Comment by ptx
6 years ago
Run a modern mainline kernel (and future mainline kernels) without losing compatibility with the drivers for most of the hardware.
6 years ago
Run a modern mainline kernel (and future mainline kernels) without losing compatibility with the drivers for most of the hardware.
At least at the moment Librem5 still requires non-upstreamed drivers: "The kernel will be the 5.3 mainline kernel with some additional drivers" [0]
They do at least appear to be actively developing those drivers publicly for eventual submission upstream, though: https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/linux-next/activity
[0] https://developer.puri.sm/Librem5/Software_Reference.html
Ok, but what does that let you do that you couldn't otherwise? Nobody buys a phone for the operating system, it's for the hardware and the software that runs on top of the OS.
Hi, I'm nobody.
I have no interest in Android or iOS. I have no interest in phones that make it difficult to run non-android systems on them. I have no interest in devices I have to break into in order to make them do what I want them to do.
Phones that I've been using for more than 10 years now make it easy to run Debian GNU/Linux on them, baremetal, straight out of Debian repositories. Those devices don't require me to run any proprietary binary blob on my system. Those devices are supported by community years after their manufacturers abandoned them, as mainlining makes that task actually manageable. That's the kind of phone I'm interested in and its OS plays a big part in it.
> I have no interest in devices I have to break into in order to make them do what I want them to do.
And that is?
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Do you have the same approach about all other linux-powered devices - cars, fridges, TVs etc?
It lets you continue safely using your phone after a year or two, because it won't be stuck on outdated software full of unpatched security vulnerabilities.
Apple offer that. I accept the preference and arguments for an open system etc and the distrust of a global corp., but the support lifespan of an iOS device has more recently been ~5 years.
> Nobody buys a phone for the operating system
I did. Pretty much because all the drivers are mainline(able). Even if purism went belly up today, I could continue to run up to date Linux on my librem 5 basically forever.
The baseband OS is still a binary blob that you don't really have any visibility into though, right?
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Clearly that statement is false because some people bought the phone because people bought it for the OS
They bought it for the OS because there's software they want to run on it. I'm just asking what that software is.
You're forgetting that developers exist.
Are you saying that it's a useful phone for developers or that there's a lot of opportunity because basically there's no mobile-first Linux software out there?
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