Comment by greatgib

Good for you, though I prefer my device to be reasonably capable for real world tasks and hassle-free while providing me the ability to run the latest software and to hack on it however I want. Otherwise I would stay on N900, as I still miss its keyboard.

A+++

Looking at what's missing from their roadmap here: https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/

No videos? Fine, I rarely take videos.

No bluetooth? Mildly annoying, but especially with the 3.5mm jack, I could live without it.

No GPS? This one would be a deal-breaker for me.

But depending on the person I can see it being usable.

It works fine for me, I'm typing this on one right now. I'm still waiting for something that could replace it as it gets older, but I don't see anything viable out there yet.

The question is whether you're able to live without Android & iOS, perhaps with some limited help from Waydroid. If the answer is yes, as it is for me, then it's a great daily driver.

I'm just a single data point, but FWIW after the first week the only time I ever (literally) dust off my librem 5 is to show people what a joke of a phone I waited 4 years for. Purism had the right goals (mainline linux kernel, no run-time loadable closed sourced blobs, user-serviceable, hardware kill-switches) but the implementation is only worthy of a participation trophy. The phone would randomly drop calls (though I've heard this is finally fixed), the UI was terrible (UI elements rendered partially off-screen, a useless maps application that complained about a missing location service), the battery life is so terrible that carrying around a 2nd battery is common advice, and the hardware was anemic back when the phone was announced which made the difference even more noticeable when the phone finally came out half a decade later.

I'm glad I own the phone for the same reason that I regret not holding on to my G1 (the first android phone): Its a neat piece of history. But alas, it will never see use as an actual phone.

It is unclear to me what alternative you are proposing, apart from bending to Google and Apple?

Have been running Sailfish OS on my primary phone since 2013 - works fine. Avoids a lot of the Android pitfalls, like being abble to easily SSH in and upload/backup data or total absence of advertizing anywhere. :)

> Your purchase includes a 12-month Sailfish OS full license subscription valued at €59.88 (€4.99/month), granting access to all releases, commercial components, and feature upgrades. After the first year, you can choose to continue your subscription and support Sailfish OS development further. Even without renewal, your device will continue to function, but future software updates and commercial component upgrades will not be available.

Just a note of something I came across when looking just now. Don’t mind paying for continued development but worth knowing before you buy.

Aurora Store also runs a bunch of their own throwaway Google accounts you can use (the “anonymous” option on the sign-in screen). Usually works great, though sometimes takes a few tries to get a working account.

Many apps do require passing the integrity check, though, but microG is getting better on that front (and IIRC you don’t need a Google account for that).

sorry, my comment didn't convey my desired inflection. You don't need your google account. you just need a google account. As in, you can use a throw-away "google account". Or, one could, a year ago, at least.

I get that there's still a google profile on your usage of the device, and i'm sure they have a way to link it to your other profile(s).