On 31/08/2017 at 15:24, info at smallinnovations dot nl wrote:
> On 31-08-17 10:14, Alessandro Selli wrote:
>>

>>    Good news indeed!  The second one this week, after this worthy attempt by
>> puri.sm to finally produce a smartphone designed to be 100% evil-software
>> free
>> and GNU/Linux compatible (scheduled for release in 2019, though):

>>
>> https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/
>>
>>
>> Alessandro
> As a owner of a BQ Aquaris E45 Ubuntu version i fully support this kind of
> free smartphone development.

Bear in mind that BQ's Ubuntu phones are (were) regular Android phones
with Ubuntu Phone/Touch preinstalled. They have all the binary firmware
required to run Android.

> But i doubt of a linux smartphone will be
> functional comparable with Android or iOS within 3 to 4 years.

The Purims Librem 5 is designed to be able to run several GNU/Linux
distros ported to ARM. Ubuntu touch was not anything like it, it was *not*
a regular Ubuntu running on a smartphone, you could not have it run a
generic GUI application on it.

> They should
> use the efforts of Meego/Maemo development or work together wit Jolla.

Jolla was designed to be an OS independent from any other in existence,
and it could install Android APK packages. It's not any closer to a generic
GNU/Linux distribution than Android is.

> And
> trying to get support from one or more large smartphone makers.

This is not in their plans, as they are not willing to let third parties
do away with their binary blobs or to let them reverse-engineer their
firmware or drivers or hardware. Just to say one, nearly all smartphone
producers put the CPU and the baseband modem together or linked in hardware,
making it impossible to prevent anything that runs on the CPU from accessing
the modem. The Purims Librem 5 is designed to let those two parts sit on
separate, independent, chips.

> Until then
> when i have to replace my current BQ it will be a iPhone as one of the
> lesser evil.

Apple, together with Google, Amazon, Samsung, Sony and Microsoft, is a
player in the Major Evil League.


Alessandro