Some time ago Gaël Duval wrote about Librem 5:
Looks like we are getting closer to the dev kits according to an announcement on their website: Librem 5 Development Kits: we are getting there!
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The Librem 5 is shipping (and here). @GaelDuval, did you guys ever receive the dev kit and try to build /e/ for it?
Wouldn’t it be better to create a non-Android truly Google free version of /e/? Because Android=Google.
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True, that’s why I bought a Librem 5 back in 2017. But this is a phone that I still won’t receive until probably December at the earliest. I’m not mad, but a little surprised at how long it has taken so far, and I have become a realist about how long it’s going to take to have a usable smartphone in the Librem 5, even once it’s delivered to me. It’s got a very dedicated group of developers behind it, and a talented community, but it’s going to take a while to work the kinks out, based on what I’ve seen. And I’m not a snob about Linux, (though it does appeal to me aesthetically).
Android is a known commoditiy, and /e/ is the best embodiment of it that I’ve seen so far. If /e/ was available for the Librem 5, I’d try it out. I’m guessing it would be more usable than PureOS for the first year or so at least, if for nothing else than the sheer quantity of apps already available.
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It’s always a matter of perfect world vs real world. Trust me if I say that I prefer a true Linux OS over Android. But I wouldn’t have started /e/ if I wasn’t sure that we wouldn’t be able to run most existing Android apps. We did this mistake in the past with Desktop Linux distributions (not compatible with Windows apps), FirefoxOS did the mistake again later (not compatible with Android apps). We have to learn from the past.
In order to get rid of the dependency against Android mobile apps, the community should build a new ecosystem of mobile Apps, probaly using web apps/PWAs. This is the only way to disrupt the market. The question is: will the open source community be able to unite around a common and significant project, or will each one try to do his own web app store?
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No we don’t have enough resources to put someone on this at the moment, and I’d need to ensure first that LibreM would be ready to partner with us to launch a line of product with /e/OS. And I’m not certain they will be interested to put some impure stuff like /e/OS on LibreM phones.
So that will probably be a community effort unless we get a boost of resources.
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What would be the interest of porting /e/ on Librem 5 ?
The librem 5 is expensive. In terms of hardware, it is not interesting at all (no fingerprint, uninteresting display, uninteresting cameras, quad-core CPU…). It is not made for android, so the port would probably cost much effort, for a very small result. There are tons of phones already supported by /e/ that are much more interesting and afordable.
Besides, one of /e/ main aims is to “save” phones, that is to say ungoogle android devices. Librem 5 does not need to be saved, it is already fully ungoogled. Sure, projects like this (or Ubuntu touch, or Plasma OS) are valuable, but I think it is not the same approach than /e/ or Lineage, and also not the same public.
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Getting the current functionality of de-googled, open-source /e/ coupled to the Librem 5 hardware that is all run by open-source libre firmware. But as i mentioned above, this would be a short-ish term solution anyway: when Purism reaches critical mass for apps with its community, and becomes a true “ecosystem” that can compare to what’s available for android, that would be preferable. I understand why bringing the two together is not a priority of either /e/ foundation or Purism, but I thought I’d ask since it had been mentioned.
That’s it: because I need to be able to run a banking app for small payments on a mobile phone, it needs to be Android (or iPhone). Others are not supported. I would prefer it in a different way, but know that a banking app will never ever run on Librem 5 Purism. Corporate businesss…
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I need to be able to run a banking app for small payments on a mobile phone, it needs to be Android (or iPhone).
It’s a personal choice whether to be free or to conform. You could carry a 2nd cheap phone always off or in airport mode except for payments.
a banking app will never ever run on Librem 5 Purism.
Purism seems attentive to phones and finance. Never say never. Change can happen.
https://puri.sm/posts/splitit-payments-financing-introduction/
Umm… We should get rid of banks first…
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Ha, bitcoin…
nice, though.
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