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.

  • @[email protected]
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    449 months ago

    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
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      389 months ago

      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.

      • @[email protected]
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        -29 months ago

        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

        • @[email protected]
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          Tiếng Việt
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          9 months ago

          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

          • @[email protected]
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            9 months ago

            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.

    • @[email protected]
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      249 months ago

      Android is Linux.

      It runs Linux but it isn’t a “Linux phone” in the sense used here.

      • @[email protected]
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        49 months ago

        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.

        • Captain Beyond
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          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)

          • Ook the Librarian
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            9 months ago

            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.

    • Lettuce eat lettuce
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      79 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.

    • @optissima
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      69 months ago

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

    • Captain Beyond
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      19 months ago

      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.

      • @[email protected]
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        59 months ago

        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.

        • Captain Beyond
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          09 months ago

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

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

            • Captain Beyond
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              9 months ago

              “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.

              • @[email protected]
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                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.