5 ms·

Is this… parody? It reads like it but is done so straight that I can’t tell for sure.

isodev 2y ago
What makes you say that? The tech they reference is quite real. The setup is somewhat unique but I see it as one of the superpowers of a Linux mobile device - one can do whatever one wants without a big corp dictating the rules or locking down the experience.
- vundercind 2y ago
  Because if this were a Reddit post I’d be 100% sure it’s parody. It describes some Rube Goldberg stuff to achieve extremely basic stuff that folks using a smartphone get with no extra effort. Text interface with an onscreen keyboard to manually trigger updates to your podcast? Those screenshots scream parody. The notes near the end of “Bluetooth works… except not really because Bluetooth. But the headphone jack is haunted so I use Bluetooth anyway. Conclusion: works pretty good doesn’t even crash!” I mean… that’s parody, right?
  - pockybum522 2y ago
    Some people have different priorities than you. As for myself, and growing increasingly frustrated with Android letting me have less and less functionality in my mobile operating system and device that I paid to purchase, I didn't read this as parody at all.
    - tylerritchie 2y ago
      is the problem Android, for you, or is the problem "Google Android", "Samsung Android", "Motorola Android, by Verizon"?
      - kelnos 2y ago
        Given that third-party Android OSes are missing features that many people consider essential (like anything that requires passing SafetyNet), I don't believe these OSes are a general solution, applicable to the masses, even if installation were dead-simple and reliable. I ran CyanogenMod for years, and every app I ran and every feature I used on the stock Android OS worked properly on CM. I loved it. But these days that's just not the case on Lineage or Graphene or Calyx or any of the others. So I think for many people, it doesn't matter. "Google Android", "Samsung Android", etc. are the only realistic options, so they are just "Android" to them.
        bornfreddy 2y ago
        Why would you want "Safety"-Net? If the answer is banking apps, how about pushing back and using web apps instead? Different priorities I guess.
        kelnos 2y ago
        Contactless payments using Google Pay. "Pushing back" doesn't really work when there's no support, and adding that support is against Google's priorities. Regardless web experience on mobile is unfortunately generally subpar than native apps, for most sites/apps. I'm not sure I'm equipped to change that situation.
        bornfreddy 2y ago
        Never understood the appeal of Google Pay (versus contactless cards). I also wouldn't trust Google with anything financial, but that's just me.
  - bruh2 2y ago
    OP is just showing a cool thing. You are on hacker news, expect to see people hack on stuff just for the sake of tinkering and having fun.
- hnbear 2y ago
  Because some of the requirements and solutions are so niche as to appear invented. It’s not parody and appears earnest, but deeply specific to this one individual. Examples: “I believe that a phone should offer very reliably just these features: Calls SMS E2E encrypted foss IM Deep sleep and push notifications (or any alternative for notifications without draining the battery” Very few people outside of HN would agree with this. A phone is currently the primary computing device for the vast majority of people. And for radio: “Just add some streaming addresses to a simple script.” Podcasts: “ I listen to podcasts. Sometimes. With a modified version of the sxmo_rss.sh script.” A staggeringly small population want to handle their radio and podcast listening by just editing a small script. Even a lot of the HN crowd want an easier life than script editing to solve these sorts of needs.
  - wildzzz 2y ago
    I'm not exactly the most hip when it comes to using my phone but I sure as shit don't want to be pasting m3u streams and RSS feeds into a script I'm modifying on my phone. Typing on a phone is already awful so typing anything other than prose is even more awful. I very much enjoy supporting developers that make quality apps that don't spy on me and give me the level of control I desire. I could write my own apps to do what I want but writing shell scripts on a phone sounds like a step backwards. This feels like retro computing on some ancient wearable computer from the 90s.
    - jasaldivara 2y ago
      I assume those scripts are edited on a regular desktop/laptop computer and then uploaded to the phone
      - fsflover 2y ago
        Or you can do it by connecting a keyboard and a screen to the phone.
  - jauntywundrkind 2y ago
    I'm less interested in nit picking specifics of what someone did & bad mouthing their efforts as irrelevant. Like, yeah, fine, this isn't for everyone (but I think it would be very interesting for me if it was also a phone too). Right now almost no one has the option to build what works for them. The phone is incredibly burdensome environment with tons of top down control that constantly bounds what we might do, and requires its own special libraries & tools to get started on. The story here is humble & simple. But it's doing for oneself, using sensible straightforward & common computing options adapted from the rest of the computing world. It's a tale of what Barefoot Developers could be doing on mobile, about one of many worlds that could be springing up, if we weren't encumbered with such stodgy narrow controlling limited platforms. https://maggieappleton.com/home-cooked-software https://maggieappleton.com/home-cooked-software
closewith 2y ago
It is certainly a case of Poe's law.
megous 2y ago
Why would "people having different preferences from you" be a parody? What kind of thinking this even is?
- vundercind 2y ago
  It’s not different preferences, the presentation seems designed to make this look awful.
  - megous 2y ago
    Some person on the Internet documented and shared a way they're using/configuring pmOS/SXMO (i3wm lookalike based mobile UI controlled by a bunch of shell scripts) for several personal use cases. It looks just like SXMO for anyone who knows it. Not sure what presentation you're expecting. :D
kelnos 2y ago
I thought it was for a second too, but I do believe it was written in earnest.

What makes you say that? The tech they reference is quite real. The setup is somewhat unique but I see it as one of the superpowers of a Linux mobile device - one can do whatever one wants without a big corp dictating the rules or locking down the experience.

vundercind 2y ago
Because if this were a Reddit post I’d be 100% sure it’s parody. It describes some Rube Goldberg stuff to achieve extremely basic stuff that folks using a smartphone get with no extra effort. Text interface with an onscreen keyboard to manually trigger updates to your podcast? Those screenshots scream parody. The notes near the end of “Bluetooth works… except not really because Bluetooth. But the headphone jack is haunted so I use Bluetooth anyway. Conclusion: works pretty good doesn’t even crash!” I mean… that’s parody, right?
- pockybum522 2y ago
  Some people have different priorities than you. As for myself, and growing increasingly frustrated with Android letting me have less and less functionality in my mobile operating system and device that I paid to purchase, I didn't read this as parody at all.
  - tylerritchie 2y ago
    is the problem Android, for you, or is the problem "Google Android", "Samsung Android", "Motorola Android, by Verizon"?
    - kelnos 2y ago
      Given that third-party Android OSes are missing features that many people consider essential (like anything that requires passing SafetyNet), I don't believe these OSes are a general solution, applicable to the masses, even if installation were dead-simple and reliable. I ran CyanogenMod for years, and every app I ran and every feature I used on the stock Android OS worked properly on CM. I loved it. But these days that's just not the case on Lineage or Graphene or Calyx or any of the others. So I think for many people, it doesn't matter. "Google Android", "Samsung Android", etc. are the only realistic options, so they are just "Android" to them.
      - bornfreddy 2y ago
        Why would you want "Safety"-Net? If the answer is banking apps, how about pushing back and using web apps instead? Different priorities I guess.
        kelnos 2y ago
        Contactless payments using Google Pay. "Pushing back" doesn't really work when there's no support, and adding that support is against Google's priorities. Regardless web experience on mobile is unfortunately generally subpar than native apps, for most sites/apps. I'm not sure I'm equipped to change that situation.
        bornfreddy 2y ago
        Never understood the appeal of Google Pay (versus contactless cards). I also wouldn't trust Google with anything financial, but that's just me.
- bruh2 2y ago
  OP is just showing a cool thing. You are on hacker news, expect to see people hack on stuff just for the sake of tinkering and having fun.
hnbear 2y ago
Because some of the requirements and solutions are so niche as to appear invented. It’s not parody and appears earnest, but deeply specific to this one individual. Examples: “I believe that a phone should offer very reliably just these features: Calls SMS E2E encrypted foss IM Deep sleep and push notifications (or any alternative for notifications without draining the battery” Very few people outside of HN would agree with this. A phone is currently the primary computing device for the vast majority of people. And for radio: “Just add some streaming addresses to a simple script.” Podcasts: “ I listen to podcasts. Sometimes. With a modified version of the sxmo_rss.sh script.” A staggeringly small population want to handle their radio and podcast listening by just editing a small script. Even a lot of the HN crowd want an easier life than script editing to solve these sorts of needs.
- wildzzz 2y ago
  I'm not exactly the most hip when it comes to using my phone but I sure as shit don't want to be pasting m3u streams and RSS feeds into a script I'm modifying on my phone. Typing on a phone is already awful so typing anything other than prose is even more awful. I very much enjoy supporting developers that make quality apps that don't spy on me and give me the level of control I desire. I could write my own apps to do what I want but writing shell scripts on a phone sounds like a step backwards. This feels like retro computing on some ancient wearable computer from the 90s.
  - jasaldivara 2y ago
    I assume those scripts are edited on a regular desktop/laptop computer and then uploaded to the phone
    - fsflover 2y ago
      Or you can do it by connecting a keyboard and a screen to the phone.
- jauntywundrkind 2y ago
  I'm less interested in nit picking specifics of what someone did & bad mouthing their efforts as irrelevant. Like, yeah, fine, this isn't for everyone (but I think it would be very interesting for me if it was also a phone too). Right now almost no one has the option to build what works for them. The phone is incredibly burdensome environment with tons of top down control that constantly bounds what we might do, and requires its own special libraries & tools to get started on. The story here is humble & simple. But it's doing for oneself, using sensible straightforward & common computing options adapted from the rest of the computing world. It's a tale of what Barefoot Developers could be doing on mobile, about one of many worlds that could be springing up, if we weren't encumbered with such stodgy narrow controlling limited platforms. https://maggieappleton.com/home-cooked-software https://maggieappleton.com/home-cooked-software

closewith 2y ago

It is certainly a case of Poe's law.

megous 2y ago

Why would "people having different preferences from you" be a parody? What kind of thinking this even is?

vundercind 2y ago
It’s not different preferences, the presentation seems designed to make this look awful.
- megous 2y ago
  Some person on the Internet documented and shared a way they're using/configuring pmOS/SXMO (i3wm lookalike based mobile UI controlled by a bunch of shell scripts) for several personal use cases. It looks just like SXMO for anyone who knows it. Not sure what presentation you're expecting. :D

kelnos 2y ago

I thought it was for a second too, but I do believe it was written in earnest.