MuditaOS: An open-source, e-ink mobile OS • Hacker News Board

Re: MuditaOS: An open-source, e-ink mobile OS

#51

Post by AshamedCaptain » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 3:10 PM UTC

swiley wrote: post #34

I still haven't understood the advantages these custom mobile UIs have over a basic X11 DE with a software keyboard. PalmOS had it's own GUI because the whole OS was this insane feat of software engineering and something like X11 didn't fit on the abstractions they built. The result was something that could run forever on a couple of AAA batteries. If you're just sticking things on top of X/Wayland/Linux anyway at le…

Rather than a "insane feat of software engineering" I would define PalmOS as rather "extremely simple", complexity-wise on the level of classic macOS despite appearing a decade later.

Right now, mobile stacks are usually even more complex that desktop stacks.

Re: MuditaOS: An open-source, e-ink mobile OS

#52

Post by Nextgrid » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 3:32 PM UTC

ralph87 wrote: post #29

fahrradflucht wrote: post #4

I don't think going back to SMS and GSM based phone calls is really a viable option. They are just too insecure. You can say a lot of things about mobile internet, but at least it made end-to-end encrypted communication the norm.

This idea is common but a strange one at least to me. Going back to GSM would of course be a regression due to their repeatedly broken crypto, but modern LTE networks have many desirable properties absent from Internet-based messaging. Perhaps it matters less to a US user, but as a European the fact an intra-country communication need not traverse any border nor be observable by any non-domestic entity is a huge deal…

IP-based communication doesn't mandate giving away control to a third-party. The advantages of GSM-based communication that you mention are totally possible with IP-based communications, and in fact in pure LTE networks (without 3G/2G fallback, also called CSFB), "standard" phone calls and texts are actually carried over IP (towards a SIP server hosted by the carrier).

Re: MuditaOS: An open-source, e-ink mobile OS

#53

Post by traverseda » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 3:32 PM UTC

black_puppydog wrote: post #6

A bit sad to see that you have to fill out a typeform to get access to the code. I'm sure if it is actually FOSS (GPL or MIT or such) then there will be public forks on gitlab or whatnot. Looks cool though. Might be viable to adapt to different screen sizes too? I know the remarkable is already hackable, but can't hurt to have competing UI concepts there, right ? :)

I filled out the form a couple days ago and haven't gotten any sort of invite.

Re: MuditaOS: An open-source, e-ink mobile OS

#54

Post by wyldfire » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 3:38 PM UTC

mromanuk wrote: post #50

jimmoores wrote: post #39

Bizarre, pretty misleading pages about electro-magnetic radiation were a huge turn-off.

https://mudita.com/products/pure/sar/ Is that all FUD?

It all looks relatively reasonable to me. They don't seem to make extreme claims anywhere in that page. There's a section that talks about some meta research regarding impact of non-ionizing radiation -- I'm not sure how accurate that is. But, again, they're not saying that you will suffer if you don't get their phone. Just that the radiation could be harmful, so they designed a phone w minimal SAR.

Re: MuditaOS: An open-source, e-ink mobile OS

#55

Post by johnchristopher » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 3:43 PM UTC

jimmoores wrote: post #39

Bizarre, pretty misleading pages about electro-magnetic radiation were a huge turn-off.

I remember SAR being a differentiating factor in the pre-smartphone era, at least in Europe.

Re: MuditaOS: An open-source, e-ink mobile OS

#56

Post by antihero » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 3:45 PM UTC

ralph87 wrote: post #29

fahrradflucht wrote: post #4

I don't think going back to SMS and GSM based phone calls is really a viable option. They are just too insecure. You can say a lot of things about mobile internet, but at least it made end-to-end encrypted communication the norm.

This idea is common but a strange one at least to me. Going back to GSM would of course be a regression due to their repeatedly broken crypto, but modern LTE networks have many desirable properties absent from Internet-based messaging. Perhaps it matters less to a US user, but as a European the fact an intra-country communication need not traverse any border nor be observable by any non-domestic entity is a huge deal…

I mean people get repeatedly owned through SIM swapping either due to socially engineering the absurdly poor security of the telcos or buying access to the zero security internal network (SS7).

Re: MuditaOS: An open-source, e-ink mobile OS

#57

Post by WanderPanda » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 4:14 PM UTC

johnchristopher wrote: post #55

jimmoores wrote: post #39

Bizarre, pretty misleading pages about electro-magnetic radiation were a huge turn-off.

I remember SAR being a differentiating factor in the pre-smartphone era, at least in Europe.

Yeah I remember, the german mobile phone magazines did thorough radiation tests and people actually avoided phones with too much radiation. Many people were even calling it „Elektro-Smog“.

Re: MuditaOS: An open-source, e-ink mobile OS

#58

Post by ryukafalz » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 4:22 PM UTC

paleogizmo wrote: post #45

dubcanada wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds to me like you want a regular phone.

I think this is the paradox that distraction-free phones always run into. Everyone including myself wants the useful or convenient niceties of a modern smartphone like maps, Spotify, various messaging tools, notes etc. without the dreck of social media. At this point, a stripped-down android launcher makes more sense than trying to bring back the candybar phone or some weird hardware middle ground. There are a bunch…

The balance I think I'd want is... basically an equivalent to old slider-style phones but with modern messaging/communication apps. Give me a slider phone with Matrix/XMPP/SIP support for messaging and calls and I would be very happy.

Ideally FOSS too, so I don't have to worry about it being unpatchable in 3 years and can keep using it as long as it's useful.

Re: MuditaOS: An open-source, e-ink mobile OS

#59

Post by garyfirestorm » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 4:27 PM UTC

paleogizmo wrote: post #45

dubcanada wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds to me like you want a regular phone.

I think this is the paradox that distraction-free phones always run into. Everyone including myself wants the useful or convenient niceties of a modern smartphone like maps, Spotify, various messaging tools, notes etc. without the dreck of social media. At this point, a stripped-down android launcher makes more sense than trying to bring back the candybar phone or some weird hardware middle ground. There are a bunch…

Try 'LessPhone' launcher for Android.

Re: MuditaOS: An open-source, e-ink mobile OS

#60

Post by matthewfcarlson » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 4:39 PM UTC

I was following the light phone 2 for a long time and ultimately decided not to buy it because I wanted access it from my desktop. I really like the approach they're going for here. Signed up for the beta so we'll see. If it doesn't work out, I'm just going to have to roll up my sleeves and make my own eink phone.