Open Source - MuditaOS

I’ve read on your website that your new phone is going to use custom-made OS - MuditaOS -. So, I was wondering if you’ve considered making this OS Open Source. Perhaps, somebody in the Open Source community could be interested in creating apps for your devices.

Cheers.

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Hi,
thank you for reaching out! Making our operating system open source is definitely possible and exciting. :slight_smile: We haven’t decided yet if we want to do that as right now our main focus is on delivering the stable version of the product. We don’t get many requests regarding this, but we are still open for discussion to see where it can bring us. Do you have anything specific in mind, what kind of apps you would like to see in Mudita OS?

Thank you for your time!

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Hi there,
first of all thanks for your quick reply. I already posted on this topic about the apps I’d like to see.

To be honest, it’s more about the possibility of tinkering with the OS rather than having some specific set of apps. Sometimes, people surprise you with hacks, apps, and functionalities on products that were not designed for that specific purpose.
Given that the phone has no wireless connection - except for the GSM modem - , I’d suggest a web-based tool to update the firmware of the Pure phone, and the possibility of running MicroPython. Both functionalities are included in the Numworks Calculator and have expanded a lot the possibilities of that device.

You can get more info about this on the following links:

Firmware updater: https://www.numworks.com/blog/webusb-firmware-update/
Some python sripts for the calculator: https://workshop.numworks.com/python/ferr0fluidmann
General info: https://www.numworks.com/features/

I understand that a calculator and a phone are not the same devices, but just consider the possibilities.

Cheers.

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Seconded, if only for the sake of transparency.

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what kind of apps you would like to see in Mudita OS?

Since you sell a phone that lacks Internet connection, people that are looking for tracking-free phones will join your consumer group. Adding a SMS encryption app will expand the number of potential buyers. But encryption can be done in different ways and allowing open source community to provide their own apps will be the win-win solution.

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It’s built on top of FreeRTOS https://www.producthunt.com/posts/mudita-pure I guess it’s safe for them although I would like to see more projects use GPL
MIT is a non contributing licence, I find it very selfish whereas a GPL licence requires contributions to be published

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I am thinking about a todo list manager wich will work in conjonction with a time tracker in order to keep track on the evolution of my work on the go,
Also a call recorder (with a HD voice quality) …
Making the OS Open Source would definitely help for those apps come to light.

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Hi, I’m just posting to +1 the request to make the OS open source. Having an open source OS on a phone will really set the Mudita apart from other phones and would make it an instant favorite among software developers. There are also those who believe that non-free software is inherently unethical and I think that’s a respectable point of view, especially when it comes to a device as necessary for daily life as a cellphone. I’ll be picking one up if it’s open sourced.

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I would also definitely get one if it was open source. If I‘m not happy with some feature I‘d just improve it for the benefit of anyone! I love challenges like this.

Furthermore, transparency creates trust and is the basis for a thorough security assessment, by the security community, which is much more robust than security by obscurity.

It also also rules out planned obsolesence to a large degree.

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Thanks for your +1! We are still considering this but so far we have nothing more to confirm than has already been mentioned via the forum.

Thanks @thinkround, it’s certainly something we’re looking into.

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Hey guys I am so happy I ran into this product today… it’s everything I have ever wanted. No internet but serves as a modem?! That is brilliant!! Feature-phone form factor and physical keys, YES!! eInk perfect! Question about the OS? Is this really an propietary OS made from scratch with absolutely NO google snooping? That is what killed light-phone for me, android… as well as what killed KaiOS… google. So I wanted to verify this is truly big tech independent OS? Cheers from Costa Rica and looking forward to all your products!

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To me this phone has absolutely no value if the OS is not open sourced. You talk about sustainability for the selected materials but neglect it completely for the software part. What happens with the phone if your company will eventually fail? Users will be stuck with a potentially buggy software – and without support.

The other critical aspect is community development (as mentioned earlier). I see that you didn’t achieve the 2nd stretch goal, so I guess you won’t put resources into developing a pared-down Signal client. Well, I myself would invest the time into porting the protocol and basic functionality if necessary; But I can’t if the OS isn’t open. I’d also like to write customized backup/sync scripts without relying on the Desktop App.

The next thing I’d like to check:
Why on earth does your phone consume so much engery? I love the E-Ink display, and I would assume you could cut the energy down to nearly nothing except for occasional cell traffic. 14 days stand-by? I have an old bar phone with a mere 1000mAh battery and LCD which holds charge for over 3 weeks easily – even with daily use! And I further assume that your patented antenna should reduce the energy consumption even further…

And we don’t even have to start on security and privacy issues here. Not only can’t we verify your claims (because you know, it’s not open), but also fixing issues in a farther future where support might drop abruptly. Normal SMS is unencrypted and easily readable by everyone – not only the provider as you suggested in another related topic. In my opinion, Signal is a must here.

My ideal phone would have:

  • e-ink display
  • long battery life
  • secure non-proprietary messaging
  • enough storage and a player for music (hopefully extensible via SD if you really want to support FLAC. Also the audio driver and hardware should support it and not downgrade to mp3 quality)
  • and a phone (of course).
  • Additionally, I’d like to see a torch light (if you search something in the night).

With all that given, I would switch immediately

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Speaking of privacy issues. Your forum leaks the users email address by default. Another reason I’d like the community to be able to check the code. As you clearly don’t seem to care about privacy as much as I do. :confused:

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Hey @monet, thank you so much for your feedback. Yes, we developed our own dedicated operating system (MuditaOS) and chose the open-source, real-time operating system kernel FreeRTOS®️.

If someone wants to sync their Google contacts via the desktop app so that they’re added to Mudita Pure, they can (the reason for this is we know some people have a lot of contacts and would rather not add the details of each one manually). However, this is completely optional. I hope this helps!

Thanks for bringing this to my attention @ashfo0-2nd09, I’ll look into it.

I just wish you would support calling and messaging via Signal instead of using less secure means.

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Hi everyone,
I really enjoy this projet, and hope it will become true as soon as possible, and for this i wish all the best to the team.

That said, I think the operating system HAS to be free. It is not just a wish from some future customer, it is the best option for a device like this.

I’m not asking your company to support all different code customizations, of course. I’m just asking to give us freedom. It would be contradictious to have a closed source OS while your are promoting security and privacy.

No matter we like the phone and the OS, if we can’t check the code, we have no reason to trust you more than Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc.

Another great aspect would be allowing people to exchange code with Mudita on tools like GitHub. Open source community could even help you in making the product better and better, meet more individual needs, help in debugging, and the most important, allow us to stay free.

Be sure i’m not trying to be rude, i just wish to draw your attention to the fact that nowadays, open source software is a real challenge for the future, and it is a strong marketing advantage.

Thank you in advance.

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Thank you for your feedback @darkponay. I’ve passed it on to our OS team. I’ll let you know if I learn any more information about this.

@darkponay thank you for your comment! We will be choosing the right path for our OS closer to the production release, we are still discussing which way to go.

We are familiar with the arguments that you use and it’s difficult not to agree with them. This decision has many long-term consequences, as one thing is to just upload the code to Github, telling the world that this is open source, and another thing is to actively maintain and support open-source efforts and work together with the community.

Cheers,
Lukasz

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