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GraphineOS and other possibilities (lemmy.ml)
submitted 1 month ago by to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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Hey dear smart community, I don't use any Google products or services over 3 years now. Always had android and used fdroid. No apps for banking ( cash lover). Osmand for maps. Extremely happy to find this app for socializing with like minded people. Now I feel time has come to upgrade privacy and security and custom ROM phone. I am considering if getting pixel8 and installing GOS. The only issue is,that I have 0 (ZERO) knowledge about how to do it. I have looked many videos and read on websites how to do it,but I am so afraid that I will not be able. I don't know if that is right to ask for assistance from people here,but I don't feel like I am capable of doing so. Plus,I have samsung which I would like to prepare and give my friend to use. Unfortunately, that person in immersed to Google world ( internet banking apps ect). Do you think LineageOS could give more protection and same smooth usage of phone ? I will appreciate any suggestions how to custom ROM phones. Best wishes to all.

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[–] 7 points 1 month ago (1 child)

FYI, firmware is technically the wrong term here (apologies for being pedantic), the correct term would be operating system, or custom operating system. A lot of the firmware, even after installing GrapheneOS, is closed source and managed by Google. There's not much the project, or any project, can do about that, but their partnership with Motorola might help with the closed firmware problem.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    Thanks for the correction, I appreciate it!

    You're right. I got confused because I remember I was "flashing firmware from GOS". However, that is sadly non-free. (Not GrapheneOS's fault, it's always proprietary with how Google pushes Android to be.)

    Partially related, I really want to give my PinePhone another try if/once google rolls out the nasty update of requiring developer's identity documents and making it harder to use F-Droid.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    If you're using GrapheneOS, it will continue to be as easy as it's always been to use F-Droid.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    That much is true, but the fact that google is throwing obstacles in F-Droid's way is undeniable. So while I'd be able to circumvent the bigger changes for a while, around me things will get a bit more deserted with "newbies" having a harder time to join than before.

    So... it's as good time as any to give the PinePhone another go isn't it? ;-)

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago (1 child)

    Personally, as much as I love the freedom of phones running desktop Linux on mobile (well most use Ubuntu as a starting point, so maybe "freedom"), I think freedom can only go so far with limited security.

    Unfortunately so-called "Linux phones" (which is a horrible name imo, android is based on the Linux kernel, so really they should be called systemd phones) have very lackluster security on the device itself (app sandboxing is a joke on desktop Linux, which applies to mobile (non android) Linux too), not to mention physical security ("linux phones" are built with the goal of running Linux, not protecting their users from the combined hacking power of the US, Israel, China and other nation state actors). With the new terminal emulator allowing people to run desktop Linux apps on android, I really only see pinephone and other such devices as novelty phones, rather than a real daily driver smartphone. I don't really understand the obsession with putting desktop Linux on the phone anyways.

    I'm personally hoping for the GrapheneOS team to grow enough to build their own microkernel instead of relying on the relatively insecure monolithic Linux kernel. That said, I'm definitely a minority, so as long as big tech is losing its monopoly on the smartphone market, more power to you I suppose.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 weeks ago

    I think you're right -- if your focus is security. Especially against a local gang or a not-so-developed and corrupt government that may get physical access to your phone. Especially short- to mid-term.

    However, that is not the only possible threat to your or mine safety. Personally, I'm much more afraid of a very specific gang of billionaires. I believe they can do me more harm, currently. Them, and the overall process of centralization and monopolization. I also believe they have a high likelihood to do me even more harm in the future. While security against exploits etc is an ongoing battle that goes both ways, a total collapse of the market to monopolization is hard to revert. This is evidenced by our own chat earlier, where we both acknowledge that big corporations and hardware manufacturers simply tell us which binary blobs to install to run on their blackbox hardware. And we have to inhale quite some copium to start calling it OK.

    If actually that is your or mine threat model, then the solution may naturally be different, too. You would then prioritize on projects that demonopolize the market, you would chose smaller brands when possible. And would you then vote with your pocket for projects that are technologically independent from the billionaire tech?

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