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Not just Linux, being free and open in general help immensely to reduce e-waste. Just think of how many old cellphones that don't receive updates anymore could

Not just Linux, being free and open in general help immensely to reduce e-waste. Just think of how many old cellphones that don't receive updates anymore could become media players, portable terminals, IoT consoles, instrumentation interfaces, retrogaming consoles, in-vehicle dash screens, etc. if only the manufacturers released the information necessary to install much faster and open operating systems and write device divers for them. Each one of these old phones recycled that way would be one less phone thrown away. The Pine 64 isn't anything special hardware wise, actually it's way inferior to most popular phones (but runs much more optimized software, and no preinstalled junkware), however, being able to customize it to the point one day I could give it new life by buying say a faster mainboard instead of a complete cellphone then ditching the old one in a landfill, makes a killer argument in favor of Open Source software and hardware.

zepto 6y ago
I’m fully in support of open hardware, and I’d support legislation to make unlocking mandatory. However, I’m much less optimistic about the use cases you list: “media players, portable terminals, IoT consoles, instrumentation interfaces, retrogaming consoles, in-vehicle dash screens” As far as I can see, there is essentially zero demand for any of these beyond hobbyists, since they can all be done much better by one’s current phone. For me, the big reason for open hardware is that Android and iOS are nowhere near meeting the potential for what personal computing could be and we need the freedom to develop alternatives.
Mediterraneo10 6y ago
> actually it's way inferior to most popular phones (but runs much more optimized software This isn’t really true. The only general-purpose interface for the PinePhone with any future to it (since UBPorts is based on decaying 2014-era software that even Ubuntu has abandoned) is Phosh, which has not yet been optimized. So much of Phosh’s tech depends on upstream GNOME packages whose devs aren’t terribly interested in optimizing for slower devices. Also, a modern smartphone relies on a ton of battery optimizations to be reliable for everyday use, and that work has barely started on the PinePhone.

zepto 6y ago

I’m fully in support of open hardware, and I’d support legislation to make unlocking mandatory. However, I’m much less optimistic about the use cases you list: “media players, portable terminals, IoT consoles, instrumentation interfaces, retrogaming consoles, in-vehicle dash screens” As far as I can see, there is essentially zero demand for any of these beyond hobbyists, since they can all be done much better by one’s current phone. For me, the big reason for open hardware is that Android and iOS are nowhere near meeting the potential for what personal computing could be and we need the freedom to develop alternatives.

Mediterraneo10 6y ago

> actually it's way inferior to most popular phones (but runs much more optimized software This isn’t really true. The only general-purpose interface for the PinePhone with any future to it (since UBPorts is based on decaying 2014-era software that even Ubuntu has abandoned) is Phosh, which has not yet been optimized. So much of Phosh’s tech depends on upstream GNOME packages whose devs aren’t terribly interested in optimizing for slower devices. Also, a modern smartphone relies on a ton of battery optimizations to be reliable for everyday use, and that work has barely started on the PinePhone.