someUnexpectedSparks @someunexpectedsparks@librem.one

I think context matters, so you should know I
* support the free software folks
* think you should fully control your devices
* do not consent to your surveillance
* cannot wait for a viable alternative to iOS/Android
* run GNU/Linux on all my machines
* am happy to support the creation of a GNU/Linux phone
* understand the Librem5 is a work-in-progress
* work in software development, though not anything mobile
Keep this in mind. My approach to technology may be different than yours.

All that said, the #librem5 camera does "work" for very specific interpretations of that word. It came with me to the Grand Canyon.

Let me say that another way. Some people still haven't gotten theirs and my 3rd-ish #librem5 warranty is already expired. Bottom line - I just can't trust this phone. Even though the software is improving, I fully expect there will be another day where I pick it up and it just won't work ... again.

I doubt I’ll bother to fix it again. The software just isn’t improving fast enough.

#purism told me I'd left my #librem5 plugged in too long and that was a well-known bad thing. I've heard that’s bad for batteries to be sure. But they are implying its bad for charging circuitry too. That's news to me. They didn't respond to my request for more info.

I see the librem5 as a tiny-battery-life, sporadically-used device. It will be plugged in waiting for the moments where it can be of some use. If purism thinks that's abuse, that crosses my more-trouble-than-its-worth line.

Due to its limitations, I'd gone into an intermittent-use mode with my #librem5. A couple months ago, I thought I'd try Byzantium to check out all its software improvements. Problem is, I ran into its hardware limitations again. It wouldn't charge.

To the credit of #purism, they fixed my device again. I'm beyond the warranty period, so it cost $$$. I don't know if they replaced everything or not. So I'm on (at least partially) my third librem5.

As I see it, apps are “accidentally” working together to help my #librem5 usability

When I set up read-it-later it didn’t store my credentials since the keyring wasn’t set up

When I configured Geary, it pointed that out and helped me set it up. But it doesn’t unlock the keyring at boot, so it won’t alert for new messages until you do that. The L5 reboots way more than you’d expect so this matters

Since I installed Tootle, every boot asks me to unlock the keyring

The Librem5 is a fussy thing

Looks like #Tootle works OK on the #Librem5 as a Mastodon client.

You can see toots and (if you are seeing this) you can toot too. :)

It seems to be missing a way to follow a hashtag easily. I see how you can search for them, but I’m hoping there’s a less-involved way to do that. Right now, I’m using Firefox for that. Can anyone point me to something I’m missing?

So I guess there are people trying to figure out their #librem5 ship dates based on the campaign history. I just happened across a file where I’d been checking on the campaign website every couple weeks or so. If Purism hasn’t shipped past these dates, maybe this is helpful to that effort?

Beware of typos here. There is no warrantee on accuracy, this was just collected for my own amusement.

#librem5 Daily Driver Stories – Reboot Drama

I wanted to see if I could see the latest batch of Space-X Starlink satellites go overhead one evening. Since I’m nervous about data connectivity, I loaded up the https://heavens-above.com/main.aspx page with the sighting details before I stepped outside.

It was a good thing I didn’t need to refer to that page since the phone had shut itself off in my pocket after I stepped out. There was plenty of battery available, it was just off.

#librem5 Daily Driver Stories – Connectivity Drama

I’d tooted that data connectivity can come and go sporadically. Now I’ve captured that in a screen shot.

This is the top of the Geary e-mail app. I was away from home so it makes sense that the Wi-fi shows disconnected. The fact I’m seeing good mobile connectivity/bars that’s suspicious

A minute before this an incoming call came through. A few minutes after this connectivity came back on its own, but that doesn’t always happen.

#librem5 Daily Driver Stories - Charging Drama

I've seen this a couple times…

- Plug it in - no LED
- Re-plug it - still no LED
- Re-plug it - LED flashes red
- Re-plug it - device spontaneously re-boots

Another time, I ignored the blinking and it eventually stopped and charged normally

Purism’s support page is making me nervous here (https://developer.puri.sm/Librem5/Development_Environment/Phone/Troubleshooting/LED_Colors.html#librem-5-troubleshooting-charging)
“If the light flashes red once per second, there is a problem with the charge controller. Contact Purism”

#librem5 Daily Driver Stories - Charging Drama

I've seen this a couple times...

- Plug it in for the evening (and leave it plugged in for this story)
- Device doesn't charge
- Device runs down and shuts itself off
- Device seems to start charging once off
- Next day (~5 hours after shutdown) notice charging light is still on and device is off
- Boot it up and instantly see 100% charge

I wrote a script that periodically captures up-time and charge state to help figure this pattern out

Did some playing with the #Librem5 GPS. I want to build something that can record where I’ve been. I did an Android version of this but I’m excited to rebuild it w/o Google & w/free software.

Grabbed raw nmea data with
sudo cat /dev/gnss0 > output.nmea
Used gpsBabel (not on the L5) to convert to gpx
gpsbabel -i nmea -f output.nmea -o gpx -F output.gpx
I then imported that into QGis

The spaghetti-looking area was me shoveling my driveway. Then I took a stroll around the block

‘tis a start😃

I did it! I took a picture with the #librem5 camera!

oh…

wait…

I took a picture with the librem5 camera in it. Gotta say "in it." 😉 Of course, the L5 cams still don’t work. Megapixels on my manjaro #pinephone took this

This is my sarcastic way of pointing out that today, right now, well into evergreen shipping, this page https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/ still says:
“Upon initial shipment of the Librem 5, it will offer the essentials: phone functionality, email, messaging, voice, camera, browsing.”

Wallabag/ReadItLater – Now works!

I’d tooted before that it would forget all the credential junk each time you start it, which is a really frustrating. It seemed keyring-related and I still don’t know much about that.

Well Geary inadvertently fixed it! Geary noticed there was no keyring configured and asked for a password to set it up. After that, ReadItLater seems happy to use it too.

I now have #wallabag working on my #Librem5 which is very cool!
OK, its slow and a bit fussy, but still cool

1/2
The #purism #librem5 app showcase series is nice, pointing out some apps that work pretty well. I thought the dictionary one (https://puri.sm/posts/app-spotlight-dictionary/) was a mixed bag.

Pluses:
- You can look up words
- You can set it up w/offline dictionaries
- Their offline instructions work well

I added a couple of other dictionaries to mine
sudo apt install dict-moby-thesaurus
sudo apt install dict-wn

So ya, I’ve now got an offline, non-spying, non-advertising dictionary. This is a good day.

2/2
The #librem5 dictionary app showcase glossed over one notable con.

The voice-over says "results are scroll-able in any direction” when it should say “text doesn’t re-flow, virtually guaranteeing some text will be off the screen at all times."

They don’t point out how setting librem5-goodies “scale screen” to 1.5 makes most things fit. Perhaps because doing that for a quick look-up is a bother?

This wouldn’t cut it on iOS or Android, but seems par for the course for linux phones today,

#librem5 daily driver stories from the past couple weeks:

1) Made a phone call. That worked fine. Well, the speaker phone didn’t work, so I guess it worked mostly fine. Right after that I tried to use mobile data – nothing. Cycling the kill switch got it started again

2) Shut itself off sitting idle and plugged-in. Nothing in the logs

3) (2x) Plugged it in, no charge indication. Re-plugging it “fixed” it

I didn’t use the pinephone much. I prefer debian-based distros and it is arch right now

Worth tooting how awesome #phosh is

Its the #librem5 and (sometimes) #pinephone home screen and just plain works. Launch/kill apps, no prob. Add shortcuts, no prob. Notifications, no prob. etc

How discouraging would it be if the phone’s “center” wasn’t solid as you fuss about trying all these non-mobile apps. It isn’t “why” you use a phone but it is integral to how.

As I understand it, this is largely @agx 's work. So here’s a thanks to you and the whole phosh crew for advancing mobile linux!

Since I whined about a pop-up in the #librem5 built-in weather app a few toots back (https://social.librem.one/@someunexpectedsparks/105437217046002328), if you use librem5-goodies and its “scale screen” to push the screen all the way to 2x, you can reliably see the whole thing.

I was curious how their application spotlight video (https://puri.sm/posts/app-showcase-weather/) was going to address it, or if they had fixed it. They didn’t, #purism just ignored it.

Anyway, here it is: