I’ve been thinking about using my computer to take or make calls and SMS by using ModemManager. Has anyone tried this? Is it a good and relatively bug free experience in the long term?
Why?
I’ve been trying to figure out how to go phoneless lately, and then communicating via my computer.
I’m starting to lean towards -occasionally- carrying a E-ink dumb phone like the light phone.
The problem with the light phone is the same problem I have with your consideration. That is; SMS and phone calls are not encrypted. Why would anyone not encrypt their data now?
You could also just get a jmp number and use xmpp on desktop
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To spend less money on new devices and improve privacy as this setup would give more control on when the device is powered on and can tattle my location to cell towers
Yes but only US numbers are available afaik
Yes that’s true but I don’t think that means you have to be in the us to use it
Do you still use a phone outside of your house?
But the point is exactly to not need a phone that has to be replaced every few years.
How are computers any better? They still need to receive UEFI, firmware, and driver support while being miles behind phones when it comes to security.
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The only thing that matters to me is OS updates. Drivers are updated as they are part of the kernel.
But even if I were to replace the computer or some components every few years, that would still be one less device to replace if I can manage to not have a phone. I can’t not have a computer.
The latest Google Pixel devices receive 7 years of software support, is it really that much of a problem to replace a phone every 7 years? Especially when you can just sell or trade in the old one.
Realistically that’s like 4-5 years since a brand new pixel is very expensive. Doesn’t seem worth it if I can have phone service on the computer, considering that even a used pixel is like 50% the price of a mid-high end gaming desktop
No
If you don’t need a phone i’ll say go for it. I would love a review.
None phone = most secure phone. 
there are nothing wrong about not having a phone lol
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This is what I find to be the most offensive in this current global financial situation. I don’t even game on my phone anymore.
I am a bit fascinated by your use case. It is more extreme than most. I wish I can go phoneless but work depends on it.
I assume you have a normal landline at home? But then that is more terrible than a phone since you cant even encrypt your voice comms.
How does your family members get a hold of you at work? They call at the landline or do you have a similar no-phone setup at work? How do you prevent your employer from snooping? Your company has a BYOD policy or is it on the more unmanaged side?
I have a regular cellphone. I just don’t take it to places and don’t want to buy a new device periodically.
I mostly wfh but if I need a computer outside the house I bring a laptop
I have:
- Google Pixel 7a & Tablet with GrapheneOS (GOS)
- Nitrokey 3C + NitroPad NV41 with Ubuntu
I combine:
- JMP Chat (USA +1563 DID)
- Sonetel (NLD +3197 DID)
I use:
- Cheogram (GOS)
- Dino+/Gajim (Ubuntu)
I held on to my legacy NLD +316 prepaid eSIM for those services which don’t accept DID’s
I selected my legacy NLD +316 prepaid eSIM as my CID (CallerID) in my Sonetel settings, so I can stick with a free Sonetel account and I only pay for the Sonetel NLD +3197 DID.
In my Sonetel settings I also selected to forward incoming calls to my JMP Chat +1563 DID, which ring on Cheogram (GOS) and Dino+ (Ubuntu).
I pay around 7 EUR/month for the setup, including the JMP Chat free Snikket instance (6 USD/month value)
How do you like the Nitropad?
The NitroPad was just becaise I wanted to be free of the Apple walled garden. It doesn’t even come close to the MacBook Air 2018 I had. It is heavier, lesser build quality, way worse battery, etc.
And it wasn’t even that much cheaper. I just wanted to support Nitrokey open source products and finally make the jump into only using linux and android (GrapheneOS)
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NitroKey pretty much sells rebranded laptops with a markup. Framework would have been a much better option.
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I don’t know Framework, but I ended up with Nitrokey because of their Nitrokey 3C. The NitroPad NV41 is indeed a rebranded NovaCustom NV41.
I saved myself lots of money buying a Google Pixel 7a and Tablet on Black Friday, installing GrapheneOS on them myself, instead of buying a NitroPhone & NitroTablet from Nitrokey. So I decided to buy the Nitrokey 3C and NitroPad directly from Nitrokey themselves.
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