Hey guys what’s the deal with hilariouschaos? I’m genuinely asking, I’m out of the loop

The server seems proprietary to me.

No, they stopped updating the source code of the server at some point, but then they started again. Anyway Signal is far from my favorite messagging app, I actually don’t like it at all, but it’s still e2e encrypted, so it’s (kinda) fine for me.

The bridge is still encrypting stuff

It is. But for a message to be bridged it have to be decrypted by the bridge first, then re-encrypted. So there’s a step where the message is in plain text and you have to trust the matrix server which manages the bridge. Don’t get me wrong, that’s surely better than to trust Meta and other big corporations, but still not ideal.

Anyway thanks for all the useful insights, I’ll try to remember to update! 😄

Thanks mate!!

On the bridge thing I 100% agree, although for the way they works you’ll have to deal with your messages being unencrypted. On WhatsApp (and Discord, I guess? I don’t use it) this probably is still far better than having the app installed, on Signal it’s a bit of a shame because it’s the only app with proprietary-level usability while being real FOSS and e2e. So using it with the bridge kind of defeat the purpose of e2e I guess, but still I’m definitely gonna try it again.

I have a OnePlus 6 and a Poco F1, so I’ll just choose one and give pmOS another go :)

Thank you for the reply!

Feel free to ask more.

Okay, I will 😄

using stable vs unstable/edge/etc makes a huge difference.

Yeah, that’s why I was thinking that using edge could have been a good idea, on software so rapidly evolving. Do you use stable because you fear sudden bugs and breakages or for other reasons?

matrix (fluffychat) bridged to whatsapp, signal

So you’re using only fluffychat with bridges? I mean, you have not installed WhatsApp, Signal or Discord clients, right? But there are unofficial flatpak which should work I guess. Or bridges are the only choice? I ask this because while I think bridges are neat, they have their problems and I’m not sure I would happily and painlessly be able to use only them.

And, you’re still using an iOS/Android device from time to time to prevent automatic logout from WhatsApp’s bridge and manage Signal’s login, right? Well I think you should have a device anyway for banking apps. Yes I saw banking it’s dead on Linux and this may be alone one reason to keep an Android device around. It’s a good idea to use a container, although I agree on the risk of being locked out. Though for other android-only apps mendeavor

the bitwarden desktop app which is quite the endeavor

You know, to be honest the last time I tried pmOS it was specifically the unusable state of Bitwarden and Freetube which made me think “okay, maybe it’s better to wait more time before trying to using it”. But after reading your messages I think the time has definitely come :) I’d love to contribute too!

Anyway, one last thing. How do you primarily install software? Apk and flatpak should be the easiest ways I think…? Because I’m talking about flatpak when I say that I tried, but now that I think about it I’m not sure at all that I was supposed to install graphical apps like that, it was just the more obvious way to do it.

Yeah, what to other guy said.

I just mean that I don’t like it. I use it, because it’s surely better than iOS (for my needs, obviously). I can use a custom ROM, change launcher, use F-Droid… All things that aren’t easily possible on iOS.

But it’s still far from ideal for me and I use it just because there are no better alternatives. I mean, the real better alternative is Linux Mobile and it’s great, but I don’t think that, as today, Android it’s 100% replaceable with Linux.

I’m really looking forward for that moment though.

look at it from a „what would I be able to let go of“ perspective.

I think this is a wonderful advice. I have this idea that the limits of Linux Mobile could actually be a huge help to rethink the relationship with the smartphone and to build a new, healthier one.

I totally agree with you’re observation about how proprietary software spoiled and ruined us in some ways… I think we all need to recover from this, and that’s why I have so much faith in postmarketOS (and Linux Mobile in general).

That said, the last time I tried it there were some actual showstoppers for me, but maybe it’s better now so I’ll definitely give it another go. Thank you!

If you don’t mind, I have a couple of questions to help me to have a better idea on how to approach it.

Do you use Phosh? I tried Plasma Mobile, Phosh and GNOME. Now for me, Plasma was a big no because of a trillion of various bugs. I had the feeling that Phosh was the more optimized and overall the best option, but GNOME had more features (notably the amazing gestures, which were limited and a bit buggy on Phosh). What do you think about it?

And… One thing I thought that could really be a problem (beside the banking apps, that’s just a lost cause I think) were some messaging apps. I think that if you use just matrix and xmpp you could be just fine on pmOS, but I use Signal on a daily basis and sometime I’m forced to use WhatsApp. I think that one could use unofficial flatpaks, but would still be necessary to have an Android phone to manage login from time to time… Is that right? How do you manage your messaging apps?

Sorry for all the questions, but I think that it’s pretty rare to have the opportunity to talk about this with someone who uses pmOS on a daily basis so I sort of had to 😄

Can I ask what’s you’re use case for postmarketOS?

I mean, are you a “just calls and messages” guy or are you using extensively, like many are using an Android/iOS devices?

I ask because I don’t believe in Android at all, but I found pmOS not ready yet to be usable daily, last time I tried. I’m anxious for it to be ready though