It’s not the CPU architecture that is the problem. ARM is well documented. It’s all the IP cores surrounding it. If you now switch to a MIPS cpu you still have the problem with all the modules around it. You have to switch them against well documented modules. It’s not the CPU architecture.
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Of course you can make pure Linux phones, and for a reasonable price. That’s exactly what the Pinephone is, for example. And it’s almost good. Especially with Maemo Leste - Sailfish used to have a lot of issues though I haven’t tried it for a while.
Where it falls over is, if you are limited to choosing components that have non-Android drivers, or better still open source drivers, a lot of the pieces are not going to be the best available. The most serious consequence of that usually being that the battery life is hopelessly short. In the case of phones, mostly that’s because the choice of cellular modems is very small, and those that exist aren’t ones that prioritise low power operation. (On the other hand the modem in the Pinephone does at least give you VoLTE without any fuss…)
So you end up with something that is almost there but isn’t a daily driver, let alone a mass market device. As opposed to my Xperia III with SFOS, which is fantastic but has to rely on the closed source Android lock-in layer.
That’s why the N900 and its successors were so special. Hardware with Linux drivers, and a battery that lasted more than a day. I’d pay quite a lot for something that replicated that, but only a major manufacturer could force the driver issue, and right now none of them seem interested in anything other then the next Android thing that looks exactly the same as the last one but minus a few more features.
I’ve never really understood why the chipset makers are so obsessed with secrecy. It’s never seemed to be in their best interests commercially. People who have to work with the barely-documented rubbish hate them for it and would love to have an alternative. Apple even went so far as to make their own chips.
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The closest thing I’ve seen to a N900 is the MNT Pocket Reform. But it’s not the same thing, and it doesn’t have a mobile radio (but you can obviously carry one in a pocket router, I know people that do this). It’s more like a mini-laptop. Nevertheless, it’s kinda good enough for the same usage pattern I had with my sorely missed N770-N900 devices.
so basically even on risc-v arquitecture which is open if all the components around the cpu are not documented or closed you can have similar situation like current arm based boards? That’s disappointing…
I have the feeling I repeat myself here. It’s not the cpu architecture. It’s the components around it. The GPU, the modem, to wifi and bluetooth module, the nfc module, the gnss module, etc. A huge problem are camera modules, because the vendors (like Sony) are sitting on the documentation like it’s a treasure with many secrets inside, but it’s not, it’s just a piece of paper they don’t want to give you.
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Well, it is a treasure. All these companies license and cross-license hardware and drivers. They probably have better margins on the ‘IP’ than on the hardware. As much as I hate it, it’s a game they all play and some, broadcom for instance, abuse a central position where IP is concerned. Sony, as a manufacturer of cameras has a real stake in guarding the camera foo. Even if in the near term it’s value descends to zero.
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I’d call it gatekeeping. Because there’s nothing secret in the documentation that other camera chip vendors could steal. They just want to control who can use their chips and who not.
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Well, sure, in the sense that they are guarding the property they have created. Now, as I suggest, it’s a short term view. But they wouldn’t spend the money on the legal aspect if it didn’t make money.
They don’t even give complete control to license takers, so, in a sense it’s like service enshittification. First, charge for the license, and then make the water fountain in the garden coin operated.
The ‘problem’, from our vantage, is seen as a central pillar of contemporary capitalism. Patents, IP, etc, etc, are considered a feature. The best thing we can do is to work toward open hardware. But most of the engineers I know that have the ability to do stuff like make a very small embedded camera, would be very happy to have complete control over the ip. It’s a catch 22.
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It’s sad that you have to ask. But calling anybody “idiot” is not only unpolite and wrong. It’s also counterproductive.
It shows that you label yourself better. So: where can I buy your better phone?
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Please keep Russia out of this discussion. The situation about digital privacy and state surveillance is very difficult there. Europe is slow in abolishing R. gaz and oil, yet steady lowering the import. Only a few ‘R.friendly’ countries refuse this.
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Like in the early stage of the web Linux is based on certain ideals. Some are nice and reasonable, some are naive.I dislike the system of Silicon Valley with its surveillance capitalism, making profit by mining and selling our data. That is why I have no Google account. Yet somehow developers need to earn a living, so everything ‘free of charge’ is not realistic. A fair company that respects our privacy, that has a proper business model is best. Linux means freedom but the fragmentation also means it is difficult to start a business. That could be one of the reasons that none of the linux devices were successful (PostmarketOS, Librem). Jolla Sailfish is unique and I like it. It is elegant and intuitive, very different from Android and de-googled systems. Sailfish is not perfect, I miss a few features, but on the XA2plus and 10 III it is a pleasure to use. Apple: there is not one radio app without trackers in itunes.
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Why? That is very very stupid. Europe is going to pay for abolishing russian gas very much.
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Well, not really. The gas just gets exported to India, moved to Iran, is sold to China and ends up in Europe via Tunisia. So it is, and so it always has been.
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Well, really. It is how its done now. It used to be directly via pipe and cheap.
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Yeah, well, sort of. I live in Germany , but I’m a Canadian. we have more than enough gas. What I observed in the last 20 years is something like:
- The russians offer long term deals which
- The german reseller lobby dislikes in favour of
- Spot prices
Net result in the last 20 years was uncertainty for all concerned EXCEPT the assholes playing the spot market. Now, sure gas was a bit cheaper, but swung about in a pretty wild way.
At the same time, my mother in Alberta, Canada, was really paying nothing for gas. Continually.
Also, the North Stream pipeline was / is not cheap. It was subsidized by the tax payer, with, of course the assistance of Russia. In the end, it has turned out to be VERY expensive since the Germans are paying for the run around the Ukraine 3 times over. Short story, short term gain, long term loss.
Now, how we combat this situation with a Linux phone is not yet clear to me. But I do believe that playing with open cards (ie. GPLv3) is a good step in the direction of less short sighted policies.
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Unfortunately this was the most polite qualification, that popped up in my mind. I guess you do not want to know what else I thought and I am well educated to not write it here, so accept the facts.
I do not know what you mean and how you come to the conclusion that I label myself better, but at least I am not woke. Which better phone do you mean?
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May be SFOS is that unique because 80-90% was inherited from MeeGo. But compared to Harmattan 1.2 too much stuff is not working for too long. To be precise exactly 10y now.
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I think biggest problem was that Jolla had sold part of the company to Russians. Nobody in right mind would do business with them after -22 with goal to get secure and private OS. Well other than Russians and other dictators… to my understanding that is why the company was put to bankruptcy and new company started without Russians ownership. So at least to my understanding, no contract canceled.
Now Jolla has again freedom and much better opportunities, which cause short term challenges but bring long term benefits. If you think that staying in Russia would have brought anything positive in long term, maybe you need to educate yourself a little bit more. And remember, this has nothing to do with woke related stuf.
When Jolla gets a little bit of funding or one bigger client they have everything they need to lead the way of Linux OS phones.
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God, what nonsense you are writing.
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Whatever you just wrote here is not related to this topic. And if you don’t like Sailfish OS, stay on Aurora and bless the leader of your ‘free and correct’ country
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