A simple WIFI/bluetooth only device like the iPod Touch but with Linux, combined with a modem puck would actually be enough. You separate the untrusted part from your own device.
Linux phones are more important now than ever
411–420 of 515 posts
Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever
#412But like, it won't matter how many viable Linux phones there are if the government tells you that if you want to pay your taxes you must first buy a piece of hardware blessed by an american corporation and running blessed software which doesn't let you control the device in order to access the tax payment portal.
Because if you don't pay your taxes, the government will insist that you go to prison.
The problem isn't really what google is doing, the problem is that were letting our existence as free citizens in a society depend on a piece of blessed hardware/software we must carry around with us everywhere we go.
We need to strongly resist having software/to become strongly codependant on hardware broadly speaking. But especially software/hardware that we can't control and which is sold by two american companies.
Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever
#413I'm a very happy Sailfish OS user, since 2016, before that Meego, Maemo (Nokia N900, N9). I do have an android phone for one App (Deutsche Post) which I use only when I need to ship stuff. Running on a Gigaset (made in Germany, 4KmA battery) I generally get two days of usage, 1 day if I'm stuck on Mastodon. From being able to do SDL2 stuff (Godot 3.5 for instance) with a wayland compositor to just not having f'ked UI…
Oh, hello, i recognize your username from the jolla forums :-) I do have two Gigasets here (GX290 and GX4 pro) waiting to be flashed, but I still need to finally set up a windows machine to make a proper backup of the stock android images and generate the scatter files. Like with most of the SoC-Vendors, the MTK tools are quite a PITA. I have to download some weird binaries from some weird websites. How can it be tha…
Ah, I just abandon the idea of recovery on these phones and use the ubports installer once. Thereafter, I just flash directly. I have done the MTK tools dance, but don't any longer. Sorry :(
Ah, I have to admit I don't know much about porting :) We did put up a community wiki and the HADK is up there: https://sailfishos.wiki/books/hadk/page/hadk so that you might get some idea of the process ... I'm not sure to what extent this is different from that 'halium' builds that piggz makes. It makes sense to ask him directly, since he has a stream lined process that targets, among others, the phones you have.
As to why the hardware adaption layer is needed (ie. the android one) it's where all the binary blobs are :) Among other bits.
Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever
#414Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, I used SailfishOS as a daily driver since ~2014 until last year when I moved to the Furi FLX1. The FLX1 has been my daily driver since. SailfishOS is much more polished, but it's not fully FOSS, and it follows upstream much less closely. FLX1 is basically in-sync with Debian testing, with the exception of kernel.
Interesting. I had a poke at postmarket, which wasn't ready in comparison with SFOS. Would you say the FLX1 is at better stage in development than postmarket?
I'm not familiar with postmarket, but I imagine it shares a lot of the same phosh+GNOME app ecosystem, in which case, the apps aren't in a better state.
In terms of polish and app/dev ecosystem, I feel SailfishOS still rules, but it's getting harder to justify using/development, with it's increasing divergence from upstream.
Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever
#415Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, I used SailfishOS as a daily driver since ~2014 until last year when I moved to the Furi FLX1. The FLX1 has been my daily driver since. SailfishOS is much more polished, but it's not fully FOSS, and it follows upstream much less closely. FLX1 is basically in-sync with Debian testing, with the exception of kernel.
Are you able to run android apps aswell? Without whatsapp you're pretty much locked out from most communication around here...
Yes, both (official) SailfishOS and FLX1 offer decent/good Android app support. Not every app will work, but when I have needed Android (rarely, for basic stuff), the applications have worked.
Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever
#416Earlier quoted context omitted.
I tried to debug a google pay issue with a Bank once: - Bank told me to go to Google. - Google support told me to go to the Bank. - (... few emails later...) - Google support told me to make screenshots of the banking app and google pay. So have a second phone ready, or stop complaining :) A few years later and 3 phones later... it works again!
Google Pay requires SafetyNet verification, which means it only works with a Google-approved hard & software combination, so not with GrapheneOS for example... I hate that banks use this proprietary "standard" for NFC payments
SafetyNet works in GrapheneOS. What Google Pay requires is that the attested signature is trusted by them, a lot of apps, including many banking apps (at least in the UK) use safetynet but do not require the signature is trusted.
Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever
#417My next phone will almost certainly be two phones. One cheap and super standard Android phone to just run banking apps and similar that insists on Google Play etc. Locked down and boring, turned off most of the time. Then a second phone for everything else (terminal with sshd, emacs, emulators, media players ... the stuff that allows a phone to be the general purpose computer it should be). Looks increasingly unlikel…
I am starting to do that but I still find that will be annoying to keep up. The dumb device will need to be kept up-to-date because that's important for e.g banking apps so that automatically excludes "old" devices (usually 3+ years old) because most stop getting updates that fast. Even LineageOS isn't an option because it does not pass Google's integrity checks so I am afraid I will need to buy a new dumb phone ever…
FYI, you can get a pixel 8a for $200 or less if you don't care about condition. Support end date in 2031.
Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever
#418Earlier quoted context omitted.
so we fork and continue to work on lineageOS. why start from scratch? (i mean, it's nice to have alternatives, but there is no reason not to continue developing an android fork.
Working on LineageOS doesn't help you if you can't even install it. Fewer and fewer phones come with unlockable bootloaders these days. The grip is tightening.
right, but if you can't install a custom android, you can't install anything linux based or anything else for that matter. so that's a different issue entirely.
Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever
#419Earlier quoted context omitted.
I use a Nokia/HMD KaiOS phone as a 4G/Wifi router for the communications part of your idea.
Did you choose a KaiOS phone specifically because other current non-smart phones lack support for Bluetooth tethering (a.k.a. PAN profile)? As far as I can tell, all currently available models from all manufacturers are based on some Unisoc platform and offer no indication of support for this feature in their manuals. Did you happen to come across any alternatives? I'm not very keen on KaiOS given the ubiquitous adve…
I don't really use Bluetooth, it can pair with my car to do hands free calling but have never used that.
Got it because it was a small, low-cost, dual-sim phone that could also act as a router. It replaced an even lower cost Nokia feature phone.
Don't run apps often enough to be bothered by any advertising.
Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever
#420Forget Linux phones for a moment, let's start with Linux PDA. As telephony part is probably the hardest to solve due to proprietary drivers and regulations, how about building tiny PDA device that does everything else except "phone stuff" - get a dumbphone for calls and SMS, maybe some will have wifi tether. And after this PDA projects grows traction, it will be time to push for telephony support.