“Year of the Linux Phone” has a nice ring to it.
Open source community keeps trusting Google and they keep using the Embrace, Extend, Extinguish https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguish
Linux mobile
Yea… I’m really disappointed with the timing of FuriLabs new phone which is mostly a downgrade over the previous one. I’ve been window shopping phones for a couple of months and am at a loss for what to do. Even spent some time considering a dumb flip phone that can work as a wifi-hotspot and use a small linux tablet or something for the more involved stuff, but couldn’t find a good tablet option that wasn’t huge (would still want it to fit in my pocket) or come with the same problems.
Shift phone 8 from murena?
As far as I can tell, it’s just de-googled android… It is going to have the same eventual problems as any LineageOS, e/OS/, or GrapheneOS phone will have.
Unfortunately we need to come to terms with the fact that 1) Android is not Linux after all of the bastardizations Google has done to it and the control they maintain. 2) We need hardware mfrs on board for fully Open Source drivers for mobile hardware.
Basically all of the Linux phone options I’ve looked at have been disappointing. You’ve got people making open source OS like Sailfish or PostmarketOS or UbuntuTouch, but they only work for pretty narrow (and old) hardware and they don’t get 100% functionality on basically any of the hardware. FuriLabs was the first one I’d seen claiming you could use all of the features of the hardware, but even then it is using a bunch of (basically) compatibility layers to trick android apps into running, so I don’t even know if that will work after Google gets done with their plans.
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I will literally go without a smartphone if Google does this, this is insane I would have bought an iphone if I wanted a junk device I don’t actually own.
If this effects de-googled android, I will probably start investing in Linux phones.
I would rather have a limited phone than has full freedom than one that makes everyone go through Google.
It won’t. This is for 99% of users with their Google enabled devices. It’s still shit and it will effect the 1% indirectly by the reduction of available software outside the play store.
The crazy part is this may make iOS the better alternative when considering the emergence of third-party app stores and Apple’s loosening grip on their ecosystem.
LineageOS is still a good option too, for anyone who would prefer to keep the phone they have
LineageOS is not really an alternative though, as it will still be hit by this. Please see the comment here: https://lemmy.world/post/36621884/19652276
iOS would be the better alternative, if it wasn’t for the hardware they run on. After all, Apple is infamous for their blatant planned obsolescence on their iPhones since the iPhone 6. Unfortunately, Google seems to be following Apple in this way as well since they launched an update that made the Pixel 6a’s battery so much worse than before. Therefore, we must all have a dumb phone + Linux phone set up…or something
I can agree on Apple not really having a properly supported hardware repair ecosystem, and actively working against third party repair.
But the software? When Samsung and friends had 2-4 years of security updates, Apple had almost twice that. The iPhone XS still has support, 6 years after end-of-sale, 7 years from release. Normal people can’t be expected to flash their phones with LineageOS. The situation is slightly better nowadays, but Samsung still seems to be depreciating 3 year old devices: https://endoflife.date/samsung-mobile
To add, Apple has actually been making amends regarding repairability. It’s small steps, but leagues ahead of what’s offered for popular android manufacturers, while still maintaining their IP68 ratings on most devices.
I can’t speak to how they make their parts available to third parties (seems to be a grey area), but there has been a reasonable focus with the last couple generations of iPhones that ensures the device can be repaired from either side.
Overall, the tide seems to have shifted. If you’re going to be at the mercy of a corporate giant in order to keep up with modernity, then Apple is currently holding the dimly lit torch of consumer rights.
Apple is infamous for their blatant planned obsolescence on their iPhones since the iPhone 6
They learned from it. The phone toggles itself when the battery health is at 80% max capacity, but this is toggleable. Also, the iPhone 11 still runs smooth.
They both go for the least open option. If asking for all devs registration and validation from google is viable and legally sound, apple will do the same if that’s not already in the pipe.
Both “stores” are targeted for the same issues.
Isn’t this illegal in Europe? Was that the whole point of forcing apple to allow alternative app stores?
Technically, third party app stores are allowed. Developers “only” register with google to receive a developer certificate. Isn’t apple doing the same thing in response to the EU regulations and that has been allowed?
Seems like a weasel around the requirement to get rid of the actual benefit of 3rd party stores.
I can’t believe how useless the EU regulations are.
Best part: the better names in the alt os and device scenes don’t sell in us markets.
Unless you do the legwork of flashing your own device, most of us are out of luck.
I just love a good market stranglehold.
For those in Europe, write your representatives.
Fro me f-droid’s post: https://f-droid.org/2025/09/29/google-developer-registration-decree.html
What do we propose?
Regulatory and competition authorities should look carefully at Google’s proposed activities, and ensure that policies designed to improve security are not abused to consolidate monopoly control. We urge regulators to safeguard the ability of alternative app stores and open-source projects to operate freely, and to protect developers who cannot or will not comply with exclusionary registration schemes and demands for personal information.
If you are a developer or user who values digital freedom, you can help. Write to your Member of Parliament, Congressperson or other representative, sign petitions in defense of sideloading, and contact the European Commission’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) team to express why preserving open distribution matters. By making your voice heard, you help defend not only F-Droid, but the principle that software should remain a commons, accessible and free from unnecessary corporate gatekeeping.
https://f-droid.org/2025/09/04/twif.html [^antifeatures]: F-Droid Anti-Features overview: https://f-droid.org/docs/Anti-Features/ [^howmanyusers]: How many F-Droid users are there, exactly? We don’t know, because we don’t track users or have any registration. “No user accounts, by design”: https://f-droid.org/2022/02/28/no-user-accounts-by-design.html [^sideloading]: ‘“Sideload” is a weird euphemism that the mobile duopoly came up with; it means “installing software without our permission,” which we used to just call “installing software” (because you don’t need a manufacturer’s permission to install software on your computer).’ — Pluralistic: Darth Android: https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/01/fulu/ [^playprotect]: “Google Play Protect checks your apps and devices for harmful behavior”: https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/2812853
There’s never been a more urgent time to switch to Linux on pretty much every device.
The mobile options for Linux are years out from being ready and the hardware vendors are locking them out as fast as possible.
So it would seem.
There’s generally been positive reviews for FuriLab’s FLX1 model:
- https://clehaxze.tw/gemlog/2025/07-20-flx1-actually-usable-linux-phone.gmi
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41839326
- https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1fa1ljn/furilabs_flx1/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1j46f2w/flx1_linux_phone_display_out/
- https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/03/furiphone_flx1/
Their new one, the FLX1s has 2GiB more RAM (for 8GiB, in total). I’ve heard battery gets 2 days without charge even with Android emulation.
It’s still Android kernel and drivers :/ but it is private. For Linux you’d need postmarket or one of their derivatives and they are fighting to get cameras and power under control.
prob the best we have at the moment.
edit: to be clear, I’m saying Halium is the best we have at the moment, real linux is trucking along but it’s still a long way out.
and what’s the problem with android other than google’s fuckery?
Assuming google’s fuckery doesn’t affect them, nothing.
But we’re relying on google to keep up that code and not see them as a threat. Right now AOK, but in the future that makes longevity questionable.
It’s something to be noticed and understood so there’s no surprises when the company that did no evil now does all the evil.
they can take down the code today and not much will happen, as the code is mirrored elsewhere.
Obv, they can’t take what we have, which is why for now we’re OK. The winds are shifting, though. I expect at some point, I expect android will require a deal with the devil from manufacturers. Start actively combatting linux phones.
For now, it’s a quick path to privacy, long term, we’re going to need friendly hardware
The stepping-stone would be de-googled Android like LineageOS or GrapheneOS. I think Linux is the end-game though.
What’s the best Linux phone setup these days?
Ubuntu Touch works well on my fairphone.
Very cool! I’m thinking of going for ubuntu touch, seeing as Android has proven that it’s no longer worth the time investment. Also, Fairphone 5 is my next phone if the current one dies, so it works out.
Could you share what do you really like about it? And what is your biggest gripe or letdown with it? Thanks!
It’s using Hallium, which is still using Android kernel and drivers, hopefully they can keep that up while vendors are getting increasingly antagonistic.
It is private.
If you want to run some android apps you can use waydroid, but it torches the battery.
If you want to run arm linux apps, you need to dork around with containers as the root os is RO.
I’m sitting on the fence of shelling out for a decen FP
Beats me! I’m in the process of moving banking and payment off my phone in preparation for a Linux one. These things will very likely not work on non-proprietary devices.
Reverse the question:
Which bank can be used with a linux phone?
These things will very likely not work on non-proprietary devices.
Depends on your bank. Most work on alternate OS (like GrapheneOS), and of course some don’t. https://privsec.dev/posts/android/banking-applications-compatibility-with-grapheneos/
If an app (especially bank) doesn’t work, I forward them this and try to ELI5 that their current method is flawed and less secure: https://grapheneos.org/articles/attestation-compatibility-guide
Which is fine and all, but then you still have to run a release built and signed by the grapheneos devs.
EU be like: Really? Didn’t you learn from Apple?
Have we ever lived in a more stallmanwasright.jpg time?
Ah. Well. About software. Stallman was right about software
that’s what we generally mean. he has some ideas about things other than software we are best not to give too much attention.
I never wanted him to be wrong more than right now. Except for tomorrow, it’s probably going to bé worse, tomorrow
Stallman has never been and never will be wrong.
Except when it comes to women and girls, he’s absolutely wrong
Or his views on seemingly eating toe nails right off of his feet in public.
Don’t forget about his views on sex with animals!
I sometimes like to read his political posts:
https://www.stallman.org/archives/2025-jul-oct.html
And honestly? I mostly agree with them? Like this:
ABC ordered to pay Antoinette Lattouf another $150,000 for unlawful termination over Gaza Instagram post.
But a company faced with enormous threats wielded by fascist officials who demand that certain views be suppressed will treat such penalties as the normal cost of sucking up.
The [Israeli] army says that HAMAS is using apartment buildings for “surveillance”, and has bombed some of those buildings to destroy them. Based on this logic, the army might bomb every tall building in Gaza City with the large bombs that the US is providing
He has some questionable beliefs as well, though for unusual reasons. He accepts non-binary people but refuses to use they/them pronouns because he doesn’t like the ambiguity of singular/plural pronouns. So he has invented the neopronouns per/pers to refer to singular non-binary persons. I genuinely think no other person on this planet could hold this opinion.
I criticized singular they/them for increasing language ambiguity and suggested replacing it with something new like xe/xer multiple times. The reply is usually a shitstorm and downvote tornado. I’ve given up on that front.
I genuinely think no other person on this planet could hold this opinion.
Eh, I’m pretty close to this opinion.
A family member came out as non-binary, and I don’t like to use they/them (for the same reason as Stallman), but I also think creating my own pronouns is more offensive, so I just use their first name, unless I can’t easily avoid it (like this sentence). I’m not trying to be offensive, I just don’t like they/them as angular pronouns. I also don’t like “you” as both singular and plural, but I’m also not ready to use “y’all”, so I refer to second person groups without the pronoun (if feasible).
On a related note, I also think gender is a social construct and not actually “real.” Sex exists because it’s a biological thing, but it shouldn’t be directly tied to your role in society. To change my mind, I need empirical evidence that there’s some unique difference between men and women (brain wave patterns?) that aligns groups of non-binary people or aligns trans people with people of the opposite sex. I personally don’t think this exists, and gender fluidity is more a symptom of a culture that isn’t well equipped to handle people who don’t nicely fit into a bucket. I think gender is a useful metaphor for what’s going on, and I absolutely support people fighting for using it to get the recognition they need, but I don’t think it’s an actual, scientifically proven thing.
The only real difference is that I use first names to refer to non-binary people’s first names more frequently than to binary people. I hope that doesn’t offend anyone, I just really don’t like using the same pronoun for both singular and plural.
Okay that’s all cool or cool-and-stubbornly-autistic. But he has some other opinions that are not, about consent and age.
So the blanket ‘fuck yeah, stallman!’ Doesn’t really fly anymore.
Hasn’t he admitted to changing his opinion after learning about the effects on children? I’m not in the loop about this.
But yeah, you definitely shouldn’t treat his words as gospel. A lot of questionable-at-best stuff in there.
Ok, let’s say he’s right only when he talks about software.
That should do it. I hope.
EDIT: well and hardware too I guess.
EDIT2: oh and paid public toilets.
Unless he’s championing paedophilia and bestiality, which he has done on a number of occasions. Or being an absolute creep with women, which he’s also done.
🪴
🥗
I am really glad to see these articles popping up now. Since the news broke a week back or so it was suspiciously quiet about this, despite lots of negative comments here.
I’m frustrated that the article didn’t link to the “decree.” Do you know where it is?
EDIT: nvm think I found it
https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2025/08/elevating-android-security.html
Hopefully they go to court to get an injunction. Hopefully, they also go to the powers that be in the EU, those same powers have been so focused on the Apple App Store they failed to take into account Google can do something like this with the Play Store. It would be a shame for the F-Droid project to end but it is completely avoidable.
To be fair, up until recently, there was no clear indication that Google would do this. Google made it so that installing non-play store apps was slightly more difficult, Apple made it pretty much impossible. So Apple was a pretty logical target at that point (and honestly, up until then, they had pretty much gotten a free ride - think of the default browser issue in Windows, no one every bothered with Apple).
What we can do is complain. Loudly.
Degoogle where possible. Fuck these assholes.
And i guess prepare.
We can also do that.
Complain without doing something is worse than doing something like the other person suggested, though.
Complaining tells yhe company this isn’t popular. Complaining while talking about alternatives is helping others towards doing something, and giving the idea that it will be a net negativeove for their hegemony,even if you don’t do shit.
My job doesn’t allow me to use a jailbroken/rooted device
So if/when this goes through I’ll be switching to iOS.
Given the choice between two closed platforms, I’ll pick the one that ostensibly says they’re privacy focused instead of the one actively enshittifying their product.
I obviously don’t know your situation, but using your own phone for work is a bit of a red flag. If you’re required to use a phone for work, ideally the job should provide you one that meets their requirements.
Yeah, a mandatory work phone (where the employer can define requirements) should be purchased and funded by the employer.
Exactly.
My work only requires that I have their MFA. They don’t care if it’s rooted, it just needs to allow me to login. I’m guessing if I pushed back enough, they’d find an alternative.
I must assume they mean no use it for their business that they own. Otherwise I’ll just be sad.
Your job can say what phone you have? I don’t get it
The moment my work says what phone I need is the moment I demand they provide a phone for me.
You should just get a cheap phone to use for work. No reason to have their software on your own device. That will undoubtedly be used for creepy purposes.
And the obvious annoyance of having two phones
Still worth it. The amount of time you will save by not having junk on your phone slowing it down will make up for it.
How does google plan to enforce this? Will they disable side-loading for any app that isn’t registered with google?
that’s exactly what they are going to do. on every device released by certified partners.
https://www.android.com/certified/partners/
unless they change their mind on this, android will soon be a walled garden like the iphone is.
@AlteredEgo
Yes, pretty much. You need to sign the app with a key registered with Google.
@ardi60
This is why I didn’t bother switching to GOS, Lineage, Calyx etc despite being sick of Apple’s anti-foss monopoly — marketed as Privacy™️ and Security™️ — for years.
The late stage capitalism of western oligarchies indicated that Google’s rug pull of AOSP was an imminent inevitability. After already having to change my services and workflows multiple times over the last 2 decades — despite careful analysis and forethought — due to services ever changing value propositions, acquisitions, and all other forms of enshittification, I’m at the point where I won’t bother wasting energy on 99% of digital products unless they’re open source and I can run them indefinitely on my own Linux server.
The more dependent you grow on digital products, the more interdependent they become, and the more time and effort is required to replace or substitute them.
This is why I didn’t bother switching to GOS, Lineage, Calyx etc despite being sick of Apple’s anti-foss monopoly — marketed as Privacy™️ and Security™️ — for years.
I’m at the point where I won’t bother wasting energy on 99% of digital products unless they’re open source and I can run them indefinitely on my own Linux server.
but… this doesn’t make any sense. the roms you brought up can be still used indefinitely, they will still be able to install any apps. maybe except when they have installed the official google suite, but that’s always a user choice in the popular android rom world, none of these preinstall it, and microg users are not affected
This is why I didn’t bother switching to GOS, Lineage, Calyx etc despite being sick of Apple’s anti-foss monopoly — marketed as Privacy™️ and Security™️ — for years.
Bullshit. If you liked so much your freedom and privacy you would have many opportunities to use open source ROMs. You chose to stay on your iPhone because it was easy.
Also absolutely not believing you when you say that you anticipated the rug pull and chose to “not bother” for that reason. What a poor excuse for staying and supporting the closed ecosystem of Apple.
After already having to change my services and workflows multiple times over the last 2 decades
I can’t believe someone who has been for years on an iPhone would pretend they are an ardent defender of freedom and open source.
Nice nick!
What stops those open source projects having that same rugpull? AOSP was open source and for a long time could be installed on one’s phone indefinitely.
You could argue ownership, but if Audacity can be bought then so can nearly anything.
I’m out of the loop, what’s that about Audacity? Looks like they still have a github repo with very recent activity and Wikipedia says their trademark was acquired by a company in 2021.
As far as I remember, Audacity’s maintainers, previously just some volunteers with no organisation, decided to sell the ownership of the project to a company with some guitar platform. Nothing changed at first, they employed the maintainers to work on the same project they were already working on.
Then they started adding controversial telemetry and some soft forks appeared. I vaguely also remember hearing that there’s some contract that the company owns the source code, so relicensing to a proprietary licence is easy and possible in future. All the new software the company launches is proprietary, and there’s signs they want to tie it all together into a single suite.
Nothing majorly bad has happened to Audacity, yet. But decisions are no longer community driven, as shown by the telemetry drama. I fear it’s a matter of time.
I should probably add: if it becomes proprietary, the remaining soft fork will likely die. Turns out very few people have the technical knowledge for Audacity.
If you want to read the telemetry controversy/drama, I found this one I’d read years ago: https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835
I remember feeling a bit bad for the maintainers. There’s a lot of complaining for a minor and optional change, but at the same time it’s interesting that they added telemetry anyway. (Not unmodified however)
