Pardon my potentially naive question, but would Samsung ever develop their own OS? I imagine they're not necessarily happy about some of the latest changes to android.
Yeah, they could call it Tizen or something.
Please spare me the sarcasm...
Linux phones are more important now than ever
111–120 of 515 posts
Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever
#112Pardon my potentially naive question, but would Samsung ever develop their own OS? I imagine they're not necessarily happy about some of the latest changes to android.
Bada and Tizen. They've been trying for 15 years. Tizen in particular is as Linux as it gets. Long story short: it's not something the market wants.
Interesting!
> Long story short: it's not something the market wants.
Who knows. Maybe this could change?
Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever
#113Apologies if the idea is absurd, but wouldn't a Linux handheld without a cell modem be easier to build and distribute? Think something of an analogue to iPod Touches, which were iPhones sans the the phone part. This would skip a lot of the regulatory red tape, bring down costs, and make the devices more accessible so they’re in more developers’ hands. They’d have to tether from your primary phone which isn’t ideal, b…
What about all these raspberry pi hats with cell modems? Are they missing anything like usable IMEI numbers or proprietary stuff? What's stopping an RPi compute module 3G/4G/5G DIY linux phone?
Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I don't mind banks requiring it, I don't have to use that bank. What if all banks require it?
Banks aren't required. Its ridiculously inconvenient today to not have a bank account, but you aren't required to have one.
You should still be upset about it.
Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever
#115(Warning: Am only a software/product engineer, playing dilettante here, not an actual marketing/business expert.) Awhile back, I was thinking that one pragmatic way to get this viable Linux smartphone moving might be for hobbyists to focus on getting one easily available, affordable device working fully with pure Debian or PostmarketOS (no closed drivers or other modules, and preferably no blobs) and with Purism's Ph…
> to focus on getting one easily available, affordable device working fully with pure Debian or PostmarketOS (no closed drivers or other modules, and preferably no blobs) and with Purism's Phosh. I'm not sure how viable this is. Linux phones already opt for hardware that's as open as possible, i.e. they use parts with the most open documentation and drives, but the trade-off to that is that those parts are functional…
IIUC, there have been some efforts to compartmentalize/isolate closed baseband, when you can work on the hardware.
Separate from baseband, the (sub)device closed firmware blobs are non-ideal, and eventually you'd want open source even for those, but maybe don't have to be a high priority. Mainlined open source for corresponding drivers are much higher priority. Even Debian now tolerates such blobs.)
Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever
#116As someone willing to put up with all manner of nonsense (overpriced/underpowered hardware, clunky UI, endless troubleshooting), battery life on mobile Linux devices alone prevents me from using them in the real world.
Is there a single Linux phone/tablet that can last an 8 hour day of actual use? Librem/Pinephone/Juno can't. My uConsole can't. Different category, but my MNT mini laptop lasts like 4 hours and can't be left in standby for too long or it drains to zero.
Meanwhile, it's been 10+ years since I've worried about daily battery life on mainstream mobile devices, even my 3-5 year old ones. I can fall asleep with Youtube playing and it's still playing when I wake up. I'm certainly not here to dunk on Linux phones. I want one! But if someone willing to put forth above average effort to use these devices can't realistically daily drive them, who can?
Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever
#117Linux phones are useless for common people until they can run government and bank apps.
> until they can run government and bank apps
That will never happen. Governments are invested in people depending on surveillance technology. Black mirrors are a tool for controlling the masses.
Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
> to focus on getting one easily available, affordable device working fully with pure Debian or PostmarketOS (no closed drivers or other modules, and preferably no blobs) and with Purism's Phosh. I'm not sure how viable this is. Linux phones already opt for hardware that's as open as possible, i.e. they use parts with the most open documentation and drives, but the trade-off to that is that those parts are functional…
Why is the baseband closed? That is the question we need to have answered.
Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever
#119Apologies if the idea is absurd, but wouldn't a Linux handheld without a cell modem be easier to build and distribute? Think something of an analogue to iPod Touches, which were iPhones sans the the phone part. This would skip a lot of the regulatory red tape, bring down costs, and make the devices more accessible so they’re in more developers’ hands. They’d have to tether from your primary phone which isn’t ideal, b…
I agree, I don't really need cell service when there is so much wifi. Even would just carry a basic phone for making calls/txts even when needed.
Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever
#120Here is an idea I thought long and hard about for the last 3 seconds....
Say one, rather than making the entire phone modular, adds just one cartridge slot. Have it span the bottom half of the back of the phone and be a few mm deep. Cartridges can have 4 form factors. 1) flush with the back of the phone. 2) stick out from the back. 3) increase thickness of the entire phone. Or 4) like 3 but comes with the same slot as the phone so that one can stack cartridges.
The first base phone should be functional by it self but have really low specs. A slow cpu, little memory, little storage, small battery. It may even run on android and have a ton of preloaded apps no one wants. Ideally the most expensive component should be the cartridge connector.
And then, here it comes, you've already guessed it! The entire linux computer goes on the cartridge.
Have a similar dock that turns the cartridge into a desktop computer and a dock that connects it to your PC.
Software development would be glorious.
In the initial demo it should run Windows! This will send a strong signal to other otherwise uninterested parties that this is a real computer... finally...
While official builds should probably exist let other vendors go wild building their own proprietary closed source cartridges.
There should be infinite possibilities. People will make things we cant imagine. Stuff we will never see on flagship phones because 99% doesn't need it.
Some might simply but badly want usb ports.
Stupid example: I have a digital camera, I have to plug it into a computer and do all kinds of things before they may appear on my server, like booting the machine, opening apps and figuring out where the hell folders are. The pictures are great but not that much better than my phone which can conveniently send them places. But what I really need is to just plug in the camera and have the technology figure out which are the new images and upload them. It should require zero screen time.
The next guy might want an ethernet port, hdmi, serial, scan barcodes by pressing a real button that also unlocks and opens the correct app. You might even have a bulky cartridge that prints receipts. A large antenna and/or a week worth of battery. I'm not at all sure if people want it but a cassette player would be possible. A boom box with atx drive bays. etc etc
Then when you buy the next generation or are bored playing with it, the screen is cracked and the battery is worn out you turn it into a security camera that works when the power is cut and can send [picture] sms, make phone calls and play threatening messages to intruders.