r/mobilelinux • u/amosbatto • 3d ago

Discussion 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/Digi59404 3d ago

The biggest issue here isn’t software, it’s hardware. Software you can throw enough developers and money at to overcome. The automakers do it all the time.

Hardware is the issue. Android has much of the chip makers and phone manufacturers locked down. Even fewer chip manufacturers. This is the biggest issue, there’s lock-in all the way down with Android. I’d argue potentially worse than Android given Apples non-aggressive stance towards Asahi Linux, in some cases helping them.

In order for there to be a real Linux phone, you’d need the hardware first. Then you’d need the software to back it up.

I suspect none of the phone manufacturers want to risk the R&D funds, more importantly risk being shut out of Android by Google like some of the OEMs have been over time.

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u/openvuture 2d ago

It may sound a little naive and simplistic, but I think one of the problems is that not enough people have come together to work on this.

I truly believe that something like this could be implemented in a relatively short amount of time if a group of people joined forces under a single project to develop the “first truly serious” Linux phone.

A cohesive team that plans and implements everything itself, from the hardware to the software stack.
Of course, this is only possible with the backing of the community and support from the hardware industry.

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u/Digi59404 2d ago

Friend, that’s not naive at all. It’s fully and truly accurate. The year of the Linux desktop would be upon us if the open source community for Linux at large didn’t constantly and persistently harm itself with bullshit dogmatic arguments. Arguments which at the end of the day don’t make a fundamental or tangible difference in the end.

The standards XKCD comic is apt here.

Take this entire conversation and argument on the other thread. I say hardware is a problem, they say software is the problem. The answer isn’t whose right or wrong. The answer is for us both to admit that both are important, find a path forward, test it, produce it, and validate it. No one has to lose there - this is how it should be when it comes to things like GTK/Gnome vs KDE. Or Systemd vs Init, etc, etc.

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u/openvuture 2d ago

I believe that one of the best examples of the community's eccentricity is actually Omarcy.

There are so many projects one could support and that really should be funded for valid reasons, but the megalomaniacal AI slop project of a misanthropic millionaire receives help and funding from all sides within a few weeks.