1 Topic by burhen42

  • burhen42
  • Guest

Topic: Linux phones or Replicant?

I'm rather curious.

I've heard of Linux-based phones like the Librem and Pine phone.
As interesting as they sound, don't their distros use systemD and non-free blobs?

Okay, PureOS is libre but it uses systemD and Purism itself is hiding some skeletons in its closet, right?

I recently bought a refurbished Galaxy S2 to replace my broken iPhone
and manually installed Replicant so now I have a libre phone.
Maybe a Linux phone is better but my new Replicant phone is certainly a cheaper step in the right direction for me.

But putting that aside, what can anyone say about Linux phones and how they compare
to Replicant or even other custom Android ROMS like Lineage and GrapheneOS?

2 Reply by outtasight

  • outtasight
  • Guest

Re: Linux phones or Replicant?

While probably not exceptionally helpful, the closest experience I have with
mobiles and replacing Android, is a Goofle Pixel XL. I managed to avoid bricking
it into a paperweight;  thusly flashing on it the only ethically and hardware friendly
acceptable option I could find, /e/ (https://e.foundation/).

I assume there are probably backdoors in the hardware somewhere, but I'll trust
eFoundation over Goofle. On a side note, it was and is kind of exciting
to know that Goofle's (presumed) previous flagship, has been liberated, however
little that may be.

3 Reply by rachad

  • rachad
  • Guest

Re: Linux phones or Replicant?

outtasight wrote:

While probably not exceptionally helpful, the closest experience I have with
mobiles and replacing Android, is a Goofle Pixel XL. I managed to avoid bricking
it into a paperweight;  thusly flashing on it the only ethically and hardware friendly
acceptable option I could find, /e/ (https://e.foundation/).

I assume there are probably backdoors in the hardware somewhere, but I'll trust
eFoundation over Goofle. On a side note, it was and is kind of exciting
to know that Goofle's (presumed) previous flagship, has been liberated, however
little that may be.

i never used one of those and i dont have a smarthone but i would go against using /e/OS cause of that one acount for everything and using the cloud, and i would suggest https://postmarketos.org/ with a pinephone

4 Reply by throgh

  • throgh
  • throgh
  • Package Development and Community Coordinator
  • Offline
  • From: Planet Earth
  • Registered: 2017-12-28
  • Posts: 2,924

Re: Linux phones or Replicant?

Those so-called Linux-devices are nothing more than illusions, especially when talking about Purism and the Librem. Taking into account how this company is trying to use free software just to make them relevant is nothing I'd give them anything. The Pinephone itself is more or less better, but the software itself is not. When talking about freedom of choice there are only Gnome or KDE, so coming up again with bloatware.

The way I prefer is to use a device with Replicant so far without F-Droid as it is the same: F-Droid is incompatible with the FSDG for distributing proprietary software and services in their repositories. The best way of course is not to use any kind of mobile device with phone-capabilities, or course. So all in all you have to make some kind of compromise and speaking about that neither Librem nor Pinephone are the way for me. For Purism, read here: https://forums.hyperbola.info/viewtopic.php?id=276

Human being in favor with clear principles and so also for freedom in soft- and hardware!

Certainly anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices: For a life of every being full with peace and kindness, including diversity and freedom. Capitalism is destroying our minds, the planet itself and the universe in the end!

5 Reply by burhen42

  • burhen42
  • Guest

Re: Linux phones or Replicant?

Out of interest, what are anyone's thoughts on this phone?
https://www.crowdsupply.com/sutajio-kosagi/precursor

It's called the Precursor and its advertised as an open hardware, RISC-V, System-On-Chip phone. Sounds promising...

6 Reply by throgh

  • throgh
  • throgh
  • Package Development and Community Coordinator
  • Offline
  • From: Planet Earth
  • Registered: 2017-12-28
  • Posts: 2,924

Re: Linux phones or Replicant?

Interesting concept and piece of hardware itself, but talking about being affordable would be also good. The price is very high and to pay for it is on those crowdsourcing platforms also not so easy in general - most using Paypal. All in all: I'd stay at refurbished and used hardware to see how far to get with. The reasoning is easy: For completely new device there are also more resources needed, including rare-earth elements. Those are rare and a generic problem for all earthlings when mined, especially done under inhumane circumstances.

Human being in favor with clear principles and so also for freedom in soft- and hardware!

Certainly anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices: For a life of every being full with peace and kindness, including diversity and freedom. Capitalism is destroying our minds, the planet itself and the universe in the end!