Thoughts on a new phone keyboard from an organization that is making a convincing case we need to rethink our discussion around FOSS and self-hosting.

A pretty interesting take, and an interesting discussion about what it means to be open source. Is there room for a trusted space between open source and closed corporate software?

  • vale@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    My primary method of typing on mobile is swipe typing:

    FUTO dies does a fervent decent job at it, but it sum still has a way FYI to go fit for me to make a full switch IMO.

    I am quite impressed by the voice to text method though. But I do wish it would show what is being transcribed in real time. Overall, I’m impressed with what the team is doing. I can’t wait to see the next iterations of this, but for now, I think I’m going to have to stick with G board. Additionally, the GIF picker is super convenient on G-board.

    • Statick@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      I like how you showed the incorrect words it was using while using the swipe typing. I had the same experience and, unfortunately, until it improved improves I’ll have to stick with what works… Gboard.

  • Mr. Camel999@programming.devEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    Honestly, since I can see the source code and confirm that it isn’t sending my data anywhere, I think it’s ok, even if it doesn’t meet the standard definition of foss. The keyboard is also pretty dang good, but I have two complaints. 1. I want to be able to resize the height of the keyboard. 2. The swipe typing sucks. As soon as those two things get fixed it’s easily the best keyboard on Android for me.

    • gedaliyah@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      You can adjust the height in the settings (edit: under themes). I use the swipe and seems to be as good as other open source keyboards (I previously used heli and AnySoft). It is still in alpha so hopefully they can refine it further.

      BTW, heliboard is also pretty excellent.

      • Mr. Camel999@programming.devEnglish
        0·
        4 months ago

        Ah, that height setting was hidden then lol. That fixes that issue! I’m also very aware of Heliboard, that’s what I’m currently using (with the google proprietary blob for swipe typing). I just don’t feel like the swipe is that good, it often just doesn’t produce any word after I’m done swiping out the word. Thanks for the tip about the height!

  • henchman2019@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    I use it on and off. I get annoyed that the swiping constantly gives the wrong words.

    I know nothing about all this licensing stuff. Way over my head… But, is it possible that “futo” is using us to train their software, then when it’s working great, change it to a paid app?

    • gedaliyah@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      Not sure what you mean by “train.” If you mean “test” then yes, they are in alpha and anyone can submit bugs. As other users have said, we have only their word that they intend to keep the source available. If you mean “track users to train ML models,” then no. The whole point is that the software is private. All of the processing - the gesture typing, the audio processing, the LLM, etc are all performed on-device. And the source is visible for all to see, so it offers similar protections to FOSS software in this regard.

      The software doesn’t “phone home” - it can’t even check itself for updates. It just sends you a little message on a predetermined schedule to manually check. (or you can use a repo/software manager)

      In theory and in practice, any Open Source project could be purchased by a for profit company who takes down the source code. However, any prior code would remain under the previous open license. Apparently one of the issues with this license is that it contains no durable license for the code itself. You can’t just for it and make your own version, although you can use any of the code with certain noncommercial and attribution requirements.