Alex Fraser <[email protected]> writes:
> Sorry for the rant. Is anyone else as frustrated by this as I am?
Certainly. The situation is terrible, and we essentially have as much
work to do as we did when free software first got started; except this
time, the entrenched players are not going to be caught unawares like in
the 1980s.
> A user on Slashdot said to "vote with your wallet". But there doesn't
> seem to be a good option: iPhone, which isn't remotely open but at
> least seems to get patched, or Android, which claims to be open but is
> closed where it really counts. Is there a practical third option that
> I'm missing?
The only practical option is to ensure that a more open option is
commercially viable on an ongoing basis.
We need to demand, with enough persistence and volume and funds, a more
open alternative. And we need to organise enough support so that
manufaturers will clearly see that people *want* a more open
alternative.
Anything short of that simply isn't practical; manufacturers can cut
costs by making no promises about user access to the device.
So, find projects that have a chance of pushing in the right direction,
and fund them. And identify when a friend or colleague is having an
issue that, at root, you know is made worse by the fact the platform
isn't open, and convince them to fund these projects also.
That's a broad interpretation of the “vote with your wallet” advice.
One example is the FairPhone, but we have to be patient and wait for
them to support it in Australia.
<URL:http://fairphone.com/>
Another example is the ZeroPhone, which is a hell of a lot more open
than most Android phones because it's built on a Raspberry Pi Zero.
<URL:https://www.crowdsupply.com/arsenijs/zerophone>
--
\ “It is the integrity of each individual human that is in final |
`\ examination. On personal integrity hangs humanity's fate.” |
_o__) —Richard Buckminster Fuller, _Critical Path_, 1981 |
Ben Finney
_______________________________________________
Free-software-melb mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
