The way I see it, this is a "toy" (for the time being). The "2013 devices" makes me thing that this is a "toy" for people like "us" that have a Nexus rotting away somewhere and "it would be cool to fool around on your 30-inch screen and nothing more!
It would be better if they would up-front say "this is not secure", "this is a demo", "this is a toy", "this is not the OS you're looking for".
Imaginary CEO-CTO dialog:
CEO: hey! I just read that we can throw away the PCs and replace them with some old phones that we can buy for $50 on ebay! START!!!
> The "2013 devices" makes me thing that this is a "toy" for people like "us" that have a Nexus rotting away somewhere
I'm writing this on a 2013 Nexus, thank you very much! A year ago it stopped booting and I tried searching for a newer, comparable tablet to replace it: no such device exists. I ordered a replacement main board and couldn't be happier. Until someone makes a new 7-inch tablet with a full HD display, it will continue to not rot in my hands for a few more years.
I was surprised when I came to replace my 7 inch nexus that there wasn't a recent 7 inch tablet from a major player with good reviews. I ended up going for the nVidia Shield tablet K1, which despite being an iteration on a more than 2 year old tablet seemed pretty good. I've been happy with it so far.
What's wrong with "2013 devices"? Nexus 5 probably has more alternative OS choices than any other phone available: LineageOS (based on Android 7.1), Ubuntu Touch (UBports continuation of the project), Plasma Mobile, Sailfish, and Maru OS. And what is the real benefit of having a newer device if the old one is still very capable of running modern OSes and applications?
I bought my Nexus 5 in 2013. It's still running pretty smoothly. Every time I see an app render using the N5 frame, I chuckle. It just reiterates my thought that I made a good choice when I bought my phone, and I like that feeling.
From what I've seen the site doesn't give any indication that it's this insecure. The default assumption should be that an OS is secure, and an OS should be secure by default, with tons of big warnings that something isn't secure.
This isn't just "unhardened", this is a lack of basic security, and after Mirai, nobody should be doing this shit.
Indeed, back when I had a Nexus 5 laying around collecting dust, I gave it a whirl. It was interesting but certainly not ready for prime time. The phone side of the OS was about as bare as could be, and buggy too. The PC side was slow and just as bare.
As a gadget enthusiast, I loved tinkering with it. But it is simply not practical for daily use (yet). I think it could end up being a nice FOSS alternative to Microsoft's Continuum project, especially if the developer can get it working on a newer device.
