I'm switching my phone from Android to Linux • Hacker News Board

Re: I'm switching my phone from Android to Linux

#41

Post by summermusic » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 9:53 PM UTC

Is there such thing as a palm-sized mobile PC that can just run a desktop Linux distribution (or Windows for that matter) that supports mobile features (calling, SMS, and data)? Even if it has rough edges or compromises?

Re: I'm switching my phone from Android to Linux

#42

Post by wolletd » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 9:54 PM UTC

hamhock666 wrote: post #32

pdabbadabba wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Cryptographically signed to you. That's a bit of an oversimplification that makes this sound more concerning than it is. Not that it's 100% un-concerning, but I suggest that anyone concerned about this read the linked docs. It really was designed to be quite privacy preserving, though it's obviously a difficult challenge in this context.

Isn’t this GPS data to see where Covid has spread? Even if your name is anonymous, a GPS point that every day goes to your work and then your home is surely you?

Most probably, yes. But how would you know who I am and where I live? And if you do know both of those things, are there other ways of figuring out my routines? Yes, there are.

Keeping the name out of that data does a lot for privacy. With a name in there, you could use the data to find my name and figure out my address. Without the name in there, you don't know which point I even am without knowing some of my locations from another source.

Re: I'm switching my phone from Android to Linux

#43

Post by lstodd » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 9:56 PM UTC

sroerick wrote: post #22

joey64 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Even if you're sour on American exceptionalism, this seems like a valid and good product to me, both from a privacy standpoint and from an ethical labor standpoint? Am I the only one who remembers the suicide nets at Foxconn?

[flagged]

Re: I'm switching my phone from Android to Linux

#44

Post by TheRoque » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 9:56 PM UTC

summermusic wrote: post #41

Is there such thing as a palm-sized mobile PC that can just run a desktop Linux distribution (or Windows for that matter) that supports mobile features (calling, SMS, and data)? Even if it has rough edges or compromises?

What's wrong with just Android?

Re: I'm switching my phone from Android to Linux

#45

Post by realusername » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 9:56 PM UTC

zb3 wrote: post #25

fsflover wrote: post #2

Did you consider postmarketOS? https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Fairphone_4_(fairphone-fp...

Number of devices fully supported: 0 Oh, you linked to Fairphone 4, let's see: - battery: partial - audio: partial - camera: partial - fingerprint: broken postmarketOS device support is a joke, they couldn't even get ONE vendor to support the OS..

I'd say the OnePlus 6 is fully supported so it's one device at least (the stuff that isn't on it is minor).

Mainlining is very hard though so the results are expected

Re: I'm switching my phone from Android to Linux

#46

Post by bpavuk » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 9:57 PM UTC

TheRoque wrote: post #44

summermusic wrote: post #41

Is there such thing as a palm-sized mobile PC that can just run a desktop Linux distribution (or Windows for that matter) that supports mobile features (calling, SMS, and data)? Even if it has rough edges or compromises?

What's wrong with just Android?

Google!

Re: I'm switching my phone from Android to Linux

#47

Post by fooo1882992 » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 9:57 PM UTC

pizzaballs wrote: post #7

This perfectly captures the "death by a thousand papercuts" reality of modern Android. Google honors the open-source letter of the law with AOSP while systematically destroying its spirit by moving vital APIs into closed-source Google Mobile Services (GMS).We are seeing the exact same playbook play out on our wrists right now with Wear OS. Google recently mandated the Watch Face Format (WFF) via Watch Face Studio (WF…

There's a name for that strategy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguis...

Re: I'm switching my phone from Android to Linux

#48

Post by wolletd » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 10:01 PM UTC

friendlypenguin wrote: post #37

I really want to leave the Google and Apple Ecosystems, but I still need "these" Banking Apps. Some Banks don't even offer a Web based experience anymore.

While Sparkasse and Volksbank in Germany aren't the most ideal banks cost- and interest-wise, they do still offer transaction authentication via debit card, without the need for any smartphone.

Re: I'm switching my phone from Android to Linux

#49

Post by NegativeLatency » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 10:02 PM UTC

friendlypenguin wrote: post #37

I really want to leave the Google and Apple Ecosystems, but I still need "these" Banking Apps. Some Banks don't even offer a Web based experience anymore.

Get a new bank, make sure your old one knows why you left. Try a local credit union.

Re: I'm switching my phone from Android to Linux

#50

Post by filmgirlcw » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 10:02 PM UTC

MarkWayneNewton wrote: post #10

Shoutout to Purism... if you got the loot. https://puri.sm/products/liberty-phone/

Anyone looking at this should recognize that the hardware itself is nearly a decade old (and has performance of a mid-range Android from 11 or 12 years ago), the software is buggy and not fully baked (the version of Debian they JUST moved to has lost normal Debian Security team updates and maintenance has moved to the Debian LTS team) and the company has a history of extreme delays in shipping and customer service.

People can spend their money however they choose, but I wouldn’t spend $1800 on a phone like that if you want to actually use it as a phone. And before buying it as underpowered “portable” Linux computer (the battery life is not good even though I hear suspend mostly works now), this is still outrageously overpriced even by current hardware pricing.