I agree with you. Caligra did correct me and appropriately as I had misconstrued the shipping announcement. Yet, I have really been miffed by both the deception of the Q3 release as unqualified at the outset and then noted as incomplete in its execution.
For those who are ‘collectors’ and consider that Librem 5 will be enough of a success that the ‘early versions’ may have values as “Electronics Antique Collectables” there may be some advantage to having a very rough copy.
I had known a gentleman who owned a Ford Edsel Ambulance and a Ford Edsel Hearse, both of these non-production models in prototype status. They are in demand and I am sure that these one-off’s may even be more valuable than a Librem 5 early version, but some people love the opportunity to get in at the early stages for the rare ‘big payoff’ possible later.
I kind of like the idea of having a hand-made first run, but I don’t know if I like it enough that I want one that isn’t completely polished. My problem is that I am impatient. I ordered in Oct 2017, so I have been waiting almost 2 years for this phone. I don’t know how much longer I can wait!
Fine. I am not sure you can get a refund, but you can try with Librem. Still, there is nothing much coming out that represents a clear alternative view in the way of kill switches and only relatively tame Android alternatives such as /e/ foundation’s efforts to protest the Alphabet -Google and Apple Oligopoly. Nobody would call you a traitor for seeking a disconnect from Librem 5. At least I cannot think that anybody is so much the zealot here. My frustration, after all these months, and the years before, is that so many smartphone users are so mute and sheepish in their acceptance of Locked Phones, limited platform choices and sacrificed privacy for a device which has become ubiquitous and seemingly semi-essential to daily life. People act like lemmings following the herd, not over the cliff, but certainly blind to the rip off and the advantage taken of them and do absolutely nothing in protest against this!
Hi, I got an email saying this post was a response to mine. If that is the case, I will address that.
I think you mistook my intent, or perhaps I didn’t convey it clearly enough. When I said I didn’t know how much longer I could wait, it was to express my utter excitement and anticipation. I feel like a kid awaiting Christmas morning. Do you think I am going to give up on the Librem 5 now? Oh, heck no!
I did say that I didn’t know if I wanted one that “isn’t completely polished”. At the time, yes, I was unsure. I didn’t know in what state the Aspen batch would be. Maybe I was a little harsh in how I stated it. If anyone was offended by that, I apologize.
Having the past few weeks to think about it, and especially after seeing what a great product Purism is releasing, I will be happy with whatever batch I am in. Looking at the number of people that pre-ordered before me, I am pretty sure that it will not be Aspen, though.
I am still impatient and giddy, bouncing up and down in my seat with anticipation. A lot of that has to do with how desperately I want to sever ties with big G. That and the fact that it is a pure Linux phone. Oh the possibilities!
I share this with you. I like Linux. I am also perhaps ‘out there’ in my need to know the innards of things.
Guys used to have cars and tinker with them. Women might have joined in the day and have more recently, but computerized controls makes most things difficult without special equipment.
More hobbyists nowadays have computers and have played about with the Hardware of Desktops and rarely with Notebooks, but it is not the same thing as the moving parts are few and how things work are mostly unknown without being able to get your hands dirty at the software level.
With either a PC or Mac and then later with the IPhones or the Android Phones rather little is allowed to the hobbyist, other than those working for the companies or a few high-level hackers.
Linux affords me a way to get deep into the software, other than firmware and the MBR components and I have hungered for a smartphone which does not treat me or you as a dummy and allows us to work inside its software core.
Then I come up against the crud of the M.2 card modems and a good deal more and find that I still am frustrated in trying to understand the whole of it.
At least, once I get the Librem 5, however clunky its interface may be at the outset and its mega size may be as well, I can tinker a bit with it and have some of the fun to which I am looking forward to.