Jolla's Former Management Acquires The Business

[Quackdoc]

I disagree, I want a secure phone and the only way I can feel secure is that it's all free software or at least as much as a random android phone and rootable obviously.

you know when you drink from a water bottle and finish it, how there in reality is usually a wee bit of water left? that's you. you are a drop of that water. Not to mention you have a really dumb sense of security. free software doesn't equate security, Battle tested software that has proven itself to be secure equals security. Which blackberry did.

How could I be secure from Blackberry if they or some of their suppliers have control of all the blobs in the phone heck even the whole OS in that case? They can have rootkits and stuff all over the place and without the source nobody else can control it.

Sure, this is possible. However RIM is reputable enough that they are still a trusted source for automotive and cyber security, Yeah sure you could be insecure because of this, But I could also get aids after being outside for an entire day, wearing gloves, and only putting my hands by my mouth only when eating a sandwich after changing gloves. I bet the later is more likely before the android stuff.

I would bet I would sooner be hit by a jet while underground in a tunnel then having security issues with old blackberry devices.

Also in the movie and that was true for me as well the feature they at least mentioned or focused on a bit was their keyboards and the not build in china thing.

The keyboards where neither a big selling point nor a detriment. I don't know anyone that actually cared one way or another, and this is coming from someone who had a blackberry priv. I haven't watched the movie, nor do I really care. When blackberry outsourced instead of doing it in house, they destroyed their rep, that was the nail in the coffin.

I can say yes I did not want their pseudosecurity that is not guaranteed without the source code I don't need, if I want to trust a company for security by locking all up I also can go to apple they sell the same garbage...

Yes I found the hardware interesting but BECAUSE of their "security" that I can't root and install a 3rd party rom I sadly could not buy it even I was very heavily into keyboards on smartphones.

Yeah no one cares about this in reality (see the waterbottle analogy I made previously.) If you want real security, you aren't rooting your phone. Blackberry had an amazing reputation for security, far more then any open source project I know about. If for one second you think that FOSS means any degree of security, you have zero clue how it works. yes, it helps. but the immediate thought that foss == more secure is incredibly dumb. It's not pseudo security if you can prove it, which blackberry did, time, time time time and time again.

[direc85]

I'm happy that the same personnel are continuing with the new company and all IP was transferred to it! I know there are lots of changes and improvements simmering nicely behind the scenes, and now that the, uh, legal procedure is over, the business can continue and new releases made!

Yeah, it's a niche OS but I have several reasons to like it - it not being an Android derivative is one, and its (small but) active community is another.

There's no telemetry or tracking. The OS is mostly open, but the UI, Android App Support (it's something they use in the automotive side as well) and a few other bits are closed. I think I can live with that.

It's open to such extent that the community has ported it to dozens of devices - but the quality of the non-closed binary blobs are so poor it's a joke. Sony Xperia 10 III has a buggy display contrast/gamma/something, and this samsung tablet didn't even have a sound driver! The original Jolla Phone was an absolute gem when it came out, still have two in working condition ten years later!

I digress. Congratulations, sailors!

[stormcrow]

It is the only mobile Linux OS daily-driven by a significant number of people. That says a lot.

Citation needed. According to statistics aggregate groups Sailfish OS is so insignificant in its presence, not only is it part of "other" OSes/platforms, "other" has barely any statistical presence in the market. There are billions of people out there with a phone, and a significant number of them have more than one as it's especially common with corporate & municipal employees who have both a personal and work issued phone. The reality is Jolla could disappear tomorrow and only a few people in the market would even notice.

[blackiwid]

It's not pseudo security if you can prove it, which blackberry did, time, time time time and time again.

How did they proof that they have no backdoor build in? And even if they would have done that to any point as soon as I active updates that could change any second. How did they proof that they not worked with the secret services etc?

Was their selling point that they were save from total surveillance because they were located in Canada, they are part of the 5 eyes and have a fashist government that took away all money from people for demonstrating... and did the dictatorship status, without any reasonable reason.

I know that they had a good PR for security but I don't see how that translates to anything real. Maybe that criminals did not hack them or something... that does not mean that it's secure it just says that they are pretty secure towards this specific groups.

And opensource is more secure and easier to long term support because everybody can change it and fork it, so even if status X is worse it can be fixed... if there is a rootkit in it it can't be fixed.

Now all this phones have a mobile chip in it with a proprietary OS on it even on most android phones... so all this I assume total surveillance, but I want to over time change that by consumer decisions. And as there were mentioned there are real free systems.

That you see no problem with proprietary software I don't understand why you are on a linux/opensource website to say that proprietary software is more secure than free software and better...

And you ask me to trust criminals one of the manager gone to prison I think or was at least convicted that was also a big part why the company ended, at least that I learned from the movie.

[stormcrow]

How did they proof that they have no backdoor build in? And even if they would have done that to any point as soon as I active updates that could change any second. How did they proof that they not worked with the secret services etc?
...

You prove it by having 3rd parties audit your source code like anyone else. *ignores the rest of the tin hat rant*

[Old Nobody]

I'm using Sailfish on my phone for some years now. Jolla is regularly delivering updates, there are plenty of apps, much stuff is directly and well integrated into the OS where you would need extra apps on iOS/Android. I'm satisfied with it. Don't want to change.

New users should consider to buy a Sailfish license from Jolla to get the Android emulator: Unfortunately more and more services like buying a parking ticket or renting a bike are only accessible for Apple or Google users. No more website, no API. Only apps for iOS and Android. Duopoly forever. So you might want the Android support.

[ThomasD]

For security, see Graphene OS
For general features, including more apps and works on a wide array of devices, see LineageOS

Why do more apps run on LineageOS? Most apps run fine on GrapheneOS and with their sandboxed google play, they support even more. On LineageOS, no app which needs google play is working. You would need to mod it first and then have google play running without a sandbox.

[Conan-cimmerian]

So no hope for any positive change, I watched the movie about Blackberry, which came of as a cheap knockoff of the wolf of wallstreet, I would have liked to see a bit more focus on the technical side and explanaition why we lost something valuable maybe, and in this style I would rather have a documentary about the company.

But yes this seems a similar story both software were to proprietary and now Jolla has not even own phones anymore. With different leaderships even from russia I would have hope that something chances but it sounds like it stays as shitty as it is now.

And yes I tested it for a while on a sony xa2 but some important apps don't work and you can't change hardware so... it's pretty limited.

Who cares if Jolla "reacquires" SailfishOS when Russia already forked it and made a better version called Aurora 5.0 (and from what I gather are releasing a new tablet with the AuroraOS on it).

[Conan-cimmerian]

Good. Russia shouldn't have its paws in anyone's business.

As for SailfishOS itself, the number of supported devices is unfortunately limited, which makes not too useful.

Sorry to break it to you, but Russia already forked SailfishOS and has their own version called "Aurora" that by all accounts is pretty good.

Also, why should Russia not be able to do business with people? Seems rather xenophobic position to take.

[shmerl]

Also, why should Russia not be able to do business with people? Seems rather xenophobic position to take.

It's like asking why Naz*s shouldn't do business with people. I'd ask the opposite. Should people do business with Naz*s? IBM to this day can't wash it off its reputation.