4 ms·
Are Linux phones viable? Eg even the librem 5 seems like not workable as a daily driver.
by canadiantim 1y ago
Are Linux phones viable? Eg even the librem 5 seems like not workable as a daily driver.
- mixmastamyk 1y agoLibrem 5 was good enough for a few years. Too old to buy now at the price they're still charging however.
- fsflover 1y agoWhy is it too old? See also: https://puri.sm/posts/the-danger-of-focusing-on-specs/ https://puri.sm/posts/the-danger-of-focusing-on-specs/
- mixmastamyk 1y agoIt’s a decade out of date, and can’t keep up with my EOL iPhone 6s. Charging $700 for that is unacceptable. I have hope for the furiphone.
- fsflover 1y agoThis is a quite misleading statement, since Librem 5 is still supported, will forever be supported and always had features that no other phone has, like true convergence and user ownership. You should clarify what you mean by "can't keep up with" if you want to argue that.
- mixmastamyk 1y agoNot really, my 6s is snappy when running apps, even heavy ones like (unfortunately) a browser with a webgl page. Also been revised 5-10 times. My pinephone had user ownership but didn’t work well.
- fsflover 1y agoTry to run SXMo on your Pinephone. It's "just" software optimization. NoScript makes Firefox fast enough.
- mixmastamyk 1y agoOk, I'll try if/when I dig it up again. Flashing from brick mode took me an hour in the past. I'm not expecting the camera or phone to actually work either, so not sure what the experiment gets me for the time invested.
- fsflover 1y agoThe camera and calls have been working fine for me on Pinephone since a couple years ago or longer (and not only on SXMo). Perhaps you may have a faulty unit? SXMo makes the interface unbelievably snappy, including playing videos, maps and more. You can find example videos on their website: https://sxmo.org/ https://sxmo.org/
- guywithahat 1y agoThey were all too slow and buggy in my experience to use; basic functionality like text or camera was consistently broken or buggy, and it took way too long to load.
- cosmic_cheese 1y agoThe speed issue could in the short term be bruteforced with stronger hardware, but as far as I'm aware there’s no Linux phone out there with anything approaching what one might consider “strong” hardware. It’s a bit puzzling because there’s Chinese companies like Retroid and AYN pumping out Snapdragon 8 Gen 2/3 handheld gaming devices that the community has ported Linux to, with working graphics acceleration and everything. I doubt these companies are using fully bespoke mainboards, because most of their components are borrowed from existing smartphones. Seems like some company could stick one of these Snapdragon boards into a phone chassis and have a reasonably compelling Linux phone.
- bsder 1y ago> It’s a bit puzzling because there’s Chinese companies like Retroid and AYN pumping out Snapdragon 8 Gen 2/3 There is no path from "I made a cellular phone" to "I can place calls" that doesn't involve tens of millions of dollars paid to the gatekeeping cellular carriers. Without the equivalent of Carterfone for cellular, this will never change.
- charcircuit 1y agoYes, Android has billions of users and is wildly successful.
- fsflover 1y agoLibrem 5 works fine as my daily driver.