Adam Richard @adamrichard@qoto.org

The fruit adventures continue: canned pears from someone's pear tree who didn't want their pears. Next up: pearsauce (i.e. applesauce but with pears).

Recipe: https://adam4235.github.io/recipes/snacks/canned_pears.txt

Making fruit leather using the same equipment my Oma (grandmother) used, from apples, raspberries and strawberries I picked this year. #earlyretirementextreme #foodisfree

LineageOS (https://lineageos.org/) on a phone, baby!

Sure, maybe not as sexy as a Librem 5 (https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/), but who can afford that?

I found the installation process pretty straightforward when I followed the instructions and had an officially supported phone. I omitted the Google apps. Maybe slightly more difficulty than installing Linux on a computer. There's no need to root your phone; it's mainly connecting your phone to a computer over USB and following some step-by-step instructions carefully. The biggest hurdle for me was that the OEM unlocking option was greyed out at first, with a message to connect to the internet or contact my carrier, and was still greyed out when I connected to the internet. At first I was scared my phone was locked, but when I removed the SIM card and rebooted, the OEM unlock option was enabled and I could proceed and unlock the phone.

There were also a few messages that seemed like error messages during the process, but turned out to be harmless. Everything worked in the end.

It's so nice to set up a phone without it asking you to register or login etc. Just a clean, basic phone. So far I've only needed apps from F-Droid for the basic things I use a phone for: calling, email, web browser, alarm, camera, music, podcasts, calendar, contacts, maps, messaging, books, and accessing my files portably.

However, I don't recommend buying a new phone for this purpose. For people who are stuck with a phone that isn't officially supported, or who are less technically inclined and don't want to take the risk / time in flashing a different OS, I made a guide which you can see at https://adam4235.github.io/encyclopedia/computer/android_reduced_tracking.html. That may be almost as good as using LineageOS; if you look at the ways Google tracks you (https://productivityhub.org/2019/05/30/all-the-ways-google-tracks-you-and-how-to-stop-it/), all the things listed there use your Google account. That's if you're concerned about tracking by companies; it probably wouldn't protect you from tracking by governments (the best way to do that is to not have a cell phone).

I took an old tablet with a broken screen and installed LineageOS on it, as my first attempt at rooting a device and trying an open mobile OS. This is a great post giving some of the reasons for doing so and a basic outline of the process:

https://brainbaking.com/post/2021/03/getting-rid-of-tracking-using-lineageos/

For me it went pretty smoothly. The most difficult part was actually getting the back cover off my tablet, which isn't necessary for rooting all devices - I had one of the more challenging ones (Amazon Fire HD 8).

I get the impression that privacy is a big motivation for people to switch to open source these days. There are different reasons people care about privacy or sound alarms about privacy violations: for me, it's not so much that I don't want people to know things about me, it's that I don't consent to the economic model of companies tracking me and storing data about me for advertising purposes. So any time I find a way to be in control of the computers I buy and the data I create, I consider it a win.

December kale harvest. I love my kale and my kale loves me! #foodnotlawns #foodisfree
https://adam4235.github.io/recipes/supper/kale_potato_soup.txt