The Current State Of Librem 5's Linux Smartphone Functionality On Their Dev Kits

[Danielsan]

Back in the day when systemd was still "just a better init" (something around 10 years ago), SHR already used it on Openmoko Neo Freerunner (and later on others like GTA04 and Nokia N900 too).

No way!

[Flaburgan]

I talked to a dev and they intend to ship without a functional camera (so without an app to handle it). That can seem fair as they need to deliver and there is massive work to do, but that still makes me wonder why they didn't use Ubuntu Touch for the first release and provide gnome and KDE later. As someone who followed closely Firefox OS, I know how unstable the first versions of an OS are. They could save months using UT.

[tildearrow]

I don't think that's a concern for 98% of people wanting a Linux phone. People would much rather see a compass, gps, 4G/4G LTE, Wifi (2 Ghz/5 Ghz), more storage, better cameras, more ram.

I remember a time where our government was promoting phones with FM radio because FM radio is available during a catastrophe, while cellular data may not be.

[tuxd3v]

I don't think that's a concern for 98% of people wanting a Linux phone. People would much rather see a compass, gps, 4G/4G LTE, Wifi (2 Ghz/5 Ghz), more storage, better cameras, more ram.

People can live without 4G or LTE or 5GHz Wifi( because even so, you are able to do everything that you can, and fast.. )...
Now if a device don't have FM radio..how does you listen "free"( you already pay for it...so why not use it?? ) music and such without FM Radio?

Morover, FM radio has by far a bigger coverage area than any other option around..

[Danielsan]

I talked to a dev and they intend to ship without a functional camera (so without an app to handle it). That can seem fair as they need to deliver and there is massive work to do, but that still makes me wonder why they didn't use Ubuntu Touch for the first release and provide gnome and KDE later. As someone who followed closely Firefox OS, I know how unstable the first versions of an OS are. They could save months using UT.

But why should they use Ubuntu touch when they have their own Debian based, libre, distro?

[Raka555]

I hope for the better, probably I won't buy the first release but at least it will be the first mobile phone working with systemd...

No wonder the UI is laggy ...

[dos1]

No way!

I have checked - SHR switched to systemd in 2011.

I talked to a dev and they intend to ship without a functional camera (so without an app to handle it). That can seem fair as they need to deliver and there is massive work to do, but that still makes me wonder why they didn't use Ubuntu Touch for the first release and provide gnome and KDE later. As someone who followed closely Firefox OS, I know how unstable the first versions of an OS are. They could save months using UT.

Usually it's not a problem of "an app to handle it" (there are already some that would just need minimal UI changes - like Cheese, or my own Kamerka), but the kernel drivers and all the machinery needed to actually get a decent image out of the raw data provided by sensors. It took a while for GTA04 too to actually export the camera in kernel via V4L subsystem for apps to use (mostly because it was low priority with limited humanpower).

[Djhg2000]

Given the battery life of modern phones you're probably better off with a decent pocket radio.

Or learn how to make a simple AM radio from common parts, in a pinch they're still good enough for simple FM voice transmissions. With some tuning you can make out most words even though it should be a totally incompatible modulation.

[Nille_kungen]

I hope for the better, probably I won't buy the first release but at least it will be the first mobile phone working with systemd...

Jolla Sailfish OS use systemd, it's everywhere.

[caligula]

Jolla Sailfish OS use systemd, it's everywhere.

Indeed, even OpenWrt boxes could use systemd if only they had more than 8-16 MB of disk space which also needs to include bootloader + firmware blobs.