4 ms·

Wish them all the best, but I tried the latest firmwate image on my dev kit last week and although there's plenty of progress, many things are not there, at lea

Wish them all the best, but I tried the latest firmwate image on my dev kit last week and although there's plenty of progress, many things are not there, at least on that image + platform combination. No lte, no wifi, browser scrolls at ~10fps, browser crashes, display has some hw jittering if you look closely. I guess some of these are solved on the production hw (they use a different lte module) but still, only consider it if you have a pain threshold or have booked to go into hypersleep for 18 mo.

blihp 7y ago
That sounds about right for where they are in the development process right now. Anyone expecting a remotely 'consumer' device experience should be waiting for the Evergreen release at least. Only early adopters willing to deal with some pain should be jumping in right now.
- letstrynvm 7y ago
  I paid for a "dev kit"... it's not like I have unreasonable expectations. I went back to check it to figure out if I should buy an actual phone... I kept my money in my pocket. I can handle quite a bit of dust and pieces coming month by month but I can't handle no wireless comms and a crashy and slow browser. At least the internet and the browser operation have to be reliable and fluid or nobody can use it for normal operations. I'll try it again in a few months.
seba_dos1 7y ago
But LTE and WiFi work just fine on my devkit?
- letstrynvm 7y ago
  What did you do to get them working? I flashed the latest image and no sign of them, even with a valid SIM.
  - seba_dos1 7y ago
    The UI is being reworked right now to better fit the screen, but it's generally there in GNOME Settings (latest changes broke the password field and I think it's not restored yet, but you can fill it in by editing NetworkManager's config anyway). For LTE you just have to set the correct APN. I've just connected to the internet with LTE to test it and it worked; and I'm using WiFi connection daily. Make sure your kill switches actually turn WiFi and LTE on. Also, the modem is generally way more stable when used with battery inserted, as USB might not be able to supply enough current.
    - ncmncm 7y ago
      Turning on power switches to the chips is pretty important! It gives a hint about how manufacturing is, that the switch tops come out so late.
- noarchy 7y ago
  >LTE and WiFi work just fine on my devkit? I don't know, do they?
dmix 7y ago
Which browser are they using?
- letstrynvm 7y ago
  It's the Gnome webKit browser Epiphany (aka Gnome web). I'd prefer firefox but I don't have any real beef with it. Except on the dev kit the scrolling is more or less unusable. It might be a 'feature' of the dev kit since the imx8 runs hot enough to burn your hand on that due to hardware problems that shouldn't exist on the real device.
  - jethro_tell 7y ago
    Is there a reason they wouldn't get Mozilla to help out with a FF mobile port? Seems like the obvious and symbiotic way to get this done.
    - abrowne 7y ago
      I'm sure Mozilla would accept Purism's work if they did it, but even a lot of work for desktop Firefox (tabs in the titlebar, wayland) is done by Red Hat people.
      - jethro_tell 7y ago
        That's true, there's a lot more to a partnership though then just the coding and it would still be beneficial for both.
- ptx 7y ago
  Epiphany, GNOME's WebKit-based browser. Firefox doesn't resize small enough to fit on the screen.
  - kgwxd 7y ago
    Does that mean no extensions and thus no ad blocker? If so, do they have another ad block solution at the device level?
miohtama 7y ago
Developing good smartphone userland and OS is very software engineering resource intensive. You cannot do it on a shoestring budget. Even Nokia with its Maemo was only 80% there - and they were able to throw hundreds of software engineers on it. I was also part of one early smartphone development team where you had 150 people at its peak and they still could deliver the product. Not to mention OpenMoko. Even when Librem delivers, it will be subpar UX to what people are used to. It is a trade off, but I feel only very hardcore enthusiastic are willing to take it.
prophesi 7y ago
Not sure what module they're using for the devkits, but you can check to see if your bands are supported here: https://puri.sm/faq/supported-networks/ https://puri.sm/faq/supported-networks/ To see which bands your provider uses, check here: https://cellmapper.net/ https://cellmapper.net/

blihp 7y ago

That sounds about right for where they are in the development process right now. Anyone expecting a remotely 'consumer' device experience should be waiting for the Evergreen release at least. Only early adopters willing to deal with some pain should be jumping in right now.

letstrynvm 7y ago
I paid for a "dev kit"... it's not like I have unreasonable expectations. I went back to check it to figure out if I should buy an actual phone... I kept my money in my pocket. I can handle quite a bit of dust and pieces coming month by month but I can't handle no wireless comms and a crashy and slow browser. At least the internet and the browser operation have to be reliable and fluid or nobody can use it for normal operations. I'll try it again in a few months.

seba_dos1 7y ago

But LTE and WiFi work just fine on my devkit?

letstrynvm 7y ago
What did you do to get them working? I flashed the latest image and no sign of them, even with a valid SIM.
- seba_dos1 7y ago
  The UI is being reworked right now to better fit the screen, but it's generally there in GNOME Settings (latest changes broke the password field and I think it's not restored yet, but you can fill it in by editing NetworkManager's config anyway). For LTE you just have to set the correct APN. I've just connected to the internet with LTE to test it and it worked; and I'm using WiFi connection daily. Make sure your kill switches actually turn WiFi and LTE on. Also, the modem is generally way more stable when used with battery inserted, as USB might not be able to supply enough current.
  - ncmncm 7y ago
    Turning on power switches to the chips is pretty important! It gives a hint about how manufacturing is, that the switch tops come out so late.
noarchy 7y ago
>LTE and WiFi work just fine on my devkit? I don't know, do they?

dmix 7y ago

Which browser are they using?

letstrynvm 7y ago
It's the Gnome webKit browser Epiphany (aka Gnome web). I'd prefer firefox but I don't have any real beef with it. Except on the dev kit the scrolling is more or less unusable. It might be a 'feature' of the dev kit since the imx8 runs hot enough to burn your hand on that due to hardware problems that shouldn't exist on the real device.
- jethro_tell 7y ago
  Is there a reason they wouldn't get Mozilla to help out with a FF mobile port? Seems like the obvious and symbiotic way to get this done.
  - abrowne 7y ago
    I'm sure Mozilla would accept Purism's work if they did it, but even a lot of work for desktop Firefox (tabs in the titlebar, wayland) is done by Red Hat people.
    - jethro_tell 7y ago
      That's true, there's a lot more to a partnership though then just the coding and it would still be beneficial for both.
ptx 7y ago
Epiphany, GNOME's WebKit-based browser. Firefox doesn't resize small enough to fit on the screen.
- kgwxd 7y ago
  Does that mean no extensions and thus no ad blocker? If so, do they have another ad block solution at the device level?

miohtama 7y ago

Developing good smartphone userland and OS is very software engineering resource intensive. You cannot do it on a shoestring budget. Even Nokia with its Maemo was only 80% there - and they were able to throw hundreds of software engineers on it. I was also part of one early smartphone development team where you had 150 people at its peak and they still could deliver the product. Not to mention OpenMoko. Even when Librem delivers, it will be subpar UX to what people are used to. It is a trade off, but I feel only very hardcore enthusiastic are willing to take it.

prophesi 7y ago

Not sure what module they're using for the devkits, but you can check to see if your bands are supported here: https://puri.sm/faq/supported-networks/ https://puri.sm/faq/supported-networks/ To see which bands your provider uses, check here: https://cellmapper.net/ https://cellmapper.net/