Re: [BLUG] LiMo Phones, Plans

I actually was salivating for all of 2007 waiting for the OpenMoko phone's consumer edition, but stopped visiting their website over time.  I see now the consumer version has been released - we might have a winner!  Any input on anything pertaining to cell phones would be welcome to this n00b.  I'm going to start checking into plans as well, and would welcome responses to that also.  (There's already been some good advice in this thread.)  My own values make me very reluctant to go with AT&T because of their complicity (and subsequent lobbying for protection from lawsuits) in domestic spying, but I'm guessing there's no such thing as a shiny, innocent telcom co.
Anyway - does anyone have an OpenMoko phone?  What do you think of it?
Matt

Re: [BLUG] LiMo Phones, Plans

Sorry, I kinda hijacked the thread. The n800 and n810 do run Linux, but
are not phones. They have Bluetooth capability, as do most cell phones.
I intended to use that pairing for the internet access.

One of my friends uses a Blackberry to ssh home to check various things,
but I know it doesn't run Linux itself. It does have a very tiny
keyboard, which would be easier to type on than a regular keypad. Those
tiny keyboards are still hell to type on.

I have no experience with loading Linux or other third-party firmware
onto mobile phones, and I know of only a few very fancy phones that use
Linux out of the box. The FreeRunner, for example (GreenPhone is no
longer made). OpenMoko (http://www.openmoko.com/) and Qtopia
(http://www.qtopia.net/modules/devices/) present a decent mobile Linux
stack. To be honest, I think any phone with a usable keyboard and a
decent ssh client should be enough. I'm not that eager to run a server
from my phone.

Richard Knepper wrote:
> What, no openmoko?
>
> Matt Zink wrote:
> | Thanks for the clarification - shows you how little I know about cell
> | phones in general, let alone LiMo phones.
> |
> | On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 3:52 PM, Michael Schultheiss
> | <schultmc@cinlug.org <mailto:schultmc@cinlug.org>> wrote:
> |
> | Matt Zink wrote:
> | > And these are LiMo based phones, right?
> |
> | No, the N800 and N801 are internet tablets. They lake phone
> | capabilities afaik.
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> |
> |
> |
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Re: [BLUG] LiMo Phones, Plans

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

What, no openmoko?

Matt Zink wrote:
| Thanks for the clarification - shows you how little I know about cell
| phones in general, let alone LiMo phones.
|
| On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 3:52 PM, Michael Schultheiss
| <schultmc@cinlug.org <mailto:schultmc@cinlug.org>> wrote:
|
| Matt Zink wrote:
| > And these are LiMo based phones, right?
|
| No, the N800 and N801 are internet tablets. They lake phone
| capabilities afaik.
| _______________________________________________
| BLUG mailing list
| BLUG@linuxfan.com <mailto:BLUG@linuxfan.com>
| http://mailman.cs.indiana.edu/mailman/listinfo/blug
|
|
|
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| _______________________________________________
| BLUG mailing list
| BLUG@linuxfan.com
| http://mailman.cs.indiana.edu/mailman/listinfo/blug

- --
- ------------------------------------------------------------
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"You deserve free software."
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Re: [BLUG] LiMo Phones, Plans

Thanks for the clarification - shows you how little I know about cell phones in general, let alone LiMo phones.

On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 3:52 PM, Michael Schultheiss <schultmc@cinlug.org> wrote:

Matt Zink wrote:
>    And these are LiMo based phones, right?

No, the N800 and N801 are internet tablets.  They lake phone
capabilities afaik.

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Re: [BLUG] LiMo Phones, Plans

Matt Zink wrote:
> And these are LiMo based phones, right?

No, the N800 and N801 are internet tablets. They lake phone
capabilities afaik.
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Re: [BLUG] LiMo Phones, Plans

And these are LiMo based phones, right?

On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 3:14 PM, Simón Ruiz <simon.a.ruiz@gmail.com> wrote:

On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 2:10 PM, Barry Schatz <sorbetninja@gmail.com> wrote:

I use Verizon, and have found the coverage weak in some places, but I rarely have no signal at all. I have not tried their data plan, so I don't know how good they would be for your  needs. My girlfriend has a data plan with AT&T, and she finds it good enough to regularly use Opera on her phone.

I plan to get a Nokia n810, and use the internet through my phone via bluetooth. I'm not willing to use a Blackberry form-factor keyboard with ssh. Also, the n810 is so darned cool!

If you don't need the hardware thumbboard or the onboard GPS, the n800 is quite a bit cheaper and virtually identical other than those two things.

I just need to get a charger for mine, since without a charger it's pretty much just a pretty sleek paperweight.

Simón

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Re: [BLUG] LiMo Phones, Plans

How usable is the onscreen keyboard for the 800? Is it good enough to be able to occasionally ssh
into a server without going insane? I'm not talking about completely working remotely via either
tablet, I'm thinking more along the lines of checking on running jobs and using pine. I've been
mulling over getting one or the other and the hardware keyboard seems really appealing. Aside from
that I prefer the 2 memory slots and FM radio that the N800 has.

Josh

Simón Ruiz wrote:
> On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 2:10 PM, Barry Schatz <sorbetninja@gmail.com
> <mailto:sorbetninja@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> I use Verizon, and have found the coverage weak in some places, but
> I rarely have no signal at all. I have not tried their data plan, so
> I don't know how good they would be for your needs. My girlfriend
> has a data plan with AT&T, and she finds it good enough to regularly
> use Opera on her phone.
>
> I plan to get a Nokia n810, and use the internet through my phone
> via bluetooth. I'm not willing to use a Blackberry form-factor
> keyboard with ssh. Also, the n810 is so darned cool!
>
>
> If you don't need the hardware thumbboard or the onboard GPS, the n800
> is quite a bit cheaper and virtually identical other than those two things.
>
> I just need to get a charger for mine, since without a charger it's
> pretty much just a pretty sleek paperweight.
>
> Simón
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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> BLUG@linuxfan.com
> http://mailman.cs.indiana.edu/mailman/listinfo/blug
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Re: [BLUG] LiMo Phones, Plans

On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 2:10 PM, Barry Schatz <sorbetninja@gmail.com> wrote:

I use Verizon, and have found the coverage weak in some places, but I rarely have no signal at all. I have not tried their data plan, so I don't know how good they would be for your  needs. My girlfriend has a data plan with AT&T, and she finds it good enough to regularly use Opera on her phone.

I plan to get a Nokia n810, and use the internet through my phone via bluetooth. I'm not willing to use a Blackberry form-factor keyboard with ssh. Also, the n810 is so darned cool!

If you don't need the hardware thumbboard or the onboard GPS, the n800 is quite a bit cheaper and virtually identical other than those two things.

I just need to get a charger for mine, since without a charger it's pretty much just a pretty sleek paperweight.

Simón

Re: [BLUG] LiMo Phones, Plans

I use Verizon, and have found the coverage weak in some places, but I
rarely have no signal at all. I have not tried their data plan, so I
don't know how good they would be for your needs. My girlfriend has a
data plan with AT&T, and she finds it good enough to regularly use Opera
on her phone.

I plan to get a Nokia n810, and use the internet through my phone via
bluetooth. I'm not willing to use a Blackberry form-factor keyboard with
ssh. Also, the n810 is so darned cool!

Steven Black wrote:
> I know that Ubuntu has a platform for mobile devices, but I've not
> heard of anyone shipping with them. I like Ubuntu in general, so I'm
> interested in this.
>
> I've been using a Palm Treo for some time. It, however, doesn't really
> fit my needs well. What I really need is a good SSH client. (I have a
> client for the Treo that loudly proclaims how insecure it probably is.)
>
> I, too, am interested in a decent Linux based phone, preferably with
> Sprint as a carrier as I regularly go somewhere without coverage for
> anyone else. (Anyone else that goes there gets zero bars. If you have
> Sprint, you have full bars.)
>
> I currently have an AT&T plan. I can tell you without a doubt that the
> coverage is spotty in Bloomington, and some of the surrounding areas get
> no coverage at times. T-mobile coverage is also quite spotty locally.
>
> Cheers,
> Steven Black
>
> On Wed, Jul 30, 2008 at 08:48:19PM -0400, Matt Zink wrote:
>
>> Hello All:
>> I'm one of the handful of people on this earth who still doesn't own a cell
>> phone. I'm thinking of getting one now - I'm curious: What do people know
>> about LiMo (Linux on a Mobile) based phones? Does anyone have experience with
>> them? What was your experience? I know that the Razr2 from Motorola is a LiMo
>> phone. Can anyone make any recommendations about plans/carriers as well?
>>
>> You can respond off list if you wish.
>> Take care everyone,
>> Matt
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> http://mailman.cs.indiana.edu/mailman/listinfo/blug
>

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Re: [BLUG] LiMo Phones, Plans

I know that Ubuntu has a platform for mobile devices, but I've not
heard of anyone shipping with them. I like Ubuntu in general, so I'm
interested in this.

I've been using a Palm Treo for some time. It, however, doesn't really
fit my needs well. What I really need is a good SSH client. (I have a
client for the Treo that loudly proclaims how insecure it probably is.)

I, too, am interested in a decent Linux based phone, preferably with
Sprint as a carrier as I regularly go somewhere without coverage for
anyone else. (Anyone else that goes there gets zero bars. If you have
Sprint, you have full bars.)

I currently have an AT&T plan. I can tell you without a doubt that the
coverage is spotty in Bloomington, and some of the surrounding areas get
no coverage at times. T-mobile coverage is also quite spotty locally.

Cheers,
Steven Black

On Wed, Jul 30, 2008 at 08:48:19PM -0400, Matt Zink wrote:
> Hello All:
> I'm one of the handful of people on this earth who still doesn't own a cell
> phone. I'm thinking of getting one now - I'm curious: What do people know
> about LiMo (Linux on a Mobile) based phones? Does anyone have experience with
> them? What was your experience? I know that the Razr2 from Motorola is a LiMo
> phone. Can anyone make any recommendations about plans/carriers as well?
>
> You can respond off list if you wish.
> Take care everyone,
> Matt

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