A mobile phone that respects your freedom [video]
media.ccc.de
media.ccc.de
I'll still be flabbergasted if they actually manage to ship phones within the next 34 days, but they haven't yet admitted that the shipping date will have to change.
EDIT: At the end, the speaker briefly tries to demo the devkit, only to find that it has inexplicably turned off, and she states "it's pretty hot -- power management is still an area we have to work on". I can't wait to receive my Librem 5, but there is no way this is shipping Q3 this year.
I have written and seen written several posts on twitter at purism that have consistently been replied to as recently as last week saying that pre-orders are still on track to ship before end of Q3.
It makes me feel like the hardware is ready and built and they are working through software management issues like power management before a launch date.
If they focused on one stack, they’d be much more likely to ship solid product, which would lead to revenue. That would give them runway to build support for a bigger ecosystem.
i am now using /e/ which tries to add more privacy to lineageOS, and they manage to produce a much more polished experience than raw lineageOS.
it makes a huge difference. things that i was struggling with on lineageOS, like searching addresses and getting directions suddenly work out of the box and if anyone asks for recommendations for a privacy oriented phone i'd point them to the models that e.foundation sells with /e/ preinstalled.
i do hope that someday i'll be able to recommend a purism model too.
Essentially, you scan a barcode which means notifications are received via Matrix but only so long as your device is on.
If you have a physical server, you might want to opt for a cheap device that can sit next to your server, essentially meaning you're online 24/7
If you use a VPS, notifications will still be forwarded but only work while your phone is powered on. It's not a true replacement for Whatsapp as you still need it running on a device somewhere.
That said I currently don't plan on buying it, simply because right now I'm not heavily relying on the phone. It is however the first phone released in the last ~5 years that I'd call interesting and unique.
Individuals might be willing to contact you via other channels, but group chats won't move to another platform unless you are dealing with people who actually care about their privacy.
I don't use WhatsApp (can't use it due to not having an approved smartphone, and not wishing to accept Facebook's terms of use), and I miss things. Not a lot, and nothing critical, but my partner and I do miss out on some social things.
So you decide for the former.
By not supporting WhatsApp, it forces the user to solve the problem that he/she makes a very bad decision with respect to his/her privacy.
Hence my question in response to gregknicholson's statement:
>> This is one of the problems the Librem 5 is designed to solve.
> How?
It makes it easier for those who _want_ to switch, but don't have the confidence/skill/energy to figure everything out on their own.
Similarly, Disroot made it easy to switch away from Google, by providing a complete (for my purposes) drop-in replacement; Ubuntu made it easy to switch from Windows.
The problem rather is that many FOSS advocates are not willing to pay a multiple of the money (i.e. they do not put their money where their mouth is). If FOSS advocates were a very financially lucrative clientel, companies would care a lot more for them.
Then they can focus on improving other stuff.
I do not believe that they target the average consumer.
The executable is still there to download, it barely works though.
Edit: I see the dev kit uses a 3rd party modem, not sure if the final production Librem 5 phone will as well. It looks like the website for the modem they're using that they link from the Purism dev kit page is broken as well.
thanks for the work you are doing Purism
Then, life caught on. You can't manage kids' activities, work schedules and your social life without a smartphone these days.
[1] https://www.zdnet.com/article/nokia-firmware-blunder-sent-so...
Over the past few years cash payments between people have been replaced by something that's also only available as an iPhone or Android app.
I'm sure there are other things. The next iteration of our government's single-sign-on solution will probably also been an app, at which point owning a smartphone will in essence become a legal requirement.
May I ask where you live? Or did you mean 'without a computer'?
Works perfectly for me in Western Europe.
Do they use TOTP? That can be done with a browser extension as well.
> My bank used a smart phone for 2fa, no text or card reader options available.
That sounds rather exceptional, which bank is this? I know one of the twelve or so Dutch banks does this (Bunq, a newcomer), but if any of the larger ones would drop non-smartphone authentication it would run into political trouble.
Switch your bank.
● has a very similar CPU (but at 1.152Ghz instead of 1.5Ghz),
● also runs free software,
● also has hardware kill switches,
● also has USB C with video out
● has less memory (2GB vs 3GB) and
● has a similar screen size and same resolution (720x1440)
● has a 2MP / 5MP front/back cameras (vs 8MP / 13MP w/ LED flash)
● will cost only 150€ (vs $699 - was $599)
It feels to me like these phones have very different audiences.
They've also made what I think is the sensible decision to focus on producing open hardware, and leave the problem of software to the community.
Why do you say they have different audiences?
> They've also made what I think is the sensible decision to focus on producing open hardware, and leave the problem of software to the community.
That ^ is my guess.
prepaid = go to quick-e-mart and by recharge/credit when needed. plan = set up payment details through web portal or over the phone.
For example, to set up my service in Australia, I bought a SIM card in a little packet at a corner store for A$40. The SIM card was from a specific wireless provider (Telstra, in this instance), but it was sitting side-by-side with SIM cards from other providers in the store. It came "pre-loaded" with 35GB of data to use on their network, plus unlimited SMS and voice calling, which was described on the packaging. When I put the SIM in the device I was prompted to go to a website to register my service, where I input a code from the SIM card packet to link the SIM itself. I was asked to provide my driver license number or passport number. I was then able to choose between three pre-selected phone numbers that were displayed on the screen. Click Finish, and my cellular service started working on my phone. Every month I have the option to renew my plan under the same terms, or choose a plan with different terms (more or less GB of data, for instance), or throw the SIM card away and switch to a different wireless provider.
Yes.
- the modem is for data and not for voice
- they use matrix for calls
(I may be out-of-date)
- the modem is for data and not for voice
- they use matrix for calls
however:
"The Librem 5 will be the first ever Matrix-powered smartphone, natively using end-to-end encrypted decentralised communication in its dialer and messaging app."
The answer forgot to mention software. That was the main problem with the Ubuntu phone.
being aware of social sensitivities is a big part of being successful for projects that aim for broad adoption.
If you want mass appeal you must appeal to the masses. Using loaded symbology is a good way to torch your hard work.
Throughout history five pointed star or its variations have been used in various cultures, ideologies etc. so I don't see it as a "deal breaker".
I got a giggle, since it's inverse is the symbol of Baphomet, and all that.
The Rituals of Freemasonry are something millions of people are shoved through, in the interest of what we call 'knife and fork Masonry' - this is the typical image of usually the largest Lodge in your City or Town, where businessmen congregate to drink beer and make connections.
There are few who take Freemasonry seriously for its rituals, and even fewer who choose to make it past the Blue Lodge (3°), and move on to the Scottish or York rites, which can go all the way up to 33°.
The 33rs Degree is basically an honour. There are very, very few of them. When someone tells me they had a friend of a friend who was a 33rd Degree Freemason I just smile and nod.
Freemasonry is about making 'good people better'. How much you get out of it is entirely dependant on how much you put into it.
Yeah, it's a little tone-deaf.
I understand it's meant to be tongue-in-cheek and all that. But if, for example, they used a swastika, even if they were using it in the context one of the dozens of cultures for whom it's a normal symbol, it would still be tone deaf.
A lot of people here are saying it's just a symbol, etc... But if it was a Christian cross, I bet a lot of HN readers would flinch with "I'm not supporting some fundy company!"
If you use a symbol that has a particular widespread meaning, then people are going to think of that meaning when you use the symbol, even if they then figure out what you really mean a second or two later.
That's why companies trademark logos, and why other companies trying to associate themselves with those companies try to make their logos look similar. (Think of all the knock-off Starbucks-themed coffee shops around the world.)
I... sort of agree with you. It's generally desirable to make your products acceptable to everyone you can, and so the decision to include a pentagram is probably poorly calculated.
But on the other hand, the sort of people who would put a cross symbol in the corner of a video are probably for-real fundies, while it's obviously extremely unlikely that anyone involved in the making of this video is a for-real Satanist (in the religious sense of the term). So I think there might be some justification for differential treatment on the basis of this context.
The upside down pentagram 'symbol of Satan' isn't even the symbol of Satan. It's a symbol of the goat's head of Baphomet, which, yes, is on the cover of the LaVeyan Satanic bible, which, um, claims Satan doesn't exist, and worshipping 'Satan' is ignorant and stupid.
The upright pentagram is used in Ceremonial Magick, in fact, as part of a banishing ritual, the aim of which is to literally banish any negative energies or entities.
It baffles me to think of the upright pentagram symbol as anything but sacred.
Broadly speaking, though I think it does depend on context. For instance, if practicing Satanists have attached a sacrificial victim to an upright pentagram, in order to worship Satan, then even if there may be a symbolic error on their part, that particular upright pentagram could safely be called Satanic and Satan would probably overlook the oversight.
The Church of Satan doesn’t believe in the devil. It doesn’t even recognise ‘Satan’ as a physical or spiritual being. As far as the Church is concerned, there is no such thing as heaven or hell.
And human sacrifice? Like, that kind of thing might happen in the Highest Orders of the Left-Hand Path, the Skull and Bones-type societies George W. Bush was a part of - so conspirators claim - like, I want to be expressly clear that suggesting Satanists make human sacrifices is akin to saying all Muslims are terrorists. Seriously. You're just discrediting a group of people who have enough troubles being recognized as valid to start.
I assure you, I have visited branches of the Church of Satan, and they are actually filled generally with very good people, whose philosophy is mostly that of self-love and not taking any bullshit, combined with the dogmatic practice of Ceremonial Magick.
It just wasn't my cup of tea. I have enjoyed more of what I've seen from Thelemic orders, which do not identify as Satanic.
Sure, it might happen, in only the most extreme cases, but it's certainly not the norm, and it makes people who try to take their faith seriously - even if, yes, LaVeyan Satanism is simply libertarian humanism combined with, quite honestly, a fairly weak system of Ceremonial Magick, if it makes them happy, let them do it.
I don't agree with Catholicism, either, but I'm not running around saying all priests rape little boys, even though there is far more evidence of that, than actual human sacrifice in Satanism.
The latter do tend towards being the awfully nice people you've been describing, who are always making sure that everyone is fine in the mosh pit.
The former, however, can conversely tend towards the type of person who is far too enthusiastic about the technical details of the blood gutters in their unnervingly large collection of ceremonial knives.
There are plenty of theistic Satanists I know who are also great people.
And also, you know some of us are actually practicing Ritual or Ceremonial Magick, and this is actually a sacred symbol for us?
I'd understand if it was upside down, which is part of the laughable LaVeyan Satanic cult, but I assure you there are likely people you know who may be members of very serious Magical Orders.
I will not mention my specific associations with any of these Orders, but even Freemasonry, which I was involved in for years, if studied carefully, has its roots in Ceremonial Magick.
Their use of the pentagram was highly attractive to me - and, furthermore, funny, and clearly educated in Magick to an extent - the I/O symbol at the top is an adorable nod to that being the node of the Spirit.
but I also have lots of family and friends in rural, conservative, christian USA. I assure you, upside down or right side up... If I tried to show them this video, they would flip out. There would be no talk about privacy or cell phones. All discussion would be hyper focused on the presence of this symbol.
Yes, the would equally flip out if the symbol had been a Star and Cresent (Islam), or Swastica (Hinduism, Buddhism, et. all).
I know this debate isn't new (safe spaces, trigger warnings, etc.) but the only point I'm trying to make is that some people will always find the choice to include any religious symbolism in a technical talk divisive. (which sometimes is fine if we are aware and choose deliberately...)
-- Hopefully I'm allowed brief tangent back on topic - just in case anyone associated with the project/talk notices this post (and grandparent post): I'm super excited about this phone, and as soon as there's concrete data about comparability for US carriers, I would love to purchase one.
Flip out because the Wiccan CTO is using a pentagram, or because the CTO is Wiccan?
I certainly understand the desire to separate religious iconography from technical slides, but I don't think your example has much to do with that.
(I have no idea, but I've never seen bad association with an upright pentagram)
https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/cje7vg/dont_use_pu...
Anyway, I'm not an expert about most of that stuff, but they wrote:
> They aren't shipping firmware updates.
Uh... the phone hasn't even been released yet!
Similarly, they seem to have choosen the Wifi and Bluetooth chips as well because they have no downloadable firmware, and the isolation for the baseband probably ensures the same there: https://puri.sm/posts/librem5-2018-09-hardware-report/
If those would have meaningful updates is a good question, and clearly it only applies to some of the firmware, but I suspect that's what the exagerated original claim is based on.
Is there any way to mitigate this if one wants to keep Wifi and Bluetooth?
I guess if one really wanted to be pure then, they could just keep the second (of three, see below) hardware switches off, and even possibly de-solder a connection, to ensure they aren't accidently flipped on.
Hardware Switches:
- cameras and microphone
- WiFi and Bluetooth
- cellular baseband
(When all three switches are off, power is also killed to sensors a la "Lockdown Mode")
Personally, with all these switches off, I'd still want GPS for offline navigation.
Purism: Yes.
https://puri.sm/posts/librem5-solving-the-first-fsf-ryf-hurd...
Purism can't guarantee someone won't try to flash that firmware. so the best solution they came up with was to create a parallel chip to store the firmware they have vetted to be safe and to overwrite the modem or wifi firmware with their version of the binaries anytime a change to the other firmware is pushed through
EDIT: Another user provided the solution: press-and-hold/long-tap the video in the new tab to get an option to download.
should do the trick
Been a while since I used Android regularly, but there will be a similar (easier) method for a shortcut to download the contents of a URL.
It is not an Android phone. It is built on top of PureOS: https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/