It's easy to tell someone "get me sane userland", but it's harder to actually do it. Maemo 5 port idea is there to provide stable, rock solid functionality since day one - to not repeat Openmoko fate. Of course it's an open platform, so you can use whatever you want with it, just like with PC. Standard armhf compilation of Debian GNU/Linux with freesmartphone.org stack should work pretty well on Neo900. There's also OpenEmbedded-based SHR, and nothing stops anyone from installing Ubuntu Touch, Firefox OS, Android, Mer with Plasma Active or anything else.
And by the way, I think it's not really fair to expect high-end specs from very small, independent, almost community-based project. It's already a great success that projects like GTA04 exist at all and didn't end up as a vaporware. There are around 300 GTA04s in existence - that's hardly profitable, but yet Golden Delicious Computers wants to continue the OpenPhoenux project. I, as an Openmoko passionate, who still uses Neo Freerunner as main, daily phone, am very grateful to them and I'm looking forward for getting my Neo900.
Actually, this is the case when earlier disclosure helps security, because when more people are aware of this problem, more people will take action to prevent it from happening (like setting higher quality setting as default).
...and Openmoko phones (and recently OpenPhoenux), which can run OpenEmbedded, Debian, Slackware, OpenWrt, Android and many many more. Some of those distros are even usable as a phone. Heck, you can even use Emacs as phone interface!
You miss the point. If you have password to the file, you can strip it with no effort. Even some popular PDF readers can save copy of the file without password, there's no need for additional software.
Exactly. Facebook and Twitter is not "online presence" in which IT employers are interested. GitHub, Ohloh, commits to free software projects, mailing lists etc. - that's "online presence" you should care about. You'll for sure have a good impression of someone if you put his name in Google and then you immediately see commits to various VCS repositories. That's also some kind of proof of his skills.
You mean Openmoko? Company behind it failed, but community around it is still alive and there is now even successor of Openmoko Neo Freerunner - GTA04 (http://www.openphoenux.org/)
And yes, that would be great starting point. With GTA04 (and with old Freerunner too) you can be sure that that's you who is in control of your phone and your data. Openmoko and OpenPhoenux phones are pretty much the only completely free mobile phones out there.
I wouldn't count Nokia N9, it's pretty much locked and easy to screw thanks to their security framework. Nokia N900 still has non-free bootloader, but without ability to brick your phone if you tinker too much with it just because security rules say so.
Ubuntu for phones uses Android interfaces for drivers, so most of phones with it will have closed blobs to operate hardware directly. You never know what lives in such blobs.
Some phones also have their RAM directly connected with the modem. If that's the case, then no matter what OS you'll run, non-free GSM modem firmware may still access it and do nasty things, even with GSM radio supposedly disabled.
The only phones I know that provide full transparency regarding their firmware are Openmoko Neo Freerunner and OpenPhoenux GTA04. As the first one is a bit outdated, GTA04 is worth looking at, as it provides everything that was requested by the original poster and is still actively maintained - http://www.openphoenux.org/
BTW. The only thing that stops RMS from calling GTA04 completely free phone is non-free WiFi firmware, which has to be loaded to the chip. GTA02 (Freerunner) had WiFi firmware stored in its memory. Other than that, those two phones are completely free and you have full control from the first executed lines of code.
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It's easy to tell someone "get me sane userland", but it's harder to actually do it. Maemo 5 port idea is there to provide stable, rock solid functionality since day one - to not repeat Openmoko fate. Of course it's an open platform, so you can use whatever you want with it, just like with PC. Standard armhf compilation of Debian GNU/Linux with freesmartphone.org stack should work pretty well on Neo900. There's also OpenEmbedded-based SHR, and nothing stops anyone from installing Ubuntu Touch, Firefox OS, Android, Mer with Plasma Active or anything else.
And by the way, I think it's not really fair to expect high-end specs from very small, independent, almost community-based project. It's already a great success that projects like GTA04 exist at all and didn't end up as a vaporware. There are around 300 GTA04s in existence - that's hardly profitable, but yet Golden Delicious Computers wants to continue the OpenPhoenux project. I, as an Openmoko passionate, who still uses Neo Freerunner as main, daily phone, am very grateful to them and I'm looking forward for getting my Neo900.
No, it's not. http://secure-testing-master.debian.net/
"free unlike Qt"
Are you from the past?
Actually, this is the case when earlier disclosure helps security, because when more people are aware of this problem, more people will take action to prevent it from happening (like setting higher quality setting as default).
Is *that* newsworthy? I remember app that did exactly the sam, for Maemo on Nokia N900 - few years ago...
1/2 of the population is above average? Since when an average is equal to a median?
I think there was Gentoo for Openmoko Neo Freerunner at some point. Never tried it though.
...and Openmoko phones (and recently OpenPhoenux), which can run OpenEmbedded, Debian, Slackware, OpenWrt, Android and many many more. Some of those distros are even usable as a phone. Heck, you can even use Emacs as phone interface!
Then do it.
GTA04 is as far as you can get without funding development of your own device.
If you're interested in open hardware platform, go for GTA04 - http://gta04.org/
Ubuntu for phones project never aimed to create open hardware phone.
You miss the point. If you have password to the file, you can strip it with no effort. Even some popular PDF readers can save copy of the file without password, there's no need for additional software.
All of the people who give MIT access to their email already gave it to Google, because that tool from MIT supports only GMail accounts at the moment.
Hashing is not an encryption. I think that's what that comment was about, just in ambiguously sarcastic way.
Exactly. Facebook and Twitter is not "online presence" in which IT employers are interested. GitHub, Ohloh, commits to free software projects, mailing lists etc. - that's "online presence" you should care about. You'll for sure have a good impression of someone if you put his name in Google and then you immediately see commits to various VCS repositories. That's also some kind of proof of his skills.
You mean Openmoko? Company behind it failed, but community around it is still alive and there is now even successor of Openmoko Neo Freerunner - GTA04 (http://www.openphoenux.org/)
And yes, that would be great starting point. With GTA04 (and with old Freerunner too) you can be sure that that's you who is in control of your phone and your data. Openmoko and OpenPhoenux phones are pretty much the only completely free mobile phones out there.
I wouldn't count Nokia N9, it's pretty much locked and easy to screw thanks to their security framework. Nokia N900 still has non-free bootloader, but without ability to brick your phone if you tinker too much with it just because security rules say so.
Fortunately, N900 and GTA04 are good choices :)
Ubuntu for phones uses Android interfaces for drivers, so most of phones with it will have closed blobs to operate hardware directly. You never know what lives in such blobs.
Some phones also have their RAM directly connected with the modem. If that's the case, then no matter what OS you'll run, non-free GSM modem firmware may still access it and do nasty things, even with GSM radio supposedly disabled.
The only phones I know that provide full transparency regarding their firmware are Openmoko Neo Freerunner and OpenPhoenux GTA04. As the first one is a bit outdated, GTA04 is worth looking at, as it provides everything that was requested by the original poster and is still actively maintained - http://www.openphoenux.org/
BTW. The only thing that stops RMS from calling GTA04 completely free phone is non-free WiFi firmware, which has to be loaded to the chip. GTA02 (Freerunner) had WiFi firmware stored in its memory. Other than that, those two phones are completely free and you have full control from the first executed lines of code.