Hacker News Reader

Comment by stult | Hacker News Reader

I would kill for a Linux phone, but until that happens I would settle for a phone that comes with root access (or at least allows technically capable users to get it) and let's me control my own data and device from the bare metal up. Because even if Apple has less incentive to exfiltrate data, I don't want to have to trust any company to do the right thing or to keep doing it.

View on HN

You don't have to kill... but some compromises you'll have to do. Librem and (partly) Sailfish/Jolla give you much more control but they are by far not as polished/broad as iPhones or Androids. Here a link, maybe the Sailfish 3 version will get a bit more traction?

https://together.jolla.com/question/191235/official-event-sa...

Can I buy a Sailfish phone ready to go that works on Verizon yet? The biggest thing about this niche OSes is you always have to flash them on a limited set of compatible hardware yourself, and they generally only work on GSM carriers.

I'm not sure, but from a https://together.jolla.com/questions/ search I suppose it doesn't work on Verizon. Maybe ask on together?

You might be interested in this project.

https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/

Have you bought one? What are your experiences with PureOS as a phone OS, considering the underlying hardware? One issue with Firefox OS was the non-fit between phone hardware and OS hardware requirements...

They aren't out yet, but it will have similar hardware requirements. Phone manufacturers don't value a free driver availability when building their phones, making it difficult for alternative operating systems to support.

I had the first Jolla one for a bit.

It wasn't too bad, though the swipey interface made it a little to easily to accidentally call people when drunk.

don't get drunk ;-)

“Don’t get drunk” is the new “you're holding it wrong” ;)

It's easy to get root on some Android devices. I think all Google phones purchased directly from Google make it a standard option; some others do as well, and still others have easy exploits.

You still void your warranty though

While I think it's unreasonable that obviously hardware aspects aren't covered by some manufacturers after rooting, is there a straightforward better alternative? I'm honestly wondering, because I wouldn't expect a company to provide support for a device with software they didn't authorize and aren't familiar with. If you want a device that you own, then you need to be responsible for the full cost of ownership, though again that should ideally only extend to software and aspects of hardware controlled by software.

Personally, I don't have a need to root or install alternative ROMs until well after the warranty expires on my devices, so I don't mind the current situation as much as some.

For the record, rooting doesn't void your warranty. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18297361

It doesn't void your warranty, although the manufacturers have done a very good job spreading that lie. It is illegal in the US to void a hardware warranty because the user altered the software. If they can prove that your alteration led directly to damage, then they can refuse to cover that specific damage, but that's all.

Source: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/yp3nax/jailbreaki...

The main problem is that custom privacy-focused Android versions have to be made compatible for every device and devices come and go all the time.

At some point, hardware progress will be so minimal and devices so easy to manufacture that small companies can offer their own high-end phones and can build for them some years without really being much behind the competition.

When that happens, custom ROMs can really lift off and I don't think we're so far away. One or two more generations of smaller chips and better batteries. We're already at the point where the only innovation is adding more cameras.

I don't think hardware manufacturers will accept that scenario. They must constantly pump out new devices, no matter how incremental the improvement.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com