[HN Gopher] Pine64 March update: making waves
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Pine64 March update: making waves
Author : LorenDB
Score : 40 points
Date : 2024-03-17 19:55 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (pine64.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (pine64.org)
| pierat wrote:
| Ah, more badly supported gongkai cramware, using the cheapest and
| hardest to obtain drivers for anything. Everything is out-of-
| kernel, and you're making custom kernels IF YOU CAN TRANSLATE
| CHINESE... And hope its made for your kernel version.
|
| And when you say something, you'll be screamed at "these are
| hackers tools bla bla bla". But they don't even work with
| reference software. They string hardware together, and slap a
| PINE logo on it. You're up shit's creek, and you have to MAKE the
| paddle.
|
| Or you get shit like hardware failures like "hardware destroying
| USB-C on the phone if the keyboard is pluged in on the Pinephone
| pro". Like, seriously, save your money.
|
| After dumping $600 into this "ecosystem" I'll hard pass. And I'll
| speak up for the pain and suffering you're getting into if you do
| go this route.
| cassepipe wrote:
| I had read this article some time ago... It sounds like it is
| relevant : https://tuxphones.com/pine-formula/
| LanternLight83 wrote:
| I get some of this (have an unused Pinephone), but I'm still
| thankful they tried (built up a stir) and, FWIW, the PineTime
| is OK and the Pinecil is the best soldering iron I've seen
| anyone use
| dvdkon wrote:
| I think some people have misplaced expectation of Pine64
| hardware, because some of their products (e.g. Pinecil) have
| been very polished. Most of it is a better documented and more
| open alternative to random gadgets from AliExpress. If you want
| a lot more than that, it's not for you.
|
| Maybe they should make a different brand for their products
| that end up being usable and polished. I think this mixed
| offering approach is hurting their image, which is a shame, as
| I see value in "cheap no-name HW, but hackable".
| vrinsd wrote:
| Sadly (as much of a cynic as this makes me seem) I kinda
| figured this is exactly what would happen when the Pine people
| decided to partner/use MediaTek or name any other vendor who
| doesn't truly embrace or care about open-source. I'd spotlight
| Chinese SoC vendors here but that's biased, Qualcomm's track
| record isn't awesome here either, but it's my understanding
| people inside ARE trying to change that culture.
|
| My high-level observation is the Pine people are basically
| selling what's effectively a "reference design" built around
| some questionable hardware under the guise of making an open-
| source hardware/phone/etc. Whether or not the device actually
| works as a phone, has good battery life, works reliably is kind
| of a secondary goal and ends up mostly resting on the shoulders
| of a community of unpaid software developers.
|
| People here might be too young to remember, but there was a
| prior attempt at an open-phone called "OpenMoko". Despite using
| silicon that was more open-source friendy, it didn't really
| work out. It's REALLY challenging to build custom hardware, get
| the details right and build it on open-source software unless
| you're super well funded and very coordinated.
|
| It's however not hard to sell "kits" that give you the idea
| they'll do something but end up tricking the end-user who
| doesn't find out until after the money is spent.
| mattl wrote:
| Really tried to use the OpenMoko and almost every other open
| source phone that came along for so long and never had any
| success.
| vrinsd wrote:
| Same. I was using SailfishOS on Xperia devices and also
| Ubuntu Touch.
|
| I found SailfishOS UI to be pretty bizarre and for using
| compiled software (Qt) the UI was oddly laggy. Basic things
| like attaching photos when sending an MMS were bizarre, you
| had to do it one at a time from the gallery app, etc.
|
| Ubuntu Touch has a pretty reasonable UI (aside from having
| a start-bar like thing that you swipe in and out) but they
| do NOT support VoLTE at the moment which means you can't
| use it as a phone! Performance on Ubuntu Touch was also
| pretty bad even on decent hardware and while it's improved
| on Pixel-era devices you'd think all UI interactions would
| be instaneous.
|
| Both projects seem to have made some strane
| prioritizations. Sailfish seems to have pointless re-
| invented their own UI paradigms, their own browser, etc and
| Ubuntu Touch doesn't seem to care the devices can't be used
| as phones.
| wkat4242 wrote:
| That PineVox hardware looks great. There's a great lack of smart
| speakers that aren't bound to some service like Apple, Amazon or
| Google.
|
| Now with LLM proliferation a self hosted voice assistant that
| actually works will become pretty possible.
| dugite-code wrote:
| And it's well timed with HomeAssistant's new voice interaction
| developments. That and the news of how unprofitable Amazon and
| google home's offerings are.
| WhatIsDukkha wrote:
| Why don't people just use bluetooth conference mics and most
| any hardware?
| NewJazz wrote:
| Cost maybe.
| jauntywundrkind wrote:
| > _These are a set of bone conduction headphones using the same
| BES2300 chipset as found in the PineBuds Pro. The plan is to
| expand OpenPineBuds project with support for these before they
| enter manufacturing. Currently there is amazing work going on to
| sort out licencing of the BES2300 codebase; so work to support
| these is being done carefully to minimise impact on the code
| base._
|
| It'd be cool if something materialized here. I kind of knew not
| to expect much for hackability with the OpenPineBuds and bit
| anyways, but wow, uh, was surprised just how little was available
| to play around and see.
|
| Ideally someone would make some hackable Bluetooth hardware run
| Zephyr and Sound Open Firmware. Different class of devices, but
| good enough for Intel, AMD, and MediaTek to be using it as the
| basis for their sound firmware. It'd be great to open some access
| here!
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