Allan Mwenda writes: > Well if you look at it like that it'll be a long long time before you use any > smartphone ever.
I use a smartphone (running Replicant), but that's not the point. I just wanted to clarify what non-free parts are there in LineageOS. Only mentioning non-free firmware in that regard is misleading at best. I think it's important to explain this to people interested in the subject in the best possible way, without being too technical. This is especially important for such a page like the FSFE campaign page. People who are well informed on the subject can then make their own decisions without the need to directly recommend a certain option to them. > HALs are on pretty much every droid ever. Yes and that's no problem. They are needed to make the hardware work. The non-free ones among them are the issue. > I think it is good to get people off relying on Google Play, and > LineageOS is the best place to do that. As long as no replicant device > has Wi-Fi, it'll always be a hard sell to the casual smarphone > user. Its also more likely that they own a device listed by LineageOS > than one listed by Replicant. So this person who already has a phone, > and wants to free their device, do you them "don't even bother its > hopeless" or "you can use this rom its better than what your > manufacturer put and has no Google" I agree, if you don't have a device supported by Replicant and if you are not able to acquire one, LineageOS seems to be the best option right now. If only missing Wi-Fi is a deal-breaker and if using an external dongle is no option, using Replicant with the firmware installed is still a lot better than using LineageOS because there is still no non-free software running on the main CPU. Best regards, Wolfgang > > On 19 July 2017 22:15:50 GMT+03:00, Wolfgang Wiedmeyer <[email protected]> > wrote: >> >>Allan Mwenda writes: >> >>> LineageOS is a suitable replacement to CyanogenMod in the post. It is >>basically the community effort to keep Cyanogenmod "open source" after >>the attempt to close it and monetize it to manufacturers as CyanogenOS. >> >>> The community CyanogenMod (not to be confused with CyanogenOS that is >>highly proprietary) is dead and the servers were killed by Cyngn Inc >>(so much for loving open source) It is important to also remind users >>not to flash the suggested Gapps package that Lineage suggests. This is >>the package that adds Google apps/Playstore. Without it, Lineage is >>acceptably free, bar the usual loading proprietary firmware. >> >>It's not only proprietary firmware. LineageOS includes non-free >>Hardware >>Abstraction Layers (HALs) that run in user-space. They add a non-free >>layer between Android and the kernel. Depending on the device, they can >>cover almost every aspect of the hardware because there aren't yet free >>HAL implementations for that hardware. >> >>Furthermore, the hardware repositories contain code with non-free >>licenses. So even if it appears that code is available for a certain >>hardware, it still may have a non-free license. >> >>And there may be more non-free code. For example, the unrar tool is >>included which has a non-free license. It is nice that LineageOS >>doesn't >>use the proprietary Play library anymore that was used by CyanogenMod, >>but that alone doesn't make it suddenly acceptably free. >> >>Best regards, >>Wolfgang >> >>> On 6 July 2017 15:00:04 GMT+03:00, [email protected] >>wrote: >>>>Send Replicant mailing list submissions to >>>> [email protected] >>>> >>>>To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit >>>> https://lists.osuosl.org/mailman/listinfo/replicant >>>>or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to >>>> [email protected] >>>> >>>>You can reach the person managing the list at >>>> [email protected] >>>> >>>>When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific >>>>than "Re: Contents of Replicant digest..." >>>> >>>> >>>>Today's Topics: >>>> >>>> 1. Volunteers Needed to help Update FSFE's "Liberate your >>>> device" page (Kurtis Hanna) >>>> >>>> >>>>---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>> >>>>Message: 1 >>>>Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2017 16:52:00 +0000 >>>>From: Kurtis Hanna <[email protected]> >>>>To: [email protected] >>>>Subject: [Replicant] Volunteers Needed to help Update FSFE's >>"Liberate >>>> your device" page >>>>Message-ID: <[email protected]> >>>>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 >>>> >>>>If you are able and willing, please coordinate with Max to help >>update >>>>these two pages related to FSFE's "Liberate your device" campaign: >>>> >>>>https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/Android >>>>https://fsfe.org/campaigns/android/liberate.en.html >>>> >>>>The information about Replicant, LineageOS, and various F-Droid apps >>>>need to be evaluated and updated. >>>> >>>>-------- Forwarded Message -------- >>>>Subject: Re: "Liberate your device" page >>>>Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2017 14:50:35 +0000 >>>>From: Max Mehl <[email protected]> >>>>To: [email protected] >>>> >>>>Hi all, >>>> >>>># Marcos Marado [2017-01-22 19:24 +0100]: >>>>> At least at https://fsfe.org/campaigns/android/liberate.en.html we >>>>> have references to CyanogenMod. >>>>> As you might know, the CyanogenMod project died, but a fork has >>born >>>>> from its ashes[1], in the form of Lineage OS. >>>>> >>>>> For our purposes, there are no distinctive differences between CM >>and >>>>Lineage. >>>>> So, I'd suggest that the liberate page in particularly should be >>>>> revised to change CM references do Lineage, update the logo and the >>>>> links, and also pay attention to the wiki[2]. >>>> >>>>Some months passed and LineageOS proofed to be a sustainable >>successor >>>>of CyanogenMod. So I think it's time to tackle an update of the FYA >>>>pages! >>>> >>>>I'd be happy to help but I don't feel confident to evaluate LineageOS >>>>from the Free Software perspective. Also I'm sure that many other >>apps >>>>and details have changed on >>>><https://fsfe.org/campaigns/android/liberate.en.html> >>>> >>>>Would someone here volunteer to create an updated version of the text >>>>which we can discuss on this list afterwards? Don't care about the >>>>XHTML >>>>source code at first, that's something where I can help with as soon >>as >>>>we finished the text. >>>> >>>>If wanted, I can provide collaboration tools like a Kan Board or >>>>Etherpad. >>>> >>>>Best, >>>>Max >>>> >>>>-- >>>>Max Mehl - Free Software Foundation Europe - Program Manager >>>>Contact and further information: https://fsfe.org/about/mehl >>>>Private weblog: (blog.mehl.mx) | Private homepage: (mehl.mx) >>>>Support advocacy for Free Software: https://fsfe.org/donate >>>>_______________________________________________ >>>>Android mailing list >>>>[email protected] >>>>https://lists.fsfe.org/mailman/listinfo/android >>>> >>>> >>>>------------------------------ >>>> >>>>Subject: Digest Footer >>>> >>>>_______________________________________________ >>>>Replicant mailing list >>>>[email protected] >>>>https://lists.osuosl.org/mailman/listinfo/replicant >>>> >>>> >>>>------------------------------ >>>> >>>>End of Replicant Digest, Vol 225, Issue 1 >>>>***************************************** >> >> >>-- >>Website: https://fossencdi.org >>OpenPGP: 0F30 D1A0 2F73 F70A 6FEE 048E 5816 A24C 1075 7FC4 >>Key download: https://wiedmeyer.de/keys/ww.asc -- Website: https://fossencdi.org OpenPGP: 0F30 D1A0 2F73 F70A 6FEE 048E 5816 A24C 1075 7FC4 Key download: https://wiedmeyer.de/keys/ww.asc
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