Basically title. I waited on installing F droid for a long time because my phone threw many scary warnings when I tried a long time ago. But now I have it, and I got some fossify apps, but since there is no “Editor’s Picks” on F- droid I dont really know where to go from here.

What apps do you recommend I install first to remove my dependence on closed ecosystems?

What is my vulnerability surface ie, which sort of apps should I watch out for?

Are there any bad faith companies in the open source sphere?

  • @Tangent5280OP
    3•11 months ago

    Thanks for the detailed answer. It seems prudent to install from Obtainium.

    • Captain Beyond
      3•11 months ago

      I’ll offer a counterpoint to all the Obtainium fans here: F-Droid is good and “middlemen” aren’t always pointless.

      F-Droid enforces their own inclusion standards on every app they build. This mainly ensures that all apps are built from source and are 100% free (libre) software. When you “go outside the middleman” and “go directly to the source” you lose that assurance.

      I don’t think it’s worth it for slightly faster updates. I enjoy knowing that I have the four freedoms with every app I install.

      • @Tangent5280OP
        2•11 months ago

        Tell me more about these four freedoms

        • Captain Beyond
          2•11 months ago

          A program is free software if the program’s users have the four essential freedoms:

          • The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose (freedom 0).
          • The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
          • The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others (freedom 2).
          • The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

          - What is Free Software? - The GNU Project

    • @[email protected]
      2•11 months ago

      For some it’s a trust issue since they F-droid is a middleman however with reproducible builds I don’t have that worry. Feels like a good thing to have the code verified twice. I have obtainium as well but had issues with some beta apps I wanted to use like organic maps. Obtainium only works if it is the way it’s setup. Organic maps did not follow obtainiums way

      Also to use obtainium you actually need to know the app exist, I have a lot of stuff from F-droid I would not have found without it