This year we made good progress. You know, Linux gaming becoming better, Reddit fucking up, Metaverse failing etc. But on the other hand Big Tech has or are planning to make some moves. Such as, Google’s Web Enviroment Integrity API (EDIT: they backed off), UK’s encryption bill, etc.
So what do you think of the future? I’m currently optimistic. I think the best recent event was Reddit fucking up. Obviously one of the biggest information sources going down that path isn’t something to celebrate. But it was bound to happen. I believe decentralized social networks becoming more popular is what Aaron Swartz would have wanted if he saw how Reddit was being managed.
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I know that many people still rely on Google’s services, but speaking from my own experience, it’s not hard to ditch them entirely.
I installed LineageOS 2 months ago, and was only missing my banking app, which I installed using the Aurora store and it works without any issues. For everything else I found alternatives which are, admittedly not as good/users friendly as Google’s. But I wouldn’t say there’s no true FOSS phone OS.
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Yes, Aurora is not the ideal solution and Google might be cracking down on it soon. But as long as it works I don’t really mind it going through Google, at least I don’t need an account for it.
And sadly many Apps are just made with Google in mind because it’s so popular, but my hope is that in the future more and more Apps will have at least a Google free option.
Mobian sounds cool, but doesn’t seem so promising to me as well. I agree that custom ROM’s are not in a good spot right now, but I think it’s gonna get better in the future.
Surely the objective is not to get companies to “support” yet another platform, it is to use a single platform that is open at the level of protocols and file types.
And surely that platform is already here and is called the Web.
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This strikes me as a best-vs-better situation. What is your solution to this problem that is actually plausible in the real-world this century?
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This does indeed sound like the best approach. We’re not there yet and EU citizens need to push for this or it might not happen.
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The blobs are a similar issue on traditional computers as well. This is something we are far from resolving until OpenISA like RISC-V become practically usable and purchasable for commoners.
For example, getting a ride through Lyft is now impossible without GPS, their app won’t start. Knly option is Uber through a website.
You also don’t get notifications for some apps because of that. So I had to make some sacrifices to not have GPS installed
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Might be better to just use taxis if their price is reasonable
It is extreme hard to find a phone with Lineage OS preinstalled in the stores. Very hard to install it by my self, we can’t assume everybody can do this.