We need go start talking about the year of the GNU/Linux phone

And so it begins...

I have a GNU/Linux phone I carry in my other pocket. Here are the biggest issues I can see:

1. Driver support for components in the mainline kernel (lets you install any distro and things like camera, Bluetooth just work)
2. Power management; turns out it is a hard technical problem to have your phone suspend to save energy, while being awake enough to know what and when to turn back on to receive chats/calls, playback music, etc
3. Cameras have a lot of stuff beyond drivers happening behind the scenes these days in software that would need to be developed, especially given it is a big reason people choose their phones for
4. Phone certification is tough, this has stopped even companies like Fairphone from shipping their devices worldwide, I imagine even harder for a device like the Purism Librem 5 where you can literally upgrade Wi-Fi, BT, and cellular generations like a gameboy cartridge
5. App ecosystems take a while to build up, it is a chicken/egg scenario. I think things are in a useable state for all the default apps an iPhone has, but if you want Uber, Uber Eats, you either have to draw even more power essentially running Android via Waydroid, or use a typically more janky web app that may be missing some features

Gamers Bay of course with Steam and Bazzite. If there's a spot for mobile, Mobian & Postmarket are both top tier

Mobile GNU/Linux is getting better, but I think it is 5-10 years out from what's needed. I suppose people need to adopt Desktop first. The nice thing is you can install Android apps including Google Play on it natively, and they appear in your app drawer like a regular app

Bing Copilot is also clearly Zionist

Skit based off of Dude, Where's My Car? https://youtu.be/oqwzuiSy9y0

Google has no incentive to walk back, especially given what they saw Apple has been able to get away with on their end. And as we've seen with AOSP publishing delays, device tree information restrictions, locked bootloaders, they are making it increasingly hard for Android to be an OS that can be forked and installed on devices, let alone for you to install your own software.

The community ought to prepare for the realities of this, and put mitigation measures in place. Valve saw the similar direction Windows is going years ago, and made the same decision: GNU/Linux is the next best truly open/free-as-in-freedom experience, and we should all aim to use and improve that ecosystem on smaller form factors. Waydroid/ATL can act as temporary bridges for both developers and users alike while native binaries are ported.

If you're making new apps, target to develop with qt/qml + rust so it can run on the only GNU/Linux equivalent of Android WearOS, AsteroidOS. This let's you deploy one codebase on watches, phones, tablets, and computers screen sizes with a convergent design.

Valetudo

Redmine is the top self-hosted alternative to Jira

Steam could make this happen faster if more of their user base requested the ability to play (x86 compatible) Android games on their Deck.

Tailscale is not American, it's Canadian 🍁

Yes you can install it on any Linux device, especially since it's a convenient flatpak. Any desktop apps on mobile, and mobile apps on desktop. Tux does not discriminate 🐧

They moved the repo to be back home, and upgraded the database to v2 https://github.com/syncthing/syncthing/releases/tag/v2.0.9

A GUI option in the Settings app to limit charging to 80%, extending the life of the device.

Yo dawg, we heard you like virtual machines, so we put virtual machines in your virtual machines, so you can run Linux on your Android on your Linux

Joke's on them, my phone runs GNU/Linux and has hardware kill switches for the mic/camera and for the cellular baseband which I use while at home, instead using Wi-Fi calling

Because they're DRM free, they're super easy to install too! Another install method is Heroic

Wooo! I am ready to purchase the Steam Machine whenever it comes out and install CachyOS on it. Can't easily install KDE Bigscreen + Waydroid TV on SteamOS. Lifetime software & security updates regardless. I expect with the AI bubble it will be at least $1k unfortunately, and won't be available in white at launch.

Then the Nvidia Shield + SSD + Game Native on the main floor where the Steam Machine will go, will replace the Raspberry Pi in the bedroom, the Raspberry Pi will become another MotionEyeOS security camera, and the main desktop will remain connected downstairs. It is the perfect middle ground between the Shield and Desktop PC. And the Steam Controller is the best controller for couch/bed gaming. Only thing that would make it better is a detachable keyboard on the bottom, but maybe there will be aftermarket Bluetooth ones.

My siblings and I have about 2000 games between us with family sharing and on other platforms (shout out to [email protected] & SteamDB sale tracking for helping us get a lot of the way there), it will be more appealing to play multiplayer games there in the living room. And that's not including all of the legally available retro console games from the Internet Archive via IAGL for "research". Yes, it'll be more than a PS5 or Xbox One X 1 S 720 or whatever they call the latest generation, but no console could ever match this experience; we even have PS and Xbox "exclusives" for sale on Steam these days. What a time to be alive!