Jolla - the new freedom respecting tablet pc?
I stumbled over this campaign a minute ago:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/jolla-tablet-world-s-first-crowdsourced-tablet
First of all: I don't believe that this will be 100% freedom-respecting for sure. I come to this conclusion because the site overs very little information about how "open source" the device will actually going to be.
So my starting point here is the question: Might it be a step up when it comes to freedom?
Though I didn't read much details, this is very likely, because the current situation for tablets is *horrible* :
- replicant is only available for very few devices and not a single one of them supports wifi (!) which defeats the whole purpose of a smartphone imho
- besides replicant, the OS with most free components is android, but normally the devices get shipped without even granting root access to the device (!)
- if you want root access, you risk bricking the device and warranty will expire
- the number of free software apps is still too limited; for instance, there is no alternative to google maps at the moment
I think chances are good that the tablet will improve the situation, given that it's somewhat usable.
Please share your thoughts on this and also further information if you know something.
I am a translator!
"the current situation for tablets is *horrible*"
you can say that out loud!
p.s. a funny anecdote - In the italian language the word "cellulare" has two meanings.
a) cellulare - cellphone
b) cellulare - a truck used by the police to transport the detainees!
:-0
The only one who believes this will be free as in freedom is you quantum :P
>Might it be a step up when it comes to freedom?
No. You can even see proprietary apps on one of the images.
>Please share your thoughts
"freedom" is mentioned only once in that link, and in the sentence "Jolla’s core value is freedom of choice for our community".
>freedom of choice
I give 0 points to this crap.
"The only one who believes this will be free as in freedom is you quantum :P"
Uhmm... did you read my post? Where did I say that it's going to be 'free as in freedom'? I expressed my hope that it might be more free than everything currently available.
>Uhmm... did you read my post? Where did I say that it's going to be 'free as in freedom'? I expressed my hope that it might be more free than everything currently available.
I'm Sorry, correcting to: "The only one who believes this will be more free as in freedom is you quantum :P"
>I expressed my hope that it might be more free than everything currently available.
I don't see why you hope for that, just search for Sailfish OS on Wikipedia.
The first sentence in that article: "Sailfish is a mobile operating system (OS) combining the Linux kernel, the Mer core and proprietary software written by mobile software developer Jolla."
"I'm Sorry, correcting to: "The only one who believes this will be more free as in freedom is you quantum :P""
You sure can't speak for the whole community, so I just take it as your own opinion.
"I don't see why you hope for that"
Well, it is the first project that aims for a "open source" tablet and at least talks about privacy. Since we never had something like this (or better: a project like this never succeeded so far) and the current situation for tablets is really bad, I think it's quite obvious why I hope for an improvement.
"just search for Sailfish OS on Wikipedia.
The first sentence in that article: "Sailfish is a mobile operating system (OS) combining the Linux kernel, the Mer core and proprietary software written by mobile software developer Jolla.""
I already expected that there will be proprietary components, so nothing new here. Maybe they implement less than in android or grant root access by default.
I just think that an "open source" tablet has to be somewhat better than a normal one with android.
>Well, it is the first project that aims for a "open source" tablet and at least talks about privacy. Since we never had something like this (or better: a project like this never succeeded so far) and the current situation for tablets is really bad, I think it's quite obvious why I hope for an improvement.
So, it's the same **** again, I remember people telling me years ago that android was phenomenal because it is "open source" so you're not in a jail like with the iThings. So, what does this brings? Privacy concern? Come on, you already see proprietary apps like Skype. So where is the privacy concern? Nowhere, Is only to attract customers.
>I just think that an "open source" tablet has to be somewhat better than a normal one with android.
yesterday: Proprietary vs open source.
today: open source vs open source.
we'll see if tomorrow there is a "open source vs freedom". And then I will hope for an improvement.
I can't see much of anything on the IndieGoGo page (apparently it requires JavaScript just for reading some text...), but from what I have seen, this strikes me as no better than, say, the Ouya. It's not trying to be free at all, much less more free than existing tablets. Why would you suppose that it would be more free, then?
The One Laptop Per Child project says some stuff about "open source", too, and incidentally, they've developed a tablet. That tablet probably isn't any worse than this one.
Jolla is no better than Android, both are non-free, and totally permeated with with non-free software. The good bits are handcuffed to a radiator in the basement. Worse still both systems make it far too easy for even more non-free bits to slip in.
Compromising is a race to the bottom. ARM based systems are a race to the bottom in general, this is why wifi doesn't work on Replicant. Its not a flaw with Replicant, its the weaknesses of the hardware.
Jolla OS, like Android, sounds fine at first- then you see all the non-free bits. Wikipedia even acknowledges that the stock Jolla has non-free parts.
Wikipedia is pretty good for finding out if something's free or non-free.
It's a shame that neither Android, Jolla, nor Tizen have been able to acheive, or even attempt, freedom.
I am a member!
There simply aren't that many free software friendly wifi chipsets and none of the ones used in desktops/laptops are used in tablets (broadcom and atheros are the only options for 802.11n). The tablets are pretty much all based on SoCs which require ath6k for wifi or some other driver that is dependent on non-free firmware.
The graphics are potentially a bit easier to solve as there is at least one graphics chipset used in mini boards and tablets. This is the Mali-400 and Mali-450.
We've been hacking on boards with them... but nothing yet to show for it... at least not a total solution.
I have some hope for the Jolla tablet, it might eventually end up as the first device of this type I might tinker with.
My communication compromise: OTR with Jabber/XMPP account + Firefox OS smartphone without SIM card, and Mozilla Hello/Loop services over WiFi through WebRTC.