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Is there hope for Linux on smartphones? [video]

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Re: Is there hope for Linux on smartphones? [video]

#41

Post by jcynix »

lrvick wrote: post #25
NuSkooler wrote: post #18

It's mentioned already, but: Android. Discounting Android as "Not Linux" enough is a mind boggle to me. Perhaps not "GNU" enough, but certainly the spirit of Linux -- customized for the particular needs, stable, fast, works on a plethora of hardware, etc.

Android is Linux but it has nowhere close to the fully open source freedom of a traditional Linux workstation. This is why I carry a tiny linux laptop.

I'm quite happy with Termux on Android. Allows me to rsync my data for backup or imports, I can ssh into real Linux machines, process images with ImageMagick, etc. Sharing documents from inside other apps works too (you can set up scripts in Termux as receivers). Sure, full control of a device would be great, but I'm better off with Android after I migrated from IOS.

Re: Is there hope for Linux on smartphones? [video]

#42

Post by johndough »

Havoc wrote: post #16

Inclined to say no - mainly because of the camera. The gap between ability to mechanically take a pic and what the flagships are doing with AI driven post processing seems not only big but growing. Short of die hard linux/FOSS fans noticably worse pics is going to be an absolute show stopper

The problem is not AI - many of the best "AI" publications are open source after all. The problem is that hardware vendors do not provide access to their signal processing chip's internals. It is damn near impossible to even make a phone call these days without some obscure binary blob or magic chips that nobody knows what they do but are able to control every aspect of a phone.

Re: Is there hope for Linux on smartphones? [video]

#43

Post by saidinesh5 »

nextos wrote: post #21
ddevault wrote: post #13

I'm typing this comment from a Poco F1 I set up with postmarketOS and Phosh earlier this week and so far it's very promising. Will write up a proper review next week. Much better than the Pinephone so far.

This sounds very interesting. Can you elaborate a bit further?

Not the Op, but Poco F1 has Snapdragon 845, which is like the flagship soc 3 years ago, and can boot mainline kernel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtfTJbLiYfg .

Iirc they even got Windows 10 booting on that phone.

Re: Is there hope for Linux on smartphones? [video]

#44

Post by realusername »

CharlesW wrote: post #26
water-your-self wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The android operating system is not open soruce.

https://source.android.com/docs/setup/start/licenses

Unfortunately there's not a single device on earth that runs AOSP to my knowledge, even the emulator does not.

Re: Is there hope for Linux on smartphones? [video]

#45

Post by Bilal_io »

Teever wrote: post #31
nivenkos wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I think of a Linux phone, I really want something that supports a full GNU/Linux desktop as convergence. The Steam Deck does this perfectly!

Damn, you got me thinking now, that Valve of all people could probably put out a Linux phone. The Steam Phone could be a game changer.

I would buy a Steam Phone, and I'd want a big Valve logo on its back, and an easter egg that says "half-life 3 is not coming"

Re: Is there hope for Linux on smartphones? [video]

#46

Post by orangepurple »

dredmorbius wrote: post #28
orangepurple wrote: post #14

Arch Linux ARM can be installed on Android with Termux I run scipy and numpy on my phone with it. A bit painful because I can only see about six lines of code at a time but I wrote a few thousand lines of ML code with vim on my cell phone in the last two months. https://github.com/SDRausty/termux-archlinux/

Termux is a godsend on Android, and remains The Only App Which Does Not Specifically and Precisely Suck (though EinkBro is giving it a good run for its money). Termux still has a host of limitations and weaknesses which are imposed by the Android environment itself , including being capriciously killed by the OS, lack of multiple users, blocked access to most of the filesystem, and a relatively limited (though impres…

Termux is awesome but the native environment is suffocating. I didn't even bother with Termux utilities after one hour of messing around. I went straight for the Arch Linux ARM proot environment and it contains ALL of the Arch Linux utilities. For example you will never get scipy to compile in normal Termux because you can't reasonably get a compatible Fortran compiler built and configured. Arch Linux ARM is the best "distro" within Termux and the installation script is seamless and supports multiple users!

Re: Is there hope for Linux on smartphones? [video]

#47

Post by realusername »

CharlesW wrote: post #30
lrvick wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Android is Linux but it has nowhere close to the fully open source freedom of a traditional Linux workstation. This is why I carry a tiny linux laptop.

Phones are not PCs/general-purpose computers. Do you want your TV to be a general purpose computer as well? (Having put my family through a Media Center PC and TV remotes with keyboards/trackpads for several years, I don't recommend it.)

> Phones are not PCs/general-purpose computers.

That's just the opinion of the manufacturer, we don't have to agree.

Phones have banking and government apps, they are general purpose computers from their usage alread

Re: Is there hope for Linux on smartphones? [video]

#48

Post by Bilal_io »

makz wrote: post #24

Before answering that question I'd ask: why would we want that? My answer is no, it didn't work on the desktop, it won't work on the smartphone, for more or less the same reasons. As much as I like Linux and FOSS, Linux is just a bad OS for the average consumer. For hackers, makers, DYI enthusiasts, etc. Linux is wonderful, however, what's the market size for a Linux smart phone for this people? I bet it's tiny.

Maybe we can do it backwards this time, take the Chrome approach with Linux, build a UI launcher for mobile that is as simple as possible and once it's complex and has a healthy touch-friendly apps translate it to desktop.

Look at Steam Deck and what they've done. They could use the same approach to launch a Phone OS.

Re: Is there hope for Linux on smartphones? [video]

#50

Post by nivenkos »

Teever wrote: post #31
nivenkos wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I think of a Linux phone, I really want something that supports a full GNU/Linux desktop as convergence. The Steam Deck does this perfectly!

Damn, you got me thinking now, that Valve of all people could probably put out a Linux phone. The Steam Phone could be a game changer.

Yeah, I think the main issue is getting support for WhatsApp and banking and ID services (that usually block even just rooted Android phones).

I'm literally writing this comment from my Steam Deck.

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