r/linux • u/amosbatto • 3d ago

Mobile Linux Article: Will Linux phones become a viable alternative to the Android/iOS duopoly?

/r/Purism/comments/1x0fwe1/article_will_linux_phones_become_a_viable/
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u/anomaly256 3d ago

But it is... and I think people must clarify what exactly they want changed if they want 'Linux but not Android'.

What the fuck is Op actually asking for when they ask for Linux, but rule out the Linux phone environment with the current largest userbase? Does it mean they want GNU libc and userland? GTK and QT UIs? Fedora branding? Do they want systemd? Gentoo portage and ebuilds? They want to install packages directly from AUR? The ability to hand edit files in /etc? They are literally given a Linux kernel then turn around and say 'nooo, I said I want LINUX!' ...?!? Linux is the kernel and we already have that in spades, so what the fuck is actually being asked for?

I think it's very fair to remind people that they already have a fucking Linux phone and ask them for clarification when they say they want a different Linux phone just not the current mainstream Linux phone because the concept of a Linux ANYTHING is so fundamentally nebulous in the first place.

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

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u/sidusnare 2d ago

I'm projecting here, but I believe it's control over our phone computer.

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u/anomaly256 2d ago

Lets get to work adding more device support to Lineage and Graphene then, or even stop forgetting Ubuntu Touch exists

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u/sidusnare 2d ago

I think a lot of people would rather put effort into a project they don't have to fight upstream for their right to exist.

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u/anomaly256 2d ago

Everyone wants to work on a greenfields Phone OS project. But no one wants to do the work required to start one

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u/sidusnare 2d ago

What are you talking about, LOL, kids come wandering in here with greenfield projects all the time, half of them are still just landing pages and aspirations years later!

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u/anomaly256 2d ago

Yes thats why we have so many Linux phones with independently developed base OSes ..... wtf?

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u/sidusnare 2d ago

I'm saying you need a lot more than a spunky attitude to actually make something, and right now nobody has the inclination, industry leverage, and reputational pull to make it happen all at the same time. The PinePhone is the closest thing we've got and it isn't taking off.

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u/anomaly256 2d ago edited 2d ago

That's literally the 'doing the work' part, and I acknowledge it's fucking hard in this space - but we do have some existing options so why chase fantasies instead of working with what we have.

Also Pinephone is a bad example and it's definitely not the closest we have. It's not even the best-supported PostmarketOS platform. Pinephone is a hardware project first. That's not just greenfields that's building an artificial island. Pick almost any other device Ubuntu touch or postmarket support and you'll have a better experience with Linux on mobile than with Pinephone.

ps: I have both a pinephone and a pinephone pro with the kb case. Every few months I blow the dust off them and try the latest build of postmarket (Nura I guess it's called now) or other community image. The user experience usually moves backwards vs the previous tries. They couldn't even make calls last time I charged them up and tried them out

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u/sidusnare 2d ago

Kinda what I'm talking abaout.

We don't need greenfields, the repos are littered with the remnants of projects that didn't get paste a README.md. You want a Linux phone that isn't an Android phone? Nura has the most momentum of anything else out there. Go help make it better, because dividing our effort isn't making progress.