7 ms·

Excellent talk. I can't wait for this phone (Librem 5) to be available. Only wish the specs were slightly better (higher screen rez for ex). But the privacy and

by kd3 7y ago

Excellent talk. I can't wait for this phone (Librem 5) to be available. Only wish the specs were slightly better (higher screen rez for ex). But the privacy and security features more than make up for that.

noja 7y ago
I can't see it working unless they support WhatsApp and friends. No network effect means it will die. Unfortunately.
- xvector 7y ago
  I don't think this phone was built for the masses. It's a boutique device offering functionality for a tiny niche audience.
  - flattone 7y ago
    it's a great step toward chipping away at the sad stuff everyone currently pays for
- eximius 7y ago
  If I can install Signal or use bridges in the Matrix client, I don't see that being a problem.
  - mattl 7y ago
    There’s a WhatsApp bridge?
    - blacksmith_tb 7y ago
      I haven't tried it, but it looks like it[1]! 1: https://matrix.org/bridges#whats-app https://matrix.org/bridges#whats-app
      - spondyl 7y ago
        There is but it's powered by Whatsapp Web. 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.
        throwaway8941 7y ago
        Or stick it into an Android emulator. It uses hardware virtualization extensions and works pretty fast these days.
        spondyl 7y ago
        That is definitely true! I have no idea about the logistics of running an Android emulator headless on a VPS. Maybe you'd have to use VNC or something at first otherwise just host it locally?
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
- alpaca128 7y ago
  The Librem 5 isn't designed for people who use WhatsApp. Signal and some other actually private messengers should work as they already have official Linux clients. 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.
  - comex 7y ago
    In many regions, using WhatsApp is not really a choice.
    - gregknicholson 7y ago
      This is one of the problems the Librem 5 is designed to solve.
      - Freak_NL 7y ago
        How? If you are stuck in one of the countries where more than 90% of citizens use WhatsApp, your choices are not to use WhatsApp, or to get an Android or IOS smartphone. 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.
        wolfgke 7y ago
        > How? If you are stuck in one of the countries where more than 90% of citizens use WhatsApp, your choices are not to use WhatsApp, or to get an Android or IOS smartphone. So you decide for the former.
        Freak_NL 7y ago
- fancyfredbot 7y ago
  To the average consumer it's slower, bigger and more expensive than the alternatives - I suspect that'd kill it even if it had WhatsApp. They seem very aware of both issues though. In the talk their CTO mentions that they see it being used alongside another device. She also mentions they are only making 10,000 units so mass adoption clearly isn't the target.
  - kd3 7y ago
    I think this first version is for getting the infrastructure in place to go on to the next which should be easier to develop and possibly have a bigger audience.
  - pjmlp 7y ago
    Assuming that community is actually behind them, those 10,000 should sell out as hot cakes. Then they can focus on improving other stuff.
  - wolfgke 7y ago
    > To the average consumer it's slower, bigger and more expensive than the alternatives I do not believe that they target the average consumer.
- detaro 7y ago
  What's "and friends" here? Not everywhere WhatsApp is unavoidably strong, and many competitors can be used on "weird" devices like this.
  - pjmlp 7y ago
    One of WhatApp competitors, which is quite strong in some Eastern Europe countries, Viber, just dropped GNU/Linux support. The executable is still there to download, it barely works though.
- collyw 7y ago
  A collogue worked for Conaonical. Apparently they tried to build a Whatsapp client, but Whatsapp wouldn't let them and insisted they pay them a few million (can't remember the exact figure) to implement a client.

by kd3 7y ago

noja 7y ago

I can't see it working unless they support WhatsApp and friends. No network effect means it will die. Unfortunately.

xvector 7y ago
I don't think this phone was built for the masses. It's a boutique device offering functionality for a tiny niche audience.
- flattone 7y ago
  it's a great step toward chipping away at the sad stuff everyone currently pays for
eximius 7y ago
If I can install Signal or use bridges in the Matrix client, I don't see that being a problem.
- mattl 7y ago
  There’s a WhatsApp bridge?
  - blacksmith_tb 7y ago
    I haven't tried it, but it looks like it[1]! 1: https://matrix.org/bridges#whats-app https://matrix.org/bridges#whats-app
    - spondyl 7y ago
      There is but it's powered by Whatsapp Web. 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.
      - throwaway8941 7y ago
        Or stick it into an Android emulator. It uses hardware virtualization extensions and works pretty fast these days.
        spondyl 7y ago
        That is definitely true! I have no idea about the logistics of running an Android emulator headless on a VPS. Maybe you'd have to use VNC or something at first otherwise just host it locally?
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
alpaca128 7y ago
The Librem 5 isn't designed for people who use WhatsApp. Signal and some other actually private messengers should work as they already have official Linux clients. 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.
- comex 7y ago
  In many regions, using WhatsApp is not really a choice.
  - gregknicholson 7y ago
    This is one of the problems the Librem 5 is designed to solve.
    - Freak_NL 7y ago
      How? If you are stuck in one of the countries where more than 90% of citizens use WhatsApp, your choices are not to use WhatsApp, or to get an Android or IOS smartphone. 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.
      - wolfgke 7y ago
        > How? If you are stuck in one of the countries where more than 90% of citizens use WhatsApp, your choices are not to use WhatsApp, or to get an Android or IOS smartphone. So you decide for the former.
        Freak_NL 7y ago
fancyfredbot 7y ago
To the average consumer it's slower, bigger and more expensive than the alternatives - I suspect that'd kill it even if it had WhatsApp. They seem very aware of both issues though. In the talk their CTO mentions that they see it being used alongside another device. She also mentions they are only making 10,000 units so mass adoption clearly isn't the target.
- kd3 7y ago
  I think this first version is for getting the infrastructure in place to go on to the next which should be easier to develop and possibly have a bigger audience.
- pjmlp 7y ago
  Assuming that community is actually behind them, those 10,000 should sell out as hot cakes. Then they can focus on improving other stuff.
- wolfgke 7y ago
  > To the average consumer it's slower, bigger and more expensive than the alternatives I do not believe that they target the average consumer.
detaro 7y ago
What's "and friends" here? Not everywhere WhatsApp is unavoidably strong, and many competitors can be used on "weird" devices like this.
- pjmlp 7y ago
  One of WhatApp competitors, which is quite strong in some Eastern Europe countries, Viber, just dropped GNU/Linux support. The executable is still there to download, it barely works though.
collyw 7y ago
A collogue worked for Conaonical. Apparently they tried to build a Whatsapp client, but Whatsapp wouldn't let them and insisted they pay them a few million (can't remember the exact figure) to implement a client.