4 ms·

There really needs to be an alternative open source mobile OS. I had really hoped that would be Ubuntu touch, but now that development is moved over to ubports

There really needs to be an alternative open source mobile OS. I had really hoped that would be Ubuntu touch, but now that development is moved over to ubports I am not sure wide spread support is going to happen.

Freak_NL 9y ago
I would go even further and say we need a free software mobile OS.
- RankingMember 9y ago
  As long as it has a good UI. My experience has been that OSS can be functional, but often comes with a bad UI that turns off users.
digi_owl 9y ago
The problem is that there is a mismatch of priorities between the device manufactures (and in certain places, carriers) and us consumers.
gcb0 9y ago
it is a bad incentive loop. - people change phones every year or two. - OSS community can't keep up with driver support if they change every 6mo and are never documented, protected with NDA. - big companies writing the OS make the older hardware obsolete on purpose. - this forces people that don't want to change phones every year to do so. Back to step 1.
- voltagex_ 9y ago
  >- OSS community can't keep up with driver support if they change every 6mo and are never documented, protected with NDA. LineageOS seems to be doing OK (other than the terrible name). > - big companies writing the OS make the older hardware obsolete on purpose. Not writing the OS, writing the drivers and platform support (also known as the Board Support Package). I can't find the article, but at some point there was a "cut-off" for devices like the Nexus 4, largely because Qualcomm didn't provide further updates.
  - gcb0 9y ago
    correct me if I am wrong but lineageOS/cyanogenMod only uses extracted binary drivers from the manufacturer.
Sylos 9y ago
The hope of the day in this space seems to be Plasma Mobile: https://plasma-mobile.org/ https://plasma-mobile.org/
- alphapapa 9y ago
  They should probably change their wording if they want to gain wider appeal: "Plasma Mobile turns your phone into a fully open hacking device..."
mikedilger 9y ago
Several AOSP forks are doing good things, such as https://copperhead.co/android/ https://copperhead.co/android/. I've been using it for about a year and I really don't miss the google apps.

Freak_NL 9y ago

I would go even further and say we need a free software mobile OS.

RankingMember 9y ago
As long as it has a good UI. My experience has been that OSS can be functional, but often comes with a bad UI that turns off users.

digi_owl 9y ago

The problem is that there is a mismatch of priorities between the device manufactures (and in certain places, carriers) and us consumers.

gcb0 9y ago

it is a bad incentive loop. - people change phones every year or two. - OSS community can't keep up with driver support if they change every 6mo and are never documented, protected with NDA. - big companies writing the OS make the older hardware obsolete on purpose. - this forces people that don't want to change phones every year to do so. Back to step 1.

voltagex_ 9y ago
>- OSS community can't keep up with driver support if they change every 6mo and are never documented, protected with NDA. LineageOS seems to be doing OK (other than the terrible name). > - big companies writing the OS make the older hardware obsolete on purpose. Not writing the OS, writing the drivers and platform support (also known as the Board Support Package). I can't find the article, but at some point there was a "cut-off" for devices like the Nexus 4, largely because Qualcomm didn't provide further updates.
- gcb0 9y ago
  correct me if I am wrong but lineageOS/cyanogenMod only uses extracted binary drivers from the manufacturer.

Sylos 9y ago

The hope of the day in this space seems to be Plasma Mobile: https://plasma-mobile.org/ https://plasma-mobile.org/

alphapapa 9y ago
They should probably change their wording if they want to gain wider appeal: "Plasma Mobile turns your phone into a fully open hacking device..."

mikedilger 9y ago

Several AOSP forks are doing good things, such as https://copperhead.co/android/ https://copperhead.co/android/. I've been using it for about a year and I really don't miss the google apps.