[NBLUG/talk] My reasoning for trying LineageOS

[Derek B. Noonburg]

Hey Brad,

I think you (or maybe someone else?) asked about potential replacements
for google groups.  Another group I belong to has started using
groups.io.  We haven't fully switched over yet (from an existing
old-school mailing list), but it looks like it's a bit more
email-focused than discourse (which is more of an online forum, with
some email support tacked on).

Thanks for the T-Mobile link.  I can't figure out what the difference
is between the $40 prepaid plan I have and that $15 "Connect" plan.
Maybe something to do with roaming, as you mentioned.

I have a PinePhone (not Pro) that I played with a little bit, and then
set aside. The experience was indeed pretty rough back when I tried it.
Maybe a little better now, but I'm not sure.  The SD card setup was
pretty darn cool: made it really east to try out multiple operating
systems - just buy another SD card for $10 or so.

One option that might be interesting -- someday -- is a Linux phone
with an Android emulator (or virtual machine) that could be spun up on
the rare occasions when I really want to use an Android app that's only
available from the Play Store.  That would be similar to Rick's
suggestion of rebooting into Android, but much less hassle (in theory).

- Derek


On Thu, 14 Apr 2022 04:39:20 -0700
Brad Morrison <bradmorrison at sonic.net> wrote:

> Hi Rick,
> 
> Thanks for your perspective on LineageOS and your phone choices. Lots
> to digest!
> 
> My primary goal with switching to LineageOS is to be able to delete
> my Google account. I have a Google account to be able to use the
> Google Play store on my phone (a OnePlus 6T that I bought new at the
> TMobile Store for about $600 in December 2018) and access the one
> group that I am a member of that uses Google Groups to communicate
> (the North Bay Electric Auto Association - http://nbeaa.org/). I
> don't use my gmail account for any personal email, for that I use
> Sonic.
> 
> I am pretty new to NBLUG, so maybe the rest of you are more
> experienced at asking your friends and family to switch from WhatsApp
> to Signal or giving up conveniences like my credit union app (yes, I
> am also able to access online banking via the mobile website), but
> for me it is surprisingly difficult and that makes the process slow.
> I am definitely not an engineer, just a user of open source software.
> I do try to push into new-to-me areas of open source or give up
> corporate options, but usually with the goal of bringing others with
> me, not so much for personal projects.
> 
> I would prefer to keep my current phone for the time being, but
> that's awesome that you got a PinePhone! I have only heard about the
> PinePhone through a DistroWatch review 
> (https://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20211220#pinephone) and I
> have not seen one in person yet. From the review, the user experience
> sounded pretty rough.
> 
> I am curious as to the phone/mobile setups that other NBLUG members
> use 
> - any other recommendations?
> 
> Derek & Tom: I tried to find a link to the T-Mobile plan that I have 
> ($15 per month, unlimited calls & text, 2 GB data per month, prepaid) 
> and even asked their customer support chat (they were pretty
> unhelpful and told me to call their prepaid CS department). You may
> be right that I have a plan that has been phased out to new
> customers. There are cheap T-Mobile Connect plans (their new brand
> for prepaid service) with the $15 per month one looking pretty
> similar to mine, but it may not be so good depending on how they
> define "roaming" - https://prepaid.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans/connect
> 
> Brad