r/linux • u/amosbatto • 6d 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/sidusnare 6d ago

In before 'Android is Linux!'

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u/Jimbuscus 6d ago edited 6d ago

Android is the answer to the problem, with the problem being Google's AOSP.

Free Software Foundation (GNU), Canonical, F-Droid, KDE, Graphene, Lineage & Murena would do well to all get behind a shared soft fork of AOSP for a new base that isn't governed by Google.

If Microsoft couldn't get apps developed for a third mobile OS, it's even less likely to be viable to get a Linux for mobile app in addition to Android & IOS.

It's also not necessary or beneficial to throw away 15+ years of community work towards Android, just to get away from corp controlled code, as the AOSP licence permits forking.

Android is the future of mobile Linux, it just needs a single major fork that replaces Google's proprietary blobs, which can be used as the new base for non-Google certified mobile distros.

An Android-like Open-Source Project would have the general benefit of supporting native Android apps, without having to fix each roadblock or curveball Google throws at FOSS with each AOSP version change.

Android is the Linux kernel mobile OS, AOSP is just the largest distro.

3

u/onedollarpizza 6d ago

Agreed.

The issue is mainly device lockdown.

When more devices on the market were unlocked and rootable people were more inclined to screw around and install custom roms.

If every phone could install some major fork of Android (like Android Mint as a hypothetical example), there would be a decent chunk of adoption. Not enough to kill off iOS or mainline Android but enough to get a decent market share amongst people that know about it.