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[parent] [thread] 11 comments
1. qchris+(OP)[view] [source] 2022-03-22 00:36:59
I'm most curious how this impression is going to age over the next year or two, considering the new competition with the Pinephone Pro that's coming out. While Kudos to Purism is certainly due for developing the Librem 5 in the first place, and for kickstarting projects like Phosh[2] which is now used by many mobile Linux distros, they're really struggled (as mentioned re: timeline in this article) with shipping hardware.

Conversely, Pine64 hardware seems to have a pretty dedicated developer community among the various mobile Linux distros, and considering the significantly improved specs of the Pinephone Pro over the original model, I'm wondering how many people will opt for the even-more-expensive Librem 5 in the future after the Pro has been out for a bit and some of the early-adopter kinks have been worked out, considering the issues Purism has had seemed to have with reliably getting inventory out.

[1] https://www.pine64.org/pinephonepro/

[2] https://developer.puri.sm/Librem5/Software_Reference/Environ...

replies(2): >>kop316+S9 >>ameliu+nK
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2. kop316+S9[view] [source] 2022-03-22 02:32:35
>>qchris+(OP)
> considering the new competition with the Pinephone Pro that's coming out

Heh, with how the developers cooperate, you would never know there was competition.

But seriously, if you do want to fund Mobile Linux, buy a Librem 5. Purism funds dedicated GNOME/Phosh/etc. devs to work on making Mobile Linux a polish experience, and many of them also help to make sure it works on the Pinephone/Pinephone Pro. Heck, sometimes I think many of their employees spend more time helping out Mobian users on a Pinephone than they do Librem 5 users.

As much as I like Pine64 (I think making a $150 Linux Phone was an amazing idea!), they exclusively only fund the hardware development. Drew Devault has, IMO, a good overview of criticisms of Pine64: https://drewdevault.com/2022/01/18/Pine64s-weird-priorities....

replies(2): >>bumble+Tm >>ognarb+H71
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3. bumble+Tm[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-03-22 05:21:39
>>kop316+S9
HN discussion on Devault’s essay: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30009452
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4. ameliu+nK[view] [source] 2022-03-22 10:09:56
>>qchris+(OP)
However ... Pine64 (Pine Store Limited) is a Hong Kong based company, and with China's appetite for mass privacy infringements (see their social credit system), there could be a problem there in the future, especially since privacy is the main selling feature of these phones.
replies(1): >>megous+q53
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5. ognarb+H71[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-03-22 13:34:05
>>kop316+S9
If you want to fund the Mobile Linux ecosystem, I believe it's better to buy a pinephone pro and donate the difference to GNOME, KDE or/and Ubport. Purism has some sketchy history (they refused to refund their customers and lied anawful lot of times) and if you buy a purism phone you will have a less powerful phone and will need to wait years before getting it.
replies(2): >>amosba+Xf1 >>kop316+wl1
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6. amosba+Xf1[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-03-22 14:18:03
>>ognarb+H71
It depends on your goals. If you donate to the GNOME Foundation, your donation won't help develop Phosh (which is the leading mobile Linux interface according to 3 different PinePhone user surveys) and it probably won't be used to make GTK/GNOME ecosystem become adaptive and mobile-friendly. If your goal is to advance mobile Linux on the GTK/GNOME/Phosh platform, then ordering the Librem 5 is the best way to get funds to the 10 software devs working on it at Purism. See: https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Freque...

I own both the PinePhone and Librem 5 USA, and I'm seriously impressed by the amount of work the Purism devs do for PinePhone users (who are the majority of the Phosh users).

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7. kop316+wl1[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-03-22 14:47:29
>>ognarb+H71
I personally tell you that the full time Purism devs were instrumental in helping me port MMS/VVM to Phosh/Chatty (without their help, MMS/VVM would not exist for Mobile Linux) and they have gone well beyond what I would expect any company would do to help out Mobian/pmOS/overall PP/PPP development (they no doubt help out other distros too, but I don't interact as much in those areas).

I also have an L5 sitting on my desk that I am using full time, and have had it for several months by now.

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8. megous+q53[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-03-23 00:33:11
>>ameliu+nK
Pine64 doesn't provide any software.
replies(1): >>fsflov+KQ3
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9. fsflov+KQ3[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-03-23 08:42:30
>>megous+q53
Can't hardware have backdoors? How about the firmware?
replies(1): >>megous+aZ4
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10. megous+aZ4[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-03-23 17:08:55
>>fsflov+KQ3
There's no Pine64 controlled firmware. There's no Pine64 controlled hardware in the phone, it's all sourced from other companies.
replies(1): >>fsflov+dZ5
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11. fsflov+dZ5[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-03-23 22:47:48
>>megous+aZ4
All of which are from China.
replies(1): >>megous+yo6
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12. megous+yo6[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-03-24 03:31:10
>>fsflov+dZ5
And? Almost everything is made outside of my small country. :) I don't particularly trust FVEY countries either.

I'm quite fine knowing the HW well enough to trust it for my purposes, having spent many years with it at quite low levels, thank you.

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