On 10/29/2013 11:23 AM, Richard Owlett wrote:
Ralf Mardorf wrote:On Tue, 2013-10-29 at 10:56 -0400, alex.padoly@laposte.net wrote:I shall want to buy a SMARTPHONE with a free O.S (GNU). Many of my friends say to me that ANDROID is a free system, it is LINUX! What do you think about it?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_%28operating_system%29 AFAIK it's free/libre open source, but apps are not for free as in beer. I didn't read the Wiki, so I don't know if it will answer your question.Google's lawyers probably say it's what OP wants.I bought an Android tablet ASSUMING a Debian-like usability. DISAPPOINTED!!Some quotes from the Wikipedia article:Second sentence - "Initially developed by Android, Inc., which Google backed financially and later bought in 2005". Third paragraph under 'Licensing' - "Even though the software is open-source, device manufacturers cannot use Google's Android trademark unless Google certifies that the device complies with their Compatibility Definition Document (CDD). Devices must also meet this definition to be eligible to license Google's closed-source applications, including Google Play. In recent years, a number of open-source Android apps have been abandoned and replaced by closed source versions, while Google Play Services inherits and introduces development API's which are also proprietary.[138][139] Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation have been critical of Android and have recommended the usage of alternatives such as Replicant, because drivers and firmware vital for the proper functioning of Android devices are usually proprietary, and because Google Play allows non-free software." {[nnn] are footnotes in article}I suggest OP browse links at https://www.google.com/search?q=android+root+OR+rooting .As for me, I've bought my last Android device.
So far I've read nothing but bad advice for the OP in this thread.I'll stick with Android, largely because I have yet to see a "fully free" portable Linux do anything useful or even get everything working. I also don't worship GNU, I am more on the Linus Torvalds school of thought: Use what works.
I think using a system purely because it's "free" is folly, and will only result in a half-functional device. The reason I don't see OpenMoko on many smartphones is that the full support for devices could probably be counted on one hand.
Then again, I'm not like the typical Debian user. I don't care about free vs. proprietary. I care about quality, USEFUL platforms and software, something we won't get by blindly relying on 100% "free" software.
Look at Debian itself. Ever since they made the (Frankly terrible.) decision to leave so-called "non-free" firmware out of their installation media, installing Debian, especially over a wireless network, has become a royal pain in the ass, for no reason other than a "philosophy" the Debian developers have. I have since stopped using official installation media because anything the Debian provide officially is useless to me now.
My advice to the OP: Stick with Android. It's Linux, it just doesn't have GNU (Frankly, you don't want GNU on a mobile platform anyway. It's just not suited for it.), and its critics overestimate how much proprietary software is in the platform itself. (In fact, Google Play, which isn't even an essential part of Android, and drivers for phone hardware, which are only provided by the manufacturers anyway and not part of Android proper, are pretty much the only proprietary bits of Android you'll find. In other words, Android itself is still FOSS.). Because while you may have "alternatives" the alternatives are next to useless and a waste of space on 99.9% of devices out there.
On the usability side, a traditional Linux set up on a mobile platform like a smartphone or tablet, even if you somehow manage to get the hardware working, just isn't all that practical. Using a console on a smartphone and tablet is slow going because most keyboard input is not something you can rapidly type on, and the "point and click" concept is tapping or swiping, instead of moving a cursor around and pushing a button like a mouse. In other words, a traditional Linux interface is not going to be all that fun to use. That's why ANY mobile OS (Not just Android.) has the interface it has, because a desktop envrionment or a command line will just make you miserable.