Das Signal <[email protected]> wrote: > Managed to install v58 without issue. I agree with you, the UI is very > snappy and usable!
How does it compare to what we seek to achieve with a Calypso-only Free Dumb Phone sans Linux? I often find myself questioning and soul-searching as to whether or not I am on the right track with my dumbphone obsession. Everyone else around me prefers smartphones, and even many of the supporters of FreeCalypso have said that they would prefer to have a device with the capabilities of a handheld Linux computer, rather than just a dumbphone. So just how good is a Freerunner running QtMoko? Is it really equal or superior to a dumbphone on every metric (no worse in terms of usability and battery life, but far superior in capabilities), such that building a Calypso-only Free Dumb Phone sans Linux would be a waste of time and energy? Is the Freerunner with QtMoko such an epitome of perfection (better than a dumbphone etc) that the *only* problem with this option is that the devices are no longer made and the old stock has been exhausted? Should we then direct our energy toward building a device that is as close as possible to a verbatim clone of the GTA02? Don't forget that we have the original PCB layout files now, thus producing verbatim clones of at least the bare PCB in any desired quantity would be trivial. Components would be a much bigger problem though - from what I heard, everyone who looked into it came up with the answer that most of the original components are now unobtainium, so the trivial act of resending the original gerbers to a PCB fab would be rather useless - instead one would need to invest some major effort into redesigning the device with currently available components. But none of the above considerations address the philosophical question of which is ultimately "better": a free smartphone like GTA02 with Linux, or a Free Dumb Phone without Linux. So let's make a thought experiment: suppose a flying saucer landed right in front of you, an almighty fairy stepped out and offered to you just one of two possible choices: 1. You can have a dumbphone similar to Pirelli DP-L10 (color LCD ranging from Pirelli's 1.5" 128x128 pix up to maybe 2" 176x220 pix, traditional numeric dial keypad) with only Calypso inside, no Linux, but running fully free fw. Usability and functionality exactly the same as any regular dumbphone of this class, but with full source code for the fw. New production not limited by a scarce used market, so you can recommend them to your friends, buy extras in case yours breaks, etc. 2. You can have a GTA02 clone indistinguishable from those made by Openmoko, except that they are once again made new and you can buy extras, recommend them to your friends, etc. With everything else being equal, which would you choose? Please put some serious thought into this question, as we are now at a crossroads and I really wish to know which project direction would be more appreciated by the community. Lurkers from the land of the shy, your input is sought too, not just the core contributors - so please speak up and let your preference be heard! > I haven't managed to make GPRS work yet, Gaining a convenient way to play with advanced features of the TCS211 firmware such as GPRS is one of the many reasons I want a standalone version of the modem, on a board by itself without the AP. I haven't tried playing with GPRS myself yet either in all these years, because I find it to be too much pain to figure out how to do such experiments in whatever environment is running on GTA02's Linux AP. OTOH, if the modem's main UART (the one carrying AT commands, CSD, fax and GPRS) could be connected directly to a regular laptop, without going through an AP, playing with all of those data functions would be a lot easier and a lot more fun, methinks. But if you happen to be more comfortable with the FR's AP environment (QtMoko or some other) than I am and you manage to play with GPRS, that would be cool. > but perhaps > I should try to update to moko11 or leo2moko first. If you are going to use your new GTA02 for FreeCalypso fw development and debugging, you'll be flashing your modem back and forth between different experimental images a lot (unfortunately the amount of RAM this modem is endowed with is too small to run a GSM fw image solely out of RAM, hence one has to flash every experimental image in order to try it), so it makes absolutely no difference what the starting version is. :) Just make an initial dump of your modem's flash with fc-loadtool before you do anything else to it, and save this dump so you will always have a good FFS image with good calibration to go back to. (Having known-good calibration matching each individual unit that is also in the right format for our fw is one of the special qualities which currently set the FR above all other potential Calypso targets.) Happy hacking, Mychaela aka Space Falcon _______________________________________________ Community mailing list [email protected] https://www.freecalypso.org/mailman/listinfo/community
