android — julian

Odin and Heimdall: Free Your Samsung Android

Fri, 24 May 2024 15:00:00 +0000

This article is about one particular step of the procedure for “flashing” a new android-compatible operating system onto a Samsung device to create a Freedom-Respecting Smart Phone or Tablet.

(For the rest of the procedure, see for example the instructions to install e-OS or install LineageOS .)

Main article: Degoogling a Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 (2020)

Tools for Flashing Samsung: Odin and Heimdall

Samsung Android devices are tightly locked down. My impression is they perhaps allow re-flashing only to fulfil some legal concession. It does not seem to be an option that they want us to use. Nevertheless, it is possible. At least on some models. (I read that some models sold in the USA are completely locked; maybe there is no legal concession to allow changing the software there.)

Samsung do not seem to make available the tools needed to “flash” the software. The instructions I find all reference either “Odin” or “Heimdall”.

Odin is apparently a Samsung internal tool that has been leaked, many years ago, as a Windows-only executable with no source code. This, widely referenced as the way to go, is useless for non-customers of Microsoft-Windows. In 2022 a leaked Odin v4 for Linux was reported, also executable only. Without source code, nobody (outside Samsung) can reasonably make improvements or adaptations. (Also, many instructions including LineageOS's say to download the Odin executable from some unattested third-party web site, not even giving a checksum to verify. This is dangerous.)

Heimdall is a cross-platform open source tool developed independently. Heimdall can replace Odin, but many instructions either do not mention it at all, or point to an out-of-date version such as v1.4.2 that lacks important updates and bug fixes.

Both Odin and Heimdall work with Samsung's “download” mode, and are needed to get an alternative (freedom) operating system onto the device.

Heimdall, Open Source Samsung Flashing Tool (Odin Alternative)

An open-source flashing tool for Samsung devices, called Heimdall, was developed by Benjamin Dobell (https://glassechidna.com.au/heimdall/) around 2010 to 2017. That version is most commonly referenced.

Some bug fixes and updates have been made by other people since then, but not merged back to that version. Some of these can be found inside Microsoft's GitHub, but the best version is not there: it rightly lives on a Freedom software forge called Source Hut.

Heimdall up to v1.4.2, the latest “original” version (from Benjamin Dobell or “glassechidna”) at the time of this writing, did not work for me. See Troubleshooting: Heimdall Fails at Initialising Protocol.

Henrik Grimler now maintains a version of Heimdall at https://git.sr.ht/~grimler/Heimdall .

I recommend using Grimler's version. It has fixes and updates needed for more recent devices.

It is available as source code. You could ask around for someone to provide a build, or build it yourself following the included instructions.

Building Heimdall

Referring to Appendix B at the bottom of the instructions page for Linux, on Ubuntu 22.04, on which I already had most of the dependencies installed, I built Heimdall like this:

$ sudo apt install libusb-1.0-0-dev  # you may need more: see below
$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DDISABLE_FRONTEND=ON ..
$ make
$ # The executable is then found at `./bin/heimdall`
$ ./bin/heimdall version
v2.0.2

Required dependency packages are listed in the doc linked above, and also machine-readably in the source tree in the files .builds/{alpine.yml,archlinux.yml,ubuntu.yml}.

I used 'DISABLE_FRONTEND' because I was not interested in building a GUI, and could omit installing 'qtbase5-dev' and its several sub-dependencies.

Using Heimdall in place of Odin

To flash a recovery image, Odin wants to be given a “tar” file (a similar concept to a zip file) with the image file inside it. For example, we have to create recovery.tar which contains recovery.img. By contrast, Heimdall takes the image file directly, e.g. recovery.img.

Where instructions for Odin say to select the “AP” (Android Partition) button and choose the recovery.tar file, the Heimdall translation is to run heimdall flash --RECOVERY recovery.img . For flashing a different kind of image such as “vbmeta”, we write heimdall flash --VBMETA vbmeta.img. We can give more than one pair of command-line arguments to flash more than one image.

Referring to this XDA post, the command needed for this device is:

$ heimdall flash --VBMETA vbmeta.img --RECOVERY recovery.img

Or, if we prefer not to reboot immediately (equivalent of disabling Odin's “Auto-Reboot” option), add the '—no-reboot' flag:

$ heimdall flash --VBMETA vbmeta.img --RECOVERY recovery.img --no-reboot

#fossGadgets #android #degoogled #lineageOS #eOS

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Troubleshooting: Heimdall Fails at Initialising Protocol

Fri, 24 May 2024 14:00:00 +0000

This is about flashing a custom operating system ROM in a Samsung Android device using the tool named Heimdall.

We may encounter a failure mode in which heimdall detect succeeds but heimdall flash and heimdall print-pit both fail, printing this:

Initialising connection...
Detecting device...
Claiming interface...
Setting up interface...

Initialising protocol...
ERROR: Failed to send handshake!ERROR: Protocol initialisation failed!

Releasing device interface...

Additional diagnostics if we give the --verbose option:

"ERROR: libusb error -7 whilst sending bulk transfer"

(This message is repeated several times, before the final failure.)

Errors like this have been reported many times: e.g. here and duplicates, here, here

Here are two scenarios in which this error can occur.

Scenario 1: Only The First Heimdall (Flash, Print-Pit) Command Works

Some people report that some Samsung devices only accept one Heimdall command in the bootloader mode. Further attempts fail. Rebooting is required before another command can succeed.

This may be a bootloader limitation in certain devices. (I have not yet seen a report with enough detail to satisfy me it is definitely the case.) In other cases, using Heimdall's options “—no-reboot” (on each command) and “—resume” (on subsequent commands, since v1.4.0) may overcome this.

(In this description, “heimdall flash” and “heimdall print-pit” count towards the limit of one command, while “heimdall detect” doesn't count towards the limit and can be used freely.)

Scenario 2: Every Heimdall (Flash, Print-Pit) Command Fails

This happens only when running Heimdall on certain linux distributions, notably Ubuntu.

Some people fixed this in their forks of Heimdall, e.g. Jesse Chan's fix is in Grimler's version of Heimdall and in several other forks. (This fix works by resetting the USB device on the Linux end. The main work in developing the fix seems to be recorded in PR #478 .)

My suggestion: build and use Grimler's Heimdall. I explain a bit about Heimdall and how to build and use it in my article Odin and Heimdall: Free Your Samsung Android .

Scenario 3: Heimdall With Resume Option Fails First Time

If the first Heimdall command after booting into download mode is given the '—resume' option, Heimdall fails for me (on Ubuntu 22.04) like this, even when using a version with the Scenario 2 bug fixed:

$ heimdall print-pit --resume --no-reboot --verbose
...
Beginning session...
ERROR: libusb error -7 whilst sending bulk transfer. Retrying...
...
ERROR: Failed to begin session!
Releasing device interface...

From what I can tell, this seems to be expected, and so a usage error. The '—resume' option should not be used on the first command.

#fossGadgets #android #degoogled #lineageOS #eOS

Freedom-Respecting Gadget: Degoogling a Samsung Tablet

Mon, 20 May 2024 19:00:00 +0000

This is about buying a Samsung Android tablet and replacing the privacy-invading proprietary Google and Samsung software with privacy-respecting Freedom Software: “degoogling” for short.

Why? In “The Problem” section below, we take a look back at how much we're giving up when we accept Google's and Samsung's terms.

I would like ordinary people, with a little technical skill, to be able to do this. The process unfortunately is currently far too difficult, especially so on Samsung devices.

My goals:

Install a privacy-preserving freedom-software operating system on my tablet
Make it easier for others to do the same

The tablet I bought:

Name: Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 2020 (Wi-Fi)
Model: SM-T500
Device code: gta4lwifi

Yes, it's a few years old already. One of the benefits of Freedom Software is the community at large has the option to maintain up-to-date software on older devices, for as long as anyone considers it worth the effort. This is in contrast with the original maker's vested interest in stopping updates of their proprietary software after a small number of years. A nod to the right-to-repair and sustainability movements.

The Problem

Have you bought a tablet or phone recently? Perhaps even a Samsung?

IF We are buying a new or second-hand tablet,

THEN We might look at a Samsung Android device. They do make nice hardware!

BUT Oh! The set-up screens! — Screen after screen of, Yes, I agree to let Them scan my house for other devices and report back anything they find... Yes, I agree to let Them install or change or delete anything on “my” device... Yes, I agree to let Them scan all my contacts and data so they can make me feel happy by feeding it back to me in different ways, no, wait, they mean mining it for profit and trapping me in their systems. Yes, Agree To All because that's the easy option (and notice there's no “Agree to None” option).

Aaargh! No way, not me. Unfriendly system, Be Gone!

THEREFORE We want to turn it into a Freedom-Respecting Smart Phone or Tablet by “flashing” a Freedom Software operating system onto the device.

The New Software

I want to install an android-compatible, privacy-friendly, Freedom-Tech operating system. Nowadays I favour e-OS by Murena. e-OS is near main-stream user-friendly, with a nice blend of privacy by default along with a choice of optional (privacy-invading) google support for those that want it. e-OS is available on a wide range of phone hardware from cheap to premium, and you can either buy it or self-install it. If you're not wanting to develop tech skills in this area, buy it pre-installed.

Android-compatible Freedom Tech Operating Systems

Android as most people know it is a proprietary product, which contains inside it some open-source software (including some of Linux), leading to eternal confusion about whether “it” itself is open-source. No. Only the people who go looking for it get an open-source system built around the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). (That's us, yay!) Everyone who buys an Android device from the usual sort of phone maker is getting a heavily proprietary product that spies on them.

For this reason I often use long-winded descriptions like “android-compatible freedom-tech operating systems” to clearly differentiate these from proprietary Android.

Murena's “e-OS” is built around AOSP, using Freedom Tech to replace all the proprietary Google pieces, in a similar way to other android-compatibles such as LineageOS (a minimal android-compatible base OS) and LineageOS-for-MicroG (LineageOS plus F-Droid and some optional google support).

See my Freedom-Respecting Smart Phone post for other Freedom Tech alternatives you might consider.

Choosing a Well Supported Tablet

I bought this tablet after checking it was supported by e-OS and by LineageOS (and therefore also by LineageOS-for-MicroG).

What I didn't realise until too late is the installation instructions say I should download and run this, that and the other from various “random” (unofficial/unverified) sources — and it turns out those instructions are intended for running on MS Windows. Ugh.

There is a Freedom software alternative for this step: Heimdall. See Odin and Heimdall: Free Your Samsung Android.

I found this part of the procedure to be a deep rabbit-hole and spent a long time getting through it, reading a lot of dead-ends along the way.

For this reason I want to document what works, and also make it easier for others to do it, by attempting to automate this procedure in the Open Android Installer.

As the procedure is similar for many devices so working on the solution for my device should, I hope, also help others.

On Choosing a Well Supported Tablet, if you have limited time and experience for working through a complex installation procedure, then I would advise only choosing a Samsung phone or tablet in the following cases:

if the Open Android Installer or e-OS Easy Installer supports it, or
if you can get one that is already running a Freedom Software OS.

(Once it is running a Freedom Software OS, it is easier to upgrade or change it from that point.)

Installing

Installing is a challenge. The procedure is fraught with difficulties. Some people report that they “simply” followed the instructions and succeeded within an hour, while many others apparently spent days, encountered problems or gave up.

The starting point is the semi-official instructions published by the likes of LineageOS and e-OS. Note that these are basically the best efforts so far of volunteer groups, and are not necessarily accurate or complete, and far from foolproof.

See:

e-OS install guide and e-OS forum thread
LineageOS install guide and XDA forum thread (also relevant for LOS-for-microG)

After many hours of trial and research I got LineageOS installed, and some notes taken, several improvements implemented in my local copy of Open Android Installer, and a first couple of blog posts posted about parts of the procedure.

After reaching that stage, it was relatively easy to replace plain LineageOS with LineageOS-for-MicroG (both at version 21).

I also tried replacing it with e-OS (version T equivalent to 20) but that failed:

Installing update...
Comparing TZ version XF.5.1-01015-1 to XF.5.1-638149-3
ERROR: This package requires firmware from an Android 12 based stock ROM build. Please upgrade firmware and retry!
ERROR:   recovery: Error in /sideload/package.zip (status 1)

The tablet was running Samsung Android version 12 before I started. Never mind that for now. I'll come back to e-OS later.

So, I can claim success on one score: my tablet is now running LineageOS-for-microG.

Oh! You wanted all the details of how I did it and what went wrong? I'm not planning to write that up in that form (it was messy), but rather to work out improvements and write them up. I'll post them here once I've got something.

Making it easier for others to do the same

Taking hours to achieve this feat just for myself does not make me feel good.

I want to make it feasible for people with just a little technical skill to install an alternative operating system. It really should not and need not be so hard.

I can:

improve the installer apps (Open Android Installer, e-OS Easy Installer)
improve the installation instructions

In particular I want to do things that help whole classes of problems, across multiple devices and multiple operating systems, such as making the installers and instructions more automatic, more consistent, more foolproof, easier to diagnose.

To these ends, I have been keeping notes on what's missing, and have started making improvements to Open Android Installer.

#fossGadgets #android #degoogled #lineageOS #eOS

You Too Can Have a Freedom-Respecting Smart Phone!

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 12:28:11 +0000

Are you asking yourself,

“What's it to be: Android or iPhone?”

Actually, NO! There is another way.

Time I Learned: there are freedom-respecting phones.

I'll tell you which one you need.

What's the problem?

What's so bad about choosing either Google or Apple?

It's about who controls our use of the device after we “bought” it. Do “they” remain in control of what we do, or are we in control?

It's not about the hardware. Well, there are certainly important issues about the hardware — and you might want to discover PinePhone and FairPhone. But I'm here to talk about our freedom in using the product.

Many of us today are increasingly concerned about the vendor lock-in, advertising and data mining perpetrated by Apple and Google. They are so pervasive that it's hard at first to see all the avenues of social human interaction and creativity in which we could be harnessing the power of our computers and our electronic connection to others, all these avenues from which Big Tech have cut us off, as they steer us through their own product pathways according to their own commercial objectives.

In short, we are carrying around general purpose computers but we are artificially locked in to using their power only within the vendor's own playground. Read: The General Purpose Computer in Your Pocket. Those mega-corporations ensure everything we do is steered toward making their advertisers and shareholders richer: attention grabbing, commercial subscriptions, ads and so on. Not towards what's best and nicest for us as people.

We've been subjected so completely to their way that it's hard to imagine any other way. Hard to see that the nuggets of convenience we'd have to give up would be as nothing compared to the adventures we'd gain by switching. We can't see the wood for the trees.

Yet, the alternatives are here. We don't have to accept it's a choice between a rock and a hard place.

What we can do instead is choose tech that unlocks the power of these personal computers we carry around, and lets us use them for purposes that make no profits but enhance our own social lives. Gentle technology. Small Tech as opposed to Big Tech.

Once we make the leap and begin exploring the previously untapped possibilities, we begin to appreciate what it feels like to be released from Big Tech's constraints. It's not a stretch to say those companies had pressed us into their servitude, and now we can be free. That's what I'm feeling, and I want us all to have that opportunity.

Which Freedom-respecting Phone?

The one that stands out to me as best suited for most people is built upon a degoogled operating system compatible with Android:

Murena /e/OS smartphones
- deGoogled, Android-compatible phone
- with deGoogled “cloud” suite: email, docs, storage, etc. (free or €2~20 /month)
- choice of phone models (€300~600) including Fairphone

Being freedom-software (open source), the maker guarantees your freedom to use the tools they provide or change to others. What does that mean in practice? For example, if you don't like the terms and conditions of the Murena cloud software suite, you can use a different one provided by someone else, be it an independent commercial provider, or run by your school or club, or at your best techie friend's home. And then you don't even need a Murena account.

How is this degree of freedom possible? First, with the slogan “my data is my data”, Murena is committed to these principles. It was founded by Gaël Duval, the creator of Mandrake Linux. Second, in contrast to Google's Android which merely contains some open-source software components, this technology stack is designed around open source principles. Their cloud service is not only based on Nextcloud, but is designed to be compatible and interoperable with similar services run by lots of other providers and individuals. Together, and in stark contrast to the Big G and the Big A, these mean there is neither a practical lock-in nor a legal lock-in.

How to get one?

The no-fuss solution: buy one
The techie friend option: ask the friend to set it for you on a second-hand phone.

“But I'm Not Average”: Other Freedom Phones

If you are not the average person, or if you want to learn more about the alternatives, read on.

I recommend Murena for the average person because their offering is so inclusive: the phone hardware, the cloud services, the freedom to take or leave parts of the system and adapt it to your needs, compatibility with most smart phone apps, and working in a way that is broadly familiar to a lot of people already. I hope we will soon see other providers like them offering a no-fuss all-included solution too.

These alternatives will appeal more to techies and to people with particular preferences or needs, and the ability to spend a bit more effort instead of buying an all-in package. With most of these, you or a techie friend will need to do one or more of: install the operating system software on a suitable phone, setting up any “cloud” services you want, or using apps that are currently less mainstream.

That said, these are quality and important alternatives.

Linux-based Phones

By Linux-based phones, I mean operating systems aligned with GNU/Linux rather than with Android. There are a few.

Purism in particular is an outstanding company dedicated to making freedom and privacy centred devices. If their Librem phone isn't for you, check out their laptop, server, security key.

Purism's Librem 5
- Linux-based phone OS
- convergence with Linux desktop: run desktop apps on the phone, or plug into a monitor and use as a desktop computer
- company dedicated to software and hardware freedom and privacy at all levels, and working with wider FOSS community
Jolla with its SailfishOS is the favourite of The Opt Out Project's Janet Vertesi.

Android-Compatibles

Android compatibles can be partially or completely degoogled, giving privacy from spying megacorps including not only the big G but others too. Most give you a choice of how far you want to distance yourself.

Shiftphones in Germany sells modular repairable phones (and laptops, headphones, etc.). While their current SHIFT6mq comes with a Google Android pre-installed, the interesting thing is they offer an easy and built-in way to install an “upgrade” to a degoogled android version. Much easier than degoogling any other phone.

Shiftphone SHIFT6mq detailed Review including thorough instructions on degoogling it, and suggestions for additional settings and apps.

Iodé is a small company in France selling phones pre-installed with deGoogled Android, with extra privacy features.

Iodé's new or refurbished phones
- deGoogled, Android-compatible phone
- choice of phone models (€210~730) including Fairphone

For techies, there are more deGoogled Android distributions that you can download and install yourself on a suitable phone:

Many of the phone operating systems from the vendors mentioned, being based on freedom software, can be self-installed too:

How About an iOS-compatible Freedom Phone?

An iOS-compatible Freedom Phone? That's an oxymoron! Apple locks its users into its own walled garden completely. See The Neighborhood and The Nursing Home.

What Does Julian Use?

Personally, for myself and family I am currently using LineageOS-for-MicroG. I chose that option because I am a techie, experimenting with the various options on a budget, so I tended towards those I can install myself on a wide range of old and new phones. And because it is quite close to mainstream Android so a majority of mainstream apps run on it. And because my less techie family members needed the reassurance of being able to continue using their familiar Google apps to begin with, and only gradually migrating to freedom-software, one app at a time when they are ready, from Chrome to Firefox for example.

I have experimented with others. I really admire what Murena is doing, and have self-installed /e/OS on older and newer phones. I am considering switching over to it on my main phone, and to use it for family members, as it is more readily maintainable and more user-friendly, and supports the widest range of apps from proprietary locked-down banking apps through to fully open freedom software, all on a wonderfully freedom-valued platform.

I would want to use /e/OS with my own compatible cloud service rather than using Murena's cloud, because I will not compromise on using my own domain name as the key to my own data services. I believe Murena and other companies offering “your own data” services should for this reason always offer “bring your own domain”. For now, the situation is that Murena's service is open source with the source code repository ecloud-selfhosting in “beta” status. That means it is possible to set up one's own infrastructure, just not as easy as it really needs to be. (It is however to be congratulated that they host their software forge on their own domain rather than using the anti-freedom Microsoft-Github.)

This article is part of my Open Source Gadgets series.

Originally published as All I Want for Christmas is... a Smart Phone?, 2022-11-09. This revised version published December 2023.

More articles tagged... #fossGadgets #android #degoogled #lineageOS #eOS

Small Tech -- Phone Cameras

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 20:19:44 +0000

Resources around development of camera apps, camera API standards, and photos management, in Indie Phones, degoogled Android, Murena /e/-OS, Purism Librem, etc.

Camera apps (mainly Android):
- Aperture (LineageOS 20) (introduction)
- AOSP Camera2 (also in LineageOS 19)
- LineageOS “Snap” (until LineageOS 18)
- OpenCamera
- FreeDCam
- TraxCam (my fork of OpenCamera)
FOSS phone organisations:
- Murena (e-OS, OpenCamera)
- Purism (Librem, libcamera)
- Pinephone
- LineageOS
- more: CalyxOS, GrapheneOS, PostMarketOS, UBports, Sailfish
Small Tech organisations: Gnome, FSF(E), ...
Technology:
- libcamera (from Purism)
Talks:
- FOSDEM-2022: Status of camera support on mobile FOSS devices
- FOSDEM-2023: Convergent camera applications for mobile Linux devices
- FOSDEM-2023: Advanced Camera Support on Allwinner SoCs with Mainline Linux
- FOSDEM-2023: Modern Camera Handling in Chromium
- FOSDEM-2023: Sharp photos and short movies on a mobile phone
- more in the Open Media track
FOSS away from GAFAM: China, Asia, Huawei
Photo gallery, collection management:
- PhotoPrism, Photonix, Nextcloud Photos + Memories, ...
- need for integration of camera folder, gallery management, offline/backup
Related cool projects:
- Apertus AXIOM full FOSS cinema camera

Indie Phone Infra Dev

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 19:57:46 +0000

Independent smart-phones have recently become a reality for those of us unhappy with the way Apple and Google seek to control, own and use us. We can now choose a user-respecting alternative, thanks to Murena /e/-OS, Purism Librem 5, LineageOS and more.

With sustained dedication from their producers working with very limited budgets, these alternatives are coming along nicely and by now are certainly usable. Understandably, however, they are not yet as slick as those funded (and controlled) by the mega-corps Apple and Google.

There is much more to be done to bring the indie phones up to a level of sophistication that ordinary people find a pleasure to use and to trust. In this article I look at one rather technical aspect of it: what developments do we need on the infra side?

What's Indie Infra?

By “indie phones”, I mean smart phones designed to respect the user’s privacy, authority and autonomy, where the user holds all the keys to their data and their software and services, where the user has ultimate control and authority over the system. See for example “All I Want for Christmas is... a Smart Phone?”

By “the infra side”, here I mean technology that the user doesn't think about until it fails. Network connections, accessibility, lost password, restore from backup. Technology that, in order to work effectively, needs to be integrated in the phone operating system and/or in the service provider's business, or self-hosted server side, or coordinated across a group of FOSS projects. Roughly speaking, any functionality that can't be added just as well by the user installing an app and/or signing up to an independent service.

I have been exploring the indie phones ecosystem for a few years now. I currently run LineageOS with lots of self-hosted infrastructure, and was recently delighted to received the email confirming I'm officially degoogled :–)

Indie Infra Issues

These are some of the infrastructure we need to improve, in order to make indie phones a compelling option for ordinary people.

Backup/restore/migrate
Push notifications, degoogled, via UnifiedPush.
Integrate key types of open identity (matrix, fediverse, ...) and corresponding “accounts”
Find My Device and Remote Disable
Account recovery
Mainstream “own domain, own server”
App stores: personal app stores, business/community app stores.
OS installer
OS customisation templates
Replicable service provider

(This list is far from exhaustive.)

I would love to have the opportunity to work on developing these issues.

Backup/restore/migrate

Need to improve on the existing tools (Titanium, Seedvault, etc.). It’s not simply a matter of writing a better backup/migrate tool: to do it well, likely requires co-operation with FOSS apps, both the apps being backed up and ones providing backup services (Nextcloud, Borg, etc.), and integration with app stores, and open standards for it all.

Push notifications, degoogled, via UnifiedPush

Currently available for self-install. To improve: integrate the client side as a pre-installed and pre-configured app, expecting the server to be available on the user’s “main account” server (e.g. Murena Cloud, Purism’s cloud, or self-hosted); collaborate to add U.P. support to more apps. Note: current interest within UnifiedPush community (March 2023) on unbundling the business logic of ‘NextPush’ as a library.

scott wrote: > It would be nice if AOSP allowed registration of different distributors from userland in the same way it does for autofill, contacts and calendar providers etc.

Now that sounds an important development. What for, exactly? For a start it could eliminate the need for each app to ask “which distributor do you want to use?” by having a central place to set/change that decision. This becomes more important as more distributors are developed, as more OS/ROM's will come with a distributor by default, and as more apps come with a built-in distributor. (Is there any other benefit it can bring, initially?) Could begin in the likes of LineageOS, micro-G, Murena /e/OS, PostMarketOS, etc. and indeed why not aim for AOSP.

Integrate key types of open identity (matrix, fediverse, ...) and corresponding “accounts”

... into the OS “accounts” settings so they can be accessed easily and uniformly across many applications. The aim is for users of open protocols to get at least as slick an experience as users of silo accounts.

Find My Device and Remote Disable

The Find My Device FOSS app is a useful start. To improve, it needs integrating, making a front end for easy activation, probably more robust safeguards against misuse/mistakes, etc. To explore: other transports than SMS?, integration with UnifiedPush?

Account recovery

(forgotten password, or after death)

E.g. nominate another person who will automatically receive access after a time or on other conditions.

Mainstream “own domain, own server”

How to make this concept available to ordinary people who can’t set up and manage a server.

App stores: personal app stores, business/community app stores

Free software should be freely modifiable and distributable. The ideal: everyone individually and groups should have easy ways to curate and share app collections, of both FOSS apps provably signed by an authority such as f-droid.org or the author, and also self-published or modified apps. People such as family members or club members subscribe to this app store if they trust its provider.

OS installer

See /e/ easy-installer for a start. The ideal would be an ordinary person can set up a new phone from scratch, using just their existing (proprietary) phone.

OS customisation templates

Self-owned tech should support and encourage customisation. The usual interactive settings, where every user starts from the same centrally provided baseline, is not enough. Both end users and resellers should be able to write, use and share templates that specify how to set up phones for e.g. their family or their small business staff. The OS installer should make this easy.

Replicable service provider

Server-side and business infra, packaged with intention to be copyable, to encourage small business providers to build up the ecosystem.

A deGoogling Milestone

Thu, 12 Jan 2023 21:45:39 +0000

From: Google

“Your Google Account will soon be considered as inactive“

”... if you don't sign in soon”

“Is this a phishing scam?” was my first thought. But no, it's true! This officially confirms I am freed at last from Google's clutches on my data, on my digital life.

Hurray!

I once thought Google was my friend. The most convenient email, the most convenient search, a great phone, with a feeling of being quite open-source-y, not too locked-in. But of course their lock-in is immense, almost inescapable, just like all the other Big Tech silos. Once disillusionment set in, it was hard to leave that all behind. Took me five years.

Now, for months and months I haven't signed in to my gmail, to play store, to youtube, nothing.

And I feel great!

Want to know more?

How did I Leave Google?

Starting at the biggest and most important:

Registered my own DNS domain.
email: at my own domain, managed by Fastmail; used with K-9 & Mailspring apps
phone: my degoogled/indie phone

Once those key cornerstones are freed, all the other things fall into place more easily. personal photos, public videos, maps, files, messaging, video meetings, and all the rest.

My biggest regret: not starting sooner. In fact I got my own domain many years before, only because it came “for free” with an ISP account. Initially I regarded it as a play thing, a place to put a few photos and stories for friends to look at. Now I think of my domain as the key to my online identity.

From there I continue building up my Matrix, Android, Self-Hosting Skills.

#fossGadgets #degoogled #android #lineageOS #awesomeFOSS

Pocket Casts -- Awesome Open Source

Sat, 19 Nov 2022 14:55:07 +0000

Thanks to Automattic, the strongly open source company behind WordPress, another great product Pocket Casts goes open source! Awesome!

This is a great alternative to my current favourite podcast app, AntennaPod which is available on F-Droid.

Users: FOSS Matters

Quoting Chief TWiT leo@twit.social:

Now that we're learning this lesson that centralized silos are brittle and operate in the interest of the owners not the users...

...please note the move toward centralizing podcasts into apps from Amazon/Audible, Spotify, iHeart, YouTube, TikTok etc.

If you like podcasts, use an RSS-based podcast player. Support the open ecosystem...

My favourite podcast: The Self-Hosted Show (direct Pocket-Casts link to it).

Developers: Progress Needed

FOSS Apps live in FOSS App Stores

The Pocket Casts app is currently published only in the proprietary Google and Apple app stores [1]. I have voted for their “Add to F-Droid” issue and hope that they will agree to do so and that some nice folks will contribute to help make that happen. (Of course there is no analogous option for Apple users, as Apple locks all their users in their walled garden.)

FOSS Apps live in FOSS Forges

The source code and development process of Pocket Casts is currently hosted on the proprietary Microsoft Github, sadly, like Millions of Free Software developers forgot why it matters to own their tools. In my strong opinion, to better serve FOSS as a whole they would GiveUpGithub and move to a FOSS software forge provider such as Codeberg.org and/or host a FOSS code forge at their own domain.

[1] As a techie you could also download it from the release assets section of their app source repository, but for general users that doesn't count.

More: #awesomeFOSS #degoogled #android

All I Want for Christmas is... a Smart Phone?

Wed, 09 Nov 2022 21:05:09 +0000

“What's it to be: Android or iPhone?”

Actually, NO! There is another way.

Time I Learned: there are freedom-respecting phones.

I'll tell you which one you need.

(For the literal minded: It's just a title. I don't really think Christmas is about buying gadgets. This article is about freedom in technology.)

What's the problem?

What's so bad about choosing either Google or Apple?

Yet, the alternatives are here. We don't have to accept it's a choice between a rock and a hard place.

Which Freedom-respecting Phone?

The one that stands out as best suited for ordinary people is built upon a deGoogled version of Android:

Murena /e/OS smartphones
- deGoogled, Android-compatible phone
- with deGoogled “cloud” suite: email, docs, storage, etc. (free or €2~20 /month)
- choice of phone models (€300~600) including Fairphone

How to get one?

The no-fuss solution: buy one
The techie friend option: ask the friend to set it for you on a second-hand phone.

“But I'm Not Average”: Other Freedom Phones

If you are not the average person, or if you want to learn more about the alternatives, read on.

That said, these are quality and important alternatives.

Purism in particular is an outstanding company dedicated to making freedom and privacy centred devices. If their Librem phone isn't for you, check out their laptop, server, security key.

Purism's Librem 5
- Linux-based phone OS
- convergence with Linux desktop: run desktop apps on the phone, or plug into a monitor and use as a desktop computer
- company dedicated to software and hardware freedom and privacy at all levels, and working with wider FOSS community

Shiftphone SHIFT6mq detailed Review including thorough instructions on degoogling it, and suggestions for additional settings and apps.

Iodé is a small company in France selling phones pre-installed with deGoogled Android, with extra privacy features.

Iodé's new or refurbished phones
- deGoogled, Android-compatible phone
- choice of phone models (€210~730) including Fairphone

For techies, there are more deGoogled Android distributions that you can download and install yourself on a suitable phone:

The phone operating systems from the vendors mentioned, all being based on freedom software, can be self-installed too:

(Where are the iOS-based freedom phones? That's not going to happen: Apple locks its users into its own walled garden completely. See The Neighborhood and The Nursing Home.)

What Does Julian Use?

I have experimented with others. I really admire what Murena is doing, and have self-installed /e/OS on an older phone. I am considering switching over to it on my main phone. I would want to set up my own compatible cloud service rather than using Murena's, because I will not compromise on using my own domain name as the key to my own data services. I believe Murena and other companies offering “your own data” services should for this reason always offer “bring your own domain”. For now, the situation is that Murena's service is open source with the source code repository ecloud-selfhosting in “beta” status. (It is to be congratulated also that they host their software forge on their own domain rather than using the anti-freedom github.)

This article is part of my Open Source Gadgets series.

Revised version published as Freedom-Respecting Smart Phone: Want, Get, Have!, 2023-12-05.

#fossGadgets #android #degoogled #lineageOS #eOS

Matrix, Android, Self-Hosting Skills

Thu, 17 Mar 2022 12:00:00 +0000

This is an informal summary of my recent (2016 ~ 2023) experience and explorations in the areas of Matrix and Android and self-hosting. For my employment history please see my more formal CV/resumé at https://blog.foad.me.uk/cv/.

Passions

Matrix, FOSS, services-as-FOSS, digital Freedom for everyone

Recent skills

Matrix (see section below)
Self-hosting / home-lab (see section below)
C, Python, Bash, C++, Javascript/Node.JS, Ruby... (from skilled to novice)
Android app dev (novice)
Android degoogled ecosystem (interest)

Self-Hosting / Home-Lab

DevOps experience:

Ansible (deploying most of my services)
Docker (lots), VMs with Terraform & ProxMox
Building Docker images
Running the following services...

Currently running personal services:

Matrix (see separate section)
OpenWRT router (blog post)
OpenStreetMap map tile server (blog post, source)
Traefik reverse-proxy
Authelia authentication
Bitwarden password vault server (blog post)
ProxMox VMs
Docker container registry
My own F-droid Android app store (mentioned, why)
Borg backup server
Syncthing, GitLab, Subversion, Nextcloud, YunoHost
photos, music, blogs, etc.
(outsourced @ own domain) email, xmpp

Android

Android OS and ecosystem (experience):

Running degoogled android (LineageOS) on main, secondary, family phones (blog post)
Partially scripted LineageOS deployment
Published and running my own push notifications infrastructure using UnifiedPush (blog post & packaging)
Running my own F-droid app store (mentioned, why)
Exploration and writing about the degoogled ecosystem (blog posts tagged: #degoogled, #android)

Android app development (novice):

TraxCam (a tweaked OpenCamera) (blog, source)

Matrix

Running my matrix server since 2018:

matrix me: @julian:foad.me.uk
Contributed self-hosted push notifications support to the popular matrix-docker-ansible-deploy server installation (blog post)
running several bridges, clients, bots
writing a matrix bridge (project)

Full of Matrix project ideas. Involved in some matrix dev discussions. Looking for ways to help people get on board.

Writing, Blogging

Blogs:

Matrix writing (examples):

see '(blog)' links in other sections
started the public room #matrix-outreach
Why... Matrix Me
Your Online Identity

Contact me

matrix me: @julian:foad.me.uk
email me: julian@foad.me.uk

More articles tagged: #matrix #degoogled #android #smartHome #awesomeFOSS