Why Linux Phones are Interesting AF! - Rob Braxman Tech
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Date: 2022-03-20
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Comments and reviews: 10
Growley
Yes, a true Linux phone running an actual fullblown Linux distro will be really really cool and very useful. But you are selling Android just a little bit short. If you root an Android, unlock the bootloader and install a custom ROM, you really do have a lot more freedom and flexibility than you are giving Android credit for. And yes, you can write apps for Android.
I have not used WinDOHs in a very long time now. My laptops and desktops and of course my several Raspberry Pis all run Linux. I have run Linux in a Chroot environment on an Android phone and would love very much to have a phone actually truly running pure Linux, an actual full distro, not a stripped down and bloatware-added stab in the back. Never tried Mac and never will. I have used several flavors of DOS, and OS/2 Warp, WinDOHs 3. 1, 95, 98, XP, and 7, and several Linux flavors especially Ubuntu and of course Raspbian. It would be really hard to beat Ubuntu if you had the hardware to run it. Raspbian and other slimmed down versions would even be okay on a phone but I would rather have a big kids OS. I own 4 phones, all are Samsung Note 3, unlocked, rooted, and running Cyanogenmod for an OS. I can do a lot of crazy amazy stuff on a rooted Android. The stock unrooted phone is what you are obviously familiar with. Don't confuse a crippled with an uncrippled Android phone.
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Yes, a true Linux phone running an actual fullblown Linux distro will be really really cool and very useful. But you are selling Android just a little bit short. If you root an Android, unlock the bootloader and install a custom ROM, you really do have a lot more freedom and flexibility than you are giving Android credit for. And yes, you can write apps for Android.
I have not used WinDOHs in a very long time now. My laptops and desktops and of course my several Raspberry Pis all run Linux. I have run Linux in a Chroot environment on an Android phone and would love very much to have a phone actually truly running pure Linux, an actual full distro, not a stripped down and bloatware-added stab in the back. Never tried Mac and never will. I have used several flavors of DOS, and OS/2 Warp, WinDOHs 3. 1, 95, 98, XP, and 7, and several Linux flavors especially Ubuntu and of course Raspbian. It would be really hard to beat Ubuntu if you had the hardware to run it. Raspbian and other slimmed down versions would even be okay on a phone but I would rather have a big kids OS. I own 4 phones, all are Samsung Note 3, unlocked, rooted, and running Cyanogenmod for an OS. I can do a lot of crazy amazy stuff on a rooted Android. The stock unrooted phone is what you are obviously familiar with. Don't confuse a crippled with an uncrippled Android phone.
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Metcalfe's
About damn time. So long as Gnome isn't on it I'd buy a LinuxOS phone in a heart beat. I suppose a Debian based distro would be the most likely candidate although preferably Cent0S/RH. I screw my Linux install up every third or fourth day but, screw it. All part of the fun and learning. Love Linux.
P. S.
Did I not hear or read that Huawei were thinking of bring a Linux based phone to market. A Kirin CPU and a Mali GPU would be a powerhouse of a Linux based phone.
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About damn time. So long as Gnome isn't on it I'd buy a LinuxOS phone in a heart beat. I suppose a Debian based distro would be the most likely candidate although preferably Cent0S/RH. I screw my Linux install up every third or fourth day but, screw it. All part of the fun and learning. Love Linux.
P. S.
Did I not hear or read that Huawei were thinking of bring a Linux based phone to market. A Kirin CPU and a Mali GPU would be a powerhouse of a Linux based phone.
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Wade
The more I watch your program, the more I learn. I like the idea of a linux phone. Not sure if I'll miss any of the android apps (probably not. I've been using linux for around 20 years (I was a Unix/Linux system administrator (now retired. I still use linux at home (currently Ubuntu, so having a linux phone should be great. I'll keep watching to see what you do with your phone (perhaps you can simulate a rebuild so we can watch the steps. Thanks for all the good information.
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The more I watch your program, the more I learn. I like the idea of a linux phone. Not sure if I'll miss any of the android apps (probably not. I've been using linux for around 20 years (I was a Unix/Linux system administrator (now retired. I still use linux at home (currently Ubuntu, so having a linux phone should be great. I'll keep watching to see what you do with your phone (perhaps you can simulate a rebuild so we can watch the steps. Thanks for all the good information.
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Tib.
When I was young, Unix servers were big heavy machines that filled a wall. Then it got put on snappy workstations like the Suns and the SGIs. And then I got to play with it myself, in the form of Linux. And now I get to put it on my phones.
And for programming one can use every language available on the device. C(++, Java, Perl, Python, or Lisp. You're not limited to what Google wants you to use. Of course, it requires you to program for X or Wayland.
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When I was young, Unix servers were big heavy machines that filled a wall. Then it got put on snappy workstations like the Suns and the SGIs. And then I got to play with it myself, in the form of Linux. And now I get to put it on my phones.
And for programming one can use every language available on the device. C(++, Java, Perl, Python, or Lisp. You're not limited to what Google wants you to use. Of course, it requires you to program for X or Wayland.
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ArthursHD
Last time I tried Linux on ARM board. It had limited applications compiled for it. And that particular board did not have proper hardware acceleration on Linux. Android GUI is designed for smaller touch screen as of now runs better on ARM. Android can be rooted to unlock more features at expense of reduced security.
If Linux UI can get comparable to Android on mobile or vise versa - I'm all for a single low power device for personal computing.
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Last time I tried Linux on ARM board. It had limited applications compiled for it. And that particular board did not have proper hardware acceleration on Linux. Android GUI is designed for smaller touch screen as of now runs better on ARM. Android can be rooted to unlock more features at expense of reduced security.
If Linux UI can get comparable to Android on mobile or vise versa - I'm all for a single low power device for personal computing.
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Andr-a
I'm not a computer sci grad, engineer, or full on nerd. But, I do have dual boot Dell xps 13 running Ubuntu. Most of the time for every day stuff, I'm using Linux. It's not without occasional problems, especially when I need new software for something new. Something I like most about it is that the fan is hardly ever on. When I use Windows, the fan is almost always on because of whatever bloatware is running in the background I'm guessing.
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I'm not a computer sci grad, engineer, or full on nerd. But, I do have dual boot Dell xps 13 running Ubuntu. Most of the time for every day stuff, I'm using Linux. It's not without occasional problems, especially when I need new software for something new. Something I like most about it is that the fan is hardly ever on. When I use Windows, the fan is almost always on because of whatever bloatware is running in the background I'm guessing.
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happysmash27
5: 21: False; if you have a rooted Android device, you can do anything you want, and even with non-rooted Android, one can easily side-load apps or use an alternative app store to install any app one wants. In fact, I am even able to run a full Linux desktop with LinuxDeploy and Xserver XSDL due to my phone being rooted. iPhones are much more restricted than Android, and some Androids are more restricted than other Androids.
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5: 21: False; if you have a rooted Android device, you can do anything you want, and even with non-rooted Android, one can easily side-load apps or use an alternative app store to install any app one wants. In fact, I am even able to run a full Linux desktop with LinuxDeploy and Xserver XSDL due to my phone being rooted. iPhones are much more restricted than Android, and some Androids are more restricted than other Androids.
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Phil
Hi Rob, I am really enjoying your content. Keep up the good fight!
Out of curiosity, did you ever have the opportunity to use a Nokia N900 back in the day? It was my first (2009) smartphone and am having serious seller remorse as I watch these vids. Considering the era, I thought Nokia did a darn fine job with Maemo 5 and the UI.
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Hi Rob, I am really enjoying your content. Keep up the good fight!
Out of curiosity, did you ever have the opportunity to use a Nokia N900 back in the day? It was my first (2009) smartphone and am having serious seller remorse as I watch these vids. Considering the era, I thought Nokia did a darn fine job with Maemo 5 and the UI.
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63
Speaking of spotify, any opinions/intel on spotify's danger as a data gathering/tracking platform? (Disregarding the fact that half of its users are logged in with Facebook) I have never thought of music fingerprinting as a thing, but my tastes are probably specific enough to put me in some sort of category.
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Speaking of spotify, any opinions/intel on spotify's danger as a data gathering/tracking platform? (Disregarding the fact that half of its users are logged in with Facebook) I have never thought of music fingerprinting as a thing, but my tastes are probably specific enough to put me in some sort of category.
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Karl
Hey Rob. Thanks for all of the solid content. Have you checked out the upcoming Pine Phone from Pine64? Pine64 is also planning on shipping a Linux based smart watch.
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Hey Rob. Thanks for all of the solid content. Have you checked out the upcoming Pine Phone from Pine64? Pine64 is also planning on shipping a Linux based smart watch.
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