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Pinephone - a Linux based smartphone

 
pollinator
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Hey all:

Writing to see if anyone has any knowledge they would llike to offer on this company/product line?
Their Pinephone appears to be in some form of a development stage and they begin shipping mid November.
Not sure what to make of it, Linux is not one of my strong points.

  https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/
  https://pine64.com/product-category/smartphones/?v=0446c16e2e66

  "An Open Source Smart Phone Supported by All Major Linux Phone Projects"

This is a PinePhone Community Edition featuring Manjaro mobile Linux operating system. It is a limited edition of the PinePhone aimed primarily at Manjaro community members.
The core purpose of this campaign is to provide hardware capable of running mainline Linux to members of the community so that Manjaro developers can benefit from feedback
and code contributions to their project. The preinstalled Manjaro OS software build which ships with this edition of the PinePhone is an Alpha software build. This effectively mean
that while core functionality of the PinePhone – such as telephone calls, SMS messages, LTE, GPS, GPU acceleration, etc. – is operational, it is also an ongoing effort, and thus
the device cannot be considered as a consumer-ready product.

 
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Interesting! I can't comment directly, except to say that Android is (if I understand correctly) a Linux OS that has been googleized (or monetized, or creeperized, depending on your POV).
 
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I haven't followed Pine stuff in awhile since I was researching their Single Board Computers, like the Rock64(their version of Raspberry-pi). I do recall reading a few articles on their open-source laptop and smartphone development plans. Here are some recent articles about it.

A basic summary of what it is: a phone that doesn't lock you into using certain software. You can download from a choice of various Operating Systems to use, similar to Linux Distributions for computers. Sometimes you hear about "my iphone/android phone needs to be rooted in order to do ___", which is akin to giving yourself Administrative Permissions to do whatever you want on a Windows computer. So rooting gives you full access to make changes to it as you please, but usually at the risk of "bricking" your phone - making it unusable. Since the Pinephone is open-source and lets you modify it to the extent your skills will allow, that is not an issue.

Since the topic has no direct questions, I'll just write what comes to mind.

---

My intuition tells me that 99% of the general public would not have a good experience with such a phone even after the alpha version is completed - that's why it's geared towards developers and enthusiasts. Ex. I was at an Ag seminar today where one of the presenters spoke of how making formulas in Microsoft Excel was so complicated that "only techies can do this kind of stuff".

I'm typing this reply on an old laptop running Linux Mint(A Linux Operating System), and it has some annoying hick-ups that most general users I know wouldn't put up with. My guess is that open-source phones will be aimed at high-end tech users for some time to come.

---

Some questions that come to mind:

  • Will there be long-term support?
  • Wikipedia says the phone will be in production for 5 years, which allures to support for 5 years, but tech projects make a lot of claims that never pan-out.

  • Will there be replacement parts readily available at reasonable prices?
  • By reasonable, I mean not having to spend $100 for a new touch screen for a $150 phone. Google tried to make a modular phone several years ago and it didn't work out, so a small community-based developer team really has their work cut out for them, to say the least.

    Along with that, the project has very few core developers (dedicated full-time to it), so it's essentially in bleeding edge-development, which means it's such a new or unconventional concept that it puts a lot of the risk in the hands of the investors - the people buying the $150 phones in this case. Ex. One day maybe the main developer leaves because of health issues, then the project stops being developed and that can potentially be the end of it. Everyone who bought the phones are kind of left in the dark.

    But, if I could buy a $150 phone that would receive updates for 5 years, and I could buy a $30-40 replacement screen for it until it's not longer in production, I'd buy in. (I would really appreciate a higher quality camera on it though)

    ---

    I'm glad they're at least trying, but software development, especially volunteer-powered, can really slow down a project - I'm sure it'll be a awhile before it's close for daily usage by even novice linux users, such as myself.

    If you have any other questions, I have at least enough knowledge (I think) to explain stuff in layman's terms.
     
    Douglas Alpenstock
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    LOL Jarret. I'm also typing on a scrounged laptop running Linux Mint.
     
    author & steward
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    I agree, interesting. The Ubuntu phone never gained much of a following, so one wonders how this will fare. I would love to see it succeed! Especially since the price points make it extremely affordable for the less affluent.

    The OS is Manjuro Linux, of which this article says, "Manjaro Linux is a user-friendly Arch Linux derivative." That may be somewhat relative, but if the GUI interface looks familiar to folks, I'm sure they'll find it user friendly. That's assuming they work out most of the bugs before releasing it to the general permies.

    The feature I really liked is, "you can connect it to a monitor and keyboard and turn the PinePhone into a Linux computer."

    To me, the big questions are:
    1) Will service providers accept it? Especially BYOP options.
    2) How much surveillance and data mining will it do? Android is a Linux OS, yet look at what Google does with it.

    It will be interesting to follow. If anyone gets one, I hope they'll let us know what they think!
     
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    Hi Leigh,

    Only somewhat related,  but the less affluent wants what everyone else has ...for obvious reasons.  I knew a guy who was in on the development of an inexpensive computer in the late 90s and early 2000s.  It had a hand cranked charging system and did not use Microsoft. I used one once ...it worked. His intent was to give them away through various school systems. In the end, even with financial backing, he could not give them away.  No one wanted a weird looking computer with a crank even if it did given them access to email and the net.

     
    Leigh Tate
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    John F Dean wrote: In the end, even with financial backing, he could not give them away.  No one wanted a weird looking computer with a crank even if it did given them access to email and the net.


    I'd take one! LOL. In fact, my next solar project is going to be running my computer from solar. I already charge my phone from a solar battery. It's not a smart phone, though. Apparently, I can't figure out how to be smarter than the phone, so it wins every time!
     
    Douglas Alpenstock
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    Apropos of nothing ...
    sudo-make-me-a-sandwic-800x517.jpg
    linux nerd humour
    linux nerd humour
     
    Eliminate 95% of the weeds in your lawn by mowing 3 inches or higher. Then plant tiny ads:
    turnkey permaculture paradise for zero monies
    https://permies.com/t/267198/turnkey-permaculture-paradise-monies
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