my daily driver and I'm still routinely shocked at just how terrible certain aspects of the experience is compared to Chrome. For example, the UI seems to completely block for most of the website loading process, rather than streaming as Chrome does. Also, rather than restore the previous state when I swipe to go back, it has to reload the page from scratch. Little things like this continue to annoy me day by day, the primary reason I don't switch to Chrome is because it just doesn't integrate with macOS at all.

Re: FSF announces Librephone project

#195

Post by koolala »

lmm wrote: post #78
koolala wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Between your own accounts is the main use-case because you typically can't transfer between different banks.

> you typically can't transfer between different banks WTF? What kind of shitty banking system are you using?

Wells Fargo said to do it I had to use Zelle.

Re: FSF announces Librephone project

#196

Post by lovelearning »

nullbyte808 wrote: post #153

I highly doubt this will takeoff. I'm betting it never works beyond a couple outdated phones.

The concept of "outdated" is imposed by big tech itself through artificial restrictions. Apps are forced to update their minimum supported OS versions. Upgrades are stopped after 1 or 2 years. And so on.

Anyone who has replaced Windows 8 or Windows 10 on their 5+ year old machine with a distro like Xubuntu/Lubuntu realizes that "outdated" is often a sales propaganda term, not necessarily a technical term.

Re: FSF announces Librephone project

#197

Post by koolala »

lmm wrote: post #76
koolala wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of transactions require this? Normal bank transactions don't, right?

Depends on the bank's policies. Currently it tends to be when you transfer to a new destination and/or above a certain amount. I could certainly imagine a bank requiring it for every PC-initiated transaction as and when they reach a point where most normie customers are using their app.

"Every PC-initiated transaction" doesn't make sense to me. What type are transactions are you talking about?

Re: FSF announces Librephone project

#198

Post by koolala »

degamad wrote: post #97
koolala wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of transactions require this? Normal bank transactions don't, right?

Fraud prevention on my primary transaction account requires 2FA for every transfer. The only supported 2FA is the bank's own dedicated 2FA app.

So if you buy something on Amazon with your debit card you have to authorize it?

Re: FSF announces Librephone project

#199

Post by Arainach »

munchlax wrote: post #181
Arainach wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No software is "easy to inspect". Only a tiny fraction of users will ever even try. When things are inspected and problems are found, you need a way to revoke the malicious bits. You'll never notify everyone, which is one of the roles app stores play. You trust hardware and software by establishing boundaries. We figured this out long ago with the kernel mode/user mode privilege check and other things. You want apps…

Not really. If their security depends on enslaving the user, their security sucks. Real security, be it your financial transactions or keeping your bird pictures safe, doesn't depend on any secret algorithm. Because it's secure.

The threat models aren't secret algorithms, they're apps reading the contents of the screen, stealing keystrokes, MITM attacks against 2FA, and much more.

Re: FSF announces Librephone project

#200

Post by BLKNSLVR »

frogperson wrote: post #72
le-mark wrote: post #3

> Practically, Librephone aims to close the last gaps between existing distributions of the Android operating system and software freedom. The FSF has hired experienced developer Rob Savoye (DejaGNU, Gnash, OpenStreetMap, and more) to lead the technical project. He is currently investigating the state of device firmware and binary blobs in other mobile phone freedom projects, prioritizing the free software work done…

Indeed, this is the right time. I really want to daily drive a linux phone, but i dont want to buy a used phone. I hope this brings more hardware support for newer phones. I'm willing to suffer a rough beta or alpha experience, but let me use modern hardware of my choice.

Why not used?

I'm kinda the opposite, I don't want to buy new any more. Currently rocking a 2nd hand Pixel 7a running GrapheneOS and loving it.

If battery life is the issue, that's fair enough. I've bought a couple of wireless charging docks that I spread around the places I frequently spend my time, so if it needs a boost I can charge her up just by plonking it on the dock. Most of the time, though, she makes it through the day from (maximum charge for battery longevity reasons) 80% down to 30%, maybe 25% or 20% if there's lots of interesting news in a day.

But I'm not a particularly heavy user and I don't game on it.

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