Assuming I won’t stop doing what I’ve been doing since mid 2020, you might also find out about Fairphone 4 Linux progress in my weekly updates.
BTW: I wrote this on a Librem 5 docked to an HP Elite X3 Lap Dock - while it’s still a bit lackluster here and there (manual camera only, battery life), it’s definitely quite nice in convergence mode.
Porting the FP4 to postmarketOS Linux has barely started, and the FP4 will use a Linux kernel (as opposed to an Android kernel with libhybris inside. /e/ Solutions sells FP4 with /e/ (an AOSP derivative) preinstalled.
Choose a desktop Linux application and work on making its interface adaptive so it works on mobile devices. It it uses Qt, add Kirigami classes. If it uses GTK, work on adding libhandy and/or libadwaita classes.
Get involved in one of mobile projects, such as Phosh, KDE Plasma Mobile, UBports, Mobian, postmarketOS, etc. There a whole bunch of mobile applications that need work.
Buy the PinePhone, which is currently shipping and only costs $150/$200, so that you can help test/debug/develop mobile Linux.
Given a choice between a partially functioning OS and one that functions fine without updates…guess which one most are likely to choose. I am fine waiting with an outdated OS until linux is working well enough to use it. It is the modularity and repairability that I am after. When the time comes, the switch shouldn’t be that big of a deal, especially since data can be easily exported/important with a removable card.
I think the way it will work is that the majority of people who are running vulnerable phones will get away with it and a small minority will end up paying far more than the cost of junking the phone. So people are prepared to take the risk of being in the latter category.
A business may not be prepared to take that risk because there can be consequences for such negligence or even recklessness that go well beyond one phone.
I would say it is getting better all the time. But there are many things which have to get better. 4G, screen-off-time, camera, gps, only to name a few.
There’s been a few threads that got close (I really appreciate this thread as being the closest I’ve found so far) but I’d be interested in a “daily use” review that wasnt based around leaving the device on a charger.
This would be really valuable IMO, most “reviews” are based from usage at home, near a charger and talk more about the Linux side of things rather than the “phone” capabilities - I don’t have a Librem5 but as a long-term potential buyer this content would help inform my decision (besides considering stock viabilty).
This probably wont happen due to the limited number of devices out in the wild (as well as taking into account the user base) but one can dream!
@irvinewade Fascinating … (intoned in a Star Trek/ Mr. Spock-like sort of way with 1 eyebrow raised) Can you elaborate or point me in a direction where I can find out more on this approach?
Sadly, not at the moment because, and someone correct me if I am wrong, the mail client on the Librem 5 does not (yet?) support LDAP.
But the above is the approach that I have tested with Thunderbird (working LDAP client support) and an iPhone (adequately working LDAP client support). So, longer term, it is what I would like to use with the Librem 5.
If your question is more general than the Librem 5 then slapd is the server package that you will need to install. (Package sponsored by Will Smith? ) NB: There is the assumption that you have a suitable server to install this on.
I’ve imported all contacts into the LDAP server from .ldif format and you may need some data preparation and cleansing before that will work (I definitely did, but it’s probably a good thing to do anyway, right?).
And just to round this one out … due to the absence of LDAP client support in the Librem 5, I texthacked the .ldif file into a .vcf file and loaded that into the Librem 5 using the supplied Goodies package. So no synch or consistency for now.
I meant specifically: the mail client that I am using, Geary, does not contain support for being an LDAP client. Perhaps if you use a different mail client, that problem will go away (but you then might get a different problem i.e. whole mail client not sufficiently adaptive). So Geary works very nicely on the small screen but you live with its limitations e.g. no POP and, I am claiming without checking, no LDAP.
To sync contacts, calendars, notes, reminders, files etc, I use Nextcloud, which is natively supported by gnome (using carddav and caldav) and the desktop client to sync files. It beats every iCloud.
“You can use sshfs 1, so your phone’s folder will appear on you PC as a local folder, and vice versa.”
Could someone walk me through setting this up - or directing me to said info. As if I’m a 3 yr old or the dumbest person on earth.
I’m all in - Librem 14 and a 5. I have a computer science degree from a zillion years ago and feel like a dinosaur who can’t seem to accomplish anything. But I really wanted to support this project.
Finally rescued my music from iTunes. Threw it in Dropbox, downloaded dropbox onto the 14. Can’t for the life of me figure out how to get the files onto the phone. After failing to figure out how to get the laptop and phone to see each other, I even tried to install dropbox on the phone (like I did on the laptop). I can’t get that to work. If I could just one shared file as you suggest, this would solve things for me. Any help appreciated. Sorry if i sound stupid. I feel stupid!!
) NB: There is the assumption that you have a suitable server to install this on.