this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2025
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Linux Phones
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The Discussion on Linux-based Phones.
Benefits:
- Hardware freedom.
- Perfect operating-system competition.
- Full utilization of specs.
- Phone lifespan raises to 10+ years.
- Less e-waste.
Linux Mobile Distros:
- Postmarket OS
- Ubuntu Touch
- Mobian
- Sailfish
- Manjaro Arm
- Pure OS
- Plasma Mobile
- LuneOS
- FuriOS
- Nemomobile
- Droidian
- Mobile NixOS
- ExpidusOS
- Maemo Leste
- Tizen
- WebOS
Linux Mobile Hardware:
- Fairphone 5
- Volla Phone
- Librem 5
- PinePhone
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We've been 'setting up the ground work' for Linux on Desktop and Phones for decades. It's not the groundwork that's the issue, it's adoption.
Its the lack of openness and standards on hardware, drivers, and boot sequence for ARM chipsets and phone hardware that's the problem. x86/x86_64 hardware had standards that the industry settled on so the Linux adoption was fairly quick, with phone hardware, every phone, android kernel, camera hardware and driver, display hardware and driver, etc is slightly different so the hardware is so hard to adopt when literally every device has to be blackbox reverse engineered because the hardware manufacturers don't make anything open or standard.
That's an adoption problem. The manufacturers don't care for it, they have no reason to.
Well then ya have a chicken and egg problem, if hardware manufacturers don't care to do things 'correctly' because of lack of interest in Linux adoption, but there's no Linux adoption because of the lack of 'correctly' done hardware.
Basically Canonical was like 15 years too early on this one. They created phones capable of running Ubuntu Touch, but the price tag and lack of supported apps probably killed interest in it. With Waydroid, now, you can supplement the apps with android apps until the Linux phone app ecosystem catches up.
We need a large funded Linux project to foot the bill on making the correct hardware to get the Linux adoption, but Canonical already tried that and failed back in 2012. 15 years later, I think the world is finally ready now, for a Linux phone.
It is not ready for a Linux phone. It's barely ready for Linux on PC. The phone market would be much smaller. I'd love a Linux phone but I would need a android auto or carplay equivalent or compatible interface.
Not sure but waydroid might be able to run android auto, I have a device running postmarketOS and Waydroid, unfortunately my vehicle is too old for android auto but if I'm around any friend's vehicles, I'll try it out and see if it works.
--edit--
just checked my device, I think android auto comes installed with the android image that waydroid boots, which at the current time is Android 13, based on LineageOS 20 it looks like.
Groundwork on what? The only Linux phone I've seen that I'd want is the Jolla C2 and they don't ship outside the EU so I can't even get one
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tizen
Remember LiMo, which became Tizen? What about MeeGo?
I think I had a Samsung watch that used Tizen but it's not exactly prevalent outside of their devices. Don't get me wrong I'd love to see more mobile Linux, but Sailfish seems the best bet to me and even so has a pretty limited device selection, and hardware is way too variable still.
A standard and modularized base for phone hardware would be nice, or maybe something like Pi but for phones.
bruh Liinux phones don't even standby working ffs.