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Why are you still using the N900? Its kernel, browser and SSL libraries haven't been upgraded in years and years now. If you connect to a network, you are just

Why are you still using the N900? Its kernel, browser and SSL libraries haven't been upgraded in years and years now. If you connect to a network, you are just asking to be pwned. I kept my N900 for years longer than most people because it has a quality DAC and, as long as I kept it in airplane mode, it was a good music player for the classical and jazz I listen to on high-quality headphones when traveling. But eventually I realized that the N900 could be totally replaced by simply adding a Bluetooth DAC to the Android smartphone I already have (and I'm glad I did that, because the BTR3-FiiO Bluetooth amp I got sounds even better than the N900). I recently got a Pinephone, but it’s hard to enthuse about it. So much of the cool things you could go with the N900 – Emacs and the whole OS it brings along, writing your own scripts in the terminal – were due to its hardware keyboard. A modern smartphone that lacks a hardware keyboard is just a pain to hack.

belorn 6y ago
First, it works and do the job of being a phone and it has a great keyboard for sms. It also lack a bunch of anti-features. No calling the mothership. No advertisements. No constant attempts to get me to register, to send gps information, to get me to do things which I don't want to do but the manufacturer do. Interface is clean, fast enough, intuitive to use. It has the few apps I want to use like the terminal, fosdem schedule and also a virtual debian machine. All the third-party stuffs still get regular updates. In the future I don't know what will replace it. The free software phones are interesting but I have my doubts about how practical they will be. On the proprietary side there are the foldables, but it is still a touch keyboard. There are feature phones, but many seems to now days be smartphones in disguise.
- Mediterraneo10 6y ago
  > All the third-party stuffs still get regular updates. OK, but I hope you are aware that even the third-party stuff still uses the 2.6-version kernel and the system SSL libraries, which have not received security updates for years. Also, an Android phone running LineageOS would not call the mothership, advertise to you, nag you to register (there is nothing to register for), send GPS information anywhere once you configure it to not do so (or you can choose a libre alternative like Mozilla’s location services), or get you to do things which you don't want to do but the manufacturer does. That is why many if not most idealistic N900 owners moved on to LineageOS, while hoping that something like the Neo900 or the Librem 5 or the Pinephone would eventually remove the need for Android entirely.
floatboth 6y ago
You can use a mainline kernel. (Without the GPU..)

belorn 6y ago

First, it works and do the job of being a phone and it has a great keyboard for sms. It also lack a bunch of anti-features. No calling the mothership. No advertisements. No constant attempts to get me to register, to send gps information, to get me to do things which I don't want to do but the manufacturer do. Interface is clean, fast enough, intuitive to use. It has the few apps I want to use like the terminal, fosdem schedule and also a virtual debian machine. All the third-party stuffs still get regular updates. In the future I don't know what will replace it. The free software phones are interesting but I have my doubts about how practical they will be. On the proprietary side there are the foldables, but it is still a touch keyboard. There are feature phones, but many seems to now days be smartphones in disguise.

Mediterraneo10 6y ago
> All the third-party stuffs still get regular updates. OK, but I hope you are aware that even the third-party stuff still uses the 2.6-version kernel and the system SSL libraries, which have not received security updates for years. Also, an Android phone running LineageOS would not call the mothership, advertise to you, nag you to register (there is nothing to register for), send GPS information anywhere once you configure it to not do so (or you can choose a libre alternative like Mozilla’s location services), or get you to do things which you don't want to do but the manufacturer does. That is why many if not most idealistic N900 owners moved on to LineageOS, while hoping that something like the Neo900 or the Librem 5 or the Pinephone would eventually remove the need for Android entirely.

floatboth 6y ago

You can use a mainline kernel. (Without the GPU..)