Ebrius Disputatio

A friend in the fediverse, is convinced that in two years, hardware like the PinePhone will be deemed illegal. I hope he's wrong but I can't discount his notion either. In an age where big tech companies can censor people at will, decide what apps one can use on his/her phones and or devices and government corrupting both the language and policy, I'd say my friends may have a valid perception. I get the usual questions as to what would actually motivate one to get a PinePhone and some people like to imply that the assertions of many reviews consumed, would leave them thinking that the functionality is questionable.

Perhaps, they and their numerously consumed reviews are correct. However, I think what escapes many, is the rarity an entity such as the PinePhone really is. All the pieces on and in the Phone itself works, any consolidation will take skilled re-engineering, witchcraft, hacking, coding trial and error. I submit that the developers of the PinePhone and related interests have a far better road to trod looking down the road, than say the early adopters of Linux did and look how well that turned out. Since when did we just roll over and die when things didn't go our way? Since when have we decided to relegate ourselves to being quitters? I thought so. Do I need to say anything further? Okay I will. If the early Linux pioneers had been a group of quitters where would our light be then?

So the motivation imperative for having, working and developing on a PinePhone, at least in my personal perspective, is one of realized potential. I don't even like phones generally, I certainly don't find looking at their little screens all that appealing. I rarely carry mine with me and when I do it's ZTE Model Z432, little more that a flip phone running 3g with no WiFi card. No, for me the PinePhone represents freedom. It means that I can install, reinstall, change, modify, customize and use whatever apps I find useful to me in a complete Linux environment. That's empowering. It's very empowering, especially in the light and context of how many people, entities and organizations are vying for the opportunity or chance to control us and bend us to their wills. It should not be lost on us that the big tech companies role for us is to have us do the group think or be platformed into obscurity, exile or worse. It can't be lost on people on how the two major players in the mobile phone industry have so much massive control over ordinary and not so ordinary minds. It can't be lost on us on just how out of control they want us to be, to the point, it seems that we must jump through hoops to get root access to the devices we pay for and they claim to own. So one will excuse my motivations if they do not care well for the likes things not functioning just because I want them to.

There are thing to consider as well, the PinePhone has a host of operating systems or Linux distributions just waiting to be ported to it and my understanding is that some work better than others and it is for one to seek what one wishes. The fact is also true that I only just received my phone it's running a beautiful front end graphical user interface (GUI) which is called KDE Plasma and at it's very core is Manjaro Linux. I've never used Manjaro before, its a very recent distribution from my perspective as I started out with the likes of Redhat Linux 5.1 Debian Linux Sarge, Turbo Linux, Slackware and the like. I did have the opportunity to run Arch Linux, from whence I think Manjoro is related. I don't like any other Linux distributions except Debian. Debian based distributions are fine in a pinch but I'm a Debian supremacist. Debian just has them all beaten by the choices and sheer numbers of packages. However, I'll withhold all impulses to immediately change the OS on my PinePhone just yet. I love learning new things and even with the limitations getting a chance to play with an Arch Linux like OS is a good thing to learn.

So there it is an initial synopsis of why I'll support the PinePhone and similar endeavors in freedom and technology. No doubt not the last words I'll be saying on the subject but it's an opening salvo. For those interested in obtaining a PinePhone, the pine store is always a good place to start. Thanks for spending the time and may the learning forever continue and happy hacking.