[ale] Linux Smart Phone Recs

[H P Ladds]

Thanks Jim and CHS --

Why-o-why can't I be like normal people and stick with the pretty
"I-gizmos?"

I drank the Oneplus One Koolaid, and now wander the Internet asking geekish
strangers if they have any Oneplus One invites to share.

I'll see what the next round of Oneplus One pre-orders yields products with
a lead time of 2 months or less. Otherwise, the HTC seems good to me.

Thanks Again


On Wed, Nov 5, 2014 at 9:12 AM, Charles Shapiro <hooterpincher at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Getting a smartphone is, well, fraught.  You are married to your wireless
> provider.  Sprint is one of the relatively good guys of a quite bad lot.
> I'm currently on T-Mobile, in large part because I find Verizon
> unconscionable ( https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/11/verizon-x-uidh ).
> Verizon also found a way to nullify HTC's bootloader policy, forcing you to
> rely on Exploits to bring the phone under your control.  T-mobile still
> helpfully informs me that my phone is rooted every month or so.
>
> The radio part of every current smartphone (the software and hardware that
> actually connects you to the phone network) is completely closed and
> riddled with security holes.  You'll have to decide whether the inherent
> insecurity of the device is worth the significant additional daily-life
> power it gives you.  The latest editions of CM have some enhancements to
> make you marginally safer, FWIW.
>
> +1 for Oneplus one, although I've had no personal experience with it.
> Failing that, HTC will unlock your bootloader on request (
> http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader ), making it easy to install CyanogenMod
> or any other 3rd party ROM you fancy.  Plan to spend at least a few hours
> hacking your phone when you first take it out of the box.  It gets
> significantly harder to make the device your own when you have content on
> it.  I've been pretty happy with my HTC One M8, although the speakerphone
> and sound recorder mic is very weak.
>
> I'm also a fan of swappa ( http://swappa.com ), a site where people sell
> their used Android phones.  I've bought a couple of phones through them and
> been happy with the results.  Wireless provider purchase plans are
> generally a poor deal.   You can usually purchase a phone outright for
> significantly less, and you shouldn't have to pay to get free of your
> provider if you decide you don't like them.
>
> -- CHS
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 4, 2014 at 12:02 PM, Jim Kinney <jim.kinney at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Oneplus one
>>
>> Runs a cyanogen out of the box.
>>
>> Availability is an issue. Presales SWAMPED the site. It's on par with a
>> nexxus 6 at half the price. Reviewers have liked it lots.
>> On Nov 4, 2014 11:19 AM, "H P Ladds" <householdwords at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I'm (with some dread) giving-in and buying a "smart" phone.
>>>
>>> I seem always to turn a tech buying decision into a big "thing." I fear
>>> that as I learn of all the proprietary tech, backdoors and privacy rights
>>> stomping I will become angry and despondent.  But here goes...
>>>
>>> What stay ye Linux enthusiasts -- what phone should I buy for the Sprint
>>> network?
>>>
>>> My inclination is to use Cyanogenmod.
>>>
>>> I prefer a phone that allows me use the machine in any way I see fit. If
>>> I want to repurpose the thing as calculator, that's my choice.
>>>
>>> Is this Holy War fodder -- hope not?
>>>
>>> Cheers and TIA.
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Ale mailing list
>>> Ale at ale.org
>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>>
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ale mailing list
>> Ale at ale.org
>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.ale.org/pipermail/ale/attachments/20141107/ec8a759d/attachment.html>