5 ms·

My next phone is going to be a Linux phone, and this is partly why. Individuals need to be the ones in control of the software and hardware that they use, not t

My next phone is going to be a Linux phone, and this is partly why. Individuals need to be the ones in control of the software and hardware that they use, not the other way around.

phillc73 5y ago
I'm seriously considering just going with a feature phone. I am very careful about the apps I have installed on my phone and most of them are just for convenience and not critical. I could do without email, just wait until I'm at a desktop/latop. I could do without chat, again just wait until I'm at a desktop/laptop or use SMS. I could probably do without a browser as well, although this would probably be the most inconvenient loss. Other than that, I use my mobile phone as a phone, a camera and an alarm clock. If I want small, high quality digital camera I could buy one (or use a phone without a sim card and Wifi turned off 90% of the time). A feature phone would cover the phoning, SMS and alarm use cases. I'm really not sure what I'd be missing out on that was critical to my life. I'm about to have a three week summer holiday and I am sorely tempted to buy a sub-€100 feature phone just to try this idea. As I also don't want to take a laptop on holiday, I might need to take the smart phone with me to check things once a day. At least it would then only be in one specific location for a very short time.
novaRom 5y ago
Most modern phone's hardware needs proprietary drivers. Besides, some backdoors are embedded into hardware directly.
saddata 5y ago
Hope it’s not manufactured in China.
alexfromapex 5y ago
This is the perfect example of how the burden is on the little guy to stop surveillance and it's a losing battle of attrition. You might secure the software but it doesn't matter if there are undocumented CPU instructions to break into all phones on the market.

5 ms·

My next phone is going to be a Linux phone, and this is partly why. Individuals need to be the ones in control of the software and hardware that they use, not t

by christophilus 5y ago

My next phone is going to be a Linux phone, and this is partly why. Individuals need to be the ones in control of the software and hardware that they use, not the other way around.

phillc73 5y ago
I'm seriously considering just going with a feature phone. I am very careful about the apps I have installed on my phone and most of them are just for convenience and not critical. I could do without email, just wait until I'm at a desktop/latop. I could do without chat, again just wait until I'm at a desktop/laptop or use SMS. I could probably do without a browser as well, although this would probably be the most inconvenient loss. Other than that, I use my mobile phone as a phone, a camera and an alarm clock. If I want small, high quality digital camera I could buy one (or use a phone without a sim card and Wifi turned off 90% of the time). A feature phone would cover the phoning, SMS and alarm use cases. I'm really not sure what I'd be missing out on that was critical to my life. I'm about to have a three week summer holiday and I am sorely tempted to buy a sub-€100 feature phone just to try this idea. As I also don't want to take a laptop on holiday, I might need to take the smart phone with me to check things once a day. At least it would then only be in one specific location for a very short time.
novaRom 5y ago
Most modern phone's hardware needs proprietary drivers. Besides, some backdoors are embedded into hardware directly.
saddata 5y ago
Hope it’s not manufactured in China.
alexfromapex 5y ago
This is the perfect example of how the burden is on the little guy to stop surveillance and it's a losing battle of attrition. You might secure the software but it doesn't matter if there are undocumented CPU instructions to break into all phones on the market.