My story in short

I lived a lot of years in East Africa collaborating together with African colleagues and friends in language development and literacy. Along the way, I created Wasta-Linux, an open-source system to replace the broken down and virus-corrupted Windows computers I was continually working on.

Many colleagues needed a more reliable solution that just worked, and alternatives like macOS simply weren’t available to all and not fit for purpose. Wasta-Linux runs on lowered powered hardware and is customized to be more simple and intuitive to use, in my opinion, than Windows itself. My African IT colleagues became the advocates and supporters of Wasta-Linux with the local language workers in our locations.

Now living back Minnesota again, I still develop Wasta-Linux but have also spent a lot of energy working with open-source alternatives for smartphones. Phones are the devices in everyone’s pockets and yet they are also the devices that are often compromising your freedom and your privacy, much like the days of bloated Windows addons and viruses running amuck on computers in East Africa.

It seems like, in this current climate, a phone that you can trust is needed more than ever. I have been running modified phone systems from pure Linux to open variations of Android for many years now. There are pros and cons to all the various options out there, but many are not polished enough for day-to-day usage unless you are a tech enthusiast and willing to put up without some features. But not so with iodéOS. Finally I have landed on a solution that nearly everyone can use.

But unlocking a smartphone and re-flashing a phone OS is a complicated process that may be out of reach for many. Thus open[mobile] was born to provide you options to purchase phones preinstalled with iodéOS and aid you on the journey to trusting your phone again!