On Fri, Dec 27, 2019 at 4:27 PM Mike C. <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Can you elaborate on your intended use case? The software is FOSS, so > > it's hard to pinpoint a feature when everyone offers the same set of > > features. > > To be perfectly honest with you, the majority of these apps are just > > chrome extensions. It often takes more effort to remove features than it > > does to add them so you are unlikely to find a "popular" app that > doesn't do > > unicode and VOIP. > > > > I get and agree with everything you're saying here. I guess the best > example is when I first started using Signal a few years ago, it was just > a secure texting app. > > Here's the best analogy I can draw that I think we're all familiar with. > The Linux / Unix paradigm is simple and svelte tools that can be combined > to due more complex tasks. Like having to use a monolithic app such as MS > Word for simple text editing. > > It isn't about taking features out, it's about figuring out the point when > that particular app is doing thing it was designed to the best it can and > it's reliable, efficient, etc. Then build another app for those other > features and make those apps interoperable. > > I know this is easy for me to say as someone who doesn't write software. > But it was a big factor for me in moving away from and staying away from MS > & Apple. But I still don't like to even use Libre Office when in most cases > I don't need that bloated feature set to accomplish the majority of word > processing tasks. > > I don't really even like using Desktop enviros. I do it mostly out of > convenience but then you get stuck with the common app set and if you want > to change apps it can sometimes be nightmare as another app might be > entangled with another desktop enviro. > > I dunno if that makes any sense.
You just described the K.I.S.S. philosophy and the "Unix Way" that has been a topic lately. Security can often be referred to as accountability. In addition to preventing theft, you can also identify when theft occurs, and take steps to recover. It's a common theme among cyber security consultants that provide training to companies to migitate the fallout of a security incident, rather than prevent it. While storing all information in plain text (the Unix Way) has overhead, it provides some huge benefits to the Support community in terms of problem identification, and isolation. It feels archaic the way libraries feel archaic, but physical paper is still important because it is real, and you can see it for yourself. In software, like with chat apps, every feature, every addition takes something away from this realness. With these new Electron apps it feels like this short term high, but in the long run every conversation you have feels hollow and meaningless, because it isn't designed to last. What I'm looking for is a way to engage in SMS, without the reliance on Google and Apple API's. What you should probably do is take a look at what Purism is doing with PureOS and the Librem 5. They are making a phone using a mainline Linux kernel, so they created a collection of apps that would essentially do all the simple stuff that Android does, with NO google whatsoever. There might be a way to preview some of their functioanlity, because it is supposedly a single system, that spreads across mobile and desktop. That said, they haven't finished it yet, so don't hold your breath on the Librem 5. _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
