Mastodawn

I love the #Mastodon community! You all are 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨!💙

𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 for all the advice. & keep it coming if you have more. & i apologize for all the follow up questions😅

& here's an idea in case anyone is working on smart phone OSs

I disabled my fingerprint recognition so if the ICE Nazis took it, they couldn't gain entry. But I haven't seen ICE here. & it became a pain in the ass to enter my password every time. I missed so many great videos of my birds bc of that

so my idea is to add a feature where you pick a finger that, if you use that, it locks down the phone automatically. So if they make you open it w/ your finger, you can lock it😁

SeaFury 🦜🍃May 12

@WorldTravelerAll7 use your little finger? Would they try that?

@SeaFury well, honestly, i was thinking using the middle finger. that way, when they told you to open your phone, you could extend your middle finger to the fingerprint reader while it locked the phone down🤣 💙

SeaFury 🦜🍃May 12

@WorldTravelerAll7 😆😆😆😆😆

@WorldTravelerAll7 Some phones have a "Lockdown" mode but you have to choose to go into that mode, ie. not while you are being interrogated :) Some have a secret second pin that you set up and if that pin is entered then the phone either locks you out for a day, or does a factory reset, deleting all user data.

@chrisp so, the dummy PIN is a great idea💙 the only thing is, 1st amendment means they can't make you enter a pin or password, but doesn't stop them from forcing your finger or face to the camera

personally, i really don't want to give up the quick sign-in biometrics enable

BUT, i want them stored on my phone ONLY, not w/ fascist appeasers who would hand them over to the fascists for a dollar🤬

so setting up a biometric safety, like the dummy pin, seems like an easy win😊💙

@chrisp & btw, my other anti-ICEnazis idea (just in case someone sees this😉) is to set up a #PeerTube instance for people who actively engage w/ #ICENazis. make it so they can live stream engagements from their phones so that if ICE tries to steal one's phone & delete any footage/evidence, it will already be public

plus, people could see real time where the ICE Nazis were in their neighborhood

Face Thumb May 11

@WorldTravelerAll7 I'm partial to Grapheme on Pixels, purely because when my family says, "Install this app so you can do some task for the kid's school/medical/soccer/whatever" then I can. That is an upside or a downside depending on how you look at it. As soon as the kids move out then I'm going to run Ubuntu Touch or something.

@chrisp GrapheneOS was one of the 1st i looked for. i couldn't find a vendor who sold phones w/ GOS other than ebay
& i was hoping to find a phone other than Google Pixel that it works on. trying to abide by my self-imposed #BreakTheOligarchy boycott😅
also, i'm old & new to Linux. as close to "out of the box" i can get, the better for me😁
Did you buy the phone & load GrapheneOS yourself, or did you buy it loaded? & if so, where? 💙

@WorldTravelerAll7 I love Graphene, but I hate that they only support Pixel phones because they are the only phones that are open enough and have the security features they need (Or it is an excuse and they don't have enough developers to support too many manufacturers). I just got a secondhand Pixel 5 off eBay and put Graphene on it, but I am a software developer and I've done this other phones in the past with Cyanogenmod and LineageOS.

@WorldTravelerAll7 The Pixels are relatively easy to work on, but a pre-flashed one would be good if you are worried. Once the new OS is on the phone it is like it came like that from the factory. I have messed around with UbuntuTouch a long time ago but the phone I picked didn't have full support for the camera or voice calls and I couldn't get every app working how I wanted, I tried running Signal under Waydroid but it didn't quite work.

@WorldTravelerAll7 Fairphone with /e/ OS would be good too. That has the advantage of manufacturer support. There are too many options :) Eventually I want to move away from Google altogether, so not even GrapheneOS.

@chrisp As much as i would like to go full Linux, the Murena Fairphone with its deGoogle e/OS is looking more & more like the best option

and both Fairphone & Murena appear to be examples of companies trying to pair relationships to provide hardware & software support

Fairphone works w/ several OS developers, and Murena works w/ several manuf. i'm curious about Gigaset w/ whom they partner but don't show products. it looks interesting

@chrisp oh, you just reminded my of an excellent point! i was thinking i don't really need to worry about the camera bc i can use a different camera when i'm filming feeding my birds. but i 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 need it for video calls w/ my friends.

i deleted fascist-owned WhatsApp & switched to the Swiss app Wire. but no one i know uses it😅 i learned Signal is the 2nd most popular vidcall app in Europe, so i'm about to switch to Signal

@chrisp having that skillset makes a 𝘣𝘪𝘨 difference😅
i'm wondering if i should (or even can) learn this new skillset. i learned to program in 8th grade over 45yrs ago on an Apple II w/ a green screen. i didn't program after college until '97 when i learned html to build a website for our base
near 60, as i learn of my complacency once confronted w/ oligarchic fascism, i'm wondering if it's time to fire up the old noggin & upgrade my tech skills again 😁💙

Face Thumb May 11

@WorldTravelerAll7 Anyway, Fairphone is good. I was actually thinking if UbuntuTouch on a Fairphone.

Rusty Shackleford May 11

@WorldTravelerAll7

@draken

Draken BlackKnight May 11

@rusty__shackleford @WorldTravelerAll7
I have a @furilabs FLX1s that runs really good. Fairphones are one of the few that can run Ubuntu Touch so give it a shot.

@draken @rusty__shackleford @furilabs

thank you. i looked at Furilabs. I really like the kill switches👍that's a great security feature
how do you like it? would you recommend the FLX1s? other than the low quality camera, any functionality lacking? could a neophyte set it up?

i was looking at a Fairphone thru Murena that has its own deGoogled e/OS, but not linux

i think i'd have to buy a Fairphone from Europe to get it w/ Ubuntu. which i was ready to do 2 weeks ago

Draken BlackKnight May 12

@WorldTravelerAll7 @rusty__shackleford @furilabs
There are some quirks with it.

The only way to hook it up to an external display is to buy their $80 adapter.

Audio notifications on the main OS can't be changed to different tones, and they don't work at all in their Android 11 VM.

That said, there are things it does better than typical Linux Mobile distros, like root access, access to Apt, and FDE.
1/2

Draken BlackKnight May 12

@WorldTravelerAll7 @rusty__shackleford @furilabs
Your mileage may vary on it and I'm not saying whether or not to buy it, but I'm overall happy with it even if I'm using it as a hiptop cyberdeck and not a mobile daily driver. And at around $500 you're getting a phone with decent-in-a-good-way specs and software.
2/2

Draken BlackKnight May 12

@WorldTravelerAll7 @rusty__shackleford @furilabs
Addendum: I've been using it way more in the past month than I did the Pinephone in the 6+ years I've owned it.

Justin May 11

@WorldTravelerAll7
100% for the @WeAreFairphone w/ e/os by @murena

I have two Fairphone 4 and the two things stopping me from getting an FP6 are
1) battery doesn't pop out as easy as FP4 when needed in a pinch, you have to unscrew it.
2) the FP4s I have work great. Even just recently replaced a cracked display on one for $100 for display and 10 minutes of my time. 😍

Paavi (ei se paavi)May 11

@justin @WorldTravelerAll7 @WeAreFairphone @murena Having both Fairphone 4 and 5, I'd like to add that the latter is great too. Writing this on a Fairphone 5 with /e/OS.

Paavi (ei se paavi)May 11

@justin @WorldTravelerAll7 @WeAreFairphone @murena But frankly in my books /e/OS does not count as a real "linux phone" operating system, for that it'd need a mainline linux kernel. As a deGoogled Android variant with the added goodies it carries, it's a nice replacement for the stock Android Fairphones can be bought with.

@paavi @justin @WeAreFairphone @murena

it's very interesting that you say that. that was my reaction, too. one of my concerns is that it still kinda feels like a google phone. that may be very helpful for the transition

but google used to be good, too. they went from opensource to AI infested

i say i want linux bc i don't want apple or google. but murena's e/OS might be a good bridge🤷‍♂️💙

@paavi @justin @WeAreFairphone @murena

i didn't see the Fairphone 4 or 5 on Murena's site. I'd happily go for the 5. i don't mind spending $750 on a phone, but it is a little vexing when i don't know how it will work😰

Paavi (ei se paavi)May 12

@WorldTravelerAll7 @justin @WeAreFairphone @murena I did the /e/OS installation myself and got the phone from a vendor that just happened to still sell the 5 despite Fairphone itself no longer selling it.

@justin @WeAreFairphone @murena

Thank you💙 that's a very strong endorsement👍

Dávid Bárdos May 11

@WorldTravelerAll7 Have you considered Fairphone 5? Way more OS-es are available for it including Ubuntu Touch, Post Market OS and SailfishOS.

My experiences: https://mementomori.social/@david_bardos/115912432037394955

Since posting that, I learned that theoretically SailfishOS can run Waydroid too solving the missing app compatibility layer in a less convenient, but quite fair way.

Also Ubuntu Touch can be freed from having a read-only filesystem and be less restricted, but it can interfere with the over-the-air updates, so there is a trade-off.

PostmarketOS FP6 support is less complete than the same for FP5. The latter is now the best supported device by pmOS.

@david_bardos oh wow. i have a bonafide expert here. thanks💙

so yes, would happily consider the 5, but didn't see it on Murena's site

as my choices narrowed, i leaned towards Ubuntu Touch, but the trade-offs you mentioned, i don't even understand😅

i only found european vendors who sold the Fairphone, Volla, or any phone, with Ubuntu

if you know of one, i'd be thankful to know it💙

Dávid Bárdos May 12

@WorldTravelerAll7 That's kind of you but I wouldn't say I'm an expert, I'm just really curious. An expert would have noticed that FP5 went out of stock... 😅

@david_bardos oh, & i was thinking about the camera thing. i use the camera the most - to film my birds. but i suppose i could still use an old phone for that.

is that an issue i'd have if i bought a phone w/ Ubuntu Touch?

Dávid Bárdos May 12

@WorldTravelerAll7 My latest information is that there is no smartphone available with a fully functional main camera module running either Ubuntu Touch or postmarketOS.

Chipset manufacturers keep their camera drivers for themselves, and these are difficult to replicate. Additionally, the software solutions used to post-process data from multiple cameras are often proprietary too.

The only Linux phone with a fully working camera, as far as I know, is the new Jolla Phone https://commerce.jolla.com/products/jolla-phone-sep-ii-2026 . On other devices, only the selfie camera or secondary cameras work in the best case.

Also a drawback of Ubuntu Touch is its limited app support. Its app store https://open-store.io/ offers a small selection only, with many apps being unmaintained or buggy. Even browsing was such a pain on it that I installed Waydroid (the Android emulator) and used the browser from there. However, Waydroid drains the battery quickly...

Jolla Phone (Sep-II 2026)

@david_bardos i looked at the Jolla, but they weren't available. Murena sells their tablets

maybe i'm misunderstanding, but this feels crazy to me. so these phone manuf buy camera components for their phones, but the chipset manuf won't grant access to the driver software to make them function properly? clearly apple & google have access bc the cameras work on theirs

we need more anti-oligarchy manuf forming partnerships w/ Linux
& more investment in anti-oligarchy tech😤

Dávid Bárdos May 12

@WorldTravelerAll7 My understanding is that phone manufacturers get the components and license to use driver software exclusively in their Android OS. But they can't disclose it.

Ubuntu Touch and postmarketOS are community projects, the don't have access to the drivers.

Fairphones are unique in this sense, as both /e/OS (by Murena) and Fairphone Android has the camera driver and the software. They are both commercial projects. Other OS versions like iodéOS and CalyxOS doesn't have any of them although they use the same Android base.

@david_bardos that's extremely helpful. more & more i'm feeling like the murena fairphone is the right "transition" off of google for me

btw, you're familiar w/ the Dunning-Kruger Effect, right? you are at that point on the curve where you know so, 𝘴𝘰 much more than the average person, but won't call yourself an "expert" bc you also understand how much you still don't know😅

Peter Hanecak May 11

@WorldTravelerAll7 I'm on Fairphone 6 with /e/OS right now. I may have some criticism¹ but … it works.

¹ nitpicking

@phanecak i'm perfectly ok w/ nitpicking👍😁

after all, it's usually the little things that drive us crazy in the end 😅

i'd appreciate hearing them if you want to share💙

Peter Hanecak May 12

@WorldTravelerAll7 Well, I would be interested a little bit more in GrapheneOS+Fairphone combination, but GrapheneOS is (for now and few more months or years) tied to HW from Google. Otherwise not much else to nitpick about.