Linux

My solution? Giving up the smartphone. They are too fragile and are high maintenance. I've simply had enough. So, I went with a Sonim XP3Plus flip phone. Mainly because the screen on the Pixel 3, the phone I went through the trouble of putting a custom ROM on and setting up just right, broke somehow inside.

Yeah, the flip phone runs Android, but it comes as a scaled down version of Android (no Google crap, or extra apps, like any app store; just the basics), so I don't have to do any modding. And I just keep my plan cheap for unlimited calling with very little data (I keep the data off anyways, so I don't care).

Basically, I've gone old school to solve a modern problem (for music, I went with an old school MP3 player). And if people can't be bothered to pick up the phone, I move on. This is where I stand now. I've had enough.

I feel like I finally have peace again after 10 years of using the smart phone. Being disconnected while outside is great.

Best part? The flip phone can last about 2 weeks on a full charge.

PS: Being completely off Google; even YouTube? Feels amazing. I've turned to Odysee, Peertube and B-chute and use those with RSS feeds. No algorithms.

This is how I solved the modern tech problem.

My next phone is definitely going to be a Linux phone. I don't care if it's ready. I'm ready.

My next phone will be a Linux phone.

I was on board the Fairphone hype, and while I think they have a good message, I actually think Pine64 does exactly what they do - just without the flashy marketing. Fairphone still uses AOSP as the basis for their OSes, so there is still a risk of hardware lockout by Google. This is leaving alone other issues like no headphone jack and USB 2.0 for the latest generation's USB-C.

This is actually the same reason I think Ecosia won't succeed in the long term unless they build their own search engine. Luckily it looks like they've already started delivering results as of last month.

I should also mention that the PinePhone isn't Scott free from criticism either. Think I read somewhere that the camera is borked because the latest firmware or software update messed with the camera module functionality. No real fix for that soon, which sucks.

Would a pixel phone running GOS be future proofed, or one day Google can just push out some hidden updates that prevent you from running it at all?

My next phone will run Linux, even if it is inconvenient.

As soon as this phone is paid off, I'll be changing from Google Fi as well. Which sucks because it's hella cheap.

I have been wanting a Linux phone for ages but I can't afford a librem and pine seems to have stalled out. Just found out about Furi and now I'm wondering if it really is that good. It's still expensive but it at least doesn't look like it'd choke on running a calculator app.

Ubuntu Touch has a planned release for September 24th! Eager to see what devices have a full compatibility rating to know what I'll buy next

While I support the continued progress of real Linux phones, have a Pinephone, and even wasted all of yesterday trying to make a working build of Armbian for retro handheld I have; I think it's more practical to focus on open Android distributions, getting more phones out that can support multi os's and buying those, and growing a robust app market system that can compete with Google Play.

F-Droid is almost there, but being open-source doesn't mean something has to be free of charge. F-Droid should be extended, or possibly an additional app manager be established, that still promotes software freedom and privacy, but allows for devs to charge for their apps as well.

I have a Pixel 9 Pro which is supposed to get security updates until 2031 but at the pace Google is closing Android down I wonder if it will even be viable to stay on an AOSP degoogled ROM until then.

I feel like the future is leading us to a place where we will have to reduce our mobile computing to a trusted but slow and unreliable main phone while keeping a secondary mainstream device for banking/government apps.

Unfortunately there's a lot(!) to do to make Linux enjoyable on a phone. I bought a Pinephone some years ago. And in addition to the slow hardware, the entire software/desktop experience isn't great. While everyone else has instant messengers, Linux doesn't have connected standby and emails and messages just don't arrive unless the screen is on. It wastes quite some power, and there are a bazillion small little quirks and annoyances and it's barely usable if compared to a regular smartphone. I think someone needs to invest quite some more time and money until this becomes a thing. I mean don't get me wrong, Linux and the low-level system is awesome. And it's brilliant on any server/laptop/desktop computer. It's just that there's so many things missing for a proper phone experience. And it's not just mildly inconvenient, but like people expect instant messages to be delivered...

Samsung, Xiaomi and OnePlus have removed the option of bootloader unlocking on all of their devices.

Got me worried (bc i have a newish oneplus phone) but apparently OnePlus is only doing that in China for now. Still not a good sign for the future...