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Comment by 1vuio0pswjnm7

6 days ago

"I'm am just an outlier here?"

No. The "banking app doesn't work" argument against non-corporate mobile OS, raised incessantly is HN comments, is bogus

I want a "phone", i.e., small form factor computer, that can run something like NetBSD, or Linux. But I have no intention of using it for commercial transactions. Mobile banking is not why I want to run a non-corporate OS

I want to use it for recreation, research and experimentation

NB. I have more than one "phone". The choice is not corporate mobile OS versus non-corporate mobile OS, i.e., "either-or". I can use both, each for specific purposes

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1vuio0pswjnm7

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EvanAnderson  6 days ago

> I want a "phone", i.e., small form factor computer, that can run something like NetBSD, or Linux. But I have no intention of using it for commercial transactions. Mobile banking is not why I want to run a non-corporate OS

> I want to use it for recreation, research and experimentation

I am a firm believer that phones are personal computers and should have all the end user freedom we have come to expect from personal computers. I am totally behind what your saying. (The amount of irrational anger that wells up in me when I hear someone make the argument that phones are somehow not general purpose personal computers and shouldn't provider their owners software freedom would astound you.)

Personally, I opt out of services that require the use of phone "apps" and any potential attestation they provide. Unfortunately, I just offload those needs onto my wife and her iPhone.

Want to go to a concert in a TicketMaster venue? You have to have a phone. Pay to park in some places requires a phone. Mobile ordering for some restaurants requires a phone.

I don't think it should be this way, but it is. I think we need consumer regulation to insure software freedom on phones and curtail awful user hostile "features" like remote attestation.

Until that happens (if it ever does) there is a realpolitik with needing corporate phones for some activities that can't be denied.

  • kelvinjps10  6 days ago

    Those things that you mentioned you can do it on the website meaning also a open computer too

    • JoshTriplett  6 days ago

      > Those things that you mentioned you can do it on the website

      No, unfortunately some things can't be. There are venues that provide tickets exclusively via mobile applications, for instance.

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  • raw_anon_1111  6 days ago

    So the world should cared to your needs when literally almost every adult has a phone even in third world countries?

    Before you say “what about the poor people” in the US at least, even poor people can get a subsidized free phone through the UCF (?) government fund

    Also see: no I’m not going to waste development time di you can get to a website I develop with JS disabled or so you can use lynx

    • EvanAnderson  5 days ago

      > So the world should cared to your needs when literally almost every adult has a phone even in third world countries?

      The assumption that everyone has a "smart phone" running locked-down Android or iOS is unreasonable. Just as race, sex, religion, national origin, etc, are protected classes, the "phoneless" should be a protected class. Denying people who choose not to use a locked down phone basic interaction with your business should be legally equivalent to posting a "No blacks allowed" sign on your door, and the consequences should be the same.

      > Also see: no I’m not going to waste development time di you can get to a website I develop with JS disabled or so you can use lynx

      I don't see what this non-sequitur has to do with the exchange. I didn't bring anything up about Javascript.

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