A for effort, F for execution. i guess that averages out to about a D3D printable case: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4961260send me linux phones to revi...
  • Fluid@aussie.zoneEnglish
    342·
    9 months ago

    Yeh. The Librem was a classic example of overpromise and underdeliver. Borderline scamware by Purism. Will never go near them again.

  • CalcProgrammer1
    212·
    9 months ago

    Nice review. I agree with others here that this phone is borderline scam for the price and with all the delays people had in receiving them. Performance seems on par with the $200 original PinePhone which I had a similar experience with.

    The one good thing that came out of Purism/Librem 5 is Phosh. It’s a pretty good phone shell/UI for other more capable Linux phones to use. I particularly like Phosh for its on-screen keyboard Squeekboard which allows for custom keymaps.

    • Vincent@feddit.nl
      9·
      9 months ago

      That’s the thing. It would be pretty much fine if they’d said that you’re supporting the development of the mobile software ecosystem, and get a toy device to play with, but their marketing can be pretty misleading.

      The question, of course, is whether it would work any other way. But it still leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

      (Then again, they’re expensive enough that I hope anyone buying them has done enough research beforehand to know what things are really like, or doesn’t care about the money that much.)

  • nieceandtows@programming.dev
    14·
    9 months ago

    Wish it one day becomes viable, but it’s really hard for a phone os to compete with ios and android. So many have tried and failed.

      • slacktoidEnglish
        8·
        9 months ago

        Sony phones have their code on github for their AOSP.

        • setVeryLoud(true);@lemmy.ca
          15·
          9 months ago

          All manufacturers who follow US law do, it’s part of the GPL license. The problem is that the code is all made for some really old version of Linux, either 2.4 or 4.x, which isn’t compatible with mainline.

          • slacktoidEnglish
            5·
            9 months ago

            Phones usually had 4.4 for a very long time as that was a super lts. But also distribute it (looking at you john deere)

        • CalcProgrammer1
          13·
          9 months ago

          AOSP and even factory kernel source tends to be only mildly useful for proper Linux phone use. Android phones tend to ship with old kernel revisions that the chip maker forked a long time ago and developed their chip drovers on without following accepted kernel conventions or submitting any code to the actual kernel maintainers for proper review and integration into the most up to date “mainline” kernel. Due to this, and the fact that phone makers need to constantly ship new products out the door, the quality of this code added into the old kernel is often garbage, poorly commented and with no documentation. Usually no git history either.

          There are other teams of people trying to clean up and/or rewrite these drivers from scratch in a way that is reviewable and acceptable in mainline. Only a small handful of the vast number of phone chips have such support, so proper Linux phone is limited to a small selection of hardware. The designed-for-Linux librem and PinePhone models intentionally chose old chipsets because these chipsets had good mainline support and thus could receive actual kernel updates rather than being stuck forever on an ancient kernel release from the manufacturer that has long since been abandoned.

          Lately the Qualcomm Snapdragon SDM845 chip is seeing growing mainline Linux support and quickly becoming one of the most viable chips for mobile Linux that isn’t a complete dinosaur in terms of performance and power draw. The OnePlus 6 and 6T, which both use the SDM845 chip, have become quite popular as Linux phones now despite not yet having VoLTE and thus being useless for calls. I carry a OnePlus 6T as a secondary non-phone pocket PC because the Linux experience is very good other than the lack of phone and camera functionality. It’s fast and can do all my terminal and coding stuff as well as run full fledged web browsers well.

  • fl42v
    3·
    9 months ago

    I mean, I’m not saying PayPal and apps needing whatever play store check are shit, but… Oh, wait, I am saying they’re shit 😝

    Anyways, let’s try again. Yeah, librem kinda sucks, but mostly in terms of hardware, availability, and their situation with not delivering on time and not returning the money.

  • robber
    31·
    9 months ago

    Receiving a Librem 5 as a gift, having fun for a weak and then trade the thing for a steamdeck - sneaky Vanta.