Hello, everyone !
I have published a field report with the Librem 5 after about 2 years!
It is written in German, you can use Chrome’s translation function 
6 Likes
Thanks, thats a good state of the union post
Webapps: I did not tried it yet, but it looks like an interesting approach/improvement.
The camera version with autofocus is quite an improvement. Yet it introduces some crashes and lock-ups, so it will take some weeks until it will arrive for all users…
GNSS does work in some way, you need to enable “Ortungsdienste” via Settings -> Privacy. GNOME Maps shows then my location. Did you tried PureMaps from Flatpak yet? It should support navigation.
Signal is still a mess. I’m using a combination of Flare, Axolotl, Signal Desktop and a second iOS device. Telegram is much better, even with that not really responsive app…
1 Like
2 Likes
9 Likes
I appreciate that the author seemed to know what (s)he was talking about. Too bad convergence was left out, though.
That’s true, but he (it’s a man) was few weeks not up to date - at least what he wrote to camera. There are first versions with capturing movies and auto focus. But in general he was right.
These are not in the default repositories yet.
1 Like
But it is something I would definitely tell if I know about it. He also spoke about other stuff he know it is working in progress and I just think he didn’t know about the current progress.
1 Like
Never heard of the Amberol music player before. It’s at least worth a try
1 Like
3 Likes
It’s frustrating that he on one hand recognizes that GNU/Linux phones are the way to go in principle, but then he says GNU/Linux phones are not good enough yet and something like “nobody seems to invest in that”, ignoring the fact that Purism does in fact invest in that. Then Braxman goes on to promote Google Pixel phones, I have a hard time understanding how he can do that with a straight face. He wants to help people get away from Google, and at the same time he recommends buying Google devices?!?
Perhaps it’s about different perspectives and different goals: Braxman is simply trying to get a bit of privacy somehow in the current situation, he is not actually trying to change the world. He just accepts that Google owns the world, so he uses Google devices because that’s how the world works. Purism on the other hand is actually doing something to try to change the situation. I wish Braxman would at least respect those who are working towards making the world a better place, even if he does not intend to help out.
7 Likes
Preach on brother.
Liked the skalman comment, seems hi know what is going on gnu+lnx mobile.
Yeah Purism team is the best for real gnu phone.
1 Like
I disagreed with most of his points as well. He talked a lot about how much more powerful the Pixel and his phone are but failed to mention the SoC Android phones use and how we don’t know what things it could be executing or phoning home in the background. Even with a de-Googled ROM, the SoC can still be invading your privacy.
I do admit Purism has a reputation problem. I do not think Purism is a pyramid scheme like he mentions but because of the delays, they have to fight an uphill battle to gain the trust of people outside of its community. For those not involved with the Librem 5’s development, they might find videos like these and not understand the work that is going on. To be clear, I’m not recommending anyone evangelize what Purism is doing – that’s for their PR and marketing teams to handle.
1 Like
I haven’t seen the actual review, but clearly he doesn’t know what he is talking about when it comes to economics: what Purism is doing, has none of the hallmarks of a pyramid scheme, whatsoever.
X-rays imagining of assembled Librem 5
https://cmp.felk.cvut.cz/~pisa/foto/2023/230513-librem5-rtg-assembled/pics001.html
5 Likes
The video is very quiet, at least for me. Still, I think he highlights a lot of good points about the Librem 5.
7 Likes
We need video passthrough soon-ish.
1 Like
There are inaccuracies mentioned in this video such as needing to turn off the kill switches (enable the modules) to turn on the phone. I’ve seen the slow response times and sluggish animations been mentioned here and in Rob Braxman’s video, though I don’t personally view this as a top priority; having the OS feel snappy and responsive will make it feel like a polished experience but libadwaita is still in the early stages and has a lot of room to grow. This video was more of an overview of the phone rather than a complete review.
4 Likes