Advice and experience on daily driving ppp

[JadenSki]

Hello all, 
I've been distro hopping on my ppp for a little while now. And I am trying to figure out which os I should settle down on, to use for a daily driver. So far everything I need to work has not all worked out of the box on any os, which is to be expected obviously. And based on other's experience I am fairly confident that I can get most, if not all, of the main things I want, to work. However, this will obviously take time and effort, and the question is 'which os do I focus on getting working?' So I thought I would ask the community for advice/personal experience. If ya'll could take the time to let me know: 1. if you daily drive a ppp, 2. what os you use, 3. what desktop interface you use, 4. what do you have working (eg camera, calls, sms...) and 5 maybe just some simple tips that might be helpfull. I would be extremely grateful.
The main things I would like to work (listed in order of priority) are: sms, calls, mms, gps, camera (to some extent at least), and usb-otg. I would definitely prefer plasma mobile above posh, but if I cannot get everything working on plasma then posh is the next best. 
Thank you in advance!

[mikehenson]

...
1. if you daily drive a ppp, 2. what os you use, 3. what desktop interface you use, 4. what do you have working (eg camera, calls, sms...) and 5 maybe just some simple tips that might be helpfull. I would be extremely grateful.
The main things I would like to work (listed in order of priority) are: sms, calls, mms, gps, camera (to some extent at least), and usb-otg. I would definitely prefer plasma mobile above posh, but if I cannot get everything working on plasma then posh is the next best. 

I use Arch Linux on EVERYTHING, so... I think Arch works well. 

See this post for a complete install and setup.
https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=18192

See this post for my experience on functionally 
https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?...#pid118783

See this post for how I got Calls working on my PinePhonePro.
https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=19428

2023 May through today my daily driver is a PinePhonePro running DanctNIX Arch with Phosh
2021 May through 2023 May my daily driver was a PinePhone running DanctNIX Arch with Phosh

I am running DanctNIX Arch with Phosh on a PinePhonePro and I have not had any of the issues people keep talking about. Calls, VoLTE, SMS, MMS, cell broadcast messages, voice mail, internet, Wifi, 4G data, mobile hot spot, calendar, calendar notifications, contacts, syncthing, Navigation with GPS and offline maps via osmin work, connecting Google accounts work, Groupme via firefox, Facebook via firefox ALL WORK. Calls, SMS, MMS all work from sleep.

I have not tested alarms from sleep. I have not tested any bluetooth items. The camera somewhat works with compiling my own packages. I currently use an Android device to take pictures and syncthing puts them on the PinePhonePro.

Device: PinePhone 32Gig (Used for building packages)
Device: PinePhonePro (Daily driver)
OS: DanctNIX Arch with Phosh
Carrier: USA - Patriot Mobile (T-Mobile SIM)
EG25 Firmware: Biktorgj 0.8.0
ADSP Version: 01.003

[pineconeuser]

> 1. if you daily drive a ppp,

Yes, for 4 months now.

> 2. what os you use

Mobian Trixie. Stable/bookworm is just too out of date to have a good experience with

> 3. what desktop interface you use

Plasma-Mobile

> 4. what do you have working (eg camera, calls, sms...) 

Currently have back and front camera working
Calls work great (sometimes audio/mic-gain related issue)
Wakes up from sleep since I flashed the community modem firmware
SMS works great
MMS I have not tested
Runs Wire and Signal for encrypted messaging, but you have to build it yourself
Works good for scrolling the internet

> 5 maybe just some simple tips that might be helpfull.

Get a backup battery to carry with you. The PPP still drains a lot of power due to poor power management and polling on Linux. It is getting better, but just do yourself a favor and get a nice big backup battery to take with you. You'll never run out of power!

Another tip is to get a nice USB-C docking bar, Pine64 sells one it works great. And an HDMI monitor to go with it. This has completely replaced my netbook for traveling. I can do all my work on my phone with the docking bar/external monitor. I also carry around a USB mouse and keyboard. Works great for my uses (Programming and SSH'ing into other boxes to do SysAdmin work).

[JadenSki]

@mikehenson and @pineconeuser ,
Thank you for taking the time to reply!  I will definitely try them out. @mikehenson Thanks for the step by step instructions, that is super helpful.