You are right, it does not look so good at moment, but if it is possible to run AOSP or Cyanogenmod on the Fairphone at some point in the future, Alternative OSes like Ubuntu Touch should be possible as well.
Yes, i am glad i have a choice as well. However is see the drawback for some users it quite irritating that you have to reinstall the Gapps after each update. Even more so with the crashes occuring. While i personally prefer that to being unable to remove Google Apps, i would perfectly understand if Fairphone chooses to get a license an preinstall Google Apps, because for average users this would be lot easier.
There a quite serious plans for a FP2. What features this has is still unknown and Fairphone does not want to overpromise (is that a word? ;-)) but i heard improved sourcing of material and better repairability are thinks they look into from a hardware perspective. See here: https://fairphone.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/202648178-Can-you-tell-me-more-about-the-features-included-in-the-2015-Fairphone-
Software-wise, i hope they continue and improve with nice features like rest in peace, custom wallpapers etc. While i like the Fairphone Launcher, it is less important to me.
Please, also think about users who are not too tech-savvy… Many users just bought their first smartphone. Don’t make it harder for us than it already is
Currently Google is very highly in the critique, especially for data protection and exploitation of its market Dominant position in regard to copyright. How does this business practice work together with the business policy of Fair Phone?
I think what @danielsjohan is trying to say is that using a smartphone can be hard for newcomers. It does not has to be hard for everyone, but for some it is. Using Google Android makes it easier because almost every app works, the web and literature is full of guides and tips and even specialty magazines and - most important: Almost everybody knows somehow with an Android Phone who can help them out when he/she is stuck.
It is pretty hard to beat that with another OS like Firefox OS…
With that way of thinking, human race would be stuck in the middle ages, and android OS wouldn’t even exist, everybody would have an apple product…
Any OS could do better, as long as it’s nicely designed… and I’d take a less well designed open OS over a closed owned by a big company there only for money and personal data concerning me… but I can’t, because the majority “decides” what EVERYONE should be allowed to use…
Can’t hide it revolts me sometimes… not a fan of democracy, does it show?
Personally I am still hoping/waiting for support of Firefox OS in the next version of Fairphone. That is the combination of hard- and software where I would finally get a smartphone. Before the first Fairphone got speced I checked the Mozilla wiki and bugzilla regularly to see if there were any updates to the dual SIM functionality as this seemed to be the biggest issue to not be usable for the PF by the time.
But with Firefox OS maturing and version 2.1 knocking at the door* the amount of apps, the community support etc. should be by far good enough even for newbies
The same goes for the software that can be run on the device. As long as that needs closed drivers released only for a specific OS, we do not own our phones, whether or not we actually want to make use of that.
I know the Fairphone people are already talking to them, but I’ll just say it again: get Mediatek to release the drivers. Get them to release the specifications. Or get another provider for your next phone, and if at all possible, for replacement parts for the current generation.
Whatever comes installed by default is a marketing/marketshare decision; use what most people will want. But the ability to choose is about freedom.
Sadly there is a lot more to it then a Linux kernel. But Canonical is working on Ubuntu Touch, an Ubuntu basaed os for smartphones, it is running on nexus phones.
Sailfish and Firefox OS use a Linux Kernel as well by the way.
I second that! But i would ad “usability” to marketing/marketshare.
Since the Hey let us have Sailfish-Thread was closed, I would like to continue the conversation here, as suggested.
I found this interesting article on PC-World, where they talk about having made Sailfish OS run on existing Android devices. They quote a Sailfish developer: [quote]We are coming to the point when you as consumer can install Sailfish on your device. We are not yet there but we will be soon. If I ask the guys: can you put the OS on this and this it typically takes 24 hours and it works.[/quote]
If it’s that easy, what do you think of “ordering” the Sailfish OS for the (next) Fairphone? (Althought it would be really great to make Sailfish OS run on the existing FP1.)
I am afraid it is never “that” easy ;-). But anyway, interesting read. What do mean by “ordering”? Voting for Fairphone to provide Sailfish for FP2? That is not that easy, given that Jolla provides development kits, but no developers to port Sailfish to other devices. However this might be an interesting crowdfunding idea. Given there seem to be a lot of enthusiasts among the Fairphone Owner, we possibly could financially support developers with Android and Meego/Sailfish experience who create a Sailfish OS version for Android with Bountys (see Bountysource).
Working kernel sources would be a prerequisite but that would allow the small Fairphone development team to concentrate on the Fairphone OS on Android experience. What do you think of such a model?
This is exactly what I was thinking of! I haven’t heard of Bountysource, but it seems a way to make this work. Consider this: Fairphone contacts Jolla/Sailfish-OS-developers/xda-developers (I saw something going on there about porting Sailfish OS) and the developer(s) set a price for the development of a Sailfish OS port. Then Fairphoners can croudfund it.
Currently, I’m just waiting for FairPhone to support FirefoxOS to buy one.
Google global captive web environnement is not what I call fair.
FirefoxOS is currently shipped in France, since a few weeks (on OpenZTE C), and it’s already a success. It proves that this OS is mature enough by now, and that a lot of people are waiting for such products.
FairPhone with Android is not a real alternative to current smartphone market.
FirefoxOS on a cheap chinese hardward neither.
But if both projects could make half of the way, it would definitively be a great synergy.
I tried some Firefox OS apps through Firefox Marketplace on my Fairphone and the performance is not the best advertisment for HTML5-Apps and Firefox OS in general. The apps are buggy and most don’t even work, although they all use open web technologies and should work on any device with a Firefox Browser.
Also I read that Firefox apps don’t have access to Hardware support and hence cannot take advantage of Fairphone’s powerful CPU.
I am quite sceptic about Firefox OS on Fairphone. It is just for less powerful phones with
