Manjaro.....

[brettmarkman]

Would this covergence edition of Manjaro (3GB+) be considered an alpha edition? Can I expect most apps/functions to work properly/timely or should I simply purchase the phone and wait for an upgraded version of the OS? Thanks....

[LinAdmin2]

Would this covergence edition of Manjaro (3GB+) be considered an alpha edition? Can I expect most apps/functions to work properly/timely or should I simply purchase the phone and wait for an upgraded version of the OS? Thanks....

Regardless of what promises are made on the shopping page of pin64.org, you cannot expect anything.
Manjaro has not even decided on what desktop edition they will use. What will work and what does not - we only will know once the phone is delivered.

[Veraendert]

No promises made, stop claiming they did, please.
It says quite clearly in the description: "The preinstalled Manjaro OS software build which ships with this edition of the PinePhone is an Alpha software build. This effectively mean that while core functionality of the PinePhone – such as telephone calls, SMS messages, LTE, GPS, GPU acceleration, etc. – is operational, it is also an ongoing effort, and thus the device cannot be considered as a consumer-ready product."
That sums it up nicely. Mine works but it sure isn´t a finished product. Don´t buy if you don´t want to tinker.

[LinAdmin2]

No promises made, stop claiming they did, please.
It says quite clearly in the description: "The preinstalled Manjaro OS software build which ships with this edition of the PinePhone is an Alpha software build. This effectively mean that while core functionality of the PinePhone – such as telephone calls, SMS messages, LTE, GPS, GPU acceleration, etc. – is operational, it is also an ongoing effort, and thus the device cannot be considered as a consumer-ready product."
That sums it up nicely. Mine works but it sure isn´t a finished product. Don´t buy if you don´t want to tinker.

Maybe you have learned the English language in a very different school?
Stop claiming that pine64.org did not make and does not make promises about the forthcoming Manjaro edition.

Shop page: "This effectively mean that while core functionality of the PinePhone – such as telephone calls, SMS messages, LTE, GPS, GPU acceleration, etc. – is operational, it is also an ongoing effort, and thus the device cannot be considered as a consumer-ready product"

The above nested sentence clearly states "... core functionality of the PinePhone – such as telephone calls, SMS messages, LTE, GPS, GPU acceleration, etc. – is operational ...".

This promise is not withdrawn by the gibberish following!!!

[wibble]

No promises made, stop claiming they did, please.
It says quite clearly in the description: "The preinstalled Manjaro OS software build which ships with this edition of the PinePhone is an Alpha software build. This effectively mean that while core functionality of the PinePhone – such as telephone calls, SMS messages, LTE, GPS, GPU acceleration, etc. – is operational, it is also an ongoing effort, and thus the device cannot be considered as a consumer-ready product."
That sums it up nicely. Mine works but it sure isn´t a finished product. Don´t buy if you don´t want to tinker.

Maybe you have learned the English language in a very different school?
Stop claiming that pine64.org did not make and does not make promises about the forthcoming Manjaro edition.

Shop page: "This effectively mean that while core functionality of the PinePhone – such as telephone calls, SMS messages, LTE, GPS, GPU acceleration, etc. – is operational, it is also an ongoing effort, and thus the device cannot be considered as a consumer-ready product"

The above nested sentence clearly states "... core functionality of the PinePhone – such as telephone calls, SMS messages, LTE, GPS, GPU acceleration, etc. – is operational ...".

This promise is not withdrawn by the gibberish following!!!

It's one of those sentences that's very clear if you already know what it means, but can be misinterpreted if you don't, and should probably be made clearer. The hardware works (is operational) for those things, but the software to make it a reliable consumer-ready phone isn't there yet. Some areas are already pretty reliable and easy to use, at least in some distros, while others are barely past proof-of-concept code and need someone with both the interest and the skill to make them easy to use. It's very much the same experience as with the OpenMoko years back, and probably with the Purism hardware now too. The fundamental problem has been that without sufficiently open phone hardware the necessary software and APIs for a linux phone haven't developed, and now we're playing catch up.

[LinAdmin2]

It's one of those sentences that's very clear if you already know what it means, but can be misinterpreted if you don't, and should probably be made clearer. The hardware works (is operational) for those things, but the software to make it a reliable consumer-ready phone isn't there yet. Some areas are already pretty reliable and easy to use, at least in some distros, while others are barely past proof-of-concept code and need someone with both the interest and the skill to make them easy to use. It's very much the same experience as with the OpenMoko years back, and probably with the Purism hardware now too. The fundamental problem has been that without sufficiently open phone hardware the necessary software and APIs for a linux phone haven't developed, and now we're playing catch up.

It's a real miracle  with what honeyed words some members here try to whitewash the false description on the sales page of pine64.org.

[Veraendert]

To answer the initial question: As stated by pine, this is not a finished product. The phone is quite usable IMHO although you shouldn´t expect it to replace your Android/iOS/SFOS phone in the near future. Calls work but the call quality is pretty bad. The battery still drains rather quickly. Camera works but the pictures are unusable. But then not that long ago, there was no software addressing the camera at all and you were unable to understand the caller. The software is improving quickly but it´s still frustrating if you expected to receive a finished product and lack the skills to find workarounds. So, again: Don´t buy if you want/need to immediately replace your Android/iOS/SFOS phone.

[brettmarkman]

To answer the initial question: As stated by pine, this is not a finished product. The phone is quite usable IMHO although you shouldn´t expect it to replace your Android/iOS/SFOS phone in the near future. Calls work but the call quality is pretty bad. The battery still drains rather quickly. Camera works but the pictures are unusable. But then not that long ago, there was no software addressing the camera at all and you were unable to understand the caller. The software is improving quickly but it´s still frustrating if you expected to receive a finished product and lack the skills to find workarounds. So, again: Don´t buy if you want/need to immediately replace your Android/iOS/SFOS phone.

thanks for the clarity. I realize this isnt a commercial phone with numerous functionality not up to speed. You guys are working real hard to improve the overall operation of the phone. I realize this. This needs to mature like a fine wine.

[Veraendert]

This phone actually has the ability to mature. It runs a (near) mainline kernel. You can throw almost every Linux distribution at it. You can install Linux software. Different desktops. You can start and stop any service. You have a Linux computer in your pocket. Anyone that liked the Raspberry Pi when it came out will love the Pinephone. The Pi also was slow and buggy when it came out. And look what they achieved.

[LinAdmin2]

This phone actually has the ability to mature. It runs a (near) mainline kernel. You can throw almost every Linux distribution at it. You can install Linux software. Different desktops. You can start and stop any service. You have a Linux computer in your pocket. Anyone that liked the Raspberry Pi when it came out will love the Pinephone. The Pi also was slow and buggy when it came out. And look what they achieved.

Yeaaah, that's fantastic. But it does not change the situation that phoning does not reliably work although it had been promised on the shop page.