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Linux phones are more important now than ever

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Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever

#231

Post by numpad0 »

joshdavham wrote: post #112
internet2000 wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

The market HAD changed to what it is now from what it was. Most handheld manufacturers had garbage mobile app platforms back in 2007. Something happened in January of that year and they all started coughing blood.

Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever

#232

Post by taneliv »

ulrikrasmussen wrote: post #150
jeffparsons wrote: post #17

My Android phone prevents me from taking screenshots if an app author doesn't want me to. My Android phone prevents me from recording phone calls at the request of my carrier, even though it's totally legal for me to do so in my jurisdiction. I'm not loving where this is all going.

My government (Denmark) refusing to let me use their digital identity app because I don't want to accept Google's or Apple's TOS, and Google helping them enforce that via remote attestation services. Luckily there are alternatives in the form of code displays and NFC chips. However, next year I won't be able to watch porn unless I verify my age using a smartphone, no alternatives are planned. Or rather, I have the "f…

LOL, what? My (teenage) kids use my phone all the time, especially in the car, when I'm driving, but also at home. It's not like I have porn or banking apps on it, but what is the age verification going to help there? If the kids would install an app or used browser to see naked people, then my face would be available to these services, right? Better mine than the kids', I suppose!

(We're not in Denmark, but I wonder how it is going in our jurisdiction ...)

Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever

#233

Post by yoavm »

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I think the raise of vibe-coding can be great for Linux on the phone. The main issue the ecosystem seem to suffer from is lack of apps. Apps building is becoming way easier, especially for simple things. If the cost of making software is going to drop significantly, we might be able to finally fill in the apps gap.

Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever

#234

Post by pndy »

dvh wrote: post #220

EU should fork Android. Fund a small team of devs, nothing fancy, no major changes just keep it secure.

On paper this is a good idea but consider the current chat control issue. This fork would probably have built-in by default content, messages scanning and switching to any other Android would probably be ruled out as illegal.

Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever

#235

Post by numpad0 »

cosmic_cheese wrote: post #95

Apologies 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…

Like Chinese emulator handhelds?

Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever

#236

Post by jbstack »

socalgal2 wrote: post #157
jeffparsons wrote: post #17

My Android phone prevents me from taking screenshots if an app author doesn't want me to. My Android phone prevents me from recording phone calls at the request of my carrier, even though it's totally legal for me to do so in my jurisdiction. I'm not loving where this is all going.

It's not just phones. Try asking ChatGPT/Gemini anything the hive mind in SV doesn't want you to ask. Try asking it anything the hive mind as decided has only one possible answer. It's only going to get worse

At least with LLMs you have more options (Deepseek, Grok, offline models, etc.). It's still far from perfect, but it's not as bad as phones where you basically only have a choice of Android or iPhone if you don't want to have to live with major inconvenience (such as being unable to do online banking or pay for parking). It's also a lot easier to launch a competitor in the AI market: you just need capital. With phone OS's it's essentially impossible. The barriers to entry are too high.

Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever

#237

Post by jbstack »

nicman23 wrote: post #176
ulrikrasmussen wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My government (Denmark) refusing to let me use their digital identity app because I don't want to accept Google's or Apple's TOS, and Google helping them enforce that via remote attestation services. Luckily there are alternatives in the form of code displays and NFC chips. However, next year I won't be able to watch porn unless I verify my age using a smartphone, no alternatives are planned. Or rather, I have the "f…

route everything through a vps?

It's not a full solution. I've seen UK sites that, following the Online Safety Act, simply require all users to verify their age rather than bother to figure out whether you are actually a UK customer or not. I guess it's easier to implement and many sites mainly rely on domestic customers anyway so they don't care if international users are affected.

Also, this isn't just about porn. For example, I can barely use Reddit now if I connect with a UK IP address: the merest hint that there might be some NSFW angle to a post is enough to trigger their algorithm into requiring age verification.

Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever

#238

Post by mihaaly »

jeffparsons wrote: post #17

My Android phone prevents me from taking screenshots if an app author doesn't want me to. My Android phone prevents me from recording phone calls at the request of my carrier, even though it's totally legal for me to do so in my jurisdiction. I'm not loving where this is all going.

These petty measures are as self damaging to reputation as futile: one can easily make screenshot or do recording with an other device, which is soooo commonplace nowadays. It is just ruining user experience with small-minded measures, driving people away.

Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever

#239

Post by simne »

cosmic_cheese wrote: post #95

Apologies 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…

The main question, current smartphones are nearly 100% camera-phones, and people just used to camera-phone world and don't want anything else.

But unfortunately, tiny camera is hardest thing and it is not coincidence, that nearly all whales of smartphone industry regularly show outstanding camera on their presentations.

Other things except camera are mostly accessible for Linux community.

Re: Linux phones are more important now than ever

#240

Post by shaky-carrousel »

cranberryturkey wrote: post #215
VariousPrograms wrote: post #116

As 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 b…

My HP laptop lasts 2 hours running linux. My macbook air m4 lasts 12 hours.

Your MacBook air has a team behind it ensuring it runs as efficiently as possible. Your HP laptop running linux has... you.
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