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Android/Linux Dual Boot

wiki.postmarketos.org

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Re: Android/Linux Dual Boot

#101

Post by m4rtink »

charcircuit wrote: post #26
m4rtink wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is Postmarket OS antiquated ? Its just a standard Linux distro (unlike anything Android based).

At least in regards to the security model, it is decades out of date. For example any app can listen to your microphone and spy on you at anytime. Programs can act as ransomeware or destroy all of your files. Stealers can steal your login credentials and access tokens for all your sites including banking ones.

Well, isn't the idea that you use apps compiled from source by distro maintainers, which are separate from the upstream maintainers ?

Frankly, I still trust this model much more than black box Android apps automatically updating in the background, sending tons of telemetry and demanding random permissions so they can spy on you.

Not to mention the security model preventing many useful things from working properly (try to get a SFTP working on an Android system so that you can copy out photos taken by the phones camera.

Re: Android/Linux Dual Boot

#102

Post by ianso »

I think this stuff is super important, simply because there is a ton of stuff we can't do using our phones today.

Think mesh networking, resilient ad-hoc application clustering, non-Internet P2P, like Freifunk but everywhere. We shouldn't have to depend on Google or any of the big tech companies for anything except the hardware.

That would offer much more freedom. There are also contexts where this kind of thing could also enable life-saving applications. And unlike todays Internet where a database query in Cloudflare or a DNS bug in es-east-1 can disrupt half the services we use, this kind of technology really could withstand major attacks on infrastructure hubs, like the Internet was originally designed to do.

Re: Android/Linux Dual Boot

#103

Post by toastal »

gwbas1c wrote: post #97
toastal wrote: post #3

This will become increasingly important as Google has boiled the frog too fast while trying to force its new store policies + banning sideloading; however, all of the pieces are now in place for them to try again in a year or 2, which history shows us they will. It’s certainly time to start toying with Linux phones if you haven’t already. This year I picked up an Xperia 10 to flash Sailfish OS on—which has rough edge…

> I picked up an Xperia I had an Xperia for awhile. I liked it while it was new, but after a year the back started peeling off. Pretty lousy for a phone that was supposed to be waterproof. At that point I realized that the Japanese change out their phones every 6-12 months, thus Sony didn't realize that the market demands much longer reliability in a smartphone.

They do a good job contributing upstream to the kernel & are one of the few phones out there that still allow users to unlock the bootloader & they support headphone jacks + microSD cards.

Re: Android/Linux Dual Boot

#104

Post by nalinidash »

NooneAtAll3 wrote: post #98
griffzhowl wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the ethos but "banning installing" wouldn't have been correct here. There should be terminology for installing from the source of your choice which doesn't carry the marginal or sinister connotations of "sideloading" though. "Freeloading" would have been a good one but... yeah

> but "banning installing" wouldn't have been correct here. it would and it would show exactly why it is absurd

But currently, the masses know it only as a button in the play store and app store.

Re: Android/Linux Dual Boot

#105

Post by nzeid »

opan wrote: post #81
engeljohnb wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can install on my Fedora laptop through dnf. I've never felt like I needed a new word to describe downloading and running an AppImage. Why would phones be different?

`adb sideload` existed as a command for installing an apk from your PC on to your phone. Sideloading was not meant to refer to installing an apk on the phone from the phone.

I knew if I read enough comments I'd finally arrive at my favorite take.

Installing an APK directly through your phone is in fact NOT sideloading.

Re: Android/Linux Dual Boot

#106

Post by toastal »

tapia wrote: post #72
toastal wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I made a partition for Nix on mine so I have all the tools I need while not relying on Jolla to package things (the installable package list is quite barren). My audio works from the speakers, but the patches to make the headphone jack (something you Fairphone users no longer know of :P) work won’t come til the next release. For banks, I just use cash or log into the website on my laptop if required—while I will refu…

Yes, I think that just trying to use services that don't require special mobile apps can get you a long way. It is sometimes difficult, but now I'm beginning to move more in this direction :)

It’s the same as unGoogling your life where you can slowly start moving off one service at a time & make sure new ones you use are open or at least otherwise ethical.

Re: Android/Linux Dual Boot

#107

Post by tetris11 »

nobody42 wrote: post #100

pmOS device compatibility matrix: https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Devices

If anyone wants a table for the testing devices (which are arguably still quite stable!), here's a table I put together by scraping the site a few months ago:

https://pastebin.com/Wq4fWyvj

If anyone wants the code for scraping and reformatting, let me know.

Re: Android/Linux Dual Boot

#108

Post by __MatrixMan__ »

griffzhowl wrote: post #40
24t wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> sideloading It's called installing. Language matters and I see no reason to concede this point in Google's favour.

I agree with the ethos but "banning installing" wouldn't have been correct here. There should be terminology for installing from the source of your choice which doesn't carry the marginal or sinister connotations of "sideloading" though. "Freeloading" would have been a good one but... yeah

Installing is still the right word, you just need to use more of them:

"Installing arbitrary packages"

vs

"Installing google-approved packages"

Re: Android/Linux Dual Boot

#109

Post by __MatrixMan__ »

cbolton wrote: post #82
devsda wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like hacking, sideloading is now a loaded & misunderstood term. It is considered as something only nerds or bad actors do. Let's just call it alternate install.

It's bypassing the usual channel for app installations, so the term is technically fitting and the loaded meaning is also appropriate since it's mostly used by nerds (maybe too strong a word) and bad actors. There are legitimate uses of sideloading for regular users, for example if you have solar panels that work with a Huawei app, they can't put it on the Play store because of US sanctions. But that's not Google's f…

Just because its the channel that google would prefer you use doesn't mean its "the usual channel". What counts as "usual" is user specific. I don't even have google play installed on my Android phone.
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