Been using #grapheneos for about a week now and I just have to say WOW! I don't think I've ever had an experience on my phone that feels like I'm using my #Linux desktop/laptop. The amount of control this OS gives back to me that google and apple took away is staggering. I know no piece of tech is 100% #private or #secure . But damn is this close!
@z3rOR0ne I too have been using #GrapheneOS full time for a little over a week. The old iPhone is in a drawer. It's as though a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
There is nothing I miss. I broke down and installed the sandboxed Play Store for just two apps: Waze for summer road trips and Zoom for work meetings from the field.
I've adjusted to living without dictation.
We could complain all day long about our Android vs. iOS UX/UI pet peeves. They're both sometimes agony.
But using (almost) all #LibreSoftware makes for a much more standards compliant, composable, interoperable, in a word, a very #Linux-y experience.
@jameshowell yeah I tried using OSM for maps and got it working pretty darn well. That said, I did break down and install Waze for emergencies where I need to hear those street names in an area OSM simply hasn't gotten to yet.
Otherwise, there are just a handful of apps I got from the Play Store that are necessary for me atm. LinkedIn, Github, Jetbrains Space, and a couple others. Honestly I just look at those as "one day I will replace you with FOSS."
I sometimes experience the discussion regarding digital privacy somewhat "all-or-nothing", but surely replacing one app with a privacy-respecting app must be better than using none.
@jllw@z3rOR0ne I'm in my early fifties. Speaking for myself it went like this.
During Clinton-time, I was in my 20s. I was all THIS SHIRT IS A MUNITION and sending #PGP encrypted emails from #Gnus under #Emacs. I tried to install #Debian but I got stuck at the "WARNING your monitor could explode if you choose the incorrect setting here" step.
My career took off. Got married, had kids. Dubya, Obama (and not in the good way; Snowden), god-have-mercy Trump. The rise of FAANG. I put my effort elsewhere, capitulated to the dictates of the IT guys. Let #SurveillanceCapitalism creep in. To all appearances, defeat on every front.
But #Linux and #FOSS#LibreSoftware in actual fact became, in parallel, more accessible and powerful than ever. Gradually, I could replace app after app. #LibreOffice, back to #Emacs, #OrgMode replaces one proprietary thing after another.
Maybe it's wisdom with age, maybe it's patience learned from #parenting, but before I knew it—over the course of the past ten years!?—I had adopted an uncharacteristicly long-term view. Easy successes at each step reinforced it.
I had a Mac desktop and a Linux laptop for about two years, 2018-2020, before I was completely #FreeAsInFreedom. I carried two phones for less than a week in 2023.
You eat an elephant one bite at a time. Set big goals with a bunch of little steps you can worry away at one at a time. Find all the little communities, they're full of awesome weirdos. Make it a hobby. Just keep at it.
Years ago I loved both #Things by #CulturedCode and #OmniFocus. But (1) #OrgMode is more featureful out of the box, and (2) task/project management and notes workflows are the quintessential customize-to-the-nth-decimal-place kinda deal. Where #Emacs shines (provided you already have Emacs skills...).
I'm recently even using Org mode (with #TeXLaTeX and #Beamer export) gradually to replace #LibreOffice for authoring class slides and notes handouts. I basically live in Org buffers.
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