Is there hope for Linux on smartphones? [video]

Post by rbanffy » Thu, Aug 25, 2022, 12:36 PM UTC

morepork wrote: post #162

matrix12 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they conflate GNU with Linux kernel.

Android runs toybox (or at least used to), which implements many of the GNU tools. But I think the complaint is that much of the userland to have a useful phone experience is proprietary. If you could install all the GNU tools into AOSP Linux (probably not that hard), you still don't have a useful phone. It's not even the desktop environment (think GNOME/KDE/etc.), as there is a good enough version in AOSP.

All it takes is one good phone application that uses the underlying devices.

Also as a reminder, WebOS is also Linux and the Palm Pre phones were excellent phones (with a somewhat limited app support - they were a bit ahead of time with JavaScript and applications written on it)

Post by zamadatix » Fri, Aug 26, 2022, 4:56 PM UTC

yosito wrote: post #89

zamadatix wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even just unlocking an Android device causes most to stop working. I can't even log into PayPal app, which I assume is mostly just a WebView, because my phone is unlocked. At the same time it is apparently fineI do the same thing from the browser on my phone?

I used an Android phone with CalyxOS and microG for a year and never had this problem. There were a few apps I had a hard time getting APKs for without the Play Store, but even those I found I could side load from other devices that had the Play Store.

Custom ROMs/patches can be made hide that the phone is unlocked and fake that it passes SafetyNet, even if you use official Play Services it's just ridiculous it's something that needs to be done in the first place.

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

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