Who is still interested in Neo900? - Page 10 - maemo.org

beobachter | # 91 | 2018-08-26, 10:16 | Report

Has anyone from the Neo900 team reached out to HMD Global? They seem to be swayed by the nostalgia and there might be a chance for a cooperation ... look how popular all the GPD palm computers are ... It would not be too difficult to find the original design/dev team who brought us the N900 ... and with crowdfunding plus HMD's assistance, an N900 V2.0 could be conceived, since as I have checked last time, the Neo900 specs we have agreed would be already obsolete-ish ...

Last edited by beobachter; 2018-08-26 at 11:08.

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biketool | # 92 | 2018-08-26, 16:30 | Report

The Neo900 was I believe nearly 100% bin compatible with our froxen blob ridden Maemo5 Linux so we might have been able to use most apps open and closed.
I would just be happy to have a similar form factor with slider KB a tough bezel and Nokia build quality with OSS drivers for everything where I can run something like Debian ARM though I like the UI of Maemo as an alternative to say Gnome or KDE. Give me real GNU Linux and I will be pretty happy as I was with the Zaurus SL-5500 and N900.
Closed un-upgradeable blob drivers have always been the bump which screws us. Even mainlining the Android kernel would give us a half-assed path forward with nasty blobs for a few years.
Would I love a Neo900 sure, could I afford something at the quote price a stretch, with tech closer to my N900 than current and no idea of a real OS nope. I have owned an OpenMoko, open hardware and software yes, but the experience was terrible, broke my heart but not remotely a daily driver and some of the software even being able to answer a phone call dice roll odds.
So even if we had Neo900s in our hands but without a well developed openMaemo or other OS it would be a crapfest for anything but a dev Tamagotchi that you have to feed hacks every few hours while carrying your real phone too.

Last edited by biketool; 2018-08-26 at 16:39.

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Ken-Young | # 93 | 2018-08-26, 16:43 | Report

I think the best approach now would be for the neo900 project to launch a cryptocurrency ("latecoin"). Since they release essentially no information about the project status, they've already got the crypto part working. New latecoins could be mined by finding discarded n900 cases and other parts. Eventually, as the price of latecoins inevitably skyrocketed, it would become financially viable for a company to start manufacturing new n900s, just so that they could be disassembled to mine latecoins. We could then re-assemble the parts and get new n900s.

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endsormeans | # 94 | 2018-08-26, 16:58 | Report

hahahahhaa...
"...a dev Tamagotchi that you have to feed hacks every few hours..."
hahahahahhaa
o god !
that is such a great descriptive biketool!

And yes...
I completely concur.

Hopefully Leste will come around well.
meaning I can live without the neo's hardware keyboard ...
or jimmy-rig some mod.
or simply use a wifi or bt keyboard ...
in fact ...the moto (leste compatible) keyboard models....may suffice....better in fact...and more affordably..
or any of the other potential candidates.
It is just a wait and see with Leste

hahahaha
ah
that is very funny Ken
...odds are though...collecting and hoarding all the n900's in existence ..at best ....yes...would be noted and profiteering would commence...mainly in the form of perfect conditions to create the vacuum necessary for really bad chinese knock offs.

I do think that the most realistic view is...it would be a waste of resources ...and the outcome not what would be hoped for.

Just because one collects and sequesters away..
every known recyclable beer can tossed to the ditch ...
Does not mean the value of existing beer cans increases.

Last edited by endsormeans; 2018-08-26 at 17:05.

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biketool | # 95 | 2018-08-27, 10:04 | Report

Ends, I have used a crappy microUSB KB folio with my Nexus 7(flo) tablet, it is pretty damn crappy and no N900 clickyness; not sure there is a decent add on keyboard out there as I clack this out on my Cherry blues.
I cant love my damn tablet though because while I want the hardware to all work I have to learn a gob of new commands and tools to tweak it. I get by with best possible privacy with LineageOS microG fork to replace Gapps and services, but it is still, to channel Trotsky, a deformed Linux derivative.
No easy local/ssh cli experience knowing where all of the .conf files are and what standard tools will do what I want.
IDK maybe I am just getting old but I like real normal GNU-Linux preferably with a Debian base, I don't to work hard I want a nice garden with no walls like we dreamed for a Neo900 with a 1.0 quality OpenMaemo to run on it.
I would shoot for a similar experience that I have putting Ubuntu onto a modern gaming grade laptop, can I get a mobile device like that?

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endsormeans | # 96 | 2018-08-27, 15:16 | Report

there are enough projects working at it currently...
and showing signs of "almost there" ..
In a year or two I foresee they will have done the ugly work and it will be just fine tuning....
For us at that point it will be just picking the os of choice available and putting it on one of the available devices ...doubtless there will be ones with hardware keyboards.

I too wish the neo were where it should be after so many years....done.
Not where it is.
the situation is what it is..

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Ridd92 | # 97 | 2018-09-13, 19:07 | Report

Originally Posted by endsormeans View Post

the situation is what it is..

What isituation? There is no situation anymore. Project has died probably waaaay sooner than we realized. Real alternative for n900 and users who also like maemo 5 platform not only for KB but also for UI should involve themselfs into leste on platforms faster then n900

We have no real KB but at least up-to-date maemo on better devies,
thats what we've been waiting for, right?

The n900 might be a good expierience with leste also but I for sure will choose alternative device.

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endsormeans | # 98 | 2018-09-13, 19:39 | Report

I think Ridd ...you mistook my words...
I was saying that the neo should have been done...finished...completed ..and shipped long ago for it to be relevant ....as in technologically relevant in a past tense...compared to the hardware specs that exist today...

today ..the neo specs are not comparable...especially not for the projected low estimated cost to the purchaser...

not when (hopefully) the Leste project means one could take their existing n900 and simply run a modern maemo experience...
or ...
take a different device completely (ie: mexus 5, moto, etc) and do likewise...

for the neo...
time was with the project for a span..
but then that window began closing...
as better device specs came about ...
the project lost the advantage when it was at par...
and then slowly time advanced and put the neo behind the eight ball...

Now it simply makes little sense in relation to the alternatives coming...

In this regard the neo project "is what it is.."

whether one wishes to call it a success from the standpoint of "good research which is or will be applied to current or future open source phones" ...as some have said...
is pure speculation until someone posts the direct linkage between this supposed implementation and the neo project.
or
whether one wishes to call it "a known risk and attempt at producing a next gen"
or
whether one wishes to call it purely "a failure to deliver .."

any of the above is purely a personal view at this point...

So...
the situation with the neo project ...
"it is what it is..."
(or to be more acute ...."it was what it was..." ..)

agreed with your other mentions...
Leste on the n900 or other devices ...helps to ensure the continued survival of our OS...
which has been my stated position for years here...
ever before the neo project came about..
... as THE prime imperative for our community ...

the future doesn't look now ...as bleak as it was ...years ago ...
there are other projects that are doing the same...
the movement by ubports, plasma, etc ...to implement linux on devices ...
So in all ...
it isn't as grim as it could be..

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Zeta | # 99 | 2018-09-13, 19:54 | Report

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tEaOfEJ3y8 : "open phone neo900 - brief pcb tour" by houkime who is designing it.

Communication is so great, no one here seems to have shared this before... It was published one month ago (11th of August).

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endsormeans | # 100 | 2018-09-13, 20:09 | Report

well......comm. isn't what it used to be...

Excellent news though Zeta!

well...
excellent for some I imagine...
personally....at this moment...
.I see the "neo pcb tour" as exciting, relevant and timely as doing a n770 pcb tour

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