
GNU/Linux Smartphone Librem 5 Evergreen Update: Mold and Milestones - fsflover
https://puri.sm/posts/librem-5-evergreen-update-mold-and-milestones/
======
fsflover
If you want to compare the performance of Librem 5 with the cheaper Pinephone,
watch these videos:
[https://social.librem.one/@dos/104767475144787918](https://social.librem.one/@dos/104767475144787918).

Also, here is a detailed comparison of the phones:
[https://forums.puri.sm/t/comparing-specs-of-upcoming-
linux-p...](https://forums.puri.sm/t/comparing-specs-of-upcoming-linux-
phones/6827)

~~~
kop316
I really respect Sebastian. He has very deep technical knowledge and hangs out
on several Pinephone channels and offers helps on them. This is in spite of
the fact that the Pinephone is more or less a competing product and I doubt he
gets paid to do so.

------
bitwize
I ordered a Pinephone. When it goes tits up in a few years I just may get a
Librem. Both of these projects deserve your support, and I'm glad there's
competition in the Linux phone space to keep everybody honest and innovating.

~~~
squarefoot
That's the approach I might consider. The Librem is out of my reach for now,
and I just wanted to explore a mobile platform running a true operating system
that is not a toy with added spyware, so the PinePhone is enough for me. In my
opinion Pine64 did the right thing in solving the harder problem first
(trustworthiness). Thanks for the sales of the PinePhone they hopefully will
be able to make a better performing model in the future. If say I buy a
PinePhone as personal gift for Xmas, then 2 years from now they introduce a
new model that makes my model obsolete, I wouldn't complain at all because it
would still do what it should do. The Librem is on another planet feature
wise, which is expected from a device costing like 5 times more. But do I need
that power? Well, I find really annoying doing anything on small screens, so I
always take with me the laptop; all that power in a phone would be wasted
since all I could ask to a privacy focused phone is to prevent my voice comms
to be intercepted (from within the phone, of course LEOs have full access to
comms), my contacts, files, photos and videos, music etc. to be copied; all
things a 150-200 € open phone can do as well. But yeah, should I have the
resources, I'd like to contribute both projects; they deserve that.

~~~
fsflover
> But do I need that power?

You can use these phones as desktops with connected display and keyboard. You
can in principle run any desktop software (they call it “convergence”). Of
course you need that power.

------
teddyh
I’m glad they again mentioned the RYF certification. It’s the single most
important thing which gives me genuine hope about this phone.

As far as I know, _no other phone_ is slated to have it.

~~~
hiq
I'd probably buy it if it got it, but I'm not holding my breath, given all the
bad accounts I've read about the company:

[https://jaylittle.com/post/view/2019/10/the-sad-saga-of-
puri...](https://jaylittle.com/post/view/2019/10/the-sad-saga-of-purism-and-
the-librem-5-part-1)

~~~
kop316
For the record, when the librem 5 birch came out and I got my shipping
notification, that guy (Jay Little) literally asked if the FedEx package was
real.

I also made a forum post (on Purism, not Reddit) about asking how to charge
the battery after a deep discharge (turns out I just needed to keep it plugged
in to get it charged). That guy apparently goes through the Purism forum to
find posts like mine because he THEN posted it to Reddit as proof that anyone
investing in it is a moron and how I specifically am a moron.

He also said he personally despises the CEO of Purism.

That post was also before there was any hardware shipped. He was convinced
hardware didn't exist and Purism was scamming everyone.

I say that to say I personally think that person is a troll or has some deep
personal issues. I would not pay any attention to what he says.

------
neckardt
What is the current state of the software on the Librem 5? I would be happy to
replace my main phone if it ticks the following boxes:

\- Can handle phone calls and texts

\- Cellular data works most of the time

\- Has the Signal app

\- Has a working web browser

~~~
kop316
Other than the signal app, it does all of what you ask. It does NOT do MMS
(nor does the Pinephone, there is no software support on any of them).

I don't know if signal works in a web browser?

~~~
Mediterraneo10
Signal does not work in a web browser. However, there is hope that either the
Signal app for Android can be used on a Linux phone through a compatibility
layer like Anbox, or at least the Signal desktop app can be made to work on a
phone screen. This is still a long way off, though.

~~~
kop316
I know Anbox is sort of working in Mobian/pinephone. It isn't production
quality, but it works!

------
rmrfstar
It would be cool if someone ported Lineage to this board.

The hardware killswitches for the baseband, mic, and camera are amazing. But
the linux desktop security model is super scary, especially on a phone.

~~~
yjftsjthsd-h
> But the linux desktop security model is super scary, especially on a phone.

Depends on your threat model. If you want to run random untrusted apps, then
yeah it's not great. If you run apps you trust out of curated repos, does it
matter? If you want, stick stuff in firejail to close the gap.

