this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2024
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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I want to donate to a linux phone. I believe in linux and I want a linux phone. Maybe we can use one in very few years as a normal daily driver. It's getting closer and closer every month.

I want to donate that we get there sooner. But which project? I'm following postmarket but I'm not sure if they are the most promising. What's your stance on this? To which project would you give your money to accellerate it?

Edit: I don't want to buy a phone. I want to support the phone os devs. Sorry for the bad wording.

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[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 48 points 10 months ago (8 children)

Tbh GrapheneOS.

Android is Linux.

And unlike desktop Linux it was able to spread secure and private standards

  • every app is sandboxed, not some opt-in like Flatpak
  • apps start with no permissions (or at least very little), everything is opt-in
  • it is like 99% unbreaking, immutable, it just always works while my desktop Linux broke all the time
  • there is a webview, which can be hardened. Not Electron, which is insecure and bloated
  • energy saving etc work like a charm. 1% battery loss over an entire night!
  • hardware security with trusted element is decades ahead of desktop Linux (Ubuntu is just now getting TPM encryption support)
  • it is a unified platform, with tons of apps, many of them essential (as the platform is so secure), like 2FA, Banking, public services etc. you can have a full FOSS phone though

I am sure excited for other operating systems but they are just toys. GrapheneOS does amazing work that is a 100% alternative today, for real phones with normal prices, good performance and outstanding security.

[–] FreeBooteR69@kbin.social 39 points 10 months ago (1 children)

When i think of Android i don't think of it as part of the gnu/linux ecosystem, but a heavily modified linux kernel turned against the user.

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de -3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

How is it turned against the user? Androids Linux is highly restricted in that it doesnt support a lot of things, but that makes it extremely stable, while this doesnt mean that apps are also "stable" like in Debian

[–] scratchandgame@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

They don't expect users to do development on android.

(Phones should be used like telephones lol.) I'm going to buy a landline phone

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

No a phone is an end device. But I dont think GPL or whatever says you need to be able to modify the code on that device.

Makes no sense.

Btw as I only said this in another comment, afaik android runs a tailored LTS linux kernel. It is not as bloated as regular linux as it contains device drivers and also doesnt need all the random drivers for whatever hardware to run on a specific phone.

So you can say android restricts freedom in exchange for security, but "linux kernel turned against the user" makes no sense. Their kernel is just fine.

[–] scratchandgame@lemmy.ml 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Their kernel is just fine.

It is just fine, yeah. The things that restrict what the user can do is the interfaces.

[–] Hapbt@mastodon.social 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

@scratchandgame @Pantherina i only have an issue when they dont upstream any of the functionality they add... buuuutttt... a lot of the progress linux has made in recent years has been upstreamed evil corporation(tm) code so... i dunno... mixed blessing

[–] MigratingtoLemmy@lemmy.world 26 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Being pixel only makes me cry

[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 12 points 10 months ago

Me too man, me too

[–] rah@feddit.uk 24 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Android is Linux.

It runs Linux but it isn't a "Linux phone" in the sense used here.

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Yes I know but the Term is simply incorrect. I dont have a better one though.

And even though I am excited to use some Linux Distro on a phone I own, it will be way worse in stability, security and crucial app support than Android / GrapheneOS.

[–] beyond@linkage.ds8.zone 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I dont have a better one though.

I just say non-Android Linux systems. GNU/Linux if I'm talking about that type of system, but there are some like postmarketOS that are strictly not in that group (it's based on Alpine)

[–] rah@feddit.uk 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

the Term is simply incorrect

LOL

[–] ook_the_librarian@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

Is this seriously your takeaway from a well-thought out post? This the smugness of reddit that I really don't miss.

edit: I am refering to the root comment, as that isn't clear.

[–] beyond@linkage.ds8.zone 4 points 9 months ago

I had hopes we could rise above reddit brain, but you can't take the reddit out of the redditor so easily.

[–] rah@feddit.uk 0 points 9 months ago

a well-thought out post

LOL

[–] mnglw@beehaw.org 14 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

how are you only getting 1% battery drain overnight? my pixel 7 w grapheneos drains 10% overnight and battery saver makes it worse somehow

I would like to know your secrets

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 1 points 10 months ago (3 children)

6a is good. The 7 is said to be bad.

[–] dragnet@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I have a 6a, which I tolerate for GrapheneOS. The battery life is absolutely terrible.

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 2 points 10 months ago

For me its 2 days when I use it rarely.

[–] inverted_deflector@startrek.website 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The 6 series was when google introduced the tensor which is where the stereotype for worse battery life, worse performance, and less efficient radio come from.

I have a 6a too and for the price it's fine, and I think a lot of the battery concerns are overblown, and for a budget phone competing with other budget phone devices tensor was great. That said the things that would make the tensor in the 7 bad are as present in if not more so in the 6a.

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 1 points 10 months ago

I dont know. I had a 7pro and that thing got hot and was like a tablet. I 100% cannot reproduce this on a 6a. Its battery life is better than my 4a and before my Nokia 7plus.

[–] optissima@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago (2 children)

What phone are you getting 1% over night on with Graphene?

[–] olbaidiablo@lemmy.ca 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm getting less than 1% battery loss over night. But I have the unihertz tank and it has a 22000mAh battery.

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

6a, nor now the last non EOL device that is tolerable I guess

[–] toastal@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago

5a was the last one with a headphone jack 😑

[–] Lettuceeatlettuce@lemmy.ml 6 points 10 months ago

On GrapheneOS right now typing this, love it! I switched over about 2 years ago to Graphene and never looked back. Rarely have any issues, solid battery life, all my apps work, life is good and private.

[–] beyond@linkage.ds8.zone 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Android is Linux.

This should be repeated in every "Linux phone" thread.

It's also possible to install a full GNU userland using Termux, and nowadays a graphical interface is even possible with Termux.

[–] Zamundaaa@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It is repeated in every single damn "Linux phone" thread, and in every single thread an answer like this is needed: No, it fucking isn't. You know exactly what everyone means, stop being a dick about it.

[–] beyond@linkage.ds8.zone 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It is repeated in every single damn “Linux phone” thread

Good. The more people pushing back against falsehoods, the better.

[–] rah@feddit.uk 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

falsehoods

What falsehood are you referring to here?

[–] beyond@linkage.ds8.zone 0 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

"Android isn't Linux," of course. This is a very obviously false myth that is debunked very easily by simply looking at any Android device or the source code. It is not a myth spread by people who are technologically literate. Yet, this easily verifiable fact upsets Linux fans so much they resort to downvotes and ugly language (I have my ideas why, but it's probably a waste of time to elaborate in this thread).

Of course, the more savvy among the Linux fandom will admit that Android "contains Linux, but isn't real Linux" - but "real Linux" is yet another myth; that is, the myth that there is more to Linux than an operating system kernel, a myth that leads to further myths such as the myth of fragmentation, or the myth that distributions are worthless and we need a "unified app store." It's a myth that clouds history and assigns the wrong motives to the wrong people and meanings to things that don't need or deserve them (the misunderstanding that that "Linux" is "about openness" or "against corporations" for example, when large companies are the main contributors to and users of the Linux project). Linus Torvalds himself says he only cares about code, not about freedom or openness or any of that stuff (that's Richard Stallman's thing)

The fact that this myth is widely believed is not relevant. We don't live in a world where a falsehood becomes true if it is widely believed; people used to believe the sun revolved around the earth, for example. Also, a falsehood being widely believed doesn't mean it deserves to stay unchallenged.


The point of reminding Linux fans that Android is based on their beloved kernel isn't meant to be a well-actually or anything. It's a reminder that much of what a so called "Linux phone" can do is already possible without having to switch to an operating system that in many respects is not ready for general use. For example, you can run xfce in Termux - I hope this is enough to disabuse one of the silly notion of "not real Linux." For some reason. people looking for so-called "Linux phones" desire Android compatibility, and it turns out that because Android itself is Linux, it is far easier for Android to run so-called "Linux apps" than it is for so-called "mobile Linux" to run Android apps.

Android is Linux and that's a good thing. I should point out that it's not my preferred Linux operating system - I was a Pinephone early adopter and used to daily drive Mobian, I would prefer that or GNU Guix over Android. Still, not only is it a Linux based operating system, it also has its own rich free software ecosystem backed by F-Droid. It's very usable once you cut out the Google crap and stick to free software only (or as much as possible).


I wrote more on the "real Linux" myth here in case anyone's interested in more reading material.

[–] rah@feddit.uk 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

"Android isn't Linux,"

Nobody here has said that. What's been pointed out is that the phrase "Linux phone" is being used by OP to refer to non-Android phones running GNU/Linux, which is a common use of the phrase.