From f96c3f71f6c8be30a333fcce69b4d1896953aab2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Jakob L. Kreuze" Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2022 11:42:19 -0400 Subject: [i-love-my-pinephone] Final cut + publish --- haunt/jakob/builder/blog.scm | 1 + haunt/static/css/style.css | 5 +- haunt/static/js/section-folds.js | 3 +- org/I Love My PinePhone/i-love-my-pinephone.org | 845 ++++++++++++------------ 4 files changed, 431 insertions(+), 423 deletions(-) diff --git a/haunt/jakob/builder/blog.scm b/haunt/jakob/builder/blog.scm index 8f02a80..cf333d6 100644 --- a/haunt/jakob/builder/blog.scm +++ b/haunt/jakob/builder/blog.scm @@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ (p "Alternatively, you can send an " ,(hyperlink (build-anonymous-comment-url post) "anonymous comment") ".") + ,(script "section-folds.js") ,(script "webmention.js")))) (define (render-preview post) diff --git a/haunt/static/css/style.css b/haunt/static/css/style.css index 930ef02..6dbbe4e 100644 --- a/haunt/static/css/style.css +++ b/haunt/static/css/style.css @@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ a:link, a:visited { color: #00E; text-decoration: none; } figure > img { display: block; + max-height: 600px; max-width: 90%; margin: auto; @@ -310,9 +311,9 @@ button { /* Folded sections. */ .fold-hidden { - height: 45px; + height: 300px; overflow: hidden; - mask-image: linear-gradient(to bottom, black 0%, transparent 100%); + mask-image: linear-gradient(to bottom, black 0%, black 80%, transparent 100%); } /* Styles specific to the "about" page. */ diff --git a/haunt/static/js/section-folds.js b/haunt/static/js/section-folds.js index ed6507e..559dd9a 100644 --- a/haunt/static/js/section-folds.js +++ b/haunt/static/js/section-folds.js @@ -40,10 +40,9 @@ function handleFolds() { // The text will be inside of an anchor, which we'll hook onto using an // event listener. let foldAnchor = document.createElement("a"); - foldAnchor.href = "#"; let foldText = document.createElement("p"); foldAnchor.appendChild(foldText); - fold.parentNode.insertBefore(foldAnchor, fold); + fold.parentNode.insertBefore(foldAnchor, fold.nextSibling); // The fold will start off in the "hidden" state. let toggle = false; diff --git a/org/I Love My PinePhone/i-love-my-pinephone.org b/org/I Love My PinePhone/i-love-my-pinephone.org index 0347c6d..948eabb 100644 --- a/org/I Love My PinePhone/i-love-my-pinephone.org +++ b/org/I Love My PinePhone/i-love-my-pinephone.org @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ -#+TITLE: Against the Grain: A Mobile Phone for Hackers and Tinkerers That Doesn't Suck -#+DATE: -#+TAGS: writeup +#+TITLE: I Love My PinePhone +#+DATE: <2022-08-26 Fri 06:29> +#+TAGS: writeup, programming, arm, rust, pinephone, alpine, postmarketos, emacs For the past ten months, I've been using my [[https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/][PinePhone]] as a "daily driver." By which, I mean it's been in my pocket everywhere I go, and it's the device I use @@ -10,20 +10,7 @@ vapid (why should I care that you use a "smart" phone just like the rest of us?) Don't be mistaken: the PinePhone is usable as a little cellular-capable PDA, and it's in a league of its own. This article is my attempt to document my experiences and rationale for wanting to use one, as well as my thoughts on -"Linux phones" as a whole. - -# I considered a couple of different "clever" titles for this post, but settled -# on the simple "I love my PinePhone", after seeing a [[https://blog.danieljanus.pl/2022/08/18/i-love-my-gpd-micro-pc/][post of a similar name]] by -# Daniel Janus's about his GPD Micro PC. Perhaps coincidentally, a lot of the -# reasons he lists for enjoying the laptop line-up with my reasons for enjoying -# the PinePhone. - -# --- - -# JLK: "for being able to run my favorite applications on the go" not as -# striking as it could be. I think "being a pinebook pro owner" could also use -# some re-wording. In general, I think this is the section that's going to need -# the most copyediting. +mobile Linux in general. I expect "Linux Phone" to be a readily understood term by readers of mine, but it is a somewhat imprecise term. So I'll clarify that by "Linux Phone," I mean a @@ -32,28 +19,28 @@ general experience we all associate with the Linux operating system[fn:8]. Notably, this excludes Android[fn:1], which has existed for several years. Not long ago, a Linux Phone seemed like a pipe dream: one I've had ever since I first held a smartphone I could call my own. Perhaps it's impractical for many, -but I would be happy to trade ubiquity for being able to run my favorite -applications on the go. I don't use social media like Instagram, or proprietary -messaging applications like WhatsApp and Snapchat. As long as I can run my usual -Linux software stack, and have a modem that can receive and send phone calls and -text messages, I'll be content. So when the PinePhone was announced in 2019, I -was excited. Not only did it tick many of the boxes for my dream "Linux Phone," -but it came from [[https://www.pine64.org/][PINE64]], a vendor I'd had great experiences with in the past, -being a [[https://www.pine64.org/pinebook-pro/][Pinebook Pro]] owner. +but I would be happy to trade ubiquity for being able to carry around +workstation-like capability in my pocket. I don't use social media like +Instagram, or proprietary messaging applications like WhatsApp and Snapchat. As +long as I can run my usual Linux software stack, and have a modem that can +receive and send phone calls and text messages, my needs are met. So when the +PinePhone was announced in 2019, I was excited. Not only did it tick many of the +boxes for my dream of a "Linux Phone," but it came from [[https://www.pine64.org/][PINE64]], a vendor I'd had +great experiences with in the past, being a [[https://www.pine64.org/pinebook-pro/][Pinebook Pro]] owner. The idea of Linux phones had been at least somewhat popularized at that point with the earlier announcement of the Librem 5, but the Pinephoe was far more -affordable, and it would be hitting the market before the Librem 5 was scheduled -to. I got it as a Christmas gift. Unfortunately, this was amidst my hellish time -as an undergrad, so I didn't have the time to fully buy into swapping over my -mobile compute stack, so it waited until I graduated. I actually am somewhat -happy that I waited, because the software situation is much better today than it -was three years ago. +affordable, and it would be hitting the market well before the Librem 5. I got +it as a Christmas gift from my wonderful mother. Unfortunately, this was amidst +my hellish time as an undergrad, so I didn't have the time to fully buy into +swapping over my mobile compute stack. So it waited until I graduated. I +actually am somewhat happy that I waited, though, because the software situation +is much better today than it was three years ago. My previous "smart" phone was a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor_5X][Huawei Honor 5X]], which I purchased for about -$200 well before the Trump administration [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity_List#Huawei][banned domestic sales of Huawei -products]].[fn:2] I flashed CyanogenMod (later LineageOS) the second I removed it -from the box for reasons I expect to be self-evident. Initially, it was a +$200 before the Trump administration [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity_List#Huawei][banned domestic sales of Huawei +products]].[fn:2] I flashed CyanogenMod (later LineageOS) the second I removed +it from the box for reasons I expect to be self-evident. Initially, it was a significant upgrade over my previous 2nd generation [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moto_G_(2nd_generation)][Moto G]], but the experience soon grew unbearable as the LineageOS image for the device grew unmaintained. The System UI would freeze frequently, rendering the phone inoperable until I @@ -61,14 +48,14 @@ forcefully rebooted it; expanding the usable disk space with an external SD card resulted in strange errors and often the SD would show up as "corrupted" until I rebooted the phone enough times; and I would frequently have the phone reboot to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWRP_(software)][TWRP]] while I was walking around with it in my pocket, a symptom I strongly -suspect to be related to panics in the old, non-mainline Kernel. The battery -also couldn't hold a charge, and I was able to remedy that by replacing it, but -the difficulty I had in finding OEM parts indicated that regularly servicing the -battery probably wasn't sustainable. It was time for a change. +suspect to be related to panics in the old, non-mainline Kernel.[fn:17] The +battery also couldn't hold a charge, and I was able to remedy that by replacing +it, but the difficulty I had in finding OEM parts suggested that regularly +servicing the battery probably wasn't sustainable. It was time for a change. -* The First Week +#+TOC: headlines 2 -# Carry old phone around anyway for GPS (which Pinephone sucks at) and camera +* The First Week With that, you now understand the situation I found myself in last October. Software support for my mobile phone was suddenly non-existent, and I was @@ -81,9 +68,9 @@ cellphone. I went with the former. #+END_EXPORT I took some nice photos the day I received the PinePhone, and more on the day I set it up. Despite my best efforts, I have been unable to locate the SD card -those photos were saved to, so the photos that follow below were taken recently. -I didn't receive it with the visible bumps and scuffs -- the phone's sustained -those over a few months of use. +those photos were saved to, so the photos below were taken recently. The visible +bumps and scuffs weren't there when I received it -- the phone's sustained those +over a few months of use. #+BEGIN_EXPORT html #+END_EXPORT @@ -91,76 +78,57 @@ those over a few months of use. ** Unboxing #+CAPTION: PinePhone in front of original box. -[[./Pinephone 1.JPG]] +[[./pinephone-1.jpg]] -The PinePhone's initial presentation is very well-done. Despite the cost, the -box it comes in feels nice and gives me an initial sense of quality. The phone -comes in a protective sleeve, with a USB-C cable and a leaflet with some -information. It isn't a manual, but it does link to the Pine64 wiki, which is -close enough to one. +The PinePhone's initial presentation engenders confidence. Despite the cost, the +box it comes in feels nice and gives me the sense that I have a quality product +in my hands. The phone comes in a protective sleeve, with a USB-C cable and a +leaflet with some information. It isn't a manual, but it does link to the Pine64 +wiki, which is close enough to one. #+CAPTION: PinePhone, unboxed. -[[./Pinephone 2.JPG]] +[[./pinephone-2.jpg]] + +#+CAPTION: Somewhat blurry close-up of the leaflet. It's transcribed in the alt text. +#+ATTR_HTML: :alt Dear Piner, Congratulations on receiving your Brave Heart edition PinePhone! You are one of the very first to have a PinePhone. We hope you'll help us and our partner projects by contributing to development. [Line Break] Your input is valuable, so it is important that you report whatever problems you encounter. Please, include relevant logs and/or UART outputs. [Line Break] Join the conversation on whichever platform suits you. You can report non-OS specific (kernel) issues you encounter on gitlab.com/pine64-org. OS specific problems should be reported on the PINE64 Wiki (wiki.pine64.org/PinePhone#Software Support) as well as directly to developers in the PinePhone chats (Forums and Chats tab on pine64 org), on PINE64 forums (forum.pine64.org) or on the relevant partner-project forums (see Partner Projects tab on pine64.org). [Line Break] Brave Heart phones come preloaded with factory test software and nothing else. So you'll have to seek out the OSs that interest you on your own. [Line Break] Keep in mind that all the OSs are presently pre-release and vary in functionality, even from one pre-release to another. Most mobile distribution OS images are linked on the PinePhone subsection of the PINE64 Wiki. Obtaining OS builds absent from the Wiki may require talking to their developers directly. [Line Break] The PinePhone Wiki subsection also contains schematics, instructions, hardware configuration details, and other useful information about your device. You can edit and contribute to the Wiki by logging in with your forum credentials. [Line Break] Brave Heart is meant for early-adopters — developers and enthusiasts — so we expect and encourage you to experiment with the software and hardware by pushing the envelope. That said, please keep in mind that the device is under standard warranty, so breaking components during disassembly or tampering with eFUSEs will void that warranty. [Line Break] Now, have fun with your PinePhone! [Line Break] PINE64 Community Team" +[[./pinephone-3.jpg]] -#+CAPTION: Somewhat blurry close-up of the leaflet. -[[./Pinephone 3.JPG]] +I care about the longevity of my gadgets, so I went on Thingiverse and found a +[[https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4658870][hard case design]] for the PinePhone. I could've spent more time sanding it down +and making it look nice, but it was good enough for me at the time. I'm still +inexperienced with making "good" 3D-printed parts. The roughness led to a few +minor scratches on the back cover, but it's saved my PinePhone from worse damage +on several occasions. -I've OCR'd the leaflet for those who use a screen reader: +The PinePhone shuts itself off upon impact. I think that's a bug, rather than a +feature, but I'm usually careful enough that it doesn't happen often. (In fact, +it's usually when others are handling my phone that it falls.) #+BEGIN_EXPORT html -
+
#+END_EXPORT - -#+BEGIN_QUOTE -Dear Piner, Congratulations on receiving your Brave Heart edition PinePhone! - -You are one of the very first to have a PinePhone. We hope you'll help us and our partner projects by contributing to development. - -Your input is valuable, so it is important that you report whatever problems you encounter. Please, include relevant logs and/or UART outputs. - -Join the conversation on whichever platform suits you. You can report non-OS specific (kernel) issues you encounter on gitlab.com/pine64-org. OS specific problems should be reported on the PINE64 Wiki (wiki.pine64.org/PinePhone#Software Support) as well as directly to developers in the PinePhone chats (Forums and Chats tab on pine64 org), on PINE64 forums (forum.pine64.org) or on the relevant partner-project forums (see Partner Projects tab on pine64.org). - -Brave Heart phones come preloaded with factory test software and nothing else. So you'll have to seek out the OSs that interest you on your own. - -Keep in mind that all the OSs are presently pre-release and vary in functionality, even from one pre-release to another. Most mobile distribution OS images are linked on the PinePhone subsection of the PINE64 Wiki. Obtaining OS builds absent from the Wiki may require talking to their developers directly. - -The PinePhone Wiki subsection also contains schematics, instructions, hardware configuration details, and other useful information about your device. You can edit and contribute to the Wiki by logging in with your forum credentials. - -Brave Heart is meant for early-adopters — developers and enthusiasts — so we expect and encourage you to experiment with the software and hardware by pushing the envelope. That said, please keep in mind that the device is under standard warranty, so breaking components during disassembly or tampering with eFUSEs will void that warranty. - -Now, have fun with your PinePhone! - -PINE64 Community Team -#+END_QUOTE - +While traveling to DEF CON, the bottom of the case got torn off, so I printed a +new one. This time I used =PinePhone-HardCase-v2-Thick.stl= instead of +=PinePhone-HardCase-v2.stl=. I like the thicker case much better, and I'm not as +worried about it scratching up the back cover. + +And, even though a significant part of the case was missing, it still protected +the phone from a drop. All of this is to say that PLA is not a bad material for +a phone case, and =_The3DmaN_= on Thingiverse has a damn good design. #+BEGIN_EXPORT html -
+ #+END_EXPORT -I care quite a bit about protecting my gadgets, so I went on Thingiverse and -found a [[https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4658870][hard case design]] for the PinePhone. I could've spent more time sanding -it down and making it look nice, but I'm still a little inexperienced with -making good 3D-printed parts. This was to my downfall as the back cover has a -few scratches now, but it's certainly saved the PinePhone from damage. The -PinePhone shuts itself off upon impact. I think that's a bug, rather than a -feature, but I'm usually quite careful so it doesn't happen often. (In fact, -it's usually when others are handling my phone that it falls.) - Per [[https://www.reddit.com/r/PinePhoneOfficial/comments/havbcm/pinephone_screen_protector/fv5smk0/][this Reddit comment]], I purchased a pack of cheap tempered glass screen protectors designed for the iPhone Max XS. I haven't dropped the phone enough to put it to its limits, but thus far it's done well to keep the front of the phone free from scratches. #+CAPTION: Photo of the phone next to the case, horribly doctored to show both sides of the case in the same photo. -[[./Pinephone 4.JPG]] +[[./pinephone-4.jpg]] #+CAPTION: The case makes the phone quite chunky ("thicc" as the kids say these days). Holding it is pleasant. -[[./Pinephone 5.JPG]] - -** =factorytest= - -#+CAPTION: A PinePhone running the factorytest image. Courtesy PINE64, as I lost the photo I took when it was installed on mine. (https://www.pine64.org/2020/01/15/pinephones-start-shipping-all-you-want-to-know/) -[[./Pinephone 7.JPG]] +[[./pinephone-5.jpg]] The PinePhone arrives flashed with a "factory test image" which is suitable for verifying that the hardware on the PinePhone is functional before you proceed @@ -168,15 +136,18 @@ with it configuring it. The test for the modem was finicky, and the =motor= test did not work. The device, at this point, was well past the limited warranty, so I decided to press regardless. +#+CAPTION: A PinePhone running the factorytest image. Courtesy PINE64, as I lost the photo I took when it was installed on mine. (https://www.pine64.org/2020/01/15/pinephones-start-shipping-all-you-want-to-know/) +[[./pinephone-7.jpg]] + These issues were non-existent when I did install a proper operating system to the phone, so I suspect there were actually some bugs in =factorytest=. Experiencing bugs seems to be [[https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=13257&pid=90677][consistent with other users' experiences]]. ** Distribution -Now that we've got the phone powered up and sufficiently tested, we've have some -decisions to make. What Linux distribution do we want to install on the phone? -Furthermore, what desktop environment do we want use? +Now that we've got the phone powered up, we have some decisions to make. What +Linux distribution do we want to install on the phone? Furthermore, what desktop +environment do we want use? The PINE64 wiki has a [[https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/PinePhone_Software_Releases][page listing most of the distributions]] that are known to work on the PinePhone, and the choices are surprisingly diverse. On one end of @@ -185,7 +156,7 @@ That might seem like it defeats the purpose of using the PinePhone, but I'm sure it can be used for a use-case similar to dual-booting Windows and Linux. Moving further from Android, we have distributions like [[https://ubports.com/foundation/sponsors][Ubuntu Touch]] which actually use parts of Android to interact with the underlying phone, but implement a full -Linux user land and display server on top of that. Personally, I think this is a +Linux userland and display server on top of that. Personally, I think this is a /really/ cool approach for making ordinary Android phones more useful, and you can read more about the approach [[https://halium.org/][here]]. Finally, we've got regular mainline Linux, with both desktop-oriented and mobile-oriented distributions. You can run @@ -193,13 +164,15 @@ Gentoo, Fedora, Arch Linux ARM, etc. on the Pinephone, or you can opt for [[http://postmarketos.org/][PostmarketOS]] (Alpine-derivative) or [[http://postmarketos.org/][Mobian]] (Debian-derivative). There are some options that might not fit into my arbitrary "spectrum" idea, -like [[https://sailfishos.org/][Sailfish OS]]. I don't know enough about it to say where it falls. Hopefully -you're taking away that with an open design, you have lots of options. +like [[https://sailfishos.org/][Sailfish OS]]. I don't know enough about it to say where it falls. +Regardless, I hope you're taking away that with an open design, you have lots of +options. One last choice I want to mention is the [[https://syndicate-lang.org/journal/2022/06/03/phone-progress][SqueakPhone]], which appears to be based -on PostmarketOS, but the userland is almost entirely written in Smalltalk. It's -a good time to be hacking on mobile devices. We might not be in the golden age, -but we're certainly marching toward it. +on PostmarketOS, but the userland is almost entirely written in Smalltalk. + +It's a good time to be hacking on mobile devices. We might not be in the golden +age, but we're certainly marching toward it. As much as I like running Gentoo on most of my machines, I figured that would be a bit much for me. It also doesn't seem like a good idea to constantly be @@ -223,23 +196,22 @@ phone, and power it on. From there, you can install it to EMMC. ** Storage The internal EMMC on the PinePhone I have is 16GB (later models have a 32GB -EMMC). My music folder far exceeds 16GB, so I bought a relatively large SD card -to use as extra storage. Unlike Android, a regular Linux distribution gives you -some flexibility with how you split storage up across the various storage -devices. I set up a LUKS-encrypted ext4 filesystem on the SD card and threw a -script into [[https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki//etc/local.d][local.d]] to decrypt it and mount it on top of =/home=. I haven't had a -single issue with it, so we're already doing much better than Android. I can -store basically whatever the hell I want on my phone without worrying about -space constraints. +EMMC). My music folder far exceeds 16GB, so I bought an SD card to use as extra +storage. Unlike Android, a regular Linux distribution gives you some flexibility +with how you split storage up across the various storage devices. I set up a +LUKS-encrypted ext4 filesystem on the SD card and threw a script into [[https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki//etc/local.d][local.d]] to +decrypt it and mount it on top of =/home=. I haven't had a single issue with it, +so we're already doing much better than Android. I can store basically whatever +the hell I want on my phone without worrying about space constraints. #+CAPTION: A readily-noticeable feature of the PinePhone is how easy it is to get to the internals. You don't need to do much to get to the SD/SIM slot; there's a notch in the back cover that you can pry up on and it pops right off. -[[./Pinephone 6.JPG]] +[[./pinephone-6.jpg]] ** Mobile Data Mobile data worked surprisingly well, with minimal tinkering. At the time, PostmarketOS wasn't able to automatically detect the APN for my carrier, but the -PINE64 wiki has a [[Curiously, I went to icanhazip.com and I was given an IPv6 address in response.][list of APN settings]] for common carriers. Once I set it up to +PINE64 wiki has a [[https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/PinePhone_APN_Settings.][list of APN settings]] for common carriers. Once I set it up to communicate with =NXTGENPHONE=, I was able to kill the Wi-Fi connection and hit =icanhazip.com=. I knew it worked because I was given an IPv6 address in response. First time that's happened to me. @@ -249,69 +221,69 @@ First time that's happened to me. #+END_EXPORT I was also able to pull out my PinePhone and pull up a picture of Fred Durst at -the Thanksgiving Dinner Table[fn:9], far away from my house, so I was able to test out +the Thanksgiving dinner table[fn:9], far away from my house, so I was able to test out mobile data "in practice" fairly early into my PinePhone usage. ** Software While we can [[https://waydro.id/][run Android applications on GNU/Linux]], it would defeat the purpose -of using this phone to be using Android applications for the daily tasks that I -use my phone for. So, soon after I'd verified all was working, I put together a -list of the packages that I had installed on my old phone, and drew lines to the -analogs on PostmarketOS. - -| Android App | PostmarketOS package | Note | -|--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| -| andOTP | [[https://git.sr.ht/~martijnbraam/numberstation][numberstation]] | | -| AntennaPod | | Dropped; I'll just use an RSS reader. | -| AnySoftKeyboard | [[https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/squeekboard][squeekboard]] | | -| App Manager | | Android-specific application. | -| AudioFX | | Unused on Android. But there are plenty of [[https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PipeWire#Audio_post-processing][post-processing applications]] for Pipewire. | -| Aurora Store | | Android-specific application. | -| BackgroundRestrictor | | Android-specific application. | -| Browser | | Unused on Android. | -| AVNC | [[https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/VNC][tigervnc]] | Unused in PostmarketOS. | -| Calculator | [[https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Calculator][gnome-calculator]]; [[https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_mono/calc.html][calc]] | | -| Calendar | [[https://orgmode.org/][Org mode]] | | -| Calendar Import-Export | [[https://orgmode.org/][Org mode]] | Unused in PostmarketOS.[fn:3] | -| Camera | [[https://wiki.mobian-project.org/doku.php?id=megapixels][Megapixels]] | | -| Clock | [[https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-clocks][gnome-clocks]] | | -| Contacts | [[https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-contacts][gnome-contacts]] | | -| Conversations | [[https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Dino][dino]] | Unused in PostmarketOS.[fn:4] | -| Discord | [[https://github.com/diamondburned/gtkcord4][gtkcord4]] | Discord sucks and I hate it, but I have friends who prefer it, so I have to settle. | -| Email | | Unused on Android. | -| F-Droid | | Android-specific application | -| FFUpdater | | Android-specific application | -| Files | [[https://github.com/tchx84/Portfolio][Portfolio]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dired][dired]], ls(1) | | -| Firefox | Firefox | | -| FM Radio | | _Not replaceable._[fn:6] | -| Gallery | [[https://wiki.mobian-project.org/doku.php?id=gnomephotos][gnome-photos]] | | -| K-9 Mail | [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geary_(e-mail_client)][Geary]] | | -| Libera PRO | [[https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Evince][Evince]] | Could use Calibre, but I actually do most of my e-book reading on a rooted Nook now. | -| Messaging | [[https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/chatty][Chatty]] | | -| MuPDF mini | [[https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Evince][Evince]] | | -| Music | [[https://www.musicpd.org/][Music Player Daemon]] | | -| NewPipe | [[https://mpv.io/][mpv]], [[https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp][yt-dlp]] | | -| Obsqr | [[https://wiki.mobian-project.org/doku.php?id=megapixels][Megapixels]] | | -| Offline Calendar | | Android-specific application. | -| OpenKeychain | gpg(1) | | -| Orbot | [[https://gitweb.torproject.org/torsocks.git][torsocks]] | | -| Orgzly | | Not needed as I can run GNU Emacs natively on PostmarketOS. | -| OsmAnd~ | [[https://sr.ht/~mil/mepo/][mepo]] | | -| Password Store | [[https://www.passwordstore.org/][pass]] | | -| Phone | [[https://wiki.mobian-project.org/doku.php?id=calls][Calls]] | | -| Recorder | [[https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg.html][ffmpeg]] | | -| RetroArch | RetroArch | Unused in PostmarketOS.[fn:7] | -| Settings | | Android-specific application. | -| Shattered Pixel Dungeons | | Dropped. | -| Signal | | | -| Slide | | Dropped. | -| Syncthing | Syncthing | | -| Termux | [[https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/console][gnome-console]] | | -| Tiny Tiny RSS | [[https://gfeeds.gabmus.org/][gnome-feeds]] | I don't currently use RSS synchronization. | -| Tusky | [[https://github.com/bleakgrey/tootle][Tootle]] | | -| wallabag | | Dropped. | -| Wikipedia | | Dropped. | +of using this phone to run Android applications for everything. So, soon after +I'd verified all was working, I put together a list of the packages that I had +installed on my old phone, and figured out what the analogs were on +PostmarketOS. + +| Android App | PostmarketOS package | Note | +|--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| +| andOTP | [[https://git.sr.ht/~martijnbraam/numberstation][numberstation]] | | +| AntennaPod | | Dropped; I'll just use an RSS reader. | +| AnySoftKeyboard | [[https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/squeekboard][squeekboard]] | | +| App Manager | | Android-specific application. | +| AudioFX | | Unused on Android. But there are plenty of [[https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PipeWire#Audio_post-processing][post-processing applications]] for Pipewire. | +| Aurora Store | | Android-specific application. | +| BackgroundRestrictor | | Android-specific application. | +| Browser | | Unused on Android. | +| AVNC | [[https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/VNC][tigervnc]] | Unused in PostmarketOS. | +| Calculator | [[https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Calculator][gnome-calculator]]; [[https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_mono/calc.html][calc]] | | +| Calendar | [[https://orgmode.org/][Org mode]] | | +| Calendar Import-Export | [[https://orgmode.org/][Org mode]] | Unused in PostmarketOS.[fn:3] | +| Camera | [[https://wiki.mobian-project.org/doku.php?id=megapixels][Megapixels]] | | +| Clock | [[https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-clocks][gnome-clocks]] | | +| Contacts | [[https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-contacts][gnome-contacts]] | | +| Conversations | [[https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Dino][dino]] | Unused in PostmarketOS.[fn:4] | +| Discord | [[https://github.com/diamondburned/gtkcord4][gtkcord4]] | Discord sucks and I hate it, but some friends are only reachable on there, so I have to settle. | +| Email | | Unused on Android. | +| F-Droid | | Android-specific application | +| FFUpdater | | Android-specific application | +| Files | [[https://github.com/tchx84/Portfolio][Portfolio]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dired][dired]], ls(1) | | +| Firefox | Firefox | | +| FM Radio | | _Not replaceable._[fn:6] | +| Gallery | [[https://wiki.mobian-project.org/doku.php?id=gnomephotos][gnome-photos]] | | +| K-9 Mail | [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geary_(e-mail_client)][Geary]] | | +| Libera PRO | [[https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Evince][Evince]] | Could use Calibre, but I actually do most of my e-book reading on a rooted Nook now. | +| Messaging | [[https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/chatty][Chatty]] | | +| MuPDF mini | [[https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Evince][Evince]] | | +| Music | [[https://www.musicpd.org/][Music Player Daemon]] | | +| NewPipe | [[https://mpv.io/][mpv]], [[https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp][yt-dlp]] | | +| Obsqr | [[https://wiki.mobian-project.org/doku.php?id=megapixels][Megapixels]] | | +| Offline Calendar | | Android-specific application. | +| OpenKeychain | gpg(1) | | +| Orbot | [[https://gitweb.torproject.org/torsocks.git][torsocks]] | | +| Orgzly | | Not needed as I can run GNU Emacs natively on PostmarketOS. | +| OsmAnd~ | [[https://sr.ht/~mil/mepo/][mepo]] | | +| Password Store | [[https://www.passwordstore.org/][pass]] | | +| Phone | [[https://wiki.mobian-project.org/doku.php?id=calls][Calls]] | | +| Recorder | [[https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg.html][ffmpeg]] | | +| RetroArch | RetroArch | Unused in PostmarketOS.[fn:7] | +| Settings | | Android-specific application. | +| Shattered Pixel Dungeons | | Dropped. | +| Signal | | | +| Slide | | Dropped. | +| Syncthing | Syncthing | | +| Termux | [[https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/console][gnome-console]] | | +| Tiny Tiny RSS | [[https://gfeeds.gabmus.org/][gnome-feeds]] | I don't currently use RSS synchronization. | +| Tusky | [[https://github.com/bleakgrey/tootle][Tootle]] | | +| wallabag | | Dropped. | +| Wikipedia | | Dropped. | Excluded from this list are two banking applications which are effectively irreplaceable, as they employ some additional anti-tampering and security @@ -319,20 +291,29 @@ measures. I still keep a burner phone around for this -- even though I'm able to do a lot from the website, there are a few things like digital check deposit and paying rent through Zelle that I can't do without the mobile app. -# There were somethings that I overlooked in Andrid land because they were built in: -# wlsunset, grim instead of sct, scrot +I keep the burner phone in a Faraday bag at home, but I did carry my old Android +phone around on me while I was starting to use the PinePhone -- always in +airplane mode, occasionally connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot. I took the approach of +weening myself off one and onto the other. + +I still occasionally carry around the old phone because mepo is nowhere near +OsmAnd~ in terms of maturity, so the PinePhone isn't very useful for land +navigation. The camera's also a little better on the Honor 5X. + +There are also a few odd things that aren't in the table because in Android, +they're built into the system. In particular, I've been using [[https://github.com/emersion/grim][grim]] to take +screenshots and [[https://sr.ht/~kennylevinsen/wlsunset/][wlsunset]] to set the screen color temperature.[fn:16] I'll get into the specifics of using some of these applications (like GNU Emacs) later in the article. -* Issues Encountered +* Pain Points -As one may expect, there are several issues that come up -- some too fundamental -to be addressed by a mere bug report -- when daily-driving the PinePhone. I -believe that most of these make the PinePhone a non-starter for anyone with a -relatively normal use-case. I'm hopeful they'll be resolved in time, but for -now, I think rescuing old mobile hardware neglected by their vendors is strictly -a hobbyist activity. +As you might expect, I've encountered several issues while daily-driving the +PinePhone. Most of these would make the PinePhone a non-starter for anyone with +a relatively normal use-case. But for me, they're inconveniences I'm willing to +live with. Some have been resolved by now, and I'm hopeful that they continue to +be addressed as time goes on. ** Modem: Frequent disconnects, not receiving calls @@ -343,7 +324,7 @@ rest of the PinePhone. So if the firmware is dogshit ([[https://www.toomanyatoms using the firmware from Quectel), it can run hot or draw a stupid amount of power while the main SOC is in standby and drain the battery. -Fortunately, Biktorgj maintains a [[https://github.com/Biktorgj/pinephone_modem_sdk][free firmware implementation]] for the EG25-G +Fortunately, [[https://biktorgj.com/][Biktorgj]] maintains a [[https://github.com/Biktorgj/pinephone_modem_sdk][free firmware implementation]] for the EG25-G which is much better. Battery life on standby went from a couple of hours to a whole day when I made the switch. @@ -354,10 +335,9 @@ cost in power consumption, but the usability is worth the hit in battery life. Having a distinct modem daughter card seems to be a design feature, at least [[https://puri.sm/posts/the-design-behind-a-modular-and-secure-mobile-phone/][in the eyes of Purism]], because it means that "those network components are fully -isolated from the main board and cannot freely access the rest of the system." -Indicating "[t]hat is an important privacy feature." My understanding is that -there's no open (hardware) implementation of 4G, but I haven't been able to find -a convincing argument that it can't be done. +isolated from the main board and cannot freely access the rest of the system," +indicating that it's "an important privacy feature." It comes with it's costs, +though. Biktorgj's project only addresses parts of the firmware, and not the baseband implementation. You still need to install ADSP firmware blobs for that. And, @@ -369,8 +349,7 @@ One issue that I have yet to solve is that, if the phone is sitting in standby for a while (say, overnight), I can't receive or make calls. But it's inconsistent. For example, at the time of writing this, I'd had my phone in standby without restarting for several nights, but I could make a call just now. -It's hard to gleam what's going on from the logs, too. These are some errors I -was able to find. +It's hard to gleam what's going on from the logs, too. #+BEGIN_SRC prog Jul 30 02:02:34 theta daemon.info [2179]: [modem0/bearer1] verbose call end reason (3,1056): [cm] lrrc-connection-establishment-failure-timer-expired @@ -383,18 +362,15 @@ Jul 30 06:02:43 theta daemon.info [2179]: [modem0/bearer1] connection #2 #+END_SRC For me, this isn't a huge problem. 90% of the time I'm getting a phone call, -it's Microsoft Sam asking me if I want to extend my car's warranty. If it's -someone actually trying to get a hold of me, they're likely to leave a -voicemail, which I am alerted to even if the phone's in this unusual state of -being unable to receive calls. +it's a robot asking me about my car's warranty. If it's someone actually trying +to get a hold of me, they're likely to leave a voicemail, which I am alerted to +even if the phone's in this unusual state of being unable to receive calls. So running custom firmware on the modem is currently the best way to have a moderately-usable modem. With [[https://github.com/fwupd/fwupd/commit/17854099d0e614c06b5a40d2477477ee3d850fc7#diff-5a375f230ee85cf307402aaabd8da6e6dbc8ad32e0a5e9f6d302a896a8387c4cR557][the news]] that Quectel could potentially be locking -down their hardware and preventing users from flashing their own firmware, I -have the same sentiments as Linus Torvalds holds of NVIDIA. - -#+CAPTION: Linus Torvalds commenting on the closed nature of NVIDIA. -[[./Torvalds Nvidia.jpg]] +down their hardware and preventing users from flashing their own firmware, I'm +worried the usability of the PinePhone will be kneecapped in the somewhat +near-future. The sad thing is, this modem seems to be the best supported piece of hardware in ModemManager now, and I don't think we'll see this much work on other modems for @@ -403,10 +379,10 @@ in e.g. PostmarketOS for the foreseeable future. ** Occasional Non-Wake from Suspend -This hasn't been a problem as of late, but my phone would occasionally refuse to -wake up from standby. That is, when the phone goes to sleep because the screen's -been off for 2 minutes, it suspends. But the power button doesn't wake it, nor -does the phone respond to the [[https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/TTYescape][TTYEscape]] key sequence. +My phone will occasionally refuse to wake up from standby. That is, when the +phone goes to sleep because the screen's been off for 2 minutes, it suspends. +But the power button doesn't wake it, nor does the phone respond to the +[[https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/TTYescape][TTYEscape]] key sequence. I configured =syslogd= to write to disk instead of shared memory to get some indication of what might be going on, but since doing the issue hasn't presented @@ -415,7 +391,7 @@ wake-up events in some cases, but I don't see /any/ messages about ACPI in my =dmesg= output. Seems like [[https://linux-sunxi.org/PSCI][PSCI]] is what's being used, which tracks since the [[http://acpi.info/DOWNLOADS/ACPIspec50.pdf][first version of the standard to acknowledge ARM]] was only released a decade ago. I don't know enough about PSCI to hypothesize about what might have been going on. -What matters is that I haven't been noticing the problem. +What matters is that it's been a difficult problem to track down. ** Suspend Prevents Alarm from Going off @@ -424,8 +400,8 @@ configured to suspend when on AC power, but if the phone is suspended, there's nothing to wake the phone up to check for alarms you've set in =gnome-clocks=. The effect is that your alarm isn't going to go off. -Fortunately, the modem is almost always running and able to wake the phone, so -if you're using Biktorgj's firmware, you can send the modem a text message to +Fortunately, the modem is almost always running and is able to wake the phone, +so if you're using Biktorgj's firmware, you can send the modem a text message to [[https://github.com/the-modem-distro/pinephone_modem_sdk/blob/kirkstone/docs/SMS_INTERFACE.md][schedule a wake-up call]]. It's a nice solution to a pretty unfortunate problem. There are some [[https://static.lwn.net/images/pdf/suspend_blockers.pdf][papers]] on how power management is done in Android-land, which @@ -449,10 +425,11 @@ was a good investment, since I can charge my PineBook and other devices as well. I just keep that and a spare USB-C cable in my bag (which I bring with me practically everywhere), and I haven't had any issues. -I'm hopeful that PINE64 eventually releases a back cover that would support a -higher-density battery (maybe 5000mAh). My hesitancy with the keyboard is that -I'm worried it would be a little too chunky.. but I wouldn't expect a slightly -wider battery to make it difficult to fit the phone in my pocket. +I'm hopeful that PINE64 eventually releases a back cover that supports a +higher-capacity battery (maybe 5000mAh). My hesitancy with the keyboard is that +I'm worried it would be /too/ chunky. I wouldn't expect a slightly fatter battery +to make it difficult to fit the phone in my pocket, but a phone with a keyboard +attached might be a tight fit. ** Mobile hotspot not working @@ -469,7 +446,7 @@ the web or check my email. It was [[https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid= This is a difficult issue to put into words, and as such I've had a hard time looking around for mention of it on the bug tracker or elsewhere. -Sometimes, when typing with [[c9ed5147c6d4af76366ee706cdd3dfee3a7b0e14ac0789b24d2a701f2455d0e8ef3bf377bb07ad4dfb2121e5d62877c014b5bbb3c7e24931cdf75bd702f897c43462eaddd6cf255431367b2956a8cb7b26984ed2de05d37efd32068ec15538f2][Squeekboard]] (the on-screen keyboard that comes with +Sometimes, when typing with [[https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/squeekboard][Squeekboard]] (the on-screen keyboard that comes with Phosh), I'll press a key once and two characters will be inserted -- as if the phone registered it as two taps in quick succession. @@ -482,47 +459,35 @@ already, so I'll do it another time. ** Bluetooth Audio -# TODO: This section needs to be updated. -# Procedure: -# 1. `nice -11 mpd` -# 2. `mpc play` -# 3. `pkill mpd` -# 4. `nice -11 mpd` -# 5. Music starts playing without hiccups. - -Bluetooth audio remains a pain point, and an elusive one at that. It works only -when attempting to troubleshoot -- never when I actually want to use my -PinePhone as a Bluetooth audio source. The [[https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Bluetooth_headset#Connecting_works,_but_there_are_sound_glitches_all_the_time][Arch Linux Wiki has a page]] on -troubleshooting my situation, which is that "[c]onnecting works, but there are -sound glitches all the time." In my case, I have no issues connecting to my -car's stereo system, for example, but 90% of the time I will have audio buffer -overruns that cause the audio to pause every second or so. It is infuriating to -have to listen to. - -[[# https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=10810][CyberSeb on the PINE64 forum has a post]] for configuring the Bluetooth stack to +Bluetooth audio remains a pain point, and an elusive one at that. It works well +when attempting to troubleshoot, but seems to bug out when I actually use it. +The [[https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Bluetooth_headset#Connecting_works,_but_there_are_sound_glitches_all_the_time][Arch Linux Wiki has a page]] on troubleshooting my situation, which is that +"[c]onnecting works, but there are sound glitches all the time." In my case, I +have no issues connecting to my car's stereo system, for example, but 90% of the +time I will have audio buffer overruns that cause the audio to pause every +second or so. It is infuriating to have to listen to. I mostly notice this +behavior with =mpd=, and I have a procedure for "fixing it." + +1. =nice -11 mpd= +2. =mpc play= +3. =pkill mpd= +4. =nice -11 mpd= +5. Music starts playing without hiccups. + +I'm not sure why it works, or if this indicates that the issue is in =mpd= rather +than the Bluetooth stack. Regardless, it's behavior I would expect to "just +work." + +[[https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=10810][CyberSeb on the PINE64 forum has a post]] for configuring the Bluetooth stack to work better, and I have some recollection of the second step working well, but as of late the script I have to run those commands (included below) no longer works. It tends to fail at =pactl set-port-latency-offset=, either because -=BLUEZCARD= isn't defined, or something else. The error messages are hardly -deterministic. +=BLUEZCARD= isn't defined, or something else. The error messages aren't especially +descriptive. -I've added some debugging output and the good ol' song and dance for making Bash -less shitty, in hopes that I'll be able to get more data the next time I run it. - -#+BEGIN_SRC sh -#!/usr/bin/env bash - -set -euo pipefail - -BLUEZCARD=`pactl list cards short | egrep -o bluez.*[[:space:]]` -echo "Determined BLUEZCARD to be $BLUEZCARD" -pactl set-port-latency-offset $BLUEZCARD headset-output 100000 -sudo service bluetooth restart -#+END_SRC - -It's a little strange that I mentioned only using the second step. This is -because I was convinced that my phone wasn't running Pulse. I really thought it -was on Pipewire, but it seems my memory failed me. +I was only doing the second step because, for some time, I was convinced that my +phone wasn't running Pulse. I really thought it was on Pipewire, but it seems my +memory failed me. #+BEGIN_SRC prog theta:~$ sudo apk add pipewire-pulse @@ -532,19 +497,20 @@ ERROR: unable to select packages: satisfies: world[pipewire-pulse] gnome-settings-daemon-42.1-r0[pulseaudio] postmarketos-base-ui-gnome-1-r3[pulseaudio] gnome-session-42.0-r1[pulseaudio-alsa] #+END_SRC -It's Pulse, and I'm hesitant to screw with it's niceness because it does not -have a reputation of being resourceful or performant. I'm wondering if these -issues would go away if I /did/ switch over to using Pipewire, but the error from -=apk= above makes me think that it would be a hard nut to crack. I've tried -[[https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PulseAudio/Troubleshooting#Setting_the_default_fragment_number_and_buffer_size_in_PulseAudio][setting a default fragment size]] in Pulse as a more reasonable workaround while I -wait for Pulse to eventually die a slow and painful death. +Even if Pulse is installed, I'm hesitant to screw with its niceness because it +does not have a reputation of being resourceful. I'm wondering if these issues +would go away if I /did/ switch over to using Pipewire, but the error from =apk= +above makes me think that it would be a hard nut to crack. I've tried [[https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PulseAudio/Troubleshooting#Setting_the_default_fragment_number_and_buffer_size_in_PulseAudio][setting a +default fragment size]] in Pulse as a more reasonable workaround while I wait +for Pulse to eventually die a slow and painful death. So far, it hasn't fixed +the =mpd= problem, and I'm not especially inclined to troubleshoot further. ** Cross Compiling Woes PostmarketOS maintains a tool for cross-compiling packages (among other things) called [[https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Installing_pmbootstrap][pmbootstrap]], which I find to be quite nice. =pmbootstrap init= will set you -up with a chroot jail pinned at a specific version of PostmarketOS (or =edge=) for -a specific device and architecture, and from there you can use =pmbootstrap build= +up with a chroot pinned at a specific version of PostmarketOS (or =edge=) for a +specific device and architecture, and from there you can use =pmbootstrap build= to cross-compile packages for installation on the PinePhone. Cross-compiling can be a bit slow (it literally took a day to compile Emacs PGTK) because, in most cases, the toolchain will be running under [[https://www.qemu.org/docs/master/user/main.html][QEMU's user space emulator]], but it's @@ -556,8 +522,8 @@ cross compiling workflow not being good. Before learning about [[https://git.sr. was trying to use =gnome-authenticator=, and the version available in =apk= was [[https://gitlab.alpinelinux.org/alpine/aports/-/issues/13296][completely unusable]]. I tried to build a newer version, which ended up being incompatible with the libraries installed in my version of PostmarketOS, and I -tried to build a really old version (back when the application was written in -Python), which didn't work either. I ended up cross-compiling [[https://gitlab.alpinelinux.org/alpine/aports/-/issues/13296][otpclient]] with +tried to build a really old version (before the application was rewritten in +Rust), which didn't work either. I ended up cross-compiling [[https://gitlab.alpinelinux.org/alpine/aports/-/issues/13296][otpclient]] with little friction. ** Lack of software @@ -569,7 +535,7 @@ there are a couple of blind spots like Signal. In theory, I can use Pidgin and In these cases, the solution is to write your own software. #+CAPTION: One of the first applications I wrote for my PinePhone: a basic Signal client, in Rust, running on my workstation. I obfuscated my partner's phone number for obvious reasons. -[[./Warp MVP.png]] +[[./warp-mvp.png]] Being able to do this without the complexity (and Java requirement) of the Android SDK is the biggest appeal of running a Linux phone to me. So much so @@ -577,7 +543,7 @@ that I've got an entire section dedicated to it later in this article. * The Good Parts -I started off talking about the problems tat come with using a device like the +I started off talking about the problems that come with using a device like the PinePhone, but I've continued to use it because for me, the benefits far outweigh the issues, which I'll outline below. @@ -609,7 +575,7 @@ fingers. Icons (I don't disable =tool-bar-mode= in my mobile configuration) make for a slightly nicer touch input experience, too. #+CAPTION: GNU Emacs on the PinePhone. Not blurry, after the process described below. -[[./Pinephone Rnning Emacs.JPG]] +[[./pinephone-running-emacs.png]] It was a little difficult to get things running. Emacs is in the PostmarketOS repos.. except the package sucks because it's the old X11 Emacs, and Phosh is @@ -618,12 +584,12 @@ blurry mess. To resolve that, I ripped a ton of code out of the [[https://git.al pointed it at a tarball for Emacs =master= (which has [[https://mail.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2021-12/msg00126.html][had the PGTK branch merged]]). #+BEGIN_EXPORT html -
+
#+END_EXPORT #+BEGIN_SRC prog -# Maintainer: Natanael Copa -# Contributor: Timo Teräs +# Maintainer: Natanael Copa <[REDACTED]> +# Contributor: Timo Teräs <[REDACTED]> pkgname=emacs pkgver=29.0 pkgrel=7 @@ -821,6 +787,9 @@ sha512sums=" There is no Emacs =29.0= (yet, at the time of writing this), that's just so =apk= knows that this is newer than what's in the repositories. +And if you find the code snippet incomprehensible, don't worry, because I've got +a gentler introduction to Alpine packaging [[*Porting Software][later in this article]]. + ** YouTube on Mobile I was a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NewPipe][NewPipe]] user when I was using Android. I'd frequently find it unusable, @@ -831,23 +800,23 @@ how nice it would be to use =mpv= and =yt-dlp= just like I do on desktop, and th now a reality. #+CAPTION: mpv playing one of Andreas Kling's YouTube videos on SerenityOS, using yt-dlp to resolve the media stream. -[[./Pinephone Running mpv.png]] +[[./pinephone-running-mpv.png]] I get the video URLs from RSS and invoke =mpv= from the terminal. I find it convenient. The only issue I had is that the screen blanks automatically even when a video is playing, but this is easily remedied by prefixing =mpv= with -=gnome-session-inhibit --inhibit idle= in the shell. +=gnome-session-inhibit --inhibit idle=. ** Better Music Player LineageOS included the old Cyanogenmod Music app [[https://github.com/CyanogenMod/android_packages_apps_Eleven][Eleven]], and that's what I used -when I was on Android. I didn't see a use in using any other music player since -they all seem to use the same Android APIs and, hence, all suck as much as +when I was on Android. I didn't see a purpose in using any other music player +since they all seem to use the same Android APIs and, hence, all suck as much as Eleven does. Among other things, it cuts out frequently (presumably the process getting killed due to memory pressure), and it can't even load a damned jpeg. #+CAPTION: Album artwork being mangled by some bug unknown to me. -[[./Music on Zeta.png]] +[[./music-on-zeta.png]] So I was quite happy to be able to use =mpd= to listen to music on the PinePhone. My entire library's managed with Syncthing. @@ -856,20 +825,20 @@ My entire library's managed with Syncthing. Another "killer feature" is just being able to automate things with =bash= and =cron= the way I would on desktop. One pain point I remember particularly when I -was using Android was manually adjusting the screen gamma in settings. Now I can -just use =cron= to run =wlsunset= at a particular hour. +was using Android was manually adjusting the screen color temperature in +settings. Now I can just use =cron= to run =wlsunset= at a particular hour. I suppose that's the only example that's worth mentioning. I haven't leveraged -it as much as I could have. +it as much as I could have (but I expect to in the future.) ** Convergence A selling point of the PinePhone is [[https://yewtu.be/watch?v=yBeza4UNOm8][convergence]], enabling you to plug your phone into a monitor and keyboard (over USB-C), and use it as if it were a desktop -computer. I haven't taken advantage of this yet, but I can SSH into my phone, -which is far better than Android, and enough for me to be happy -- just being -able to pull/push files over rsync, run shell commands over SSH using an actual -keyboard... +computer. I haven't taken advantage of this yet, but I can SSH into my phone. +That's already far better than what I can do on Android, and it's enough for me +to be happy -- just being able to pull/push files over rsync, run shell commands +over SSH using an actual keyboard... The only thing I wish I could do is send SMS over SSH and get notifications from my phone on my workstation. SMS messages can (theoretically) be sent using @@ -878,21 +847,13 @@ project for myself. ** Run Linux Desktop Applications -Generally speaking, all of the above points boil down to the PinePhone enabling -me to run Linux desktop applications on mobile. - -One consideration is the difference in dotfiles between mobile and desktop. So -far, Emacs is the only place I've had to consider this. Basically, I just drop -the theming and any configuration related to programming language modes. I still -bring in my Org configuration and all my quality-of-life changes. - -** Software Development Freedom -Cover this below +Nearly all of the above points boil down to the PinePhone enabling me to run +Linux desktop applications on mobile. Consistency is nice. Who would have known! * Software Development -This is part of "The Good Parts", but I figured it's big enough to be a section -of its own. +I consider this to be one of "The Good Parts", but it ended up being big enough +to take up a section of its own. ** Software Stack Freedom @@ -900,20 +861,19 @@ If you're at least mildly familiar with Android, you know that the Java ecosystem is nearly unavoidable if you're doing application development for the platform.[fn:10] The NDK enables application developers to write code in other languages (provided they "compile down" to machine code) but it isn't practical -to write an entire application this way, as NDK code can't interact with the -system's APIs. Furthermore, the Android SDK is a pain in the ass to use if -you're not using [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_Studio][Google's IDE]]. It's doable, and I have [[https://git.sr.ht/~jakob/mines][done it in the past]], but -I got frustrated before I could set up an emulator for improving the feedback -loop. I was literally pushing to my device via =adb= on every build if I wanted to -experiment with something. I'm describing this as pain-inducing, but it's easy -to understand why it is this way. Google (and Apple) want to have uniformity -across their platforms' third-party applications, so they impose strong opinions -(you /must/ use our UI framework, you /must/ use our Java APIs). - -Comparatively, the applications that run on my PinePhone are literally the same -applications that run on my workstation. I can use any language I want, provided -it supports AArch64. I can develop and test on my workstation, and then push it -to the PinePhone with high confidence that it will work as intended. +to write an entire application this way, as NDK code is limited in the ways it +can interact with Android's APIs. Furthermore, the Android SDK is a pain in the +ass to use if you're not using [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_Studio][Google's IDE]]. It's doable, and I have [[https://git.sr.ht/~jakob/mines][done it in +the past]], but I got frustrated before I could set up an emulator for improving +the feedback loop. I was literally pushing to my device via =adb= on every build +if I wanted to experiment with something. That said, it is easy to understand +why it is this way. Google (and Apple) want to have uniformity across their +platforms' third-party applications, so they impose strong opinions (you /must/ +use our UI framework, you /must/ use our Java APIs). Comparatively, the +applications that run on my PinePhone are literally the same applications that +run on my workstation. I can use any language or libraries I want, provided they +support AArch64. I can develop and test on my workstation, and then push it to +the PinePhone with high confidence that it will work as intended. I've been writing my applications in Rust with =gtk-rs= and =libhandy=. There's been a (somewhat recent) distinction between "application programming languages" and @@ -930,18 +890,18 @@ choice, too, since it compiles to C, but I went with Rust because I'm more comfortable with it and it has a ecosystem of libraries for the sorts of things I want to do. -I've spoken a lot about the language decision, but there's the decision of UI -toolkit too. I went with GTK3 and [[https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libhandy][libhandy]]: the classic GNOME UI toolkit and -[[https://puri.sm/][Purism]]'s supporting library for adaptive, mobile-friendly layouts and widgets. -But that isn't the only option available. Still in GNOME land, there is GTK4 and -[[https://blogs.gnome.org/alexm/2021/12/31/libadwaita-1-0/][libadwaita]], which I'll probably be using in the near future. I'm just a little -slow to start using cool new things. There are /many/ more choices on the Plasma -Mobile side of the house: [[https://develop.kde.org/frameworks/kirigami//][Kirigami]], [[https://mauikit.org/][MauiKit]] (built on top of Kirigami), plain -[[https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qtquick-index.html][QtQuick]], or Sailfish OS's [[https://sailfishos.org/develop/docs/silica/][Silica]]. While GTK and QT are the leading frameworks, I -was keeping a close eye on [[https://github.com/dvdsk/pods][pods]], a PinePhone-oriented application using Rust's -[[https://github.com/iced-rs/iced][iced]], which is neither GTK nor QT. Unfortunately, it looks to have since -stagnated. But [[https://sr.ht/~mil/mepo/][mepo]], a maps application, is a surprisingly pleasant mobile -experience and is written just in SDL. +So that's all I have to say about the language decision, but there's the +decision of UI toolkit too. I went with GTK3 and [[https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libhandy][libhandy]]: the classic GNOME UI +toolkit and [[https://puri.sm/][Purism]]'s supporting library for adaptive, mobile-friendly layouts +and widgets. But that isn't the only option available. Still in GNOME land, +there is GTK4 and [[https://blogs.gnome.org/alexm/2021/12/31/libadwaita-1-0/][libadwaita]], which I'll probably be using in the near future. +I'm just a little slow to start using cool new things. There are /many/ more +choices on the Plasma Mobile side of the house: [[https://develop.kde.org/frameworks/kirigami//][Kirigami]], [[https://mauikit.org/][MauiKit]] (built on top +of Kirigami), plain [[https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qtquick-index.html][QtQuick]], or Sailfish OS's [[https://sailfishos.org/develop/docs/silica/][Silica]]. While GTK and QT are the +leading frameworks, I was keeping a close eye on [[https://github.com/dvdsk/pods][pods]], a PinePhone-oriented +application using Rust's [[https://github.com/iced-rs/iced][iced]], which is neither GTK nor QT. Unfortunately, it +looks to have since stagnated. But [[https://sr.ht/~mil/mepo/][mepo]], a maps application, is a surprisingly +pleasant mobile experience and is written just in SDL. As an aside, I'd like to experiment with some immediate-mode UI frameworks on the PinePhone. GTK is relatively performant, but I'm curious about whether @@ -952,7 +912,7 @@ try and write my own UI framework. To demonstrate the GTK3 and libhandy combo, I decided to write the minimum viable product of an application I want on my PinePhone that, to my knowledge, -doesn't exist yet. A graphical MPD client. +doesn't exist yet. A touch-friendly GTK+ MPD client. Yes... I've been using =mpc= in the terminal emulator since I got the phone. It's not as pleasant when you don't have a real keyboard, so this application will @@ -962,14 +922,14 @@ But, because I don't want this post to take any longer than it already has, I'm just going to write about what I could get done in a few weeknights. It's a single-file, and fairly self-contained. -*** Show Me The Code! +*** Alright, Let's See the Code -Hey, okay! Don't have a cow, man! It's a few hundred lines and I've dumped it -here under a fold since it's a few hundred lines. You can find it [[https://git.sr.ht/~jakob/tunes][on SourceHut]] -as well. +It's a few hundred lines and I've dumped it here under a fold since it's a few +hundred lines. You can find it [[https://git.sr.ht/~jakob/tunes][on SourceHut]] as well, which has the =Cargo.toml= +and all that you would need to actually build it. #+BEGIN_EXPORT html -
+
#+END_EXPORT #+BEGIN_SRC rust @@ -1725,33 +1685,41 @@ mod imp {
#+END_EXPORT +Basically, a sizable amount of code to set up these two views: =SongInfo=, which +is somewhat of a misnomer because it shows more than just information about the +currently-playing song, and =QueryInfo=, which is the view for searching through +the =mpd= database. Then there's some =mpsc= plumbing to get the UI to talk with the +thread that's responsible for talking to =mpd=. It's a big hunk of code, but I'm +confident it's sufficiently commented that I don't need to re-learn any literate +programming tools to talk about it in this article. + I did all the development for this in Emacs on my primary workstation, keeping in mind that I would eventually be putting this on a mobile phone, but otherwise writing it as I would a desktop application. The feedback loop was much faster than what I had when I was doing Android development all those years ago, since I was literally compiling and running the program on my workstation. -#+CAPTION: The primary view of Tunes as it appeared on my workstation -[[./Tunes on Workstation.png]] +#+CAPTION: The primary view of Tunes as it appears on my workstation +[[./tunes-on-workstation.png]] The only part that was really affected by the mobile consideration was with -actually using a =ListStore= instead of just adding things into a =ListBox=. I'm -frankly not sure I did it right, but the intent was to have an application that -doesn't create a thousand labels at once, but instead instantiating them as they -come into view. This is by no means a mobile-only consideration, but the -PinePhone has an eighth the memory of my workstation, and I have a big (20G) -music collection. Anyway, the right way to do it is described [[https://gtk-rs.org/gtk4-rs/stable/latest/book/list_widgets.html][here]], but that -book is using GTK4, so I wasn't able to lift it verbatim. +using a =ListStore= instead of just adding things into a =ListBox=. I'm frankly not +sure I did it right, but the intent was to have an application that doesn't +create a thousand labels at once, instead instantiating them as they come into +view. This is by no means a mobile-only consideration, but the PinePhone has an +eighth the memory of my workstation, and I have a big (20G) music collection. +Anyway, the right way to do it is described [[https://gtk-rs.org/gtk4-rs/stable/latest/book/list_widgets.html][here]], but that book is using GTK4, +so I wasn't able to lift it verbatim. The rest of it is standard Rust, once you realize that everything in GTK land is basically an =Arc>=. Closures are a little funny, too, which is why you -see =let mut sender = sender.clone();= show up so frequently: we can't share the +see =let mut sender = sender.clone()= show up so frequently: we can't share the same mutable reference across multiple invocations of the same closure[fn:12] I tried to go against the grain and use regular Rust structs (that implement =AsRef=) instead of using subclassing, but you can see that I had to do it anyway to shoehorn the data we got from =mpd= into the =ListStore=. I think the -struct-based composition works a little bit better. +struct-based composition is a little bit nicer to work with. Once I had the code tested, somewhat optimized, and refactored, I was ready to try it out on the phone. @@ -1826,10 +1794,10 @@ that over to my PinePhone and ran =apk add --allow-untrusted tunes-0.1.1-r0.apk= and it worked on the first try. #+CAPTION: The primary view of Tunes on the PinePhone -[[./Tunes on PinePhone.png]] +[[./tunes-on-pinephone.png]] I haven't updated the =APKBUILD= to install it, yet, but I've made a =tunes.desktop= -file so that the application shows up on my home screen.d +file so that the application shows up on my home screen. #+BEGIN_SRC conf [Desktop Entry] @@ -1844,64 +1812,46 @@ Categories=Multimedia #+END_SRC #+CAPTION: The entry for Tunes shows up on my home screen with the MPD logo. My wallpaper (a picture of my sweetheart) makes the text a little hard to read, so I apologize for that. -[[./Tunes on Home Screen.png]] +[[./tunes-on-home-screen.png]] Final thoughts? That was much more pleasant than anything I've done in Android land. I've got an application that's actually useful to me that didn't take me more than a week -- a week where I was working late most nights, mind you. -It's still a proof-of-concept rather than a battle-tested application, ready for -packaging upstream, but it's enough to go off of. I'm expecting to continue -working on it, but I might pull in [[https://github.com/Relm4/Relm4][Relm4]] or [[https://github.com/bodil/vgtk][vgtk]] to cut down on some of the -boilerplate and event loop spaghetti. +It's still a proof-of-concept rather than a battle-tested application thats +ready for packaging upstream, but it's enough to go off of. I'm expecting to +continue working on it, but I might pull in [[https://github.com/Relm4/Relm4][Relm4]] or [[https://github.com/bodil/vgtk][vgtk]] to cut down on some of +the boilerplate and event loop spaghetti. **** Comments on the =mpd= interactions You may notice that I've vendored the entire =mpd= crate into the the =tunes= repository. In short: the =mpd= crate is pretty old and a little broken. I ran into [[https://github.com/kstep/rust-mpd/issues/40][this (two-year old!) issue]] using the query interface, so I cloned =master= -and applied =SimonPersson='s patch. Then I ran into /another/ issue where I was +and applied SimonPersson's patch. Then I ran into /another/ issue where I was trying to send a song path across a channel instead of the whole =Song=, and I wasn't able to use that for the API calls I wanted to make, because =ToSongPath= isn't implemented for =String= or =&str=. It should be, since there's an =impl ToSongPath for dyn AsRef=, but there isn't, so I had to add my own =push_str= -method. I also merged in another [[https://github.com/kstep/rust-mpd/pull/43][pull request]] from =SimonPersson= which adds +method. I also merged in another [[https://github.com/kstep/rust-mpd/pull/43][pull request]] from SimonPersson which adds =albumart= support... so I have a pseudo-fork of the =mpd= crate sitting around, which I had to bring into version control if anyone was going to reasonably build Tunes from source. When I eventually come back to this to make it more than a useful prototype, -I'll probably drop =mpd= for something that's better-maintained. Either [[https://github.com/SimonPersson/mpdrs][mpdrs]] as -it's a plain old fork of =mpd=, or [[https://github.com/elomatreb/mpd_client][mpd_client]] if I decide I want to bring in all -of [[https://tokio.rs/][Tokio]] for this little =mpd= client. Decisions, decisions. - -* Community - -Despite owning several PINE64 widgets and doodads, my interactions with the -PINE64 community have been somewhat limited. I leverage community maintained -resources like the PINE64 wiki and the PINE64 forums frequently, but I don't -post regularly. But I think I should. - -The community of people who use the PinePhone is small, but those within are -very willing to helping others, which I admire. The best example I have of this -was when I was preparing for DEF CON and I emailed Biktorgj to ask about the -FOTA code in the EG25-G modem. I sent this in the morning while I was getting -ready for work and literally /minutes/ later I got a detailed response about how -it's been removed from the firmware. It was at that point I knew that the -PinePhone software stack was in good hands. - -But, really, these sorts of things make me want to be more involved in the -community. Maybe I'll do something related to mobile Linux for my master's -thesis. +I'll probably drop the 'mpd' crate for something that's better-maintained. +Either [[https://github.com/SimonPersson/mpdrs][mpdrs]] as it's a plain old fork of 'mpd' with the things I want, or +[[https://github.com/elomatreb/mpd_client][mpd_client]] if I decide I want to bring in all of [[https://tokio.rs/][Tokio]] for this little +application. Decisions, decisions. ** Porting Software -What follow from "it's easy to develop for the PinePhone because you're writing -applications as if you were writing them for your workstation" is that it should -be relatively easy to port existing applications as well. And this is indeed the -case. The compile times brought me great pain, but I was successful in -cross-compiling [[https://github.com/diamondburned/gtkcord4][diamondburned's gtkcord4]], which has no existing Alpine package -to my knowledge, to run on the PinePhone. +What one might expect to follow from "it's easy to develop for the PinePhone +because you're writing applications as if you were writing them for your +workstation" is that it should be relatively easy to port existing applications +as well. And this is indeed the case. The compile times can be painful, but I +was successful in cross-compiling [[https://github.com/diamondburned/gtkcord4][diamondburned's gtkcord4]] -- which has no +existing Alpine package to my knowledge -- to run on the PinePhone. #+BEGIN_SRC sh # Contributor: Jakob L. Kreuze <[REDACTED]> @@ -1939,8 +1889,8 @@ mobile device, but thanks to their choice to use GTK4, I didn't have to make any changes to the code and it still runs great on my device. #+CAPTION: gtkcord4 running on the PinePhone, showing a conversation between myself and my friend. -#+attr_html: alt="[10:46 AM] Jakob: If you managed to get enough samples, do you think you could do a TEMPEST-like attack on USB?\n[10:47 AM] Ergodic: I don't see why not\n[10:47 AM] Jakob: Or serial, or any other standard where the connection doesn't have a lot to keep it from being leaky\n[10:47 AM] Ergodic: I think Israel can dump ram from far away right?\n[10:47 AM] Ergodic: So pretty much anything\n[10:47 AM] Ergodic: Well\n[10:48 AM] Ergodic: Actually\n[10:48 AM] Ergodic: Wait\n[10:48 AM] Ergodic: With um\n[10:48 AM] Ergodic: A HdMI it doesn't matter if some data is wrong cuz you can keep resampling, same with ram\n[10:48 AM] Ergodic: But you can't with USB unless they're doing the same thing 40 times in a row 👀\n[10:49 AM] Ergodic: Like depending on the protocol, how accurate do you wanna be" -[[./gtkcord4 on PinePhone.png]] +#+ATTR_HTML: :alt [10:46 AM] Jakob: If you managed to get enough samples, do you think you could do a TEMPEST-like attack on USB? [Line Break] [10:47 AM] Ergodic: I don't see why not [Line Break] [10:47 AM] Jakob: Or serial, or any other standard where the connection doesn't have a lot to keep it from being leaky [Line Break] [10:47 AM] Ergodic: I think Israel can dump ram from far away right? [Line Break] [10:47 AM] Ergodic: So pretty much anything [Line Break] [10:47 AM] Ergodic: Well [Line Break] [10:48 AM] Ergodic: Actually [Line Break] [10:48 AM] Ergodic: Wait [Line Break] [10:48 AM] Ergodic: With um [Line Break] [10:48 AM] Ergodic: A HdMI it doesn't matter if some data is wrong cuz you can keep resampling, same with ram [Line Break] [10:48 AM] Ergodic: But you can't with USB unless they're doing the same thing 40 times in a row 👀 [Line Break] [10:49 AM] Ergodic: Like depending on the protocol, how accurate do you wanna be +[[./gtkcord4-on-pinephone.png]] Some applications might need to be modified to work well on a touchscreen. I haven't had to do that yet, and even if I did, I would expect it to be a @@ -2040,7 +1990,7 @@ pkg_postrm() { Although I probably should, I'm not going to bother with =postinst= or =postrm= right now. I'm also not going to build the docs. What we can tell immediately is that this is a CMake project (so we should find an =APKBUILD= for something else -that uses cmake) and the dependencies are the following: +that uses CMake -- I used =gzdoom=) and the dependencies are the following: - =yaml-cpp= - =sdl= @@ -2252,8 +2202,9 @@ The last errors I got were related to =execinfo=. This is, to my knowledge, a thing, but then I was getting some linker errors about a missing symbol for =backtrace=. Searching came up with an [[https://discuss.pytorch.org/t/compiling-master-from-source-on-alpine-fails-with-undefined-reference-to-backtrace/64676][issue in PyTorch]] which gave me some insight, and then I found a [[https://github.com/OpenXcom/OpenXcom/pull/1123][pull request upstream]] related to it. My patch above -just makes that unconditional; we get all the =backtrace= symbols from =execinfo=, -but we also need to make sure it's actually linked into the binary. +just makes the fix in that pull request unconditional (in =master=, it's only +applied on BSD); we get all the =backtrace= symbols from =execinfo=, but we need to +make sure it's actually linked into the binary. Then.. shit. It built correctly, but my =pmbootstrap= setup was a version behind the PostmarketOS on my phone (=v21.12= vs =v22.06=), so I was getting some @@ -2262,7 +2213,7 @@ dependency resolution errors. I re-initialized =pmbootstrap= and then learned th was at least smooth sailing after that. #+CAPTION: OpenXcom running on the PinePhone. It performs surprisingly well. -[[./OpenXcom on PinePhone.png]] +[[./openxcom-on-pinephone.png]] So porting software to the PinePhone is relatively easy. @@ -2276,7 +2227,38 @@ However you do it, the end result is the same. You get to use the same Linux applications on your phone that you would on your desktop, and I think that's great. -** Malware +* Community + +Despite owning several PINE64 widgets and doodads, I've basically had no +interactions with the PINE64 community. I leverage community maintained +resources like the PINE64 wiki and the PINE64 forums frequently, but I don't +post regularly. I think I should, but at the time of writing this, I don't. + +The community of people who use the PinePhone is small, but those within are +very willing to helping others, which I admire. The best example I have of this +was when I was preparing for DEF CON and I emailed Biktorgj to ask about the +FOTA code in the EG25-G modem. I sent this in the morning while I was getting +ready for work and literally /minutes/ later I got a detailed response about how +it's been removed from the firmware. It was at that point I knew that the +PinePhone software stack was in good hands. + +(If you're curious, this was the response.) + +#+BEGIN_QUOTE +Hi, all the FOTA code from Quectel doesn't exist in the custom firmware: + +- LK bootloader has all the relevant code removed +- The main root filesystem doesn't even have a tool to download it +- The recovery partition, which in stock is used to apply the updates is replaced with a minimal bootable filesystem that doesn't have anything except adb, a shell and strace + +If there's something that could be broken into (discarding physical access, if someone has it you're done anyway) would need to be done with a bogus GSM network exploiting some bug in the ADSP firmware (but you could have that with any phone) + +Hope it helps :) +#+END_QUOTE + +But, really, these sorts of things make me want to be more involved in the +community. Maybe I'll do something related to mobile Linux for my master's +thesis. An unrelated aside: the only time I've heard of a trojan for Linux circulating in the wild was a [[https://hackaday.com/2021/12/16/pinephone-malware-surprises-users-raises-questions/][snake game for the PinePhone]], but I don't think this says @@ -2285,62 +2267,83 @@ terribly much about the PINE64 community. * Social Implications A few weeks ago I had a party at my place, and some chick was talking about how -owning an Android phone is some sort of red flag. I turned to my friend to say -that I hoped my weird-ass Linux phone wasn't a red flag. I thought I was funny, -but in reality the difference doesn't matter to non-technical folk. To them it's -just a "green bubble," or whatever. I don't understand why it's a red flag, nor -do I particularly care, I just wanted to lead with an anecdote about why your -choice of mobile phone somehow carries stigma, at least in my (doomed) -generation. - -It hasn't been a problem for me because I don't frequently surround myself with -these types of people who care about what kind of cell phone you have. There -have been a couple of rough spots because of literal technical limitations with -the PinePhone -- for example, PostmarketOS 21.06 wasn't MMS-capable, so I missed -out on some group texts and photos that my parents were sending. But my parents, -my partner, and my friends haven't complained about my weird ass phone. They've -put up with it, and for that I'm appreciative. But it's been a while since I've -had one of those annoying technical problems, so I don't think they've really -noticed. +she considered owning an Android phone to be a red flag. I turned to my friend +to say that I hoped my weird-ass Linux phone wasn't a red flag. I thought I was +funny. But in reality, the difference doesn't matter to non-technical folk. To +them it's just the color of a "bubble," or whatever. I don't understand why it's +a red flag, nor do I particularly care, I just wanted to lead with an anecdote +about why one's choice of mobile phone somehow carries stigma in my (doomed) +generation. If I cared about that, I probably wouldn't be using a PinePhone, but +I don't often surround myself with these types of people who care about what +kind of cell phone you have. + +There have been a couple of rough spots because of literal technical limitations +with the PinePhone -- for example, PostmarketOS v21.06 wasn't MMS-capable, so I +missed out on some group texts and photos that my parents were sending. But my +parents, my partner, and my friends haven't complained about me using a weird +ass half-functional phone. They've put up with it, and for that I'm +appreciative. That said, it's been a while since I've had one of those annoying +technical problems, so I'm not sure they've really noticed. All-in-all, the people I do tell about how I use a phone running mainline Linux (mainly coworkers) find it cool but also very characteristic of who I am as a person. I think that's a fair way to conclude this section. -* Surveying Other's Opinions +* Conclusions I hinted at this in the introduction, but I'll say it again: the PinePhone is -not a popular choice. I know precisely two people who own one (both of whom seem -quite happy with theirs.) I appreciate the PinePhone, and there are others who +not a popular choice. I know precisely two people who own one. Both of whom seem +happy to own one. I appreciate the PinePhone, and there are others who appreciate it as well, but the overwhelming opinion is that it isn't ready for -most "real life" use-cases. Come on down to the PINE64 mobile shop. We've got -[[https://xnux.eu/log/#017][(hypothetical) exploding phones]] and [[https://www.pine64.org/2022/08/18/a-response-to-martijns-blog/][core contributors leaving in protest of -bureaucracy]]. - -The PinePhone is quite unique in that it's backed by hobbyists rather than big -companies, and the effects of that are enough to make it a non-starter for many -people. I find those that own a PinePhone (especially myself) tend to be -dogmatic about software freedom and privacy, and get by without a lot of what -typical smartphones offer. - -I don't want to spend too many cycles summarizing what other people have written -about the PinePhone. I would recommend reading Amos B. Batto's article [[https://amosbbatto.wordpress.com/2021/12/10/comparing-l5-and-pp/][Comparing -the Librem 5 USA and PinePhone Beta]] for some more articulate thoughts about -the PinePhone's hardware and how it compares to its main "competitor," the -Librem 5. The [[https://www.toomanyatoms.com/computer/pinephone.html][PinePhone page on toomanyatoms.com]] is also quite good. - -* Conclusions - -- I enjoy the PinePhone because it's more like my workstation than some strange - alien device that ends up being a pain in the ass to develop for. +most "real life" use-cases. + +Come on down to the PINE64 mobile shop. We've got [[https://xnux.eu/log/#017][(hypothetical) exploding phones]] +and [[https://www.pine64.org/2022/08/18/a-response-to-martijns-blog/][core contributors leaving in protest of bureaucracy]]. + +The PinePhone is unique in that it's backed by hobbyists rather than big +companies. With the exception of some of its software components like the +mainline Linux kernel, it doesn't have the constant inflow of resources to make +it usable or convenient. It's well behind its "competitors" in terms of normal +usability and support for running popular mobile applications. That's enough to +make it a non-starter for many people. The PinePhone, and Linux phones more +broadly, are likely to only garner the "free software nerd" crowd for the +foreseeable future. + +I'm hopeful that, as big players like Google [[https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/05/google-backed-glance-to-launch-in-us-within-two-months/][continue moving in the wrong +direction]], interest in free and open alternatives will grow, and that we'll +see start to see non-Android Linux as a viable option some day. But that time is +certainly not now. + +My experiences have been positive, but I am dogmatic about software freedom and +privacy, and get by without a lot of what typical smartphones offer. Hence, I am +not the typical smartphone user. + +That said, if that brief summary of my situation resonates with you, the +PinePhone is an excellent choice. I love my PinePhone because it's more like a +workstation than some strange alien device that I can't easily hack on; it +integrates incredibly well with the rest of my personal computing stack. + +And it's certainly the best option on the market for me right now. The Librem 5 +is the PinePhone's main "competitor," and I would recommend reading Amos B. +Batto's article [[https://amosbbatto.wordpress.com/2021/12/10/comparing-l5-and-pp/][Comparing the Librem 5 USA and PinePhone Beta]] for some more +articulate thoughts about the differences, but in my case, the Librem 5 is +simply out of my price range. + +I would love a device like the PinePhone but with more typical hardware, like a +Qualcomm Snapdragon (though the [[https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Qualcomm_mainline_porting][mainline Linux support]] for newer Snapdragon SOCs +leaves a bit to be desired.) A bigger battery would be nice, too -- I wouldn't +care if it made the phone unreasonably thick. Modular and easily serviceable.. +with wake/suspend support that doesn't suck. Yeah. That's my dream phone. But I +expect it'll remain a dream for a long while, so for now, I love my +PinePhone.[fn:15] --- -[fn:1] In practice, Android typically uses an outdated kernel with vendor-specific blobs and modifications, and it notably does _not_ use the GNU/Linux userland. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bionic_(software)][Bionic]] is the libc, [[https://source.android.com/devices/graphics/surfaceflinger-windowmanager][SurfaceFlinger]] is the display server, ... In general, there is very little semblance between Android and the Linux distributions one may be familiar with. You cannot, in general, run a regular Linux application on Android. +[fn:1] In practice, Android typically uses an outdated kernel with vendor-specific blobs and modifications, and it notably does _not_ use the GNU/Linux userland. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bionic_(software)][Bionic]] is the libc, [[https://source.android.com/devices/graphics/surfaceflinger-windowmanager][SurfaceFlinger]] is the display server, and so on. For the most part, there is very little semblance between Android and the Linux distributions one may be familiar with. You cannot, for example, run a regular Linux application on Android. -[fn:2] If we take a minute to consider the policy /without/ associating it with partisan decisionmaking, I think this was a [[https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/790270/HCSEC_OversightBoardReport-2019.pdf][good call]] (albeit poorly implemented). +[fn:2] If we take a minute to consider the policy /without/ its partisan nuance, I think this was a [[https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/790270/HCSEC_OversightBoardReport-2019.pdf][good call]] (albeit poorly implemented). -[fn:3] Using the Android calendar was so painful that I wrote some scripts to generate ICS files for my college classes, recurring meetings at work, etc. I am so thankful that I don't need to use this anymore. +[fn:3] Using the Android calendar was so painful that I wrote some scripts to generate ICS files for my college classes, recurring meetings at work, etc., so I could import a couple hundred events at a time. I am so thankful that I don't need to do that anymore. [fn:4] Folks message me on XMPP so infrequently that I can get by just using it on desktop. @@ -2348,18 +2351,22 @@ Librem 5. The [[https://www.toomanyatoms.com/computer/pinephone.html][PinePhone [fn:7] It was a bit of a pain to set up when I first tried it, so I gave up. -[fn:8] While I tend to use "GNU/Linux" to refer to the kernel + user space, the distribution I'm running on my phone doesn't actually use GNU components. [[https://postmarketos.org/][PostmarketOS]] is based on Alpine, and hence uses [[https://musl.libc.org/][musl]] and [[https://www.busybox.net/][BusyBox]]. - -# JLK: Early 2000's? +[fn:8] While I tend to use "GNU/Linux" to refer to the kernel + user space, the distribution I'm running on my phone doesn't actually use GNU components. [[https://postmarketos.org/][PostmarketOS]] is based on Alpine, which uses [[https://musl.libc.org/][musl]] and [[https://www.busybox.net/][BusyBox]]. [fn:9] If I recall, my cousin had pulled out a picture of his bedroom back in the late 90's and was commenting on the Limp Bizkit poster, and I mentioned that they'd released an album earlier that week. (And said something about Fred Durst's new appearance.) [fn:10] The only attempt I've seen at "breaking into" Android land with something that isn't based on Java is David Boddie's [[https://www.boddie.org.uk/david/www-repo/Projects/#DUCK][DUCK]], which I'd experimented with and enjoyed quite a bit. Unfortunately, I had my falling out with Android development around when I discovered it and never made anything of note with it. -[fn:11] I /think/ this term originates from [[https://dustycloud.org/][Christine Lemmer-Webber]]. It's a neologism for arguing about which of some number of choices is the best, when one thing being better than another is not only subjective but also a triviality, and when the arguments tend to be unusually heated. American football teams is a good example. I don't think anyone actually cares about the Gnome versus KDE argument nowadays (it seems to have been more relevant in my dad's time), so maybe it isn't accurate to call it footballing in 2022. +[fn:11] I /think/ this term originates from [[https://dustycloud.org/][Christine Lemmer-Webber]]. It's a neologism for arguing about which of some number of choices is the best, when one thing being better than another is not only subjective but also a triviality, and when the arguments tend to be unusually heated. American football teams is a good example. I don't think anyone actually cares about the Gnome versus KDE argument nowadays, though, (it seems to have been more relevant in my dad's time) so maybe it isn't accurate to call it footballing in 2022. [fn:12] And I can't figure out how to tell the compiler that I want to =move= the mutable =sender= into the closure and use that across all invocations. I don't think it's possible, but someone better than me at Rust is probably going to write me an email and tell me the better way to do this. When that happens, I'll update this post with an addendum. [fn:13] The =-t 3600= is to tell =pmbootstrap= not to kill itself if it doesn't see any output in half an hour. It's absolutely the most annoying thing in =pmbootstrap= because things just sometimes take a really long time to cross-compile. [fn:14] I should have included =go= as a build dependency, come to think of it. + +[fn:15] I considered a couple of different "clever" titles for this post, but settled on the simple "I love my PinePhone", after seeing a [[https://blog.danieljanus.pl/2022/08/18/i-love-my-gpd-micro-pc/][post of a similar name]] by Daniel Janus's about his GPD Micro PC. Coincidentally, a lot of the reasons he gives for enjoying the laptop line-up with my reasons for enjoying the PinePhone. + +[fn:16] I use [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrot][scrot]] and [[https://www.umaxx.net/dl/sct-0.5.tar.gz][sct]] for these tasks, respectively, on all of my X11-running machines. I've patched both =sct= and =wlsunset= to set the blue balance to 0 at night because [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_effects_of_high-energy_visible_light][high-energy visible light stimulates melanopsin receptors in the eye]]. I was never able to find an app that could do that on Android, so I'd have to manually adjust it every night. + +[fn:17] Now that I've had a month to mull over this introduction, I think it's actually more likely that the power button was just being pressed down while it was shifting around in my pockets. -- cgit v1.3