Kyle Rankin @kyle@librem.one

I'm finally getting to the fun part of this project where patterns start to emerge. ⁨#weaving⁩

@koherecoWatchdog @LibreSolutionsNetwork @purism @aral That's because it was only after that proposal that we discovered the project existed and that our repo was being used in this way. We were surprised and (perhaps naively in retrospect) didn't expect people would use us as a generic public source repo.

@koherecoWatchdog @aral @purism @LibreSolutionsNetwork Again we didn't intend on this platform being used as a public repo for everyone. I understand you still are angry about this but I assure you it this was not out of "DDG loyalty" as you put it, or some conspiracy, but instead from discovering: "people are using us to host their own projects and as a platform to attack other companies? We aren't set up for that."

@koherecoWatchdog @LibreSolutionsNetwork @purism @aral Oh I think I remember this! From what I remember we were trying to protect ourselves from liability since the goal with source.puri.sm was to host our own development projects and help outside contributors contribute to them.

We didn't intend on it being a free public GH replacement, or a generic web host for arbitrary content, and didn't expect people would use it for things like that. That would take much more infrastructure.

@koherecoWatchdog @LibreSolutionsNetwork @purism You seem to be using some pretty strong language such as "loyalty" for some reason. I simply am unaware of a better alternative at this point but would be happy to consider one if it becomes available. If you know of better options please let me know.

@phaethon @purism We're working on it as we get CPU supply! We just manufactured a new batch that arrived at our warehouse a few weeks back and we are starting to contact customers so we can ship them out.

I finally fired Google. In this post I write about how I got locked in, how I got out, and what took me so long. #privacy https://puri.sm/posts/i-finally-fired-google/

@arjen Public statements like that demonstrate that it's not just our customers who have been surprised and disappointed by unexpected delays--we have too. It's one reason we've been reluctant to give people estimates until we have their particular phone in our warehouse ready to ship. All we can do is keep our head down and continue to work hard to get everyone their hardware, with ever-improving software.

@arjen The reason it feels abnormal is because outside of crowdfunding, companies develop products in secret so you can't see the delays and then announce when they are complete. With crowdfunding you get to see all the ugly details and delays, and how long it really takes to do things from scratch. And that's without a pandemic!

We recently announced we are moving away from crowdfunded projects, to develop things privately and announce when they are done, so we can avoid this kind of risk.

@arjen [Removing the group thread as not to spam everyone]. When we can make accurate estimates we certainly share them, and I wish I could give every order an accurate shipping estimate (when I can, I will). We are incredibly sensitive to providing inaccurate estimates based on information that could change, and then disappointing customers further when our estimate turns out to be wrong.

@arjen @staticvoidmaine @agx @kop316 @blendergeek That's really odd, we have been sending email updates throughout, including sharing our gratitude most recently last month I believe. Perhaps we have bad contact information for you?

@arjen @staticvoidmaine @agx @kop316 @blendergeek Many people tell us they'd do things differently, but I suspect, like all the companies who attempted this before us, the main thing they'd do differently is quit when things got difficult. Every single aspect of what we are doing is incredibly hard with immense challenges and disappointments at every step. I'm very grateful for all the supporters who stuck with us when things got difficult.

@arjen @staticvoidmaine @agx @kop316 @blendergeek When you select a CPU that the automotive industry also has chosen for its infotainment systems, and there is a chip supply chain crunch, you run into a lot of delays. CPU supply is what is constraining our ability to ship out all the L5 orders. As we get more CPUs we manufacture more L5s and ship them. We just finished a new batch, and are starting to contact customers and ship them out.

@blendergeek @kop316 @agx Yeah while I think it's great PP has it as an option at all, having them all accessible on the side so they can be triggered quickly, even w/o looking, makes them incredibly useful and makes you more likely to use them. The only time I actually use a software switch is if I want to switch off part of something controlled by a HKS (disable WiFi but keep BT).

@kop316 I use them all the time! In particular I will use the wifi kill switch whenever I leave the house as a quick and easy way to save battery.

There was such a #privacy backlash against the IRS biometrics requirement that the IRS is changing policy. Imagine what would happen if enough people felt the same way about the companies that do far worse.