@degen @Gurm @KM @Kray @ryans @shimmyzv @Wrightpt1 @JTL @PuffyCloud @Harrison (sorry if I forgot to include someone) Guys, earlier today I have searched for other types of alternatives not discussed in this topic e.g. alterative OS'es to iOS/Android, builds, phones etc. and found something interesting, which be a cure for all of us if we participate enough in the development process.
- Librem 5 – A Security and Privacy Focused Phone running PureOS (will support Android apps sometime after release). More info: https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/;
- EELO OS - Security focused OS for phones forked from LineageOS. The eelo project will provide an alternative mobile operating system and associated web-services, including email, cloud storage, and online office tools. eelo is an open source, non-profit project, in the public interest.
1 - The ideas is simple - privacy oriented Debian based OS for phones which has all the important phone functionalities. Excerpt: "Librem 5, the phone that focuses on security by design and privacy protection by default. Running Free/Libre and Open Source software and a GNU+Linux Operating System designed to create an open development utopia, rather than the walled gardens from all other phone providers." . There have been many trials to create other OS than Android and iOS and all of them failed due to lack of apps and popularity. This one is interesting as the team behind Libre are creating both phone hardware and software and they understand that Android apps are a must for their OS, otherwise it will not be popular and die. As the development of the phone is in early stages I was thinking that we might impact the development of hardware software on this phone if "our voice is loud enough". I think that such small team might be easier to reach in comparison to Android devs (which is impossible to reach and have an impact to).
So far they have raised $2,328,946 for phone development so the phones will definitely ship. But I am not sure if they are going to be good for our eyes. Maybe if many of us participated in the development process we could guide the developers to find the cure for all of us?
2 - EELO - is more straight-forward - it is a fork of LineageOS (which many of you Guys tried), but mostly privacy oriented. It will lack Google apps and instead will use open-source app stores, apps, etc. I like the idea behind the OS, but not sure about the eye strain as many of you guys reported that LineageOS still causes strain for you. But the development is in very early stages, we might participate as "trivial trials" and report to the dev team if the OS causes strain or not. Then they might be interested in changing the OS Of course with the devices, which screen's does not give any eye strain. Also I would suggest to make the developers aware of our problems by writing a letter with explanations of our problems and "our informal organization".
Guys, what do you think about these options? I think for now we all have some temporary solutions by using android 5, screen protectors, etc. etc. But after 2-3 yars the android 5 will be obsolete and we will be left without any solution. Yes, there are new screen technologies comming, but we are not 100% sure if they will help us.