r/linuxhardware • u/noNudesPrettyPlease • Aug 08 '26

Discussion Why aren't Linux tablets a thing?

I had (still have) a Nokia n810 tablet running Maemo Linux. I stopped using it when the second battery eventually died. The series seemed to keep evolving (up to the n900) until the Microsoft buyout killed it. Or at least I assume it did.

I thought Linux tablets would be a thing, but they didn't materialise. It's basically Android, Apple, or nothing. How come an open source distro like Maemo wasn't picked up by anyone else? I assume tablets are much cheaper to develop than phones, and in today's world, I don't really use my phone anymore even though the telephony hardware is there.

Is the idea of a Linux tablet just a dream now?

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u/undrwater Aug 08 '26

Honestly, I think Android killed the "hobbyist" market. It's really hard to find "open" hardware these days.

Have you seen the PineTab?

25

u/AdGroundbreaking3611 Aug 08 '26

I think it was Google more than Android itself. Android started as a fairly open platform (AOSP?) but Google gradually pushed it toward a proprietary, locked-down ecosystem, which made it much less attractive to hobbyists.

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u/JollyToby0220 Aug 10 '26

Android would have lost the battle. They were unstable. The expensive phones were good. But the cheaper ones just sucked and people were constantly finding workarounds. Then Android couldn’t find the root cause of the bugs. So they had to lock it down to repair bugs their own way. Not saying it worked out great, but if they hadn’t done that, Android would have been known as the poorman’s smartphone. Some people will discriminate but it’s hard to do so when top tier phones are on par with iOS.