Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
Same here, I could survive without it if it weren't a job requirement. Plus it's nice to have some form of back up plan if I need to reach someone ASAP, to change plans when going out etc. Sometimes people don't read their mail, text messages go through more often/faster. But since I'm going to remove my battery as often as possible, I'll experiment a bit with how it feels like to be out of the Matrix (funny, they actually use phones to get inside the Matrix in the movie).
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
Many thanks for the Rockbox ideas, I'll have my own alarm-clock ready in no time (I have an old device which is supported) ! For emergency, I mostly agree with you, except that when out, you need to rely on others. Calling the police when witnessing an agression, I wonder how many people do so under pressure (I'm not even talking about direct assistance). Counting on public phones is random at best (how Superman would do his thing these days?). OTOH, Never had to use mine for such an emergency. Reminders on the laptop, why not, but it needs to be on, and if you have to move often, it's not the most practical. But I see it's perfect for your professional lifestyle. Thanks again for the Rockbox ideas, cheers !
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
I will say that personally, I do still use a smart phone (no Google, only f-droid stuff) but that is part a requirement of my job and secondly - this is one point where I am directly trading privacy for convenience. Having a phone in an emergency situation (it has happened before) was literally a life saver. I understand that relationship and the issues of these devices but sometimes you have to make the personal choice of what means the most to you. I do not endorse these things but I am somewhat forced into the position of using them, I hope it isn't forever.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
Here is a cartoon by "Bors", about the Donald
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
faceborg.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
Then I would bring Ubuntu MATE back in time with me, I suppose.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
Faceborg? That's one nerdy, deep, meaningful play on word: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a1/Picard_as_Locutus.jpg Kudos :) Err, I mean Qapla ! I mean I really need to shut up.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
How do you deal with not having a smartphone in your daily life? Here's a weird auto Q where I try to answer to my own questions, but I'm really interested to hear your (and others) real-life experience, and cases where you miss having one : Emergency contacts with friends and family? Well, they're probably better off calling professionals (firefighters, police etc.), but still. What about making the call yourself, if needed? That's a tougher one. Agenda reminders? Taking notes? Ok, root_vegetable suggested a paper version. This could work for me, although it's a bit annoying. I'd need to have a bag with me at all times. Or not, If I use super small items. Playing chess? Better play at home, focused. Alarm clock? Just have a dedicated one. What if you don't sleep at home but you need to wake up? There are probably easy ways, but not as convenient. Various timers? For sport, cooking... Again, possible to have a dedicated item. And on the go, it's possible 'and welcomed) to train without a timer once in a while. Music player? You answered that one, but the downside is having to use one more item instead of just one. Web? E-mail? At home, at work, a wifi hotspot. Calculator? Fingers. Just kidding (well, partly...).
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
Thanks, I'm definitely going to consider a good old paper agenda. With a few good habits, I can check it every morning, noon etc. and work my memory instead of using the smartphone's. I can play games when the phone is on. I can get a simple alarm clock instead of using my phone. And on the go, I'd still have the smartphone to replace all that (except the paper agenda). The alternative is to use a Replicant smartphone in Airplane mode most of the time. The reasoning is that "unproven bad modem isolation" is actually something to consider: http://redmine.replicant.us/boards/33/topics/7383 "On the other hand, if it is only connected to the SoC through a dedicated channel, it has to rely upon the SoC's cooperation to access more hardware. This requires an explicit cooperation from the software running on the CPU. I don't see any way for the modem to use a weakness in Samsung-RIL to access more features." "Good modem isolation is enough to ensure that the modem doesn't gain further hardware access. However, since free hardware doesn't exist yet, it is very hard to actually know for sure how isolated the modem really is." This makes the data on the phone relatively safe. But since it's not a 100% proof, it's better to keep the data inside not too personal. Boring agenda entries should be ok. even quick notes. The downside: Airplane mode isn't enough to stop tracking I think (even though it's good enough for airplanes). And removing the battery removes the advantage of the agenda. The question is: do I care this much about tracking? I don't like it, but i don't care that much. Yet the Airplane mode doesn't feel satisfying. Well, only one choice left.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
Linux Mint is truly poisonous. It is really bad for beginners because it is full security holes and proprietary drivers. If you want to give people some "blobbed" distribution then Debian with GNOME Shell. Some blobbed distribution, Xubuntu or Ubuntu GNOME. Just not Mint. They will read GNU's website and Mint just undermines the message of freedom.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
Linux Mint is truly poisonous. It is really bad for beginners because it is full security holes and proprietary drivers. If you want to give people some "blobbed" distribution then Debian with GNOME Shell. Some blobbed distribution, Xubuntu or Ubuntu GNOME. Just not Mint. They will read GNU's website and Mint just undermines the message of freedom.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
I am quite certain it runs Android. Can you install custom apps? This launcher is quite good: https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=relaunch=com.harasoft.relaunch I may look for one. The one I have has abominable battery life.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
I would tell myself to visit http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/ and try out Linux Mint (I know it's not the best but it would help my transition to learning the new software).
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
To be honest I just use physical notebooks. They don't ever run out of power and I never lose them. They also aren't generally made by slaves in the far east. People think I am some sort of troglodyte because I use the internet/smartphone/Facebook for as little as possible, even though computer science is my forte. It's kind of sad but at least you can talk to real people most of the time.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
Hi, I have PRS-T3.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
My eReader is from 2012-2013, it doesn't run Android.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
Thanks for the info. The only problem I have with a tablet is the size (and the fact that it's nothing but a well-marketed oversized smartphone, but I digress). I didn't find a good (read "smaller in size") alternative. I spent some good time looking. Let's recap: It's the most practical to have a phone, just in case. Removing the battery most days of the week can make me harder to reach, but also harder to track (this seems more annoying than useful). Best is a Replicant phone, because the OS is the largest and easiest attacking surface. It's best to forget other apps on it, except games (nothing involving data), because of the modem's close proximity, whether I can trust the Airplane mode or not. It's just a phone, period. But the other days of the week, since the phone is most likely off (or not, because not too practical), or simply because I can't trust a phone with my data, even if Replicant supported, a Replicant running tablet (and bigger pockets :/ ) is useful in order to have offline agenda (with reminders), encrypted e-mails and a few other useful/fun apps. It's different from even a netbook because it can be on all day, unplugged, and it's easier to transport. I'm still thinking out loud on this one, I didn't completely figure it out yet. I might change my mind again tomorrow :) I'd say to my younger self to just get a Replicant phone ideally, and to just use a smartphone as a phone (and to turn it off whenever possible). And to get a modem-less, Replicant supporting machine (as portable as possible) for reminders and other work-related AND personal stuff.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
I read books on an old X60 tablet with calibre. It feels big and clumsy at first, but once you get used to it, it's more like a high quality first edition hardback and the swindle-sized ereaders feel like trashy paperback romance novels. It's also much more doable to enlarge to "large print" sized text with the bigger screen.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
That's when I stopped using winshit and working on other people's winshit machines. I got sucked into WINE and social media (Faceborg) for awhile after I had the new baby and only had one PC that I had to share with a then-troubled teenager. It was part of a huge downwards tmi spiral and easily correctable by bumbling across the gnu manifesto again and rabbit trailing my way to trisquel.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
I think CyanogenMod is really the bare minimum, or AOSP built from source, and definitely without any Google Apps. For example Google Play Services runs as root, and it can access the camera, and microphone etc. That is much more of a danger than remotely controlling the device over the mobile network; even if the modem firmware was free software it does not solve the problems of location tracking at the mobile operator's office. The bootloaders are so simple that we can basically consider them hardware, in that they do the absolute bare minimum of hardware inititalisation. They are nothing like as sophisticated as the Intel "management" sofware-spyware. On a tablet that runs Replicant it is probably safer than most Intel PCs bar computers running Libreboot.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
On an E-reader? That would be nice indeed.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
About smartphones, I forgot to add something: Firmwares and bootloaders aside, the real threat is the modem integration inside the machine. Unproven bad modem isolation, I'm not sure what this means, but it's not really convincing. Which leads me to to use it (turn it on) as little as I'd have to (that includes no e-mails, even encrypted, and no real personal data because of the tight modem integration). When I think about it, since it's unsafe to use personal data on a smartphone, the only useful features compared to a dumbphone are the apps. Like reminders, quite useful. So I'd say to my older self to: The smartphone is in essence an emergency phone. Phone calls, text messages, maybe an app or two, period. Keep the battery off as often as possible. ideally get a Replicant phone anyway, but if it's not possible, any smartphone will do, according to the use I make of it. If possible, get some very small and disconnected device that can run Android/Cyanogenmod/Replicant for F-droid apps.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
I'll poke around online later. There is a developer community for Sony readers so I may be in luck. I would like FLAC Music playing capability on my PRS-600.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
Sure: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=222123 http://the-digital-reader.com/2013/09/10/turn-turn-kobo-ereader-debian-linux-tablet/ Looks like it's limited to Kobo models, but the thread is long. Hopefully there's more info inside.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
Interesting. It's better than a smartphone in that matter. Sure, it means several devices instead of one, but maybe the separation of power is maybe worth it in electronics too :) About Tor: So Tor popularity would make it even more effective? But still not 100% safe, I assume.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
Links? I would be up for that
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
I'm no expert, but as long as you can read any format you want, it should be fine. It's not free software maybe, but I think it's acceptable since it has a very limited scope. I've seen some managed to install Debian on their e-reader. Personally, I don't think it's worth it. But it's fun.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
Well, here's what happened: under the metal cover I snatched, there was a Broadcom rectangular "cristal". Since the whole thing was tightly soldered, I tried to remove the cristal. I ended up breaking half of it (ito a thin powder). At this point I stopped, tried the wifi, and the good news is that the reader still works, and even if I can enable wifi via software, it doesn't find any network, and manual login doesn't work either obviously (but I tried anyway). So, yeah, no more wifi :) But I was lucky.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
Don't try and remove the WiFi chip. It is, as you said, soldered. Since they are very small usually you might end up pulling other stuff off too. I once de-assembled a radio. I pulled off a capacitor and after that it would only make a clicking noise.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
Same here, owning a Kobo. The wifi is made to allow browsing (there's a super slow web browser), and to download books from their shop. So I just turned it off. I found there are ways to hack it to some extent, but it doesn't seem like it's worth the effort. But I just opened up mine to see if I can manually disable wifi (unplug or rip it off). A bit extreme, but more like "it's fun to see what's inside". But I can't recognize much, battery and flash memory aside. And even if I find it, maybe the machine is programmed to stop functioning if wifi is off. So I better not rip it off :)
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
It turns out the Sony readers all run a simple GNU/Linux system called "Montavista Linux". So in theory it would be possible to port some custom software to it. Have a look here. They have ways of modding icons: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=100 Some later Sony readers run Android. It is possible to use permission escalation exploits to gain root access and install custom apps. I am not sure if you need root access to install Fdroid. There is Relaunch, a custom launcher for eebook readers with e-ink displays.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
I using a Sony eReader, yes, it has a wifi, but I never connect it, plus, I disabled Adobe DRM shit. This eReader worked fine with all formats. So, is here some ethical problem? I have no choice, no reverse-engineered eReaders available.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
I remember when people stop buying computers because all new computers came with Vista.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
I think that my iPod 5g is better, you can open it easily, replace battery easily, replace screen, and upgrade to CompactFlash or SSD. It is fully compatible with all features with RockBox. Except video.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
though time travel is utterly impossible, I would probably have stopped using windows when vista came out. to be honest that is when i started to dislike windows...
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
And living with e-mails on the go is something I'm willing to try, but it's not for most people (too much effort and inconvenience). What I meant by this unclear sentence is this: ditching the smartphone and relying on a laptop to exclusively communicate via e-mail.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
I just started reading it. First 2 chapters are a bit boring, but the 3rd one is very interesting. I'm definitely gonna be reading more of it.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
>So what about you? What would you say to your old self on this matter? I would say to my older self to read the book "Free as In Freedom". That is exactly how I decided to go libre, I just wish I've read it 15 years ago.
Re: [Trisquel-users] If you could go back in time and talk to your former "owned" self
Thanks you!
