First question is - are you familiar with Linux command line at all? If not get familiar with it first.

Second you’ll need to own or buy a domain and point it to the server’s IP.

Then install either Ubuntu Server or Debian on the server, setup SSH and run this Ansible project - https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ansible

If that’s not comprehensible to you, I’d really recommend getting more familiar with Linux command line and servers before I’d recommend starting a Lemmy instance.

There isn’t a Google Voice app. It’s not Android.

You could probably place calls from the browser but not receive them.

I heard of some people setting up IP phone stuff for it, but it doesn’t seem simple.

No. I have a second phone with it just to play with.

It’s functional, but rough. App support is lacking, VoLTE doesn’t work still which means on countries like the US which shutdown 2/3G you cannot make or receive calls. The UI is clunky and dated.

I think a lot of these issues would go away pretty quick if it got a lot of attention. But then it’s unlikely to get much attention without that stuff. Vicious cycle. It’s a good base to build on.

Donate to devs. Donate to your instance. Post. Comment. Be active.

It’s pretty open hardware I’m sure it would be very easy to flash it to Fairphone’s OS

1.0 is planned to release later this year with new features. They’re testing it right now on https://voyager.lemmy.ml/ (though it seems to be down at the moment)

The details I can see right now are mostly technical but I’m sure we’ll get a prettier list of features as release gets closer.

https://join-lemmy.org/news/2025-02-03_-_Breaking_Changes_in_Lemmy_1.0

Thanks for the the hard work

Wait why do people want escape there???

I like the backspace there like Colemak has. I can do Fn-Backspace(capslock) to activate Caps Lock but that’s something I added to my Keyboard separately.

Sure. Looks like on Ubuntu Touch the only thing not working is the fingerprint reader

https://devices.ubuntu-touch.io/device/fp3/

The OS in general isn’t ready for daily use though. It’s maybe doable if all you need is text, calls, camera, and a browser. And the calls only work in some countries. But it’s fun to play with.

Do you live in the US or Europe? There are some possibilities out there, but it’s kinda region dependent.

It seems like Linux-compatible android handsets stopped around 2021. Except a few bespoke models that are hard to get your hands on outside of Europe.

I have a OnePlus Nord N10 flashed with Ubuntu Touch as a tinker device, unfortunately in the US it’s not daily-able because we shut down 3g and 2g networks and they still haven’t managed to get VoLTE working on Ubuntu Touch yet (though it may be coming in the next year!) so phone calls don’t work.

There’s also the Pixel 3a/3a XL which are plentiful and cheap but I like the N10 a bit more because of the additional RAM. Makes it feel a little less old compared to the Pixel.

If you can get your hands on a Fairphone, Pinephone or Volla those are great but hard to get outside the EU.

Most Americans don’t think about other countries enough to really grasp what you mean by rogue state

That’s kinda slick

In here absolutely everyone knows this stuff and it’s all just common knowledge.

Absolutely not. Not even close.

Google gets to control the source code, what additions are added, and what features don’t get into it.

Yes technically some organization could fork it and then maintain a fork themselves. But it’s a huge undertaking that almost nobody has the money to fund. Browsers are free so there’s really not a lot of monetization schemes for browsers.

So nobody as far as I know has really been able to maintain a hard fork of chromium for very long. Remember, every change you make then has to be maintained by you and then you have to keep it up to date with the chromium master tree while also keeping all of your changes compatible. It is a big undertaking almost as big as modern operating systems. Browsers are just too complicated so Google in this position does still have a monopoly that’s very hard to fight.

Almost all browsers other than Safari and Firefox are based on Chromium, which gives Google a ton of control.

You can typically replace the battery inside the UPS (and should every few years). Looking at $40-50USD for “official” replacements, less for questionable third party ones.

Because as a headless server it’s likely to sit hidden for a long time. This and the always being plugged in is not good for lithium-ion batteries. If/when it starts ballooning will you notice? It’s a fire risk.

UPSes use typically lead-acid batteries like a car.

Modern Android TV box with a custom launcher. Apparently Projectivity launcher is decent.

But if you already have a Shield that’s cool keep it until it stops working. I’m just not gonna tell anyone to go buy one.

Because it’s end of lifespan and you should spend your money on something that will at least get a few years of support and updates

Yeah but I wouldn’t recommend anyone go and buy one at this point.