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diff --git a/gemfeed/2021-08-01-on-being-pedantic-about-open-source.md b/gemfeed/2021-08-01-on-being-pedantic-about-open-source.md index 50648484..e4139656 100644 --- a/gemfeed/2021-08-01-on-being-pedantic-about-open-source.md +++ b/gemfeed/2021-08-01-on-being-pedantic-about-open-source.md @@ -62,15 +62,15 @@ I only use free and open-source operating systems on my personal Laptops, Deskto ## What about mobile? -I struggle to go 100% open-source on my Smartphone. I use a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 (the normal one, not the pro one) with the stock Android as provided by Samsung. I love the device as it is large enough to use as a portable reading and note-taking device, and it can also take decent pictures. As a cloud backup solution, I have my own NextCloud server (open-source). Android is mainly open-source software, but many closed parts are included (Google Play Services, proprietary Samsung apps such as Samsung Notes). However, I replaced most of the standard apps with free and open-source variants from the F-Droid store. +I struggle to go 100% open-source on my Smartphone. I use a Samsung phone with the stock Android as provided by Samsung. I love the device as it is large enough to use as a portable reading and note-taking device, and it can also take decent pictures. As a cloud backup solution, I have my own NextCloud server (open-source). Android is mainly open-source software, but many closed parts are still included. I replaced most of the standard apps with free and open-source variants from the F-Droid store though. -I could get a LineageOS based phone to get rid of the proprietary Android parts (I tried that out a couple of times in the past). But then a couple of convenient apps, such as Google Maps or Banking or Skype or the E-Ticket apps of various Airlines, various review apps when searching for restaurants, listening to Audible Audiobooks (I think they offer an excellent service), Samsung Notes with its excellent off-screen note-taking capability, etc, won't work anymore. The proprietary Google Maps is still the best maps app, even though there are open alternatives available. It's not that I couldn't live without these apps, but they make life a lot more convenient. +I could get a LineageOS based phone to get rid of the proprietary Android parts (I tried that out a couple of times in the past). But then a couple of convenient apps, such as Google Maps or Banking or Skype or the E-Ticket apps of various Airlines, various review apps when searching for restaurants, Audible (I think Audible offers an excellent service), etc., won't work anymore. The proprietary Google Maps is still the best maps app, even though there are open alternatives available. It's not that I couldn't live without these apps, but they make life a lot more convenient. ## Know the alternatives -But thinking about alternatives is always good a good idea. My advice is never to be entirely dependant on any proprietary software. Before you decide to use proprietary software, try to find alternatives in the open-source world. You might need to invest some time playing around with the options available. Maybe they are good enough for your use case, or maybe not. +Thinking about alternative solutions is always good a good idea. My advice is never to be entirely dependant on any proprietary software. Before you decide to use proprietary software, try to find alternatives in the open-source world. You might need to invest some time playing around with the options available. Maybe they are good enough for you, or maybe not. -If you still want to use proprietary software, use it with caution. Have a look at the recent change at Google Photos: For a long time, "high quality" photos could be uploaded there without any quota for free. But Google recently changed the model so that people with many photos had to start paying for it. I am not against Google's decision, but it shows you that an external provider can always change its direction. So you can't entirely rely on such providers. I repeat myself: Don't fully rely on anything proprietary, but you might still use proprietary software or services for your own convenience. +If you still want to use proprietary software, use it with caution. Have a look at the recent change at Google Photos: For a long time, "high quality" photos could be uploaded there without any quota for free. But Google recently changed the model so that people with many photos had to start paying for it. I am not against Google's decision, but it shows you that a provider can always change its direction. So you can't entirely rely on these. I repeat myself: Don't fully rely on anything proprietary, but you might still use proprietary software or services for your own convenience. ## You can't control it all @@ -83,9 +83,9 @@ The biggest problem I have with going 100% open-source is actually time. You can Regarding my personal Smartphone dilemma: I guess the middle way is to have two phones: * Have a secondary, proprietary Android phone with Google Play store (or an Apple iPhone if this is more your thing) and all its benefits for occasional use. Use the proprietary phone only with intention. Such a phone implies some risks regarding your privacy. If you aren't careful, app providers will collect your personal data for building a digital profile of you, which gets used for online advertisement and other things (this doesn't only applies to the Smartphone, this also applies to some proprietary software (including cloud providers) you use on your home computer or websites you visit). Try to disable all tracking features on such a phone. It's not a guarantee that nobody will be collecting data from you anymore, but you should take at least the chance. Cal Newport once mentioned that you should not use privacy concerning apps as much anyway and instead spend more time on things which matter. -* Have a primary phone, entirely based on free and open-source software. There will be probably no app collecting your personal data. Try to use the primary phone for all of your everyday activities and fall back to the proprietary phone only for particular use cases. Once there is decent hardware (with a decent camera) running Linux (such as Mobian, for example) available, I will consider a purchase. The only 3rd party which then will still be able to track you will be your network provider. You could start your own phone network, but that seems overkill. There is already the Pinephone and the Librem 5 running a real Linux (Android is Linux based, but it doesn't count as a real Linux for me). Still, I want to wait a bit longer for better hardware to be available (I want to have a good camera always with me). The Volla Phone with Ubuntu Touch seems interesting, though (I haven't investigated the camera quality yet). +* Have a primary phone, entirely based on free and open-source software. There will be probably no app collecting your personal data. Try to use the primary phone for all of your everyday activities and fall back to the proprietary phone only for particular use cases. Once there is decent hardware (with a decent camera) running Linux (such as Mobian, for example) available, I will consider a purchase. The only 3rd party which then will still be able to track you will be your network provider. You could start your own phone network, but that seems overkill. There is already the Pinephone and the Librem 5 running a real Linux (Android is Linux based, but it doesn't count as a real Linux for me). Still, I want to wait a bit longer for better hardware to be available (I want to have a good camera always with me). -I have been playing with other smartphone OS alternatives, especially with SailfishOS, too. Security and privacy seem to be significantly improved compared to an Android. As a matter of fact, I bought a cheap used Sony Xperia XA2 last year and installed SailfishOS on it. It's a nice toy, but it's still not the holy open-source grail as there are also proprietary parts in SailfishOS. Platforms such as Mobian, Ubuntu Touch and Plasma Mobile are more compelling to me. People must explore alternatives to Android and Apple here, as otherwise, you won't own any gadgets anymore: +I have been playing with other smartphone OS alternatives, especially with SailfishOS, too. Security and privacy seem to be significantly improved compared to an Android. As a matter of fact, I bought a cheap and used Sony Xperia XA2 last year and installed SailfishOS on it. It's a nice toy, but it's still not the holy open-source grail as there are also proprietary parts in SailfishOS. Platforms such as Mobian, Ubuntu Touch and Plasma Mobile are more compelling to me. People must explore alternatives to Android and Apple here, as otherwise, you won't own any gadgets anymore: [https://news.slashdot.org/story/21/07/10/0120236/by-2030-you-wont-own-any-gadgets](https://news.slashdot.org/story/21/07/10/0120236/by-2030-you-wont-own-any-gadgets) diff --git a/gemfeed/index.md b/gemfeed/index.md index e6064a24..cb75b52d 100644 --- a/gemfeed/index.md +++ b/gemfeed/index.md @@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ ## Having fun with computers! -[2021-08-01 (2816 words) - On being Pedantic about Open-Source](./2021-08-01-on-being-pedantic-about-open-source.md) +[2021-08-01 (2768 words) - On being Pedantic about Open-Source](./2021-08-01-on-being-pedantic-about-open-source.md) [2021-07-04 (2048 words) - The Well-Grounded Rubyist](./2021-07-04-the-well-grounded-rubyist.md) [2021-06-05 (1191 words) - Gemtexter - One Bash script to rule it all](./2021-06-05-gemtexter-one-bash-script-to-rule-it-all.md) [2021-05-16 (1717 words) - Personal Bash coding style guide](./2021-05-16-personal-bash-coding-style-guide.md) |