[HN Gopher] MuditaOS And Mudita Center are now fully Open Source
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       MuditaOS And Mudita Center are now fully Open Source
        
       Author : khimaros
       Score  : 81 points
       Date   : 2021-11-10 13:15 UTC (9 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (mudita.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (mudita.com)
        
       | alkdfdlkdslk wrote:
       | Want to buy - but need a private messenger on it.
        
       | marcodiego wrote:
       | Interesting: they have a cellphone using it:
       | https://mudita.com/community/blog/october-mudita-pure-produc...
       | 
       | Maybe we'll see a RYF-capable phone?
        
       | still_grokking wrote:
       | This looks really great. Didn't know about this company until
       | now. Will have a close look as the phone seems amazing.
       | 
       | Thanks people post such pearls on HN!
        
       | mvdwoord wrote:
       | Interesting phone. Have considered for quite some time to move to
       | a dumbish phone, or at least something more minimal. Would like
       | to ditch the mindless and low friction browsing etc.. but OTOH I
       | would miss Signal/Telegram as it is too much of a benefit to me
       | in daily life, as is Maps.
       | 
       | Most of those issues could be dealt with by changing
       | habits/lifestyle (which is the point, to a degree) however for
       | people who have made that plunge... how do you deal with the
       | seeming need for a phone with secure chip for the endless banking
       | and two factor apps?
       | 
       | I would need a second phone with all bells and whistles which
       | defeats the point.
        
         | rnkn wrote:
         | > how do you deal with the seeming need for a phone with secure
         | chip for the endless banking and two factor apps?
         | 
         | I've been without a smartphone for about two years now and
         | would not go back (although sometimes tempted by the false
         | promise that a shiny new product will bring happiness).
         | 
         | It's easy, you just don't treat your phone as secure, do
         | banking on a computer, along with email.
         | 
         | 2FA is not magic, it's just another password. Just a password
         | manager like pass [0] can generate 2FA codes, but it's easy
         | enough to do with oathtool [1] that I wrote my own password
         | manager.
         | 
         | [0] https://www.passwordstore.org [1]
         | https://www.nongnu.org/oath-toolkit/
        
           | mvdwoord wrote:
           | My current employer (long term contract work) and many other
           | company policies simply require e.g. ms authenticator...
           | Can't find any alternative to that. Is there a way to use
           | company issued ms 2fa without a mobile phone (Android/iOS)?
        
       | glial wrote:
       | I _love_ the idea behind this phone and have been following the
       | development for a while, but it 's really a drag that it doesn't
       | support group messages.
        
       | qwerty456127 wrote:
       | Which hardware does it run on anyway? Can I install it on a PC?
       | An old Android phone? reMarkable? PocketBook? Kindle? Perhaps
       | VirtualBox?
        
       | ryukafalz wrote:
       | Fair warning for anyone considering the phone: it doesn't appear
       | to support group messaging. If you live in Europe, you might not
       | care. If you live in the US, this is quite possibly a
       | dealbreaker.
       | 
       | https://forum.mudita.com/t/group-messaging/975
       | 
       | Of course, now that it's open source someone could add it, but...
       | too fundamental of a feature for me to start daily driving it in
       | the first place.
        
         | hnlmorg wrote:
         | That will be because SMS doesn't support group messages and MMS
         | is a different protocol entirely (believe it or not MMS content
         | exchange is done via HTTP, using SMS only for pushing control
         | messages[1]).
         | 
         | So unfortunately group messages are one of those occasions
         | where superficially easy problem becomes a non-trivial feature
         | to add.
         | 
         | [1] > _the content is extracted and sent to a temporary storage
         | server with an HTTP front-end. An SMS "control message"
         | containing the URL of the content is then sent to the
         | recipient's handset to trigger the receiver's WAP browser to
         | open and receive the content from the embedded URL. Several
         | other messages are exchanged to indicate the status of the
         | delivery attempt._
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimedia_Messaging_Service#T...
        
           | ryukafalz wrote:
           | Right, I'm aware it uses MMS; my other comment mentions this:
           | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29176484
           | 
           | Whether it's SMS or MMS on the backend doesn't matter to me
           | as a user, it's still a fundamental enough feature of a
           | mobile phone for me that I can't consider one without it.
        
             | pjmlp wrote:
             | Except the little detail that MMS pays per amount of
             | recipients.
        
             | selfhoster11 wrote:
             | Sending SMS basically comes free with a mobile plan in my
             | country. MMS messages still cost just as much as 20 years
             | ago (which is to say, they are priced unrealistically).
        
         | pbronez wrote:
         | Interesting. That's a restriction on Tesla's infotainment
         | system as well. I wonder how the underlying standards differ.
         | What makes group messaging so much harder to implement?
         | 
         | I agree it's a pretty key feature.
         | 
         | Of course, there are a lot of other problems with SMS. There's
         | a reason other chat apps are so common, and a lot of it is key
         | features like delivery confirmation and message length.
         | 
         | Perhaps Mudita should offer a cloud service that bridges
         | various chat apps to their phone. If they take a privacy-first
         | approach, it could be a really nice service.
         | 
         | Similarly, I would love to streaming music on this thing.
         | Spotify runs on everything, so why not here?
         | 
         | Maybe I don't totally agree with their product vision though. I
         | like the idea of a slimmed down, privacy-respecting phone. I
         | just don't want to give up ALL the benefits of a smart phone. I
         | would welcome a unified chat interface and a simplified Spotify
         | app.
         | 
         | I would probably be willing to pay a subscription for secure
         | backends to give me a streamlined, integrated experience.
        
           | ryukafalz wrote:
           | > What makes group messaging so much harder to implement?
           | 
           | Group messaging requires MMS, so you don't get it for free by
           | just implementing SMS. Most up-and-coming platforms seem to
           | stop at SMS - which you do need for MMS as its control
           | messages are sent via SMS, but it's not enough.
        
             | selfhoster11 wrote:
             | MMS is overpriced in all European networks that I know of.
             | This might be why it's not seeing much adoption.
        
       | mythz wrote:
       | Just want to pause and say how stunningly beautifully &
       | minimalist Mudita's entire brand, website & product offering is,
       | everything's so beautifully Zen.
        
       | qwerty456127 wrote:
       | Nice! The picture in the article (all-white minimalistic GUI,
       | except a button which I would make white too) is exactly what I
       | want an ideal OS I would use to look like. I would then use it
       | with a eInk display (AFAIK full-size eInk desktop displays exist
       | although are very expensive, I hope eInk laptops are also going
       | to emerge once we have suitable software) and probably feel very
       | happy.
        
       | mariushn wrote:
       | Aren't the digits-only keys almost useless? Who types a phone
       | number these days? I either call contacts, or click on a phone
       | link, or long-press on a phone number on the web then select
       | Call, or click Call from Maps.
       | 
       | Hope these guys would consider doing an ereader though.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | qwerty456127 wrote:
         | Whenever I need to call a new number (and I do it often -
         | because companies, state etc.) I manually add the country code
         | to it. Because they often don't add it themselves when putting
         | it on their website or in a message. If I use it as it is and
         | don't add the country code, the moment they call/text me back
         | the phone software considers it a different number because the
         | caller ID actually includes the code.
         | 
         | > Hope these guys would consider doing an ereader though.
         | 
         | Why? Can't a 3rd party just make an app? Given you already have
         | the eInk screen, how is a dedicated ebook reader supposed to be
         | different from an eInk tablet with a reading app?
        
       | FpUser wrote:
       | Russians already had fun with Pidora OS. This one may amuse them
       | even more.
        
       | dotcoma wrote:
       | Interesting, but... 369 USD? Really??
        
         | meragrin_ wrote:
         | Not enough volume to qualify for discounts and less phones to
         | spread out R&D costs.
        
       | camgunz wrote:
       | Pretty cool company, love the manifesto. Excited for when their
       | products ship.
       | 
       | EU tech culture is really intriguing actually, everything from
       | private email services (mailbox.org) to low-power computing
       | (pine64) and a lot of FOSS development. I find myself aligning
       | more with those values than the values we're pushing here in the
       | US--whatever the Venn diagram of
       | Meta/Google/Microsoft/Amazon/Salesforce/Oracle are I don't think
       | it's super inspiring. Maybe it's a little unfair to cherrypick
       | though.
        
         | Stampo00 wrote:
         | Seems values like sustainability and privacy are at least a
         | little higher priority outside of the United States. I, too,
         | can get behind that.
        
         | turbinerneiter wrote:
         | Pine is Hongkong tough.
        
           | capableweb wrote:
           | That seems to be relatively recent though, originally US
           | based. This is what Wikipedia says about the history:
           | 
           | > Pine64 initially operated as Pine Microsystems Inc.
           | (Fremont, California), founded by TL Lim
           | 
           | > all devices for the Kickstarter campaign were manufactured
           | and sold by Pine Microsystems Inc. based in Fremont,
           | California.
           | 
           | > In January 2020, Pine Microsystems Inc. was dissolved while
           | Pine Store Limited was incorporated on December 5, 2019 in
           | Hong Kong. As of late 2020, the standard form contract of
           | pine64.com binds all orders to the laws of Malaysia, while
           | the products are shipped from warehouses in Hong Kong and
           | Shenzhen, China.
           | 
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine64
        
             | Fnoord wrote:
             | In Hong Kong they can get away with their shoddy 1 month
             | warranty. In USA or EU, not so much.
        
               | selfhoster11 wrote:
               | This means that they can also get away with charging very
               | low prices for their products. PinePhone is the first
               | Linux smartphone that I wanted to buy, simply because
               | it's so cheap and I won't weep if it fails.
        
           | camgunz wrote:
           | _Whoa_ I had no idea. I feel like everyone I 've seen doing
           | Pine64 things lives somewhere in Europe. What a world.
        
             | stryan wrote:
             | They actually started as a California-based company before
             | re-basing to Hong Kong back in (IIRC) 2019. Not sure why
             | the change.
        
               | capableweb wrote:
               | Doing business from the US is a minefield today, not at
               | all like it used to be. Almost any other country is
               | better if you just want to focus on running a business,
               | so not so surprising that they relocated.
        
               | pengaru wrote:
               | The previous US administration going to war with China on
               | trade created a lot of uncertainty and concern
               | surrounding tariffs and delays/parts availability.
               | 
               | Through that lens it probably makes a lot of sense to
               | simply move your operation to China, when that covers the
               | bulk of the relevant supply chain for your products.
               | Especially if you have no other barriers deterring the
               | relocation, like language or cultural challenges...
        
               | yumraj wrote:
               | > Doing business from the US is a minefield today
               | 
               | As opposed to doing business from China. Hmm, really.....
        
               | Fnoord wrote:
               | If they do business from China or Hong Kong they can get
               | away with shoddy 1 month warranty, simple as that.
               | Nobody's gonna bust those who are behind the company from
               | countries like China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, ...
        
               | yumraj wrote:
               | If that's what the OP meant, yes I agree.
        
       | billyjobob wrote:
       | From the site:
       | 
       | > _Although we would have liked to only use 2G, the least harmful
       | radio frequency, it is currently being phased out around the
       | world. We spent a good amount of time trying to find a flexible,
       | modern and global GSM module, which could be used for travelling
       | anywhere in the world. With the user's health in mind, Pure
       | always chooses the lowest spectrum available to limit radiation._
       | 
       | Will this phone also save me from the vax?
        
         | amluto wrote:
         | 2G isn't a frequency. This is nuts.
        
           | whydoyoucare wrote:
           | That can possibly be explained by non-native English speaking
           | team. The whole idea of "radiation exposure" is actually
           | nuts, and a pure marketing gimmick (as are meditation timer,
           | and other ethical considerations).
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2021-11-10 23:01 UTC)