this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2024

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which linux phone is the most promising? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I want to donate to a linux phone. I believe in linux and I want a linux phone. Maybe we can use one in very few years as a normal daily driver. It's getting closer and closer every month.

I want to donate that we get there sooner. But which project? I'm following postmarket but I'm not sure if they are the most promising. What's your stance on this? To which project would you give your money to accellerate it?

Edit: I don't want to buy a phone. I want to support the phone os devs. Sorry for the bad wording.

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[+] [email protected] -8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Don’t do this.

Android is already Linux on a phone and it’s bad.

Donate to normal Linux on computers. There is an ever expanding mess of packages that need to be updated, fixed, hosted, maintained, streamlined, back ported and generally massaged into functionality with whatever goofy distro you pick.

Donate to Linux on computers instead.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)

For the vast majority of people these days, a phone/tablet is their computer, and a laptop/desktop cannot fulfill the same use cases. So if someone makes the very reasonable request for a phone recommendation, telling them to just use a laptop/desktop doesn't make any sense. It would be like someone asking for a recommendation for a moped, and responding "don't bother, just get a Ford F150".

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

For all the people using phones as their computer I doubt there would be many who want to use linux. It's a bit like someone asking for recommendations for a moped and you tell them to build it themselves.

I'm all for wanting linux on phones and supporting that but I have never ever known someone to be interested in linux and only use a phone/tablet. I can't imagine working a CLI with a phone keyboard.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (12 children)

It's not clear to me why you believe Linux on mobile implies typing into a CLI interface using a phone keyboard. We choose to use the CLI when it makes the most sense as an input method for the platform, not because it's required by Linux.

As the post above pointed out, android is already Linux, so that's already an option. But OP's goal would be to have a FOSS phone given that phones are increasingly the computing device of choice for people, and there are very few feature complete FOSS options in that space right now.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

The point of Linux on phones isn't to have a phone that requires you to constantly fix it with CLI tools. The point is to have a free and open software platform for a device that is increasingly necessary for daily life.

As a side effect, developing Linux for phones would probably help us eliminate the need to reach for the terminal on desktop Linux as well. I believe snaps (which laid the groundwork for flatpaks) were originally developed for Linux on "smart" devices. The whole ecosystem improves when we try to bring Linux into a new domain.

P.S. I use termux (a terminal for android complete with its own tiny Linux environment) from time to time when I need to access my server over SSH. It's a bit clumsy, but super handy!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No, it’s not like that at all.

The op didn’t ask for a phone recommendation and I didn’t recommend instead that they use a laptop or desktop.

The op said they want to donate to a Linux phone because one day they believe they’ll be able to use a Linux phone. They want to pick the right one to give money to so it’ll have the best effect towards that end.

I said they shouldn’t do that because they can already use a Linux phone and there are tons of other Linux based projects where the money will go much farther.

We ought to be looking at this from a completely different perspective though: op is trying to maximize the value their donation has, and that’s a bummer. They should just donate to the one they like and not worry about effectiveness.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Apologies if I misunderstood your meaning when you said "android is already Linux on a phone and it's bad". If android is sufficient for your mobile Linux needs, that's fine, I use it too. But it doesn't fit the bill for everyone, and that's the point of OP wanting to support an actual FOSS mobile effort. The alternatives you list don't get them closer to what they're looking for.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

All smart phones are *NIX, i don't even think the Windows phones were really Windows. Pick whichever UI you like best.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 1 year ago (22 children)

Tbh GrapheneOS.

Android is Linux.

And unlike desktop Linux it was able to spread secure and private standards

every app is sandboxed, not some opt-in like Flatpak
apps start with no permissions (or at least very little), everything is opt-in
it is like 99% unbreaking, immutable, it just always works while my desktop Linux broke all the time
there is a webview, which can be hardened. Not Electron, which is insecure and bloated
energy saving etc work like a charm. 1% battery loss over an entire night!
hardware security with trusted element is decades ahead of desktop Linux (Ubuntu is just now getting TPM encryption support)
it is a unified platform, with tons of apps, many of them essential (as the platform is so secure), like 2FA, Banking, public services etc. you can have a full FOSS phone though

I am sure excited for other operating systems but they are just toys. GrapheneOS does amazing work that is a 100% alternative today, for real phones with normal prices, good performance and outstanding security.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

On GrapheneOS right now typing this, love it! I switched over about 2 years ago to Graphene and never looked back. Rarely have any issues, solid battery life, all my apps work, life is good and private.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Android is Linux.

This should be repeated in every "Linux phone" thread.

It's also possible to install a full GNU userland using Termux, and nowadays a graphical interface is even possible with Termux.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Being pixel only makes me cry

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

Me too man, me too

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

how are you only getting 1% battery drain overnight? my pixel 7 w grapheneos drains 10% overnight and battery saver makes it worse somehow

I would like to know your secrets

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (8 children)

6a is good. The 7 is said to be bad.

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[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 year ago (1 children)

When i think of Android i don't think of it as part of the gnu/linux ecosystem, but a heavily modified linux kernel turned against the user.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 year ago (5 children)

How is it turned against the user? Androids Linux is highly restricted in that it doesnt support a lot of things, but that makes it extremely stable, while this doesnt mean that apps are also "stable" like in Debian

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What phone are you getting 1% over night on with Graphene?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

6a, nor now the last non EOL device that is tolerable I guess

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm getting less than 1% battery loss over night. But I have the unihertz tank and it has a 22000mAh battery.

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