Well would you

[KGIII]

I paid $20.00 to transfer my phone number to google voice, bought a chromebook for under $30.00, installed Linux on it, and use it as my phone.

But then how are you supposed to make phone calls and send text messages when you're barreling through a school zone at 80 mph?!?

LOL I have a smartphone. I kind of hate it. Technically, I have two of them. I often don't know where they are but I have them.

People seem a bit taken aback when they find out that I go out and about my normal daily business without taking a phone with me. Sure, if it's an emergency I won't be able to call for help but that's just a risk I'm willing to take. I have a number of automobiles and go driving pretty much every morning and often don't take my phone.

Because of business reasons, I was tethered to a phone for many years. I was using a cell phone in the early 90s. It was horrible to be attached to a phone and pretty much having to answer it if it rings. I'm quite okay with leaving the house without a phone. I'm pretty sure I'll survive the ordeal.

 

[MzQ1NjExN2]

People seem a bit taken aback when they find out that I go out and about my normal daily business without taking a phone with me. Sure, if it's an emergency I won't be able to call for help but that's just a risk I'm willing to take. I have a number of automobiles and go driving pretty much every morning and often don't take my phone.

Yes I remember reading some older posts where you mentioned this. That is exactly my philosophy as well. I don't need to be making phone calls or sending texts at a moments notice. It can wait and for that my current google voice/Linux lapop setup works well. I will take my laptop with me and leave it in the car if I'm going somewhere but I don't need to be walking around with it all the time.

 

[Brickwizard]

Back home on my own working network, The problem was definitely with the ISP providers and Linux, it seems even the basic settings for LFW it is upsetting their settings, We used the lappy connected to the TV for the wife's catch-up programs
now this is the strangest message, so log on to BBC i-player, scroll down to continue watching and click on the wife's soap home page comes up select episode and hit play, and then up pops a message box you do not have DRM installed,
{ERR I would not have got the home page without DRM} hit reload and it opens.

 

[Condobloke]

Ha I love this place. No where else have I seen people who hate smart phones.

I went from having a smart phone for a few years to switching to a dumb (flip) phone and then doing something crazy recently after realizing that the new dumb phones were becoming smart. I paid $20.00 to transfer my phone number to google voice, bought a chromebook for under $30.00, installed Linux on it, and use it as my phone. Thanks to Linux I have been able to get rid of my phone along with the bill and will never have to buy another phone again. I can add these to my list of things I have been able to free myself from with Linux.

I remember reading about google voice som time ago, and thought to myself...I'll give that a go...sounds good to me !

Living in Australia, makes it a no-go....and that is still current as of June 2025...sadly

 

[MzQ1NjExN2]

I remember reading about google voice som time ago, and thought to myself...I'll give that a go...sounds good to me !

Living in Australia, makes it a no-go....and that is still current as of June 2025...sadly

Yea unfortunately it only works in the U.S. You can still use it if you use a free VPN like Proton VPN and use a U.S. server but I don't think it would dial Australian numbers. If you needed to make free calls to the U.S. this would be one way to do it though.

 

[KGIII]

Living in Australia, makes it a no-go...

Search for 'Australia VOIP', and you might find something of value.