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posted by takyon on Friday February 01 2019, @10:00PM   Printer-friendly
from the pining-for-the-torvalds dept.

Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd

Smartphone users are usually torn between the two choice — Android or iOS. Their dominance is such that other competing OS like Windows, BlackBerry OS, or Symbian have almost been abandoned.Those who don't want either of them can opt for Pine64's Linux phone dubbed the PinePhone which offers good hardware and software at an affordable rate of $149.

The phone's specs aren't great, but it does include a headphone jack (I wonder if it's capable of using the JACK audio system?) and the article notes that it may provide physical switches for disabling various components. The company behind it, Pine64, also produce the PineBook Linux laptop, which also use an ARM processor.

Source: https://fossbytes.com/pinephone-linux-smartphone-149/

Related: Kickstarter: Pine A64, Cheaper and More Powerful than Raspberry Pi 2 Model B


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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Saturday February 02 2019, @03:24AM (2 children)

    by hemocyanin (186) on Saturday February 02 2019, @03:24AM (#795297) Journal

    I wouldn't mind a little door the slides or swings out exposing a row of DIP switches, e.g: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=DIP+switch&t=lm&iax=images&ia=images [duckduckgo.com] . In some ways, I think that would be easier to use (and build) than a bunch of exposed switches.

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  • (Score: 2) by Arik on Saturday February 02 2019, @03:38AM

    by Arik (4543) on Saturday February 02 2019, @03:38AM (#795304) Journal
    I can't say I wouldn't be willing to give it a try.
    --
    If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
  • (Score: 2) by Arik on Sunday February 03 2019, @01:58PM

    by Arik (4543) on Sunday February 03 2019, @01:58PM (#795678) Journal
    After thinking it over the only objection I can see is that it would not be possible to check the current state of the switches so easily. You would need to bring the phone into the open, remove the panel, possibly maneuver to get good light on it, to confirm the settings. With the sort of keys I was describing, you can check in an instant, without even taking the phone out of the pocket. This is a HUGE advantage.
    --
    If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?