I have the expectation that the hardware on this phone will be "good enough".
It's their first phone and they have a lot of requirements to be able to be as libre as they can, give them a break.
The reason why I backed this project is because I want to see a open source mobile operating system which you can actually contribute to.
The fact that it will run upstream code will also mean that it could technically be supported forever in comparison to android phones which get updates in just 1-2 years which is simply horrible. Hell, even the nexus phones which are supposed to have good software support only get 3 years support!
If this succeeds and is still available in 3 years, this is our best bet on "real" convergence.
Personally I'd still like to have my desktop for performance, but to dock it into a laptop with just battery+screen+keyboard+trackpad would be really neat.
Everything could probably even be sent through a USB-C port with thunderbolt/usb3.1.
I wouldn't mind a RISC-V variant of the Librem 5 in the future either
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Purism Eyeing The i.MX8M For The Librem 5 Smartphone, Issues First Status Update
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Originally posted by GI_Jack View PostWhat I want:
comes stock with TWRP and Linaege OS, and a native, everything working fork.
Part of their whole point is to have a full GNU/Linux stack.
(Though they might support andbox by the time the device ships).
On the other hand, as the device is supposed to be full open-source and supported by stock vanilla linux,
and all the weird parts (3G/4G modem, GPS, etc.) only being isolated in separate chips only talking over standard protocols (serial, network), it should be almost trivial for anyone in the LineageOS community to port it to the Librem5.
All the rest you're hoping fore (no DMA access granted to the modem, free drivers everywhere, etc.) is exactly what they aim for, and why they stay with i.MX8 SoCs instead of the latest shiny from Qualcomm.
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Originally posted by Vasant1234 View PostThe I.MX8 is a quad core Cortex A53 which is pretty much an entry level phone right now. In 2019 it will be comparable to a $150/- Android phone with very limited software.
- Their primary target is not people wanting to have a ginormous over powered iPhone X2 / Samsung Galagy whatever/etc. Their primary target is people who want to be fully in control on everything that goes inside their phone (so a full GPL GNU/Linux stack).
- As Sailfish OS has shown, a tightly integrated GNU/Linux system, using something lightweight like QML for the user-interface, can actually be pretty efficient even on hardware where the giant "I can't believe it's not Java" layer of Google starts to hiccups.
(i.e.: on native Sailfish apps, the first Jolla 1 phone is quite responsive even today).
Originally posted by Vasant1234 View PostAnd for those open-source advocates, the LTE modem runs closed source firmware
I.e.: they replicate the situation of a fully libre laptop, and all the evil bit constrained to a USB 3G/4G stick plugged into the USB port of the libre laptop.
So the LTE firmware can be as evil as it wants, it's limited to only seeing it's own end of the standard serial+network link. No full DMA access, nor access to audio codec, etc.
Same approach is also applicable to GPS (closed source firmware necessary if they want to sell it in the US, or if the manufacturer it in the US and want to sell abroad).
and I believe the video decoder (VPU) is closed firmware.
So maybe some functions will be missing (probably everything related to decoding DRM protected content), but the main SoC will be exclusively running open code.
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Originally posted by Hi-Angel View PostThanks for a very interesting blog post. Where is the comments section btw? 😛
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Originally posted by Licaon View PostFun fact, hope Matrix devs learn from the past: https://mail.gnome.org/archives/desk.../msg00047.html
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Originally posted by Vasant1234 View PostThe I.MX8 is a quad core Cortex A53 which is pretty much an entry level phone right now. In 2019 it will be comparable to a $150/- Android phone with very limited software.
And for those open-source advocates, the LTE modem runs closed source firmware and I believe the video decoder (VPU) is closed firmware. Some one needs to better define what a true open source device is.
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Originally posted by Vasant1234 View PostThe I.MX8 is a quad core Cortex A53 which is pretty much an entry level phone right now. In 2019 it will be comparable to a $150/- Android phone with very limited software.
And for those open-source advocates, the LTE modem runs closed source firmware and I believe the video decoder (VPU) is closed firmware. Some one needs to better define what a true open source device is.
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Originally posted by Vasant1234 View PostThe I.MX8 is a quad core Cortex A53 which is pretty much an entry level phone right now. In 2019 it will be comparable to a $150/- Android phone with very limited software.
And for those open-source advocates, the LTE modem runs closed source firmware and I believe the video decoder (VPU) is closed firmware. Some one needs to better define what a true open source device is.
Also, did I miss the part where Purism claimed to be making a perfectly open device with no exceptions? Haven't seen them claim that about this project.
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Originally posted by MartinK View PostBTW, the UI can be actually the easy part (and it was indeed totally new on Sailfish OS, not taken from any prior project) - the hard parts are IMHO all the telephony and mobile connectivity bits working under the scenes to connect phone calls, make SMS/MMS arrive and move bits around over the mobile connection
Originally posted by MartinK View PostFailure in this area means lost or interrupted calls, bad call quality, lost SMS messages or mobile connectivity issues and issues with switching between wifi and mobile connectivity. All potentially pretty annoying issues.Last edited by shmerl; 17 January 2018, 12:34 AM.
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Originally posted by Almindor View Post
I wished Jolla would make good on their promise and just bloody open-source it already. All I'm asking is the UI and their internal apps/settings etc. not the drivers. That alone would be a huge boon to the community and would vindicate their huge failures.
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