By a wide margin the many different projects for an open source phone OS. From GrapheneOS to PostmarketOS, from Ubuntu Mobile to Plasma Mobile.
I am sick and tired of corporations telling me how I can use my phone. I am sick and tired of corporations deciding what apps I can install, from where, and what data they are allowed to collect. I am done with enshittification and the gradual disappearing of all useful information, either behind a paywall, or replaced by monetized content.
The last straw was when Google Maps decided to replace the “gas station on the route” feature that sent you to the cheapest gas station to some other logic it didn’t disclose, but that stinks of affiliate preference.
Can someone ELI5, why the phone landscape is so different from PCs? Why can I take a Linux iso and install it on basically any x86 pc from the last 25 years, but if I want to install anything on my phone, I need an image specially tailored for my specific model.
PCs have a BIOS/UEFI that provides hardware discovery and abstraction to the OS, while phones lack that and need the OS to know what hardware to expect.
20 years ago when the predecessors to modern smartphone hardware were being designed, there probably would have been meaningful costs to adding that kind of flexibility. There probably wouldn’t today, but there’s also no motivation for phone makers to do it.
/e/OS is just another android rom, and unlike calyxOS or grapheneOS, /e/OS isn’t very privacy focused. There’s some weird stuff regarding a hidden “license id” and some of their services rely in openAI. You might as well just use a “real” privacy-first android rom if you’re trying to get away from tech giants, their tracking and closed source software.
By a wide margin the many different projects for an open source phone OS. From GrapheneOS to PostmarketOS, from Ubuntu Mobile to Plasma Mobile.
I am sick and tired of corporations telling me how I can use my phone. I am sick and tired of corporations deciding what apps I can install, from where, and what data they are allowed to collect. I am done with enshittification and the gradual disappearing of all useful information, either behind a paywall, or replaced by monetized content.
The last straw was when Google Maps decided to replace the “gas station on the route” feature that sent you to the cheapest gas station to some other logic it didn’t disclose, but that stinks of affiliate preference.
Can someone ELI5, why the phone landscape is so different from PCs? Why can I take a Linux iso and install it on basically any x86 pc from the last 25 years, but if I want to install anything on my phone, I need an image specially tailored for my specific model.
PCs have a BIOS/UEFI that provides hardware discovery and abstraction to the OS, while phones lack that and need the OS to know what hardware to expect.
20 years ago when the predecessors to modern smartphone hardware were being designed, there probably would have been meaningful costs to adding that kind of flexibility. There probably wouldn’t today, but there’s also no motivation for phone makers to do it.
Absolutely, fully agree here. An Open Source widely applicable phone OS would benefit millions of people. Possibly billions.
Let alone open source!
Same!!!
Thoughts on /e/OS? Been thinking of giving fairphone 6 a go.
/e/OS is just another android rom, and unlike calyxOS or grapheneOS, /e/OS isn’t very privacy focused. There’s some weird stuff regarding a hidden “license id” and some of their services rely in openAI. You might as well just use a “real” privacy-first android rom if you’re trying to get away from tech giants, their tracking and closed source software.