Linux Phones

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Community about running GNU/Linux on phones. Projects like Ubuntu Touch, Plasma Mobile, PostmarketOS, Mobian etc. Either on former Android phones or hardware like the PinePhone.

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Ubuntu touch on the fairphone 4 (lemm.ee)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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It looks like ubuntu touch on the fairphone 4 is nearly perfect, and the features that don't work I won't miss. I'm very tempted to buy a second hand fairphone 4, but I can't really find much on the experience of ubuntu touch. How do you install apps? Are there repo's that I can look at? And is it just branded ubuntu touch, or will any ubuntu apps made for arm work on ubuntu touch? If anybody has some links or personal experiences they could share, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot in advance!

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[–] [email protected] -1 points 2 months ago (19 children)

Hi there, ubuntu touch is just ubuntu. It has been taken over by the community after ubuntu abandoned it iirc.

Anyway, its just linux so you can install apps and stuff that run on linux. Beware, not all apps are mobile friendly (yet).

I personally am involved in the postmarketOS microcosm (pretty much the same idea but based on alpine). Works pretty great but I cant tell you how it compares to ubuntu touch since I have no personal experience with ubuntu touch but from what I hear, its kinda cool.

If you are somewhat adept with linux you could download an emulator and check the features for yourself before you buy a phone. That way you could get an idea of the look and feel. But beware, setting up an emulator will be a lot more work than flashing a phone is.

Let me know if you need more info.

Good luck.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Does it get the same security updates then? Docs state it supports older hardware, which if secure that would be awesome

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Sort of, but no. Ubuntu Touch uses libhybris to run the original Android kernel and device drivers. It's a bit more complicated than that, but basically it is Android with a more Gnu/Linux like layer on top. This means you can run it on older hardware and the top-layer still gets some security updates, but for the most part you are stuck on the old Android parts with all the security issues.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Rough. Thanks for the info

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Of course. Many devices are mainlined and get the exact same updates as PCs.

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