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

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

#71

Post by scottlocklin »

Fnoord wrote: post #38
m-p-3 wrote: post #30

That would be nice if this can be ported to other eReaders like the Kindle and Kobo.

You can use a Kobo offline, see this guide [1]. A Kobo runs Linux under the hood, IIRC Android (probably some old version which is why I keep my WLAN offline and only allow on guest network. This also helps with battery). You can also install custom applications on it, for example Cool Reader [2]. A ReMarkable you can just SSH into. Which seems far more friendlier for customization, but its also a different price cla…

what? nobody mentioning Koreader? Light years ahead of whatever Nickel reader comes with the thing.

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

#72

Post by Abishek_Muthian »

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…

Last time I made a similar comment here, someone linked the 'Sxmo : Simple X Mobile'[1] for PinePhone and I'm returning the favour to anyone who needs it.

[1]https://sr.ht/~mil/Sxmo/#strongsxmostrong-simple-x-mobile

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

#73

Post by microcolonel »

mjcohen wrote: post #70
AshamedCaptain wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

One of the neat things about PalmOS is that it ran apps directly from where they were stored. No need to load them into "memory". I loved the stylus because it allowed apps to be quite functional (I remember EasyCalc which could do wonders) on a 160x160 screen. 320x320 meant that you could do anything.

> One of the neat things about PalmOS is that it ran apps directly from where they were stored. No need to load them into "memory".

In practice this is not the way it worked on PalmOS on actual hardware past a certain point, and the way it actually worked is not that different from how code is loaded in a conventional desktop operating system.

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

#74

Post by commonturtle »

I ask this with no malice: What makes people work on projects like this? I'm willing to bet that the phone is bound to fail and their OS will be doomed to obscurity. How do the creators not see this?

Three reasons I don't think it will work out: 1. A huge number of people use WatsApp, Facetime, Messenger, etc., for sending messages and making calls. This OS won't support any of these apps. 2. We may hate our phones at times but we use them for a variety of daily tasks, all of which are difficult on this phone: Navigation (Google Maps >>> Any other Sat Nav system), transportation (Uber, etc.), food delivery, information retrieval (Google, etc.). 3. Even if you wanted a minimalist phone, you could probably just get a cheap feature phone instead of this one.

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

#75

Post by Fnoord »

scottlocklin wrote: post #71
Fnoord wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can use a Kobo offline, see this guide [1]. A Kobo runs Linux under the hood, IIRC Android (probably some old version which is why I keep my WLAN offline and only allow on guest network. This also helps with battery). You can also install custom applications on it, for example Cool Reader [2]. A ReMarkable you can just SSH into. Which seems far more friendlier for customization, but its also a different price cla…

what? nobody mentioning Koreader? Light years ahead of whatever Nickel reader comes with the thing.

Link [1]

Sorry, I never used any custom firmware on our Kobos. You see, I keep them offline, so I'd care less about security vulnerabilities in them (plus if they go online, its via guest network). Also, I am very content with the software on our Kobo readers (Aura One and Aura Two). I do use Calibre + USB sometimes. What am I missing out on?

[1] https://github.com/koreader/koreader

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

#76

Post by circularfoyers »

Fnoord wrote: post #42
kilroy123 wrote: post #16

Looks like a blatant copy of the light. https://www.thelightphone.com

Competition is good. Light Phone II is 300 USD. There was a FOSS project announced on crowdfunding platform, called Blloc [1]. Its a launcher for Android, for minimal, distraction free use. [1] https://www.blloc.com

I don't see any mention of Blloc being free and open source software in their website.

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

#77

Post by stonogo »

commonturtle wrote: post #74

I ask this with no malice: What makes people work on projects like this? I'm willing to bet that the phone is bound to fail and their OS will be doomed to obscurity. How do the creators not see this? Three reasons I don't think it will work out: 1. A huge number of people use WatsApp, Facetime, Messenger, etc., for sending messages and making calls. This OS won't support any of these apps. 2. We may hate our phones a…

What if I want a minimalist phone that isn't cheap? So far my options are Light Phone and Punkt. MP-02. Not everyone is so tethered to consumption that they want all that stuff on their person at all times, but quality is still worth pursuing. I use calls, SMS, MMS, and data tethering. Sometimes an alarm clock. I don't want any of that other stuff, and I'd pay a lot for a good, high quality phone that focuses on the baseline and doesn't require me to offload everything to some megacorporation.

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

#78

Post by Fnoord »

circularfoyers wrote: post #76
Fnoord wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Competition is good. Light Phone II is 300 USD. There was a FOSS project announced on crowdfunding platform, called Blloc [1]. Its a launcher for Android, for minimal, distraction free use. [1] https://www.blloc.com

I don't see any mention of Blloc being free and open source software in their website.

My bad, it isn't.

It is however privacy and non-distraction/advertising focused. Makes sense it costs money (it is free, but the killer feature Tree Tile costs money).

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

#79

Post by nashashmi »

stonogo wrote: post #77
commonturtle wrote: post #74

I ask this with no malice: What makes people work on projects like this? I'm willing to bet that the phone is bound to fail and their OS will be doomed to obscurity. How do the creators not see this? Three reasons I don't think it will work out: 1. A huge number of people use WatsApp, Facetime, Messenger, etc., for sending messages and making calls. This OS won't support any of these apps. 2. We may hate our phones a…

What if I want a minimalist phone that isn't cheap? So far my options are Light Phone and Punkt. MP-02. Not everyone is so tethered to consumption that they want all that stuff on their person at all times, but quality is still worth pursuing. I use calls, SMS, MMS, and data tethering. Sometimes an alarm clock. I don't want any of that other stuff, and I'd pay a lot for a good, high quality phone that focuses on the…

> minimalist phone that isn't cheap

If anyone wants a great deal for a 99$ leather case https://www.punkt.ch/en/products/lcase2-mp02-leather-case/

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

#80

Post by BossingAround »

commonturtle wrote: post #74

I ask this with no malice: What makes people work on projects like this? I'm willing to bet that the phone is bound to fail and their OS will be doomed to obscurity. How do the creators not see this? Three reasons I don't think it will work out: 1. A huge number of people use WatsApp, Facetime, Messenger, etc., for sending messages and making calls. This OS won't support any of these apps. 2. We may hate our phones a…

> What makes people work on projects like this?

I would love to dualboot a minimalist OS that is supported on my device (e.g. Galaxy S[6-10]), works for basic things like calls and sms, and doubles my battery life. Then, when I need the full-featured experience, I'd just boot into Android.

The reason this won't work is rather the device manufacturers, sadly. I agree with your conclusion that these OSes seem to be doomed to failure, but I strongly disagree with the premise.

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