aloniv - Slashdot User

Comment Re:why though (Score 1) 207

by aloniv on Friday March 25, 2011 @11:09PM (#35619580) Attached to: 100% Libre, Trisquel 4.5 STS 'Slaine' Released

The whole point of a free distibution is not to use or recommend proprietary software as proprietary software is viewed as unethical since the developer of the software controls the users of the software. The distro Trisquel is based on Ubuntu so you can get most of the help needed from the Ubuntu forums. The distro also has its own forums. The main differences from Ubuntu are a rebranded Mozilla browser which never suggests the use of Adobe Flash and instead uses replacements such as Gnash, the removal of Ubuntu's Multiverse repository as it contains non-free software and a Linux kernel without any non-free binary blobs. Note that since the Linux kernel contains non-free software it violates its own license.

Comment Android isn't accessible either (Score 1) 287

by aloniv on Wednesday March 16, 2011 @09:12PM (#35511044) Attached to: Advocacy Group For the Blind Slams Google Apps

And Google isn't doing anything to rectify the situation despite the following bug reports: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=4547 http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=3382 and http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=5876 Android lacking adjustable font sizes is inexcusable. Android's font size is tiny on small screens. When I installed it on a friend's Neo Freerunner the first thing my mum noticed was that the fonts were tiny. I can choose a different distribution on my Neo Freerunner, but someone who buys an Android phone without root privileges cannot.

Comment Re:Preferring M$ WP7 over Android/Linux in Finland (Score 1) 479

by aloniv on Saturday February 12, 2011 @03:17PM (#35187904) Attached to: Nokia and Microsoft Make Smartphone Alliance

The problem with Android is that Nokia will need to compete with other manufacturers that sell Android phones. However, none of the major manufacturers are selling Gnu/Linux phones (discounting the N900), so Nokia could have chosen it instead of Windows Phone 7.

Comment Nokia's biggest mistake... (Score 1) 479

by aloniv on Saturday February 12, 2011 @12:56PM (#35186914) Attached to: Nokia and Microsoft Make Smartphone Alliance

...was that despite their large market share in mobile phones, everyone was running different versions of Symbian OS and thus couldn't run the same applications. Had Nokia let its users upgrade their OS this problem would have been solved, because by 'forcing' people to buy a new phone to get a newer version of an OS there is always the danger that the users will buy from a different company. Of course Nokia could have also taken more steps to keep its current users pleased, like developing more software (e.g. an .ePub viewer).

Comment Re:Rest in piece, hacker friendly mobile future (Score 1) 479

by aloniv on Saturday February 12, 2011 @03:41AM (#35184234) Attached to: Nokia and Microsoft Make Smartphone Alliance

With the IOS concentration camp, Android bootloader lockdown, and Windows Phone 7 copying everything that we hated about IOS it looks like a bleak future for anyone who wants to do cool stuff with their phone beyond the simple apps you get on the common platforms. If Nokia abandons MeeGo with this deal then any hope we have of being able to get new phones with the same freedom as the N900 will be fed to the meat grinder. Looks like I will have to take great care of my N900. It's the first and last of it's kind.

The Openmoko phones were released before the N900 and they provide more freedom as the drivers are free software as well.

Comment Re:Okay, good... (Score 1) 413

by aloniv on Sunday January 16, 2011 @04:43PM (#34899064) Attached to: Google To Push WebM With IE9, Safari Plugins

Actually the fast and free (LGPL licensed) browser Midori supports WebM on Youtube and both H.264 and Theora on Dailymotion. So technically you could say that it supports all three html5 video formats (WebM, H.264 and Theora).

This (my previous comment) also holds for Epiphany.

Comment Re:Okay, good... (Score 1) 413

by aloniv on Sunday January 16, 2011 @02:56AM (#34895162) Attached to: Google To Push WebM With IE9, Safari Plugins

Which browsers would those be? I thought Chrome was the only one with both WebM and H.264.

Actually the fast and free (LGPL licensed) browser Midori supports WebM on Youtube and both H.264 and Theora on Dailymotion. So technically you could say that it supports all three html5 video formats (WebM, H.264 and Theora).

Comment Openmoko's Neo Freerunner or Neo 1973 (Score 2) 359

by aloniv on Friday January 07, 2011 @12:25AM (#34787434) Attached to: Smartphones For Text SSH Use Re-Revisited

Connecting the Openmoko phones to your Linux computer provides ssh, charging and internet sharing (you can use your computer's internet this way which is quite useful to check installed programmes which require internet access, e.g. a web browser or an instant messaging programme). The usb port also supports host mode. The screen resolution is pretty good as well for phones that were released in 2007-2008 (480x640). The phones don't have a physical keyboard, but the virtual QWERTY keyboard used with a stylus is quite good.

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