3 ms·

> full hw accelerated Linux on your Android as an app At this point, you can just run full GNU/Linux on a phone. Sent from my Librem 5.

nsonha 2y ago
on "some" phones
kennywinker 2y ago
There is a unique use case for running linux as an app vs as the base OS. Seems to me it's a lot like the difference between booting linux and using WSL to run linux inside windows.
- fsflover 2y ago
  "Unique" as in "reuse my old Android", which may not be secure after the support has ended. I see no other use cases.
bsimpson 2y ago
"Is it any good?" is its own question. I went down this rabbit hole trying to see how to make the non-gaming side of a Steam handheld feel like a tablet, and was surprised/disappointed at how spartan the touch-based Linux ecosystem is. There are half a dozen projects trying to make it happen, but they're all really small and mostly independent. There's one guy working on GNOME for mobile, one working on the Maui system for Nitrux…. Canonical gave up on Ubuntu for mobile, so some guy revived that. I haven't been able to try Plasma Mobile 6 because it's not packaged for NixOS, but v5 wasn't usable. Phosh was poorly packaged as well, so I didn't invest much effort there. Making a good touch UI is a ton of work, but the space so far seems to be mostly filled with people doing hobby projects (or closed ones like Sailfish).
- fsflover 2y ago
  > Phosh was poorly packaged as well, so I didn't invest much effort there. Phosh comes with some OSes by default: https://phosh.mobi/faq/ https://phosh.mobi/faq/ > "Is it any good?" is its own question. Depends on your needs. Daily driver for me.
talldayo 2y ago
For a lot of handsets that don't have an unlocked bootloader this is literally not true, even if it does have working Linux drivers.
discordance 2y ago
Yeah great, although I am keen to see if this eventually will run on something like an Amazon Fire Stick or one of those old Androids in my drawer.
- fsflover 2y ago
  It won't, due the closed specs and proprietary drivers.
roywashere 2y ago
Sure, but most people might need their phone to do banking apps or apps like WhatsApp, Spotify or Maps which are not available on your phone. This allows people to run GNU apps on their android phone so they can have both
- fsflover 2y ago
  You can do it with Waydroid (if your bank doesn't force you into the duopoly, at which point you should complain or switch). See also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40714592 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40714592
  - 4ggr0 2y ago
    > at which point you should complain or switch if only switching banks for such things was easy and realistically doable... hate that banking apps are such a hassle to live with, but i do kinda get why they're very protective.
    - fsflover 2y ago
      > i do kinda get why they're very protective. I am not sure if a typical Android with a bunch of (preinstalled!) crappy apps is more secure than a GNU/Linux phone relying solely on FLOSS repos. Changing banks can be easier or harder, depending on your country. People do it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40678203 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40678203
      - 4ggr0 2y ago
        isn't it just about banks not wanting to open-source their apps or connection details for supposed security or other reasons? > changing banks can be easier or harder well the process of changing banks is not the problem, i did leave UBS and Credit Suisse a couple of years ago. but now i'm with a bank i specifically chose because they're actually not financing wars or other unethical things, instead of just saying so for greenwashing purposes. this aspect is more important to me than them open-sourcing their infrastructure.

nsonha 2y ago

on "some" phones

kennywinker 2y ago

There is a unique use case for running linux as an app vs as the base OS. Seems to me it's a lot like the difference between booting linux and using WSL to run linux inside windows.

fsflover 2y ago
"Unique" as in "reuse my old Android", which may not be secure after the support has ended. I see no other use cases.

bsimpson 2y ago

"Is it any good?" is its own question. I went down this rabbit hole trying to see how to make the non-gaming side of a Steam handheld feel like a tablet, and was surprised/disappointed at how spartan the touch-based Linux ecosystem is. There are half a dozen projects trying to make it happen, but they're all really small and mostly independent. There's one guy working on GNOME for mobile, one working on the Maui system for Nitrux…. Canonical gave up on Ubuntu for mobile, so some guy revived that. I haven't been able to try Plasma Mobile 6 because it's not packaged for NixOS, but v5 wasn't usable. Phosh was poorly packaged as well, so I didn't invest much effort there. Making a good touch UI is a ton of work, but the space so far seems to be mostly filled with people doing hobby projects (or closed ones like Sailfish).

fsflover 2y ago
> Phosh was poorly packaged as well, so I didn't invest much effort there. Phosh comes with some OSes by default: https://phosh.mobi/faq/ https://phosh.mobi/faq/ > "Is it any good?" is its own question. Depends on your needs. Daily driver for me.

talldayo 2y ago

For a lot of handsets that don't have an unlocked bootloader this is literally not true, even if it does have working Linux drivers.

discordance 2y ago

Yeah great, although I am keen to see if this eventually will run on something like an Amazon Fire Stick or one of those old Androids in my drawer.

fsflover 2y ago
It won't, due the closed specs and proprietary drivers.

roywashere 2y ago

Sure, but most people might need their phone to do banking apps or apps like WhatsApp, Spotify or Maps which are not available on your phone. This allows people to run GNU apps on their android phone so they can have both

fsflover 2y ago
You can do it with Waydroid (if your bank doesn't force you into the duopoly, at which point you should complain or switch). See also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40714592 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40714592
- 4ggr0 2y ago
  > at which point you should complain or switch if only switching banks for such things was easy and realistically doable... hate that banking apps are such a hassle to live with, but i do kinda get why they're very protective.
  - fsflover 2y ago
    > i do kinda get why they're very protective. I am not sure if a typical Android with a bunch of (preinstalled!) crappy apps is more secure than a GNU/Linux phone relying solely on FLOSS repos. Changing banks can be easier or harder, depending on your country. People do it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40678203 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40678203
    - 4ggr0 2y ago
      isn't it just about banks not wanting to open-source their apps or connection details for supposed security or other reasons? > changing banks can be easier or harder well the process of changing banks is not the problem, i did leave UBS and Credit Suisse a couple of years ago. but now i'm with a bank i specifically chose because they're actually not financing wars or other unethical things, instead of just saying so for greenwashing purposes. this aspect is more important to me than them open-sourcing their infrastructure.