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<title>The Librem 15 Sale - End of Year Sale</title>
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<div class="main-wrapper"> <img
src="12-21-2020-librem-15-sale_files/l15-shadow.png"
alt="Librem 15">
<h1>The Librem 15 End of Year Sale!</h1>
<p>Get your new Desktop Replacement - the Librem 15 - <strong>for
$300 off!</strong></p>
<p>Ultra-portable workstation laptop that was designed
chip-by-chip, line-by-line, to respect your rights to privacy,
security, and freedom.</p>
<p>Act fast - the sale ends December 31st!</p>
<a href="https://shop.puri.sm/shop/librem-15" class="button">Order
Now</a> </div>
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<h1>Technology as it Should Be</h1>
<p>In <em><a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/technology/smartphones-apps.html">Imagine
a world without apps</a></em> Shira Ovide asks “a wild
question: What if we played games, shopped, watched Netflix
and read news on our smartphones — without using apps? Our
smartphones, like our computers, would instead mostly be
gateways to go online through a web browser.”</p>
<p>This question can be extrapolated into a larger question:
“What do we want from our technology?”</p>
<p>The power of control by Big-Tech in the app store is but a
small example of exploitation of our digital lives. If you
don’t control the software, the companies who wrote that
software control you. You become a digital prisoner.</p>
<p>What people desire from technology is well documented and
can be summed up with a series of buzzwords. The difficulty
isn’t knowing what society wants, it is knowing the path to
get there.</p>
<p>What do we want from our technology?</p>
<ul>
<li>We want the right to change providers.</li>
<li>We want the right to protect personal data.</li>
<li>We want the right to verify.</li>
<li>We want the right to not be tracked.</li>
<li>We want the right to access.</li>
</ul>
<hr>
<h4>We want the right to change providers</h4>
<p>This one is such an important right, and something I think
is completely missed by most journalists writing on the
subject. As an example, let’s look at when cellphone numbers
were married to phone carriers. This was a means of
stickiness for the phone carriers. By preventing you from
moving your phone number to a competitor, the carrier locked
you into their network.</p>
<p>The US Congress—against the complaints of the phone
carriers yelling from the rooftops that changing to anything
else would destroy their businesses by introducing too much
complexity—enacted law that required interoperability. This
allowed an individual to change providers freely while
keeping their same phone number. If Congress—and the
media—applied this example to the walled gardens of big-tech
it would allow an individual choice and freedom to move
accounts from one provider to another. Even if you could not
transfer your exact handle within a domain, you
could—through interoperability—easily forward, export,
respond, and change providers.</p>
<p>Without regulatory assistance to protect this right, the
alternative is to use services that honor this right.
Services that are decentralized offer interoperability, such
as Matrix (for chat, calling, video), Mastodon (for social),
XMPP (for messaging), and Email (for well… email). <a
href="https://librem.one/">Librem One</a> provides these
services in a decentralized manner.</p>
<hr>
<h4>We want the right to protect personal data</h4>
<p>The ability to encrypt your personal data with your own
keys on your own device ensures that you fully control your
digital life. With this as the starting point, you can then
choose (aka opt-in) to share what you want with the people
you want. This right is rooted in personal property rights,
and is one of the most egregious abuses by Big Tech and
those that have influence over them. If manufacturers,
operating system developers, and software developers took a
Hippocratic-like oath, one area society would agree on is
the right that your personal data is your personal property
and something you must retain control over and consent to
share before it leaves your possession.</p>
<p>Without regulatory assistance to protect personal data,
society is left to fend for itself against the pressure from
a multi-trillion dollar industry to exploit that personal
data. There is no way to resist that pressure without the
market creating convenient alternatives that honor that
right while completely avoiding Big Tech. Purism creates
products that are increasing in convenience daily, that
fully protect you, and these products are the market answer
to the worst abuses of Big Tech companies.</p>
<hr>
<h4>We want the right to verify</h4>
<p>This right is simple, but often overlooked. If you cannot
verify the claims made by Big Tech companies, you are left
to wonder if any claim is true, and usually they are quite
the opposite. Hearing “We care about your privacy” from
Facebook is a clear violation of that trust since exploiting
your privacy is inherent in their business model. Other such
claims from Big Tech would require verifying code, and to do
that properly all code should be released under freedom
respecting licenses. After 30+ years of the free software
movement, we see that verifying the source code is the
proper answer to allow people to retain full control of
their digital lives. It is no wonder why the right to verify
is such an important right.</p>
<p>Without regulatory assistance requiring public money to
produce public code, we are left with addressing it by where
we allocate our money within society. If all those that
cared about their digital footprint spent money on products
that protected that digital footprint the positive feedback
loop would solve this within the market itself. Purism
releases all our software under free software licenses and
honors this right.</p>
<hr>
<h4>We want the right to not be tracked</h4>
<p>We simply want the right to have access to and knowledge of
all collection and uses of personal data; and to obtain,
correct, or permanently delete personal data controlled by
any company and to have those requests honored by third
parties; to opt-in consent for only the minimum personal
data necessary to use a service; and to have all personal
data permanently deleted once the data is no longer
required, or upon request. If we couple this with the other
rights above, we start off with full protection that then
allows opt-in sharing, with a ratchet-back plan to remove
what was shared from any organization.</p>
<p>Without regulatory assistance requiring the right not to be
tracked, we have to solve it by supporting products that
honor this right from hardware, operating system, software,
applications, and services. Purism honors this right.</p>
<hr>
<h4>We want the right to access</h4>
<p>We as society do not want to be discriminated against nor
exploited based on personal data; to be able to access and
use the internet without internet service providers
blocking, throttling, engaging in paid prioritization or
otherwise unfairly favoring content, applications, services
or devices; to have access to multiple viable, affordable
internet platforms, services, and providers with clear and
transparent pricing; and not to have any of these rights
removed through any terms of service.</p>
<p>Without regulatory assistance in this right, the market
will have to pick-up the slack and use, fund, and support
companies and services that honor this right. Purism of
course honors this right.</p>
<p>If we look at all five of these rights, we know how to
create technology as it should be, but unless the market
chooses alternatives or regulatory assistance is provided or
a combination of those two, we will continue to complain
about the abuses of Big Tech without doing anything to solve
it.</p>
<p>Purism is creating the alternatives that are ever improving
with every purchase of hardware, every use of software, and
every subscription of services. Thank you for changing the
future of computing for the better with us.</p>
</div>
</div>
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<h1>A Media Center in Your Pocket</h1>
<p>While the Librem 5 is a phone, it’s also a general-purpose
computer. This allows the Librem 5 to act as a media center,
game station, server, ultra-mobile PC, or whatever you can
personally imagine.</p>
<video controls="controls"> <source
src="12-21-2020-librem-15-sale_files/TV_display_out.mp4"
type="video/webm"> Sorry, your client doesn't seem to
support embedded videos. View the video <a
href="https://videos.puri.sm/promo/TV_display_out.mp4?_=1">directly
here</a></video>
<p>With every update, the Librem 5 gets even more features and
apps. In this video we demo a few open Blender movies <a
href="https://www.blender.org/press/spring-open-movie/"
rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Spring</a> and <a
href="https://cloud.blender.org/films/hero" rel="noopener
noreferrer nofollow">HERO</a>, we also show off a few
free-software games such as <a
href="https://github.com/DanielTheSilly/Super-Apocalux"
rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Super-Apocalux</a>,
Supertux, and Supertuxkart.</p>
</div>
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<h1>Librem 14 Status Update: EVT2 Sample Is Almost There</h1>
<p>We truly think of the <a
href="https://puri.sm/products/librem-14/">Librem 14</a>
as our dream laptop here at Purism, and because of that and
because this is a brand new design compared to the Librem 13
we find ourselves nitpicking a bit more than usual as our
design becomes a reality.</p>
<p>As part of this nitpicking process we make EVT (Engineering
Verification Test) samples which allow us not only to
fine-tune our manufacturing process, it also allows us to
physically examine the laptop. Using kill switches, using
the keyboard, examining the print on the case and
keyboard–all these and other tests help us refine things so
that the final product is something we are proud of. In
addition to the more cosmetic bugs we list below, it also
helps us find larger bugs. For instance we discovered issues
not just with the microphone but also an issue that limited
the 2nd SO-DIMM slot to 16GB RAM. We needed to re-do the PCB
to address both of these issues.</p>
<p>We know a lot of people have been interested to see
pictures of the actual Librem 14 instead of just renders. We
have made the second round of EVT samples a few weeks ago
and have finally gotten a chance to take some high-quality
pictures to share. We are almost there! There are just a few
more tweaks we want to make that will only add a few weeks
to our shipping plan, but we think it’s important to get
everything perfect. With the holidays this will likely mean
shipping won’t start until the beginning of January.</p>
<p>Here are some pictures of an EVT2 sample so you can see the
minor improvements we’d still like to make. In the front
view you can see the keyboard layout is almost there. We
want to tweak the print of the letters to be a bit thinner
and improve the overall quality of the keyboard printing
(you can see an example of room for improvement in the F3
key).</p>
<figure> <img
src="12-21-2020-librem-15-sale_files/11300004-edited.jpg"
alt="Librem 14"> <figcaption>Librem 14 EVT2 front view</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also want to tweak the print next to the hardware kill
switch LEDs so they are larger and on top of the LEDs. The
hardware kill switches themselves are a bit too short–we
want them to sit a bit higher so they are easier to trigger
with your finger.</p>
<figure> <img
src="12-21-2020-librem-15-sale_files/11300007-edited.jpg"
alt="Kill Switches"> <figcaption>Librem 14 EVT2 HKS</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure> <img
src="12-21-2020-librem-15-sale_files/HKS_LED.png"
alt="Kill Switches Mockups"> <figcaption>Hardware Kill
Switch Print Mock Up</figcaption> </figure>
<p>We are adding a hole near the DC barrel jack for a power
indicator LED that will match the power LED on the top of
the keyboard so you can tell whether the laptop is suspended
even when the lid is closed. We are also removing the
redundant microphone hole as we now have a digital
microphone next to the camera in the LCD lid.</p>
<figure> <img
src="12-21-2020-librem-15-sale_files/11300012-edited.jpg"
alt="Librem 14 EVT2 right"> <figcaption>Librem 14 EVT2
right</figcaption> </figure>
<p>There’s no changes to point out in this side, but you can
see the HDMI, USB-A, microSD, and USB-C slots.</p>
<figure> <img
src="12-21-2020-librem-15-sale_files/11300019-edited.jpg"
alt="Librem 14 EVT2 left"> <figcaption>Librem 14 EVT2
left</figcaption> </figure>
<p>No changes here but check out how nice the Librem 14 looks
when closed!</p>
<figure> <img
src="12-21-2020-librem-15-sale_files/11300025-edited.jpg"
alt="Librem 14 EVT2 closed angle"> <figcaption>Librem 14
EVT2 closed angle</figcaption> </figure>
<p>We know many of you are as excited about the Librem 14 as
we are. With these tweaks we know you’ll be pleased with the
final result. And if you haven’t yet placed your pre-order
for the Librem 14 <a
href="https://shop.puri.sm/shop/librem-14/">now’s your
chance</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
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<h1>Avoid "Advertiser ID" with the Librem 5</h1>
<p>Apple and Google profess to care about the privacy rights
of their customers, but their operating systems tell a
different story. iOS and Android both allow for pervasive
tracking of users through Advertiser IDs. Google uses a
version is known as GAID (Google Advertiser Identification)
and Apple uses its version called IDFA (Identifier For
Advertisers).</p>
<p>While most advertisers claim it’s a benefit because you got
a coupon for your pizza, it instead keeps a permanent record
of everything your phone has done. That treasure trove of
your personal information is shared with any party
participating in the user tracking business model, which
ends up meaning most apps on your phone.</p>
<p>As Martin Gundersen <a
href="https://nrkbeta.no/2020/12/03/my-phone-was-spying-on-me-so-i-tracked-down-the-surveillants/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener">shares his horrors</a> with
the pervasive tracking he experienced that violates his
civil liberties:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Almost a month later, I received an interesting email
attachment from Venntel. It contained information on where
I’d been 75,406 times since 15 February. Suddenly I could
retrace my every step on a hike, out for a drink, and
visiting my grandmother in Southern Norway.</p>
<p>There were no phone numbers or names in the data. Still,
it would have been easy for nearly anyone to find out that
this was me. Simple searches in Google and the white pages
would show there was a Martin Gundersen living in
Sorgenfrigata in Oslo and working at NRK Marienlyst.</p>
</blockquote>
<br>
<img src="12-21-2020-librem-15-sale_files/markatur169.png"
alt="Map View">
<p>The Librem 5, which runs PureOS, does not include any
tracking methods. PureOS—which is endorsed by the Free
Software Foundation—has been developed in compliance with
our company’s strict policies to advance user freedom,
release all the source code, never track users, and fully
respect the rights of its customers. The Advertiser ID along
with the entire surveillance as a business model industry
runs counter to user freedom.</p>
<p>Retain your digital rights and support the growing trend,
buy a <a href="https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/">Librem 5</a>
for you and your friends.</p>
</div>
</div>
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<h1>Preventing Fragmentation with the Librem 5</h1>
<p>Fragmentation is a massive problem in computer software
development that has only gotten worse with mobile
computers. By fragmentation I’m referring to incompatible
platforms that require a developer to maintain separate
forks of their code. Twenty years ago if you wanted to write
software for an end user, you had to decide whether to
support Windows, Macs or Linux. Each of those platforms
required you to build, test, and maintain different forks of
your software.</p>
<p>Fast forward to today, and at a minimum a developer has to
decide whether to develop a “mobile app” or a “desktop app”
and depending on that choice, has to decide whether to
support Android or iOS (and if they want to be fancy, all of
the Android forks and different mobile-only Linux OSes), or
Windows, MacOS and Linux, or potentially all of the above!</p>
<p>Each platform means a separate fork, a separate set of
libraries and in some cases means you have to develop your
application in a completely different language with a
completely different framework! Fragmentation means
developers must divide their limited time and attention
between different codebases and understand the nuances of
each platform. Fragmentation wastes valuable developer time.
Since so many of these applications are proprietary
(especially true for mobile apps), developers also typically
can’t rely on the community to step in and port and support
their application on a different platform.</p>
<h2>Android Fragmentation</h2>
<p>There is even further fragmentation of the Android
ecosystem not only from vendors creating their own custom
forks of Android, but also because vendors stop providing OS
updates for a particular piece of hardware after a year or
two–that is if hardware gets Android updates at all. If you
combine that with new backwards-incompatible OS features,
Android app developers have to support wide ranges of OS
releases and monitor reports of how many old Android devices
are still in the wild, so they know how many existing users
they might leave behind with a future update.</p>
<h2>“Mobile Linux” Fragmentation</h2>
<p>Over the years there have been numerous efforts to create
“mobile” Linux OSes that attempt to resemble more
traditional Linux distributions, but that only run on mobile
hardware. These OSes combine a Linux kernel (often from
Android) with a custom userspace environment and run the
continuum from Android itself (which is a mobile-only OS
that runs a Linux kernel with a custom userspace), to
Android forks that add security features, to Android forks
that remove all proprietary software, to finally what most
people think of as “mobile Linux” OSes that feature a wide
range of different and incompatible userspace environments.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, most “mobile-only Linux” efforts to date
have made the fragmentation problem worse, not better. This
is because in the end, if a software developer wants their
software to run on any of these OSes that don’t feature the
Android userspace, they must port their software to yet
another platform. This is true even if the developer already
supports Linux on the desktop.</p>
<p>More than anything else, it’s this fragmentation that has
led to limited adoption of mobile Linux OSes (or really any
alternative to Android and iOS). It’s why almost every
conversation about these platforms ends up being around “how
many apps do you have?” If you have to port every
application to your platform to be a success, you face a
steep uphill climb.</p>
<p>Number of apps mattered on Android and iOS originally
because apps had to be ported (and essentially rewritten)
from an existing platform. If all MacOS apps “just worked”
on iOS, “number of apps” would have never been part of the
conversation. Just like web developers responded to the
surge of mobile browsing with responsive web design in only
a matter of years, Mac developers would have done the same
so their MacOS apps worked on iOS. This is why the Librem 5
runs PureOS.</p>
<h2>The Librem 5 and PureOS</h2>
<p>In addition to “how many apps do you have?” another
frequently asked question we get about the Librem 5 is “why
didn’t you use Android/Android fork/other mobile-only Linux
OS?” We think of the Librem 5 as a portable, general-purpose
computer, not a “smartphone” and it should use a
general-purpose OS. We wanted to avoid all of the
fragmentation, app porting woes, and mistakes of other
platforms by using the same OS we use on our laptops.</p>
<p>Instead of asking developers to support yet another mobile
OS, we realized the best path to success in providing an
alternative to Android and iOS is using a platform they
already know and already support: PureOS. So instead of
spending effort porting apps, we invested in making the
existing Linux desktop ecosystem portable.</p>
<p>By making the Linux desktop portable, we already had
thousands of apps at our disposal. Like web designers making
responsive web sites, we just had to make them adaptive to
look good on a small screen. So we developed libhandy to
make it easy to add adaptive features to existing GTK
applications. We also developed phosh, phoc and squeekboard,
among other tools, so we had a desktop environment that
worked well in a phone form-factor.</p>
<p>Because of our approach, the Librem 5 runs regular desktop
Firefox and we didn’t have to ask Mozilla to port Firefox to
our platform. We’ve also worked upstream to help make more
and more desktop applications like Epiphany (web browser),
Geary (email), Lollypop (music player) and a number of
foundational Gnome applications adapt to smaller screens.</p>
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type="video/webm"> Sorry, your client doesn't seem to
support embedded videos. View the video <a
href="https://videos.puri.sm/promo/l5-convergence-extra.mp4?_=1">directly
here</a></video>
<h2>What PureOS on the Librem 5 Means For Developers</h2>
<p>What does this mean if you are a developer who wants to
write an app for the Librem 5? It means you can write your
app just like you would for a Librem laptop using the same
exact development tools. You can develop applications either
on a Librem laptop running PureOS or the Librem 5 itself.
There’s no need to maintain a separate Librem 5 fork of your
code–just make sure your standard Linux desktop app still
works when <a
href="https://developer.puri.sm/Librem5/Apps/Guides/Design/Constraints.html">resized
down to the Librem 5 screen size</a>, and widgets are
touch-friendly, and you’re done.</p>
<video controls="controls"> <source
src="12-21-2020-librem-15-sale_files/L5_dev_v4_002.mp4"
type="video/webm"> Sorry, your client doesn't seem to
support embedded videos. View the video <a
href="https://videos.puri.sm/promo/L5_dev_v4.mp4?_=2">directly
here</a></video>
<p>By avoiding fragmentation and bringing the existing desktop
ecosystem to the phone, we save valuable developer time.
Apps developed for the Librem 5 not only work on the Librem
5, they work when the Librem 5 is docked with a larger
screen, as well as on Librem laptops and the Librem Mini.</p>
<p>At the moment I would describe the Linux desktop ecosystem
like the web development ecosystem before “responsive web
design” made web browsing usable on mobile screens. All the
applications work, they just don’t all fit. The work to make
an existing website responsive is similar to making an
existing desktop application adaptive, and both are
easier–and better design–than maintaining a mobile-only
port.</p>
<p>Avoid fragmentation and bring your apps to PureOS and the
Librem 5–the general-purpose computer in your pocket.</p>
</div>
</div>
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<h1>Convergent App Development</h1>
<p>The Librem 5 while docked is just as versatile to write
code on as our laptop. <a
href="https://puri.sm/posts/preventing-fragmentation-with-the-librem-5/"
rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Build apps once</a>,
and run them on any screen size on a <a
href="https://puri.sm/products/" rel="noopener noreferrer
nofollow">variety of hardware</a>.</p>
<video controls="controls"> <source
src="12-21-2020-librem-15-sale_files/L5_dev_v4.mp4"
type="video/webm"> Sorry, your client doesn't seem to
support embedded videos. View the video <a
href="https://videos.puri.sm/promo/L5_dev_v4.mp4?_=1">directly
here</a></video>
<p>With tools like <a href="https://glade.gnome.org/"
rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Glade</a> and <a
href="https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Builder" rel="noopener
noreferrer nofollow">Gnome-builder</a>, you can whip up a
UI and attach it to just about any popular programming
language. Pick how you want to write apps and write them
anywhere.</p>
</div>
</div>
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<h1>A Phone That Respects Your Children</h1>
<p>Even if a child doesn’t have a phone of their own, they
often borrow their parent’s phone to play games or watch
videos. Most phones don’t distinguish between children or
adults when it comes to the data they collect.</p>
<p>The Librem 5 respects the privacy of you and your children
by running free software that does not track you. The Librem
5’s hardware kill switches allow you to disable the network
completely with a flip of the switch so your child doesn’t
accidentally end up online, making it the best phone for a
child’s privacy.</p>
<video controls="controls"> <source
src="12-21-2020-librem-15-sale_files/l5-gcompris.mp4"
type="video/webm"> Sorry, your client doesn't seem to
support embedded videos. View the video <a
href="https://videos.puri.sm/promo/l5-gcompris.mp4?_=1">directly
here</a></video> </div>
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<h1>I Love You For Your Personality</h1>
<p>If you are as excited about the Librem 5 as I am, you will
want to show it to all your non-techie friends and family.
“Look, it’s a Linux phone!”, you’ll say. They may be briefly
impressed with the terminal, which evokes The Matrix to the
uninitiated, but after brief fiddling, they will fail to
share your joy. “Why,” you may ask, “why don’t they get it?”</p>
<p>That’s because there’s a chasm of understanding between
you. I was on its other side once.</p>
<p>A long, long time ago, I met an owner of a Jolla phone at a
conference. I had never seen it before, and I was excited to
try it. But after I swiped around, tried out a few apps, and
when the novelty of the user interface wore off, I ended up
unimpressed. Yes, it was a phone. Yes, it had apps, just
like mine. But I didn’t come across anything exceptional.
What went wrong?</p>
<p>On the way back home, I realized that nothing went wrong:
on the surface, the Jolla phone was just a phone. That’s
what I saw then, and that’s what your family will initially
see in the Librem 5. But the amazing thing about it takes
longer to discover: its personality as a Linux phone.</p>
<p>Think of it as of dating: what you can see on a first date
is how attractive someone is. But it takes longer than that
to learn what really matters about them, before you commit
to a relationship. And oh dear, look at the relationships
people have with mainstream phones and apps! If apps were
people, it wouldn’t fly at all. Here’s how I would translate
some common behaviors:</p>
<ul dir="auto" data-sourcepos="14:1-27:0">
<li data-sourcepos="14:1-14:114">When you are bombarded with
ads: “My mum says you need to shave/cook the way she
does/stop wearing sweaters/…”</li>
<li data-sourcepos="15:1-15:140">When an application stores
your stuff in the cloud unencrypted: “I sent a copy of our
kinky texts to my mum. You know, to keep them safe.”</li>
<li data-sourcepos="16:1-16:87">When you get spammed by
random notifications: “Are you there??? Okay, just
checking.”</li>
<li data-sourcepos="17:1-17:100">“This app needs access to
your contacts” = “I need the phone numbers of your parents
and cousins.”</li>
<li data-sourcepos="18:1-18:64">“Enter your payment
information” = “I need your payment card.”</li>
<li data-sourcepos="19:1-19:75">When you call the doctor
unencrypted: “Mum, what does a proctologist do?”</li>
<li data-sourcepos="20:1-20:113">When you <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XKeyscore"
target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">talk
about weed unencrypted</a>: “I already told your
parents!”</li>
<li data-sourcepos="21:1-21:104">When you cannot install
other app stores: “You can hang out with others, but only
when I’m there too”.</li>
<li data-sourcepos="22:1-22:79">When you aren’t given a
choice to block access: “It’s my way or the highway!”</li>
<li data-sourcepos="23:1-23:103">When the phone stops
getting security updates: “I don’t like our car any more
so I left it unlocked.”</li>
<li data-sourcepos="24:1-24:223">When an application you
like <a
href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/10/apple-approves-then-bans-hong-kong-app-after-chinese-criticism/"
target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">gets
banned from the store</a>: “I didn’t like your fishing
gear so I threw it away.”</li>
<li data-sourcepos="25:1-25:84">“This app needs access to
your location” = “You must always tell me where you go.”</li>
<li data-sourcepos="26:1-27:0">When your <a
href="https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/dtr6gi/youtube_suspends_google_accounts_of_markipliers/"
target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Google</a>
(or <a
href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17627093"
target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">other</a>)<a
href="https://support.google.com/mail/thread/84573761?hl=en"
target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">account</a>
<a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25179652"
target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">gets
blocked</a> for <a
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAEdFRoOYs0"
target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">no
reason</a>: “I am leaving and I’m taking the dog with
me.”</li>
</ul>
<p>Oof, that’s a damning picture. But people using mainstream
phones are so used to most of this that they can’t imagine
there is another way. They won’t see the personality of the
Librem 5, unless you patiently show it to them. But how?</p>
<p dir="auto" data-sourcepos="30:1-30:656">You have to realize
that what makes Librem 5 special is the community around it.
Community isn’t something you can simply show. But you can
describe it: Linux users value openness, and have little
patience for those who abuse their trust. For example, when
Ubuntu partnered up and sent desktop searches to Amazon, <a
href="https://hotforsecurity.bitdefender.com/blog/ubuntu-12-10-amazon-search-triggers-wave-of-protest-for-privacy-concerns-3621.html"
target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">people
rioted</a>. Firefox, as the last big bastion of the open
browser, is <a
href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24652537"
target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">under
constant scrutiny</a>. As a result, you will scarcely see
ads or snitches on Linux.</p>
<p dir="auto" data-sourcepos="30:1-30:656">You have to realize
that what makes Librem 5 special is the community around it.
Community isn’t something you can simply show. But you can
describe it: Linux users value openness, and have little
patience for those who abuse their trust. For example, when
Ubuntu partnered up and sent desktop searches to Amazon, <a
href="https://hotforsecurity.bitdefender.com/blog/ubuntu-12-10-amazon-search-triggers-wave-of-protest-for-privacy-concerns-3621.html"
target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">people
rioted</a>. Firefox, as the last big bastion of the open
browser, is <a
href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24652537"
target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">under
constant scrutiny</a>. As a result, you will scarcely see
ads or snitches on Linux.</p>
<p dir="auto" data-sourcepos="32:1-32:479">With some skills,
you can show practical effects of the community’s openness.
Most apps are completely open. When I used the Nokia N900, I
noticed that my notes app was broken. Instead of begging the
author to fix it, I could take the code and fix it myself,
without asking anyone for permission. Same goes for the
Librem 5 (even if you aren’t a seasoned coder, I encourage
you to <a
href="https://developer.puri.sm/projects/squeekboard/tutorial.html"
target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">create
your own layout</a> for Squeekboard).</p>
<p dir="auto" data-sourcepos="34:1-34:271">What you can’t show
so easily is how the openness affects longevity. The
Raspberry Pi is a minimal Linux computer from 2012, and it’s
<a
href="https://www.raspberrypi.org/software/operating-systems/"
target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">still
supported</a> in 2020, after 8 years. I see a similar fate
for the Librem 5.</p>
<p>Of course, someone may interrupt you and ask about
Facebook. Well, community is not a perfect protection. While
the chances of ending up in an ugly relationship are
lowered, the ultimate choice is still yours. If you insist
on using Google or Facebook, I don’t think you could ever
escape the ads economy, even on the Librem 5. But you won’t
be forced into anything before you even begin (choose
whichever app store you like! No forced cloud!).</p>
<p>As you can see, that was a lot to unpack. So don’t be
disappointed when your friends don’t instantly fall in love
with the Librem 5. It’s not their fault. Instead, be
patient, and direct their attention to the personality. Let
them get used to the thought that the smartphone world can
be different.</p>
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<h1>Gaming That Respects You</h1>
<p>The Librem 5 features high quality, free games that respect
you. Play 2D and 3D games without ads, without in-app
purchases, and without tracking.</p>
<video controls="controls"> <source
src="12-21-2020-librem-15-sale_files/l5-stk.mp4"
type="video/webm"> Sorry, your client doesn't seem to
support embedded videos. View the video <a
href="https://videos.puri.sm/promo/l5-stk.mp4?_=1">directly
here</a></video> </div>
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— the Purism team <span>(feedback at puri.sm)</span></p>
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