[PLUG] FOSS friendly PDA?

Wed Feb 12 22:35:41 UTC 2020


> On Feb 12, 2020, at 09:22, Richard Owlett <rowlett at cloud85.net> wrote:
> 
> On 02/12/2020 09:35 AM, Jason Barbier wrote:
>> I know both these miss the disable the wifi point, unless you unload
>> the kernel module but the gdp pocket and the Gemini both ship versions
>> without cellular modems.
> 
> No cell modem would be the minimum. Learning to modify kernel to disable the WiFi would be valuable education.
> Are they in current production?
> Do you have current URLs? What I found dated to when they were crowd funding.
> Can I avoid Amazon and Ebay?
> 

I will be fair I don't know if you can avoid amazon but both are in current production and the only place I know to buy them is amazon

>> As for the pinephone you have to look on the forums about 2019-nconv effects are on production but the chances are right now its none because they are only shipping in engineering sample batches, that's also why you can't find FCC info, it's not yet certified and the braveheart edition isn't a production device its a preprod engineering sample. There are also no importers of any pine64 stuff that isn't how their businesses operates right now. That said I got my pinephone, they were able to mail it straight to me, I didn't have to deal with customs at all and its a pretty nice mobile data consumption device that I can do wifi surveys with.
> 
> I'm not interested in engineering prototypes. I was in engineering support in the 70's and 80's. I did testing of PDP-11s related to FCC type acceptance. I'll wait for product intended for retail customers. The pages I read didn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling that they were even aware of FCC type acceptance.
They are totally aware of FCC acceptance and certification, all the people working for pine have been doing hardware stuff for a while and some of thier stuff is FCC certified. They point out because they haven't even selected what the final shipped OS will be they can't start on the FCC work. They figure that with the help of the 3 runs of dev devices there will be enough technically minded people that will be able to help square away some of the missing parts with them to present a truly open non-android device

> 
>>>> On Feb 12, 2020, at 03:56, Richard Owlett <rowlett at cloud85.net> wrote:
>>> 
>>> I've explored this issue in the past without finding something:
>>>  in current production.
>>>  meeting my non-negotiable specifications.
>>>  satisfy enough of my preferences to be a good fit to how I do things.
>>> 
>>> This is a rewrite of some multiple posts to debian-user and adjusting phrasing that caused off topic responses.
>>> I post here as:
>>>  this group is not Debian specific,
>>>  it will provide a different point of view.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> I wish to enter/store data while away from home. The data will then be transferred to my laptop via a USB cable. [think a Palm Pilot in a smartphone physical form factor]
>>> 
>>> It must use a standard Linux (Debian preferred).
>>> The manufacturer should ship with the Linux installed.
>>> Android is *UNACCEPTABLE*!
>>> It should NOT have cell connectivity.
>>> If it has WiFi, I must be able to disable it.
>>> 
>>> When I looked a few years ago there were some open source hardware projects in the prototype stage but I don't recall any that reached production. [There was something similar based on Raspberry Pi which ended up too thick due to how screen was attached.]
>>> 
>>> Recently I was pointed to the PinePhone.
>>>  https://www.pine64.org/pinephone
>>>  https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/PinePhone
>>> https://www.pine64.org/2020/01/24/setting-the-record-straight-pinephone-misconceptions
>>> 
>>> It meets my cell connectivity and WiFi requirements with a set of kill switches.
>>> https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/PinePhone#Killswitch_configuration
>>> 
>>> I can see practical procurement problems.
>>> The site hasn't updated to report on impact of Coronavirus.
>>> There isn't any indication of any U.S. importer - I don't want to have the hassle of handling any duties or FCC type acceptance of the included RF components.
>>> 
>>> It does have a nice set of specs.
>>> 
>>> Any suggestions or survey articles I should read.
>>> 
>>> TIA
>>> 
>>> 
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