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PinePhone Manjaro Community Edition

pine64.org

21–30 of 169 posts

Re: PinePhone Manjaro Community Edition

#21

I personally would avoid anything Manjaro related due to recurring controversies around the project leadership: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/hxpj87/change_in_man... I wish PinePhone would partner with Arch or Debian instead.

The drama of Manjaro leadership notwithstanding, does the distro work on the phone?

Re: PinePhone Manjaro Community Edition

#22

I personally would avoid anything Manjaro related due to recurring controversies around the project leadership: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/hxpj87/change_in_man... I wish PinePhone would partner with Arch or Debian instead.

> I wish PinePhone would partner with Arch or Debian instead.

The Mobian[1] project (Debian for PinePhone) is doing very well.

A Mobian PinePhone edition is possible - but in the meantime people can install the OS on existing PinePhones.

[1] https://mobian-project.org/

Re: PinePhone Manjaro Community Edition

#23

Do these support Android apps? How would I develop a native app for one of these?

> Do these support Android apps? They do not, at least not yet. They may support anbox at some point, but that's not a given. > How would I develop a native app for one of these? The same as you would for any Linux distro. I would check out Plasma Mobile, as they have toolkit's and a workflow already in place is my understanding.

> They do not, at least not yet.

And hopefully never. Almost all Android apps rely on the closed-source GMS for essential functionality (eg: push notifications). There will need to be an open alternative to GMS if the goal is to support Android apps but a better idea would be to abandon Android as template basis going forward.

Re: PinePhone Manjaro Community Edition

#24
post #21

I personally would avoid anything Manjaro related due to recurring controversies around the project leadership: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/hxpj87/change_in_man... I wish PinePhone would partner with Arch or Debian instead.

The drama of Manjaro leadership notwithstanding, does the distro work on the phone?

Yes, while YMMV, I've found it to be in or near the top tier of images as far as hardware support for the pinephone. All the top distros are developed in the open so they tend to improve together. Like all distros on the phone, Manjaro breaks sometimes but they are doing a pretty good job. I've had the best luck with Mobian, but Manjaro and Fedora were a close second.

Re: PinePhone Manjaro Community Edition

#25

I personally would avoid anything Manjaro related due to recurring controversies around the project leadership: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/hxpj87/change_in_man... I wish PinePhone would partner with Arch or Debian instead.

> I wish PinePhone would partner with Arch or Debian instead. The Mobian[1] project (Debian for PinePhone) is doing very well. A Mobian PinePhone edition is possible - but in the meantime people can install the OS on existing PinePhones. [1] https://mobian-project.org/

Also various other Linux distros: https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php?title=PinePhone_Software_R...

Re: PinePhone Manjaro Community Edition

#26
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do these support Android apps? They do not, at least not yet. They may support anbox at some point, but that's not a given. > How would I develop a native app for one of these? The same as you would for any Linux distro. I would check out Plasma Mobile, as they have toolkit's and a workflow already in place is my understanding.

> They do not, at least not yet. And hopefully never. Almost all Android apps rely on the closed-source GMS for essential functionality (eg: push notifications). There will need to be an open alternative to GMS if the goal is to support Android apps but a better idea would be to abandon Android as template basis going forward.

There are a number of apps I use and depend on that work fine without Google services. Signal comes to mind, for instance. I agree that a better template would be great, but I can't imagine we'll get there anytime soon, and I would love to use my PinePhone as a daily driver in the near future. I won't do this without a few key apps that don't have direct alternatives considering some people with whom I would like to communicate only use these options.

I think getting people onto devices that support open and flexible alternatives is the first step to actually converting users to these alternatives. I won't switch to a platform that doesn't let me communicate with people I know, and I wouldn't expect others to do so either. However, I could get people to switch from a less convenient option (e.g. Signal on Anbox) to a more convenient option (e.g. Matrix for messaging) in time.

Re: PinePhone Manjaro Community Edition

#27

Can someone help me understand the relationship between phone hardware and carriers in the US? I recently bought a new, unlocked Samsung phone on Amazon. When I put a Verizon SIM card into it, a Verizon-specific firmware module got added. I don't understand why that would be necessary. Asking because I'm attracted to the idea of a phone I truly control, but not sure what that means for carrier compatibility.

T-Mobile and Verizon should allow any modern device. Verizon used to need a activation conponent for the CDMA radio but modern devices just use LTE and voLTE. They did have a visual voicemail blob that used to be pulled in, but now they follow spec and don't require anything special.

Sprint (which is now T-Mobile) has required an activation app for their CDMA devices called SprintDM. Without it, phone will not activate and work. Most alternative OS like LineageOS don't include it, but if you activate on stock OS and don't wipe modem partitions, it continues to work. Thankfully they are transitioning to T-Mobile network.

AT&T has no activation crap but may not let imported devices based on IMEI numbers they don't have.

Re: PinePhone Manjaro Community Edition

#28
As someone who has always made fun of "year of linux on desktop", I want to say this move will finally pave a way for the next decade to end with "year of linux on mobile". Using a popular distro will be the push linux needed on phone. While Manjaro users themselves (IMHO) aren't really developers, this is gateway to get Arch people involved. Arch is a very vibrant community with a lot of people who try to contribute back. Good decision. Can't wait to use netcat for quick chat with friends :)

(PS: I know supremacists will claim Android is linux but the thing about supremacists is they no real ideals so they will ignore how close Android is)

Re: PinePhone Manjaro Community Edition

#29

I personally would avoid anything Manjaro related due to recurring controversies around the project leadership: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/hxpj87/change_in_man... I wish PinePhone would partner with Arch or Debian instead.

I wish PinePhone would partner with Arch or Debian instead.

Word. Debian is great! In the past when I see people using Ubuntu, I always wondered why? It is so interesting how people in tech just fall into the fashion trap.

Re: PinePhone Manjaro Community Edition

#30

Can someone help me understand the relationship between phone hardware and carriers in the US? I recently bought a new, unlocked Samsung phone on Amazon. When I put a Verizon SIM card into it, a Verizon-specific firmware module got added. I don't understand why that would be necessary. Asking because I'm attracted to the idea of a phone I truly control, but not sure what that means for carrier compatibility.

T-Mobile and Verizon should allow any modern device. Verizon used to need a activation conponent for the CDMA radio but modern devices just use LTE and voLTE. They did have a visual voicemail blob that used to be pulled in, but now they follow spec and don't require anything special. Sprint (which is now T-Mobile) has required an activation app for their CDMA devices called SprintDM. Without it, phone will not activa…

In Europe, GSM is still being used. I heard in they are being phased out. Anyone knows how that will affect old nokia type of phones?
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