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SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes

sailfishos.org

71–80 of 173 posts

Re: SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes

#71
post #63

Many years ago I backed the Jolla Tablet, which never shipped and they never gave me a refund. At the time the company kept pretending like things were perfectly fine with every update right until they let everyone know that the project was being cancelled. There was zero transparency and accountability, and from that day I vowed to never support this company ever again. I would've been fine if the project had failed…

FWIW, I actually received my Jolla Tablet (albeit delayed). Your are right that Jolla is sometimes less transparent and professional than one would expect. However, I realize that Jolla is also under much more scrutiny by the community than other tech companies, and some people demand ridiculous levels of transparency/quality/features.

I don't think that expecting to get the product you pay for (even if it's just crowdfunding) is too much? Or putting them under too much scrutiny? I don't think people expect less from any other tech company? It's just really basic stuff.

Re: SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes

#72
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the phone variant of HarmonyOS runs on top of a Linux kernel.

Nope, the new version removed it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HarmonyOS_NEXT

Indeed, I did not see that!

Re: SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes

#73
post #40

I would seriously consider SailfishOS if it shipped on decent (recent) hardware that was available in the US. The last good experience I had with it was on the Xperia XA2, but that hardware was turned into ewaste by the VoLTE requirements of US carriers. Although they claim to run on more recent Xperia phones, they don't have full hardware support, and aren't on the most recent models. If I'm going to pay for a phone…

I have been using Xperia 10 III as my main phone for years with Sailfish OS just fine. Looks like they also support up to Xperia 10 V & there is the Jolla C2 community device: https://docs.sailfishos.org/Support/Supported_Devices/

I remember not too long ago seeing a similar table from Jolla that showed these devices, but also included a breakdown of specific hardware features that were not fully working. Was there a major update in the last few months that cleared that up?

Re: SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes

#74
post #8

They're about to make a new phone: https://forum.sailfishos.org/t/next-gen-jolla-phone/23882

Damn i know we need this competition hard, but also needs so much scrutiny about who is running it. For some reason i had written this os off a few years ago i dont even remember why now

Re: SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes

#75
post #28

I used Sailfish ten years ago or more, and loved it. But I gave up hope on getting it to run on many devices, as well as access to a good Android emulation layer that I could use for "utility" apps like Uber or whatever. My impression was that this platform was only becoming less and less viable. Other problems: it's proprietary and only really runs well on any phone you've ever heard of if it's on top of an Android…

afaik Uber can be used perfectly with the website.

Re: SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes

#76
post #58

I would seriously consider SailfishOS if it shipped on decent (recent) hardware that was available in the US. The last good experience I had with it was on the Xperia XA2, but that hardware was turned into ewaste by the VoLTE requirements of US carriers. Although they claim to run on more recent Xperia phones, they don't have full hardware support, and aren't on the most recent models. If I'm going to pay for a phone…

Well you'll need to talk to your monopolistic carriers then. US mobile innovation is dead for the foreseeable future due to them, all new innovation is happening in China and other SE Asian markets. You just need to be a good consumer and buy that iPhone that Verizon orders you to have with their blessing.

What you are describing is much more accurate of the US cell carriers before the iPhone. I remember paying $20/mo (to the carrier) for a terrible mail application on a feature phone. The iPhone's AT&T deal saved us from that situation.

What are some of the innovations you're referring to?

Re: SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes

#77
post #50
post #49

I tried this briefly on a pine phone ~2 years ago as I was going through the different options trying to see if there was something viable. It was useless then, the phone barely worked, and I’m pretty low maintenance, I basically just wanted mobile date, wifi, email, and browser. I don’t really remember sailfish specifically as I was quickly cycling thought the options but I know I tried it and found it unsuitable. P…

The Sailfish browser is using Firefox rendering core BTW, so you might have used it elsewhere. ;-)

From other comments in this thread though it seems to be stuck on quite old versions of ESR though. Seems like it took until about September 2024 to go from a mid-2020 version (78) to a late-2021 version (91) according to this [1].

I don’t have any first-hand experience but from the comment that linked that blog, and the site itself, it’s not clear whether the browser engine has been updated since…

1. https://www.flypig.co.uk/?to=gecko&list_id=975&list=gecko

Re: SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes

#78

Many years ago I backed the Jolla Tablet, which never shipped and they never gave me a refund. At the time the company kept pretending like things were perfectly fine with every update right until they let everyone know that the project was being cancelled. There was zero transparency and accountability, and from that day I vowed to never support this company ever again. I would've been fine if the project had failed…

I don't mean be rude, but outside the SV bubble, funding is extremely hard and when companies are on the brink "ethics" becomes a luxury you can't really afford.

That's not an argument for not complaining against what was done, but given what they're doing - fighting two Goliaths that have 10000x the resources, I just wish people would give them another chance.

https://blog.jolla.com/jolla-tablet-closure/

Re: SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes

#79
I currently have hopes / am watching Apostrophy who are building on top of Graphene but at least they acknowledge that people need Google Play and are attempting to support that while not sacrificing the entire device to privacy issues. https://www.apostrophy.ch

Re: SailfishOS: A Linux-based European alternative to dominant mobile OSes

#80
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well you'll need to talk to your monopolistic carriers then. US mobile innovation is dead for the foreseeable future due to them, all new innovation is happening in China and other SE Asian markets. You just need to be a good consumer and buy that iPhone that Verizon orders you to have with their blessing.

What you are describing is much more accurate of the US cell carriers before the iPhone. I remember paying $20/mo (to the carrier) for a terrible mail application on a feature phone. The iPhone's AT&T deal saved us from that situation. What are some of the innovations you're referring to?

> before the iPhone

And MVNOs.

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