> Why do we have to beg Google to keep Android open?
Because Google and Apple have put themselves between us and everything else.
Until we manage to replace them (by lobbying to everything including governments against them, and by working towards making the alternatives usable), we unfortunately have to resort to this. I'd even say we are entitled to this because we never asked for Google and Apple to become compulsory, they decided this.
I would personally be able to switch to Linux mobile today because I don't rely on anything proprietary (except the interrail app occasionally, damn them - but possibly waydroid would work for this)… if only there was usable and reliable hardware that could run the mainline kernel: decent battery life, decent picture quality, decent GPS, decent calls (especially emergency calls even if I haven't needed to actually make one so far, finger crossed, and Signal would do for most other situations actually).
I've daily-driven the PinePhone for a year. Call quality is awful and calls are awfully unreliable, and SMS are quite unreliable as well. Too bad for a phone. Unfortunately the phone took a big rain and now its modem is unreliable and doesn't come back up very often, but that's something a phone will likely endure in its life. Pictures are awful. GPS never worked well on my regular PinePhone. It somewhat worked on the Pinephone Pro until it died because it overheated. Linux hardware support is okayish, it was nice to run completely free software which was my main motivation for trying it but the hardware is crap to the point of being unusable serious.
The FP5 can apparently run PostmarketOS quite well. It would make an awesome Linux mobile. Camera and calls only partially work though [1]. And that's the main features of a phone.
Linux mobile itself it becoming quite decent (if one can do without the proprietary apps), what we really need is good hardware running it. Then we can begin to imagine a world with it having a decent usage share.
[1] https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Fairphone_5_(fairphone-fp...
Did you consider Librem 5? The hardware is much better, calls etc work fine.
> I've daily-driven the PinePhone for a year.
Which OS? Did you try SXMo?
The Librem 5 is awfully outdated now (and so I won't buy it today because I'd worry about it becoming e-waste fast), doesn't have a good battery life, is very pricey, and I'd worry about call reliability (I have no doubt it can be made to work, but reliably, from sleep?).
I'm sure it's way better than the PinePhone, but the Librem 5 is definitely not suitable for the general public, even without considering the Linux mobile part.
> Which OS?
Mobian and postmarketOS
> Did you try SXMo?
Yes, not my cup of tea. I'm happy with a stable Plasma or Phosh; at this point, the GUI is not a concern at all for me. SXMO is a nice project but it will never target the general public, and I think we need to target the general public because I wish the general public's computing were free. It's nice that nerds can be free but it's also not good enough.
> The Librem 5 is awfully outdated now
https://puri.sm/posts/the-danger-of-focusing-on-specs/
> doesn't have a good battery life
It's far from great but you can change the battery on the go. Look, you can't fight for anything without making any compromises.
> you can fight for anything
I suppose your mean't you "can't".
I know, m'y life is full of compromises because of my various political opinions.
> https://puri.sm/posts/the-danger-of-focusing-on-specs/
I agree and I intend to keep my current phone at least ten years (and I hope it will be able to run Linux at some point, it's very close!), but the Librem was released with outdated specs and that was 5 years ago. It was released with outdated specs because then current hardware was not free software friendly. However, producing outdated hardware today is a huge environmental concern for me.
That current hardware is non-free software friendly is a huge concern as well, and both concerns go by hand: we are absolutely building huge piles of e-waste just because of proprietary / closed hardware.
Anyway; the Librem 5 has been a fantastic thing for the development of Linux mobile. We also won't go anywhere with phones such as the Librem 5 to make Linux mobile a reality for the general public.
Fair enough. See also: https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/docs/community-wiki/-/wikis/F...
> I suppose your mean't you "can't".
Thanks, yes, fixed.
Interesting link, thanks for sharing!