Cellphone Followup
2024-07-28
A while back I wrote about running Gentoo on the Pinephone Pro . I was pretty excited about it and I still think it's an actually usable system. So, did I go use it?
No, I didn't.
I realized after I built that system that I built it for a younger me. It was exactly what I wanted when I was 14 and still what I wanted in to my early 30s, but it's not actually what I want now. Back then I was a mobile person. I worked in labs. I flew regularly. I backpacked. I lived in a truck for several years. For all of that I wanted a real computer that fit in my pocket even if it was a little hard to use. I've tried a myriad of devices to fill this role. From the HP Jornada to phone cases with kickstands and external keyboards. I used devices like this somewhat regularly to write blog posts, email people, or even write software. When I lived in a truck such devices were also useful because they draw less power. I had ssh working on my kindle and used it a few times to do things I cared about. That use-case is what I built for on the pinephone pro, and it worked!
Now I live in a house. I am usually here and usually have a laptop at my disposal. My mobile device's primary functions are showing me maps and where I am on them, storing grocery lists, and communicating with my wife. Secondary functions include reading error codes from my car, playing music, letting me access information via webbrowser, email, photos, and as an e-reader. None of these are power-user/real-computer things. They are standard boring modern "phone" things. I'm not sshing, or writing long-form emails, or any of that stuff on my mobile device. In fact, I gave my wife my folding keyboard so she could use it when she travels.
So, I finally folded and got a "normal" smart phone, a pixel 6a. But, I still care about privacy and security, so I'm not about to just go run stock android. I'm currently running LineageOS, though next time I'll probably install GrapheneOS or Calyx. I'd installed LineageOS on my wife's phone previously when it dropped out of support, and I'd run rooted CyanogenMod before that, so this wasn't entirely new. What is new is that I'm finally not using Google services, because I simply don't need it.
I've been using that configuration for a couple of years now, and it's fit my usecase very well. I run k-9 mail for my email, fluffy-chat for matrix chat, molly for signal, fennec for my browser, OsmAnd for maps, NextPush for push notifications, Syncopoli for syncing music and Auxio to play it, Tasks for grocery list and such, tuner for tuning my guitar, KeepassDX for passwords, AndrOBD to debug my car, stock calendar and contacts.
I can also run the few closed-source things I still need. My fiber install has been stalled for months so I'm still on starlink and need the starlink app. I use OnX Hunt for property boundaries when wandering my forest because I've yet to find an open source alternative. I use Waze when I need specific real-time map features road closures, or better address lookup than OsmAnd can provide.
Overall this solution has been satisficing. It's more of a compromise and I'm not entirely happy about being on the cell network all the time and thus having my location traced, logged, and likely sold to 3'rd parties. On the other hand, it actually meets my daily needs and is still an order of magnitude better for privacy than a default android phone.