Just learned about the FUTO keyboard. The source code license, the AI features and the requiremen to activate my microphone, made my BS/malware alarm go bzzz. So I looked up FUTO, and apparently it is an organization similar to FSF (but different).
So what is this FUTO thing? Are they good and trustworthy? Or is this just some new drug fueled eccentric crypto AI BS from Texas?
Is it “safe” to use the FUTO keyboard?
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I use the FUTO keyboard. The “AI” features that it includes are local-only predictive text and voice-to-text (both are very good, in my experience). It’s not open source, and neither is GrayJay (another FUTO project), which is a yellow flag, at minimum.
At the same time, they do fund open source projects, most notably Immich, which is a fantastic Google Photos alternative. I’m personally okay with using their stuff, and tentatively happy with them as an organization, but I’m keeping a watchful eye on their behavior.
I couldn’t of said it better, I feel the exact same way. I’m not a complete FOSS zealot, if the source code is open and theres no shady business/trackers that’s good enough for me.
Yeah. There’s something with their website and presentation that feels… Well, it didn’t turn off my alarm. I’m also too tired to dive deeper and find out by myself.
The keyboard seems really good though. Just wish the app would ask for mic permissions when it’s actually needed.
Futo is not open source, as they (now, finally) even admit themselves: https://www.futo.org/about/futo-statement-on-opensource/
See also https://opensource.org/osd and https://opensource.org/authority and compare it to Futo’s licenses; there are (at least) three reasons it doesn’t qualify, can you spot them all? (rhetorical question; don’t @ me)
I am locking this thread to avoid needing to remove misinformation and advocacy from Futo fans who think they should be allowed to redefine a term which there has been consensus about the definition of since before they were born.
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FUTO is source available, so in terms of safety it is just as good as FOSS. All the voice to text is done locally. I use the FUTO keyboard and Grayjay and they’re both amazing. Don’t get too hung up on their license. It prevents other businesses from taking their source code and taking over the space with a for profit application. It is 99% as good as FOSS.
I use it and can confirm keyboard is great. You basically get gboard but without tracking.
@introvertcatto @sith have you used #heliboard ? How does futo compare?
I used heliboard before but always went back to either gboard, AOSP one on lineage, or FUTO
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Where did you hear he is controversial now? He’s always been open to working with both parties and complaining about NYC. The only recent things that come to mind are that he’s been mentioning his support for the 2nd amendment, and the custom FUTO license.
“AI” text prediction runs locally. Microphone is for voice to text functionality.
As for the keyboard itself. Ehhhhh. It’s lacking UX features to make it actually usable. I dailied it for a month and had far more typos, text prediction broke whenever a number or symbol was fat fingered into the string. Finding symbols you need was worse than gboard & SwiftKey.
I really want there to be a great open-source keyboard, but none actually deliver on UX atm.
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if your mission statement includes the word “normies” I’m fucking done.
So you don’t want to be a target of intrusive marketing and data collection but are ok with the everyday person being one? FUTO wants to create software that “just works” while still completely respecting the consumer’s rights. Not everybody has the time to troubleshoot issues or test out different foss products, and this is why proprietary software is so popular today.
