Freedom on your mobile phone

[saurav]

I recently downgraded from a smartphone to a "dumb" one and did a blog post about it - http://sauravzone1.blogspot.com/2011...computers.html. So, my question to everyone here is, do you use a smartphone? If you do, what do you do or what does it do for your software freedom? In short, how free is it really? I hope we can have a nice discussion about this (the Kubuntu forums are great ).

[woodsmoke]

Re: Freedom on your mobile phone

Hi saurav
You have posted a very interesting question.

To keep things short, I needed about five years ago, because of where I teach(college) and two online colleges to have a phone that would let me interact with students "on the net". To that end:

a) I originally did a Blackjack(Windows CE), thinking that, since it was AT&T and Windows, if I traveled to Europe, I could still interact with the students. However, one of the colleges did not have some kind of "complianc" thing and I could not get past the main interface.
b) Our youngest boy had an Iphone and he got in to my account within seconds, that was when I got rid of the Blackjack(which I still have if anyone would like to pay shipping and handling! )
c) I got the ORIGINAL HTC android phone and have loved it ever since, but....it had ONE (1) system upgrade and it will never be upgraded again. However, it very strictly adheared to the "open source" philosophy. I have had FEMALE 18 year old GIRLY GIRL students go and purchase the same phone at second hand phone stores and they love it.
e) however, it does not do the latest flash etc. and it really was beginning to show it's age...but still worked except for a few.....nuances....
f) but, it adheared to the philosophy of , if you don't HAVE TO HAVE IT, it is not going to be required on the phone...essentially you had/have to go to the market place and try things out.
f) I, yesterday, changed from AT&T and got a Verizon Android and it works MUCH BETTER....really.....but
g) there are game links, like Madden Football on there that one CAN NOT get rid of, one can only move them to another of the several applications screens....so there is that....
h) But....I have for five or six years now actually taught, in a SMALL WAY..., online classes using the smart phone, the old HTC....
i) I DO NOT..........DO NOT, do ANY kind of "online banking/bill paying/any of that stuff", but this last year or so ago I started using Scott Trade and had to work through their web site....next week they will have their own app, for Android, etc.
j) What I, personally, would also like to do...is also do the Android Tablet for more..... strenuous work....but....

hey.....the Android just works, simple as that.

(If you get a new one and need help on where to download a particular ringtone...it is not on the net except in one obscure place, I'm your guy!!! )

and no i'm not talking the vulgar ones...I use "Carribean Ice"....it is the old rum 'n coke/tiki bar/navy guy in moi!! )

woodgottoomanytoyssmoke

[saurav]

Re: Freedom on your mobile phone

@woodsmoke: Yes, Android does work very well but did you see my blog post? Things are not what they seem with Android. Most importantly, it updates things on the device without any confirmation whatsoever, so that makes it risky and curtails your freedom. And of course, the way some of the stuff is locked down as you mentioned really makes me mad.

[woodsmoke]

Re: Freedom on your mobile phone

saurav

YA GOTTA FORGIVE ME HERE OK?....... I had spent some time cleaning the Esther Williams swimming pools at the Elks, of which I am a member, and just took your post and blog(link) as a riff to go off on my own.

Problem is that even though I do the wetsuit thing to obsessively scrub every quarter inch of the pool, I do not have a headpiece....so....

too many rum 'n cokes, and TOO MUCH SUN on my lil head PREPARING FOR THE FOURTH!!!

I hereby quote what I perceive to be the salient portion of saurav's post and beg the kind commiseration of the Kubu members:

Smartphones are taking the same people for a ride as the ones who have always used proprietary software that has questionable ethics (if it has any at all).

From an information device people just want results, no matter how it achieves them. The situation with smartphones has revitalised my interest in the difference between Richard Stallman's philosophy and "open source" software.

I understand why Stallman keeps emphasising this difference. The freedom is available on smartphones based on free software but the freedom has been overshadowed by the desire to increase profits by offering frills to unsuspecting or indifferent users.

In a somewhat belaboured and belated backing out of the door after being hoisted upon my own petard....

I would mention that there are "others" on the net.....who.... 6 years ago gave me the guffaw and the derisive sneer when I had, as a sig....

"Live free or die!"

I think there might be a few here who can attest to that....but we are getting WAY OLD!!!

But to reinforce saurav's point.....

there is an icon on my BRAND NEW VERIZON SMARTPHONE to Madden 11 football.....

Which CANNOT BE REMOVED.

I offer as a VERY SMALL apology this link to a bunch of "answers" because somewhere in there there is a response that says......

"Whatever is a default from Samsung cannot be removed"

Which means, on my Verizon Galaxy Android:

Kindle, NFS Shift, "Browser" "Blockbuster", "You Tube", "Bing", Madden NFL 11, and others, cannot be removed in any way shape form or fashion.

ON MY ORIGINAL HTC ANDROID.....that did not happen.

Except for the actual operating system itself, the only stuff that went on the phone is what YOU

YOU THE USER....

wanted on the phone.

again, my apologies"


woodsmoke

[saurav]

Re: Freedom on your mobile phone

Of course, I didn't accuse you of not reading my blog, woodsmoke :P. But yes, your comment is spot on. I've had experience of phones that forbid you from doing things much before Android's time and I thought at least Android would put an end to such nonsense but no luck. Freedom, it seems, is rather too bland for people's tastes.

[woodsmoke]

Re: Freedom on your mobile phone

ummmm or....tasteless?

woodtossedsaladandscrambledeggssmoke

[muzicman0]

Re: Freedom on your mobile phone

I've been using Android since the first phone came out (G1). I have NEVER had Android update something without my permission...Never.

Also, on most phones, it is a simple process to root the phone. This gives you access to anything you want. While not all phones have been rooted, it is a simple process to see if it has been rooted before purchasing.

mm0

[woodsmoke]

Re: Freedom on your mobile phone

Hi mmo
i read all there was to read about "rooting" with my original phone, some of it seemed very complcated and some simpler, but i don't know that i would want to do that with the present Verizon, but....

The FIRST HTC phone....yes....THAT is what it was all about....heady days that...

woodsmoke

[saurav]

Re: Freedom on your mobile phone

My Android phone had a bug in the system software when I bought it. After several weeks I once noticed high network usage for an exceptionally long period of time. After that, the bug disappeared.

Also, I installed a music player and made sure that it was set to not update automatically. After another such network usage incident I found it changed and some important functionality missing.

As far as rooting is concerned, I know about it but how does it compare to the way you can change an OS on a proper computer?

[muzicman0]

Re: Freedom on your mobile phone

high network usage could have been a rogue app.

Root access gives you access to the entire root file system, you can change whatever you want, assuming you know how...just like any Linux distro. For instance, I have a phone that has both an internal SD card (built in), and an external SD card. The way the partitions were mounted didn't work for me, so I made a change to the OS so that the partitions mounted just the way I want them to. My phone is themed, I can back up my apps. I can delete system apps I don't want, assuming they are not required for the OS to run. Not sure what you want to change, but I can't think of anything you can't change if you have the know how.

mm0

[saurav]

Re: Freedom on your mobile phone

A rogue app resolving a system bug seems pretty strange. And does rooting feel as "natural" as installing an OS? To me it is more akin to forcing your way into your phone than simply changing a piece of software on a generic device. But has anyone here used MeeGo/Maemo? I wonder how it compares with Android.

[saurav]

Re: Freedom on your mobile phone

Is this thread dead? Have I killed it?

[claydoh]

Re: Freedom on your mobile phone

Meego has quite limited device support, so unless it is a Nokia n900 or atom-based netbook, you can't use it

Back to rooting, etc:
think of rooting as enabling sudo access to the device. There are also ROM's that you can use to install custom android builds, such as cyanogen. These seem to be fairly easy to install once the phone is rooted, but I have no hands-on experiences yet - my wife won't let me mess with her smartphone , and I don't yet have one. But I have looked into it for various phones

[Linkmaster]

Re: Freedom on your mobile phone

Why use a phone when you have a perfectly fine Linux installation?

[charles052]

Re: Freedom on your mobile phone

I never understood the point of the iphone or any of these smartphones. The screen is so small, why would you want to watch videos or browse the web from it? I have a feeling we're going to have a lot of near-sighted people in the future. These new tablets are better, but why pay the price of a computer and not even get half the power?

So our computers are getting smaller, yet our TVs are fricking enormous! Probably because we're going near-sighted.