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does anyone in the !fs community here have an #openmoko phone? or some other 'free software' phone besides !android? #greenphone? #tuxphone?
about 8 months ago from api-
@eightyeight I have a Nokia N900, updated with the community updates (Community SSU) after Nokia stopped developing Maemo 5.
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@eightyeight I have an openmoko neo freerunner
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I have an n900 and a pleasant paperweight, the openmoko neo 1973
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@forteller Now that is really nice.
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@lxoliva how do you like it?
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@eightyeight it's nice as an extremely portable GNU/Linux computer with GPS; not so great as a phone: buzz and buggy nonFree GSM fw :-(
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@eightyeight I'm now trying an HTC Magic with a combination of Replicant and CyanogenMod; pretty, but doesn't feel “home”
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@eightyeight I'll probably try SHR GNU/Linux on it, but possibly go back to the freer Freerunner
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@eightyeight Is android is free software? Open source maybe.
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@lxoliva Just out of curiosity, what distro do you run on your Freerunner? I've got one myself, but haven't played with it for a while :)
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@eightyeight nope to which? either? both?
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@laurelrusswurm you only asked one yes/no question that i am aware of.
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I have a Neo FreeRunner. It goes with me everywhere.
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@jxself how do you like it?
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Got it. Haven't had enough coffee yet.
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It's not ideal, but it's probably the freest cell phone presently available.
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@sazius a slightly freed version of SHR; still gotta clean it up further before I can recommend it though
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@eightyeight I have a freerunner. I used to use QTMoko on it religiously. About to switch back to it, will be trying out SHR & plain Debian
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@eightyeight I have an Android phone running CyanogenMod sans the google apps I used while the freerunner had battery problems.
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@laurelrusswurm The core OS is potentially free. Replicant is the #linuxlibre of Android.. lets you run a few models completely free.
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@dhraak Compared to the #n900 I can charge my Neo FreeRunner without needing proprietary software: http://ur1.ca/5cyuh
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Thanks... the one i heard of was called Cyanagen. It's great to have choices :)
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@laurelrusswurm Are you going to #root your phone @laurelrusswurm?
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I run a Cyanogen snapshot on my phone. Even though it's beta code I have found it stable. And it come Google free, of course.
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@parlementum I will get someone who knows how to root my phone (i know my limits :)
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@gomerx i kind of thought i might be spelling it wrong. ;)
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@gomerx @parlementum In !Canada we have very limited cell phone/internet choice which is why i switched cell providers (escape monopoly)
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Rooting is easy... long as you don't mind depending on forum posts by semi-literate haXX0rs who may have left out important details. :)
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If you put 'cyanagen' into DuckCuckGo, the first hit you get it the CyanogenMod web site, so it doesn't matter. :)
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as i say, @gomerx, i know my limits. i can spot what's left out of a story, not whats left out of code
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@gomerx i was about to dent how much friendlier the duckduckgo start up screen is than the one i used to get from another search engine :D
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Yes, we have several monopolies to choose from here. True freedom. :)
Jason Riedy likes this. -
I'm good with this stuff, and it took me weeks of study to finally make the jump.
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@gomerx that's why I haven't rooted my android phone.
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Ducks are very friendly.
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@gomerx which is why i'll wait 4 my computer guy to be comfortable with doing it; i believe cyanogen only just came available for my phone
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@gomerx the phone i was told i should get (samsung) was not one of the ones available from the cell provider of choice
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cartoon ducks especially.
Jeff Has Moved likes this. -
Once you've rooted and have a custom recovery image, you can do backups to avoid disaster - which is kind of a catch-22.
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@laurelrusswurm I agree. My phone will be rooted when son's friend does it for me. Not before.
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Cyanogen unfortunately has non-free binary blobs and my HTC G2 is useless without them. Will be moving back to the !freerunner shortly.
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I've dealt with a couple HTC phones and a Samsung Epic 4G. They all have different procedures, and the quality of info varies widely.
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I'm pretty limited as well. Lots of choices, but the only one who hasn't signed a deal with Microsoft is Motorola.
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@gomerx I have an lg optimus v. With virgin mobile. So I'm not sure if it will even root.
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Here's the procedure. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1197991 Doesn't look too bad. Then you'd need to choose a ROM
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@gamerchick02 mine is also LG optimus ... i've been told that it is rootable
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@laurelrusswurm I'd like to try at least. Get the cruft off. Not sure how though.
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@gamerchick02 well, that's what i'd expect from you, 'cause you're a real tech chick; me, i'm just a user
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@laurelrusswurm Haha! That's ok. I'm not sure if I will potentially ruin my phone. I don't want to do that.
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yes; funny how the phones are always uber expensive when we first buy them .. can't afford to turn them into bricks
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@laurelrusswurm I've had a few phones fail when the ROM doesn't flash properly,but I haven't seen 1 brick permanently,reflash usually works
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I had one bad one, but I restored from backup and was OK. A later version of the ROM worked.
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@laurelrusswurm Totally right. I don't want to break the darn thing. And if I modify it improperly, I won't get support if I need it.
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@gamerchick02 Yah, it's a racket.... funny how fast cell phones loose their "value" (says one who has quite a collection valueless ones)
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@gomerx that's been my experience: dodgey ROM just reflash and clear cache etc
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This one didn't. I even wiped to factory and reflashed and got nowhere. My backup worked fine, though. Very unusual.
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@gomerx: I just want to root the current rom. All I want is root access; I don't want to muck with roms and keeping thi…
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@laurelrusswurm: It's unfortunate, isn't it?
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@laurelrusswurm: They do. I'm sure mine isn't worth near the $150 that was paid.
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@gamerchick02 all you need is to flash the clockwork recovery and then a small zip update will gain you route access
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That's a good strategy. I did that for a while. Lets you do things like throttle clock speed when the screen is off to save battery life.
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@kevie thanks! That's very good to know / cc @gamerchick02 http://identi.ca/notice/84519707
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@laurelrusswurm: Sweet! Thanks @kevie! I appreciate you help. I dunno when I'll get to this. Maybe after I've moved and all that.
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@gamerchick02 let me know if you need any more help, may be worth chatting on Diaspora nearer the time so we can talk without 140 limit
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