this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2025
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A notable mention is https://ubports.com/en/ which is different from postmarketos in a sense that ubports uses old kernels with heavy patches. That means: good support for things, but difficult future.

PostmarketOS uses the newest kernels and tries to integrate their patches into mainline kernel, so that the reliability is maintained with all kernel developers.

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[–] [email protected] 157 points 1 week ago (10 children)

I can't wait for Linux phones to be stable enough for a daily driver.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago

Likewise, brother. But at the current rate, we are still a few years away. :-(

[–] [email protected] 44 points 1 week ago (1 children)

that has been said since before the nokia n600. lol

[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 week ago

And we'll keep saying it until we get there.

[–] [email protected] 43 points 1 week ago (3 children)

2026 will be the year of the linux phone

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Given that Win10 is getting deprecated this year and Win11 has specific hardware requirements, I think 2025 could be the year of the linux PC. I'll be curious to see how massive corporations for which this would mean millions or billions in hardware upgrades to stick with Win will square that circle.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

I only use my desktop for gaming now but it's old and won't run Win11. I'm going for a SteamOS general release then I'll just drop windows on there altogether

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

Please stop. I can’t get my dick back into my trousers.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

The FuriPhone, which runs the FuriOS Linux distribution (based on Debian), has a polished enough user experience that it can be used as a daily driver by many people.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I somehow only recently saw this (few weeks ago) but man it looks awesome. I'm curious how well the android layer works as I haven't used waydroid in a long time.

It's not cheap enough to take a lark on is my only qualm.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago

Here's a demonstration of Waydroid on FuriOS and the accompanying blog post from 6 months ago. I'm obviously not a fan of X (Twitter), but the video shows that the app works in the Android container.

Yes, I also hope to see the price go down.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

It seems like Linux-compatible android handsets stopped around 2021. Except a few bespoke models that are hard to get your hands on outside of Europe.

I have a OnePlus Nord N10 flashed with Ubuntu Touch as a tinker device, unfortunately in the US it's not daily-able because we shut down 3g and 2g networks and they still haven't managed to get VoLTE working on Ubuntu Touch yet (though it may be coming in the next year!) so phone calls don't work.

There's also the Pixel 3a/3a XL which are plentiful and cheap but I like the N10 a bit more because of the additional RAM. Makes it feel a little less old compared to the Pixel.

If you can get your hands on a Fairphone, Pinephone or Volla those are great but hard to get outside the EU.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago

Sorry but the pinephone is not great. I have one and its extremely underpowered to the point of uselessness.

Its like trying to use a 486 to as a current desktop.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Good luck, phone hardware changes very fast though.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I'm okay with an older phone, I just want basic features to work consistently and well. Maybe support a newer phone every 5 years or so to provide an upgrade path.

Basically, I'm okay with the GrapheneOS strategy of sticking to one product line.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago (2 children)

My Xperia z3c from 2014 would be perfectly fine to use right now if Google didn't absolutely bloat the crap out of their products and it had an easily replaceable battery. If companies would just support their products for longer or release the sources when it's out of support i probably would have skipped several phone upgrades. But that's probably exactly why they don't.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I was just thinking about my moto x play still working. Shame about updates

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Same. I still have my previous phone, but I don't use it anymore because it's insecure, not because it's broken. I'm still using a laptop that's even older precisely because it gets security updates since it runs Linux.

I'd absolutely lay a premium for longer support and it's a large part of why I got a Pixel this time around, they advertise 7 years of support and I hope to hold them to that.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

So does pc hardware but Linux can breathe new life into even an old PC since the bloat does grow at the same rate as the hardware unlike other OSes

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

New PC hardware is mostly compatible with the old stuff or at least somewhat standardized except at the lowest end. Phone stuff is much worse about that. Idk what a Linux phone would mean anyway.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yet the performance basically peaked already. They are doing 15% increases at the top end and less for the cheapest phones.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

There are significant features being added too. Like satellite messaging in areas with no cell coverage can be pretty worthwhile. You're right though, most other stuff is meh. I'd like wireless charging for my current phone but can do without it. I have a $250 phone from 2023 and don't understand why anyone buys a flagship.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Maybe whenever slider phones with full keyboards come back. Typing in the terminal would be a real chore otherwise.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

You do get used to it to some degree, but yes please bring the keyboards back

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I mean probably never? You'd have to design hardware specifically that's compatible with Linux, which would cost a fortune, in the hopes of selling a whole bunch of them, and they can't even get large numbers of people to use Linux for free.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You’d have to design hardware specifically that’s compatible with Linux

What makes you think that?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I don't know how to answer that. Because most hardware is not compatible.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 week ago (2 children)

It isn't fundamentally incompatible, there is just a lack of drivers.

You don't need new hardware, you need driver support.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

I think they meant you'd have to design a combination of hardware that's all compatible with Linux - that is, that has Linux driver support.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

I'm not really so concerned with how it's incompatible...

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

The only thing that is lacking for compatibility is drivers. If that's what you meant you should have said so instead of saying hardware needs to be designed. If that's not what you meant then you don't know what you're talking about.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

If the hardware doesn't have drivers then it's incompatible 🤷

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You're just embarrassing yourself at this point.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Explain how I'm wrong or go away. Your unwarranted personal insults are not welcome.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

EZ. Your original totally incorrect comment that you're trying to pretend didn't mean what it obviously meant.

You’d have to design hardware specifically that’s compatible with Linux

You don't have to design hardware you have to write drivers.

It's OK to admit you're wrong.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm not pretending anything. And I'm not gonna continue engaging with you with this completely unnecessary tone. You don't know what you're talking about. Goodbye.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago

If you're so sensitive to being corrected the easy way to avoid it is to simply not create misinformation in the first place.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

they already exist, the (software) interface is what needs work.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

They are already. My Redmi Note 7 runs Droidian perfectly.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Can Linux mobile OSs install apk apps?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Really? I'll have to do some searching online. I have a Mi 10T around here somewhere.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I also have a mi10t! Broken, that is. Idk if you want to know bout it, but it falled down from my bycicle when I was at Sanremo and a car passed on top of it. Screen broken. Tankfully you could still see things and the touch was working, so I managed to get back home (≈100km). But then the next day it wouldn't boot. His soul left me.. He just stayed with me enought time to help me get home...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

The best solution today is to get actual phone / text apps working on the handhelds and just start using steamdecks etc lmao.

VOIP solutions obviously already do work.