The Lost Openmoko Community

[Ole Kliemann]

Hi Vasco,

On Sat, Oct 04, 2008 at 04:42:02PM +0100, vasco.nevoa at sapo.pt wrote:
> To all, but especially OM.
> I felt a little cheated when I saw the FR I had bought was not ready  
> to be used as a daily phone. This had in fact been the publicity by OM  
> at the time - GTA01 was for tinkerers, and GTA02 was for the public.  
> Then people said "no, it was clear that GTA02 was also for tinkerers  
> only"... 

I experienced it the very same way. If you looked just at
www.openmoko.com, you would think GTA02 was a ready phone for end-users.
I can be blamed for not informing myself enough. But I think OM at least
tolerated the possibility of users being misinformed. Otherwise they
should have put a clear warning on openmoko.com.


Dear OM team,

such a warning is even missing today. Instead I read:

``If you plan on using your FreeRunner for everyday use, then we would
recommend Qtopia. While it doesn't utilize all the the new hardware
features of the phone, it is reliable and stable.''

May be that Qtopia is stable, alas the kernel and hardware are not. WSOD
and GSM buzz is my everyday reality. 


But honestly, I still love this project. OM after all is providing the
first free phone. It is about time that man reclaimed machine. And this
is a very important step towards it. 

Still there is a lot of disappointment. And that certainly comes from a
lack of communication and information. I experience an unopenness
concerning things that don't work yet. 

When people complain about their FR not being usable as a phone, they
get answers like this one:

``I appreciate that many of you purchased the FR to use as your daily
phone. But I really believe that the magic of Openmoko comes from what
we do with this platform that is different from, and way beyond, a mere
phone.''[1]

Exaggerating just a bit, it sounds like:

``My FR is not working as a phone!''  -  ``Well son, it was never meant
to be a phone.''

That's just one random example but to me it feels like the general
direction of many OM staff postings.

So to pick up my earlier point: Why does openmoko.com not explicitly
state that the phone's software is not ready for reliable daily use?
There should also be a note about the possibility that the FR with your
provider in your region will be suffering from GSM buzz. Thus being
unusable as a phone.

Ole

[1] http://lists.openmoko.org/pipermail/community/2008-September/031063.html
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