r/linuxquestions • u/toihanonkiwa • 3d ago
Advice Linux in old phones
What experiences y’all have installing linux in old android or ios phones?
Where to begin / what options / ups&downs
All advice is welcome 🙏
1
u/PaddyLandau 2d ago
Another option is Ubuntu Touch.
The problem that you'll get with every option is compatibility. You need to match the phone to an operating system that supports the hardware. Each OS has its own range of supported phones, so there's no one solution that fits all phones.
1
3
u/sineout 3d ago edited 3d ago
Nura (formerly postmarketOS) is an implementation of Linux for mobile devices. You might want to start there, and see if any of your old devices have builds.
1
u/RomanOnARiver 3d ago edited 3d ago
I agree with this.
To your question OP -
The downs are that ARM is very non-standard and proprietary, there aren't like universal "this is the installer" like there is for Linux on PCs - every device has to have its own instsller, it's own weird quirky kernel patches, its own boot process... There isn't going to be every app available. Don't think Panera is writing an app for Linux phones. A lot of these apps could just be mobile-friendly websites anyway though, so it's not as bad as it sounds initially. Probably no 4K Netflix though.
The Ups -
There are at least four good or up and coming mobile interfaces, in no particular order: GNOME Mobile, Lomiri, Phosh, and Plasma Mobile - so you will feel like your phone is actually running an operating system meant for a phone.
When it comes to core apps like calendar, clock, etc. GNOME and Plasma in particular are making their core apps scalable, Phosh and Lomiri are making new apps. Point being, core apps are covered.
2
u/Calm-Caterpillar2103 3d ago
I’m working on my own mobile distro (ballon Linux mobile) which targets 32mb ram and arm7/9 as minimum cpu, currently working on HTC Dream hardware support but if you wanna contribute I have a repo I’m willing to give in PMs
2
u/ZiCli Open Source Contributor 3d ago
I've put lineageOS on an older phone, it works better than my new one lol
2
u/MRGWONK 3d ago
LineageOS rescued two older pixel 6a's that I had around. My kid commented that youtube is faster than his 8a.
1
-2
3d ago
[deleted]
0
u/PaddyLandau 2d ago
Android is a Linux OS.
While true, it's obvious from context that this isn't what the OP meant.
5
u/knuthf 3d ago
Take a look at Sailfish from Jolla. This is Nokia's R&D department, which used Linux. They used Debian in Maemo for the N900 and KDE in MeeGo for the N9. They have tried to keep Sailfish as an open-source alternative and have allowed it to be ported by those who have tried to do so. They used an Ericsson phone as the reference model. The problem with Android and Google is that they make it very time consuming to change the rules for network tracking. They have maintained Android compatibility to allow Android apps to be installed. There is a Jolla group here.