[HN Gopher] Ask HN: Know any non Librem5 PinePhone for Mobile Li...
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Ask HN: Know any non Librem5 PinePhone for Mobile Linux? Legacy
devices too!
I have not seen any love for the Cosmo's mobile linux hardware. It
has much better specs than the Pine and Librem offerings, has a
headphone jack unlike the Fairphone 4, and seems criminally
unmentioned. https://store.planetcom.co.uk/products/gemini-pda-1
https://store.planetcom.co.uk/products/cosmo-communicator Older
Android devices supported by PostMarketOS are also never mentioned,
such as these Xiaomi devices, with better specs and will be better
devices for general usage, I see GNU/Linux on Android as the
natural response to my generally seen Linux usage (longevity of
hardware and software support for devices you already own, rather
than buying new hardware to run linux).
https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Devices
https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Xiaomi_Poco_F1_(xiaomi-
beryllium)
https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Xiaomi_Redmi_2_(xiaomi-wt88047)
I've used Ubuntu Touch with supported devices through Hallium ase
well. If any of your old devices support these or you want to talk
about other Linux mobile hardware, please do, I think there is too
much bias and assumptions that only those 2 are "Linux phones".
https://devices.ubuntu-touch.io/
Author : GhettoComputers
Score : 21 points
Date : 2021-11-28 21:14 UTC (1 hours ago)
| yosamino wrote:
| What a coincidence. I have a Samsung Galaxy III Mini in front of
| me that I installed Postmarket OS on the other day. It's so
| _satisfying_ to be able to view this phone as a normal computing
| device instead of a locked down phone.
|
| And the installation process was so easy. No fiddling around
| "rooting" a phone - just "pmbootstrap init" and answer a few
| questions.
|
| I've not actually used it as a phone yet, so for me so far the
| usefullness is limited, but I read it works, and I can write
| graphics to the framebuffer. Of my own phone! How cool is that!
|
| It also boots into a variety of desktops in various states of
| usability.
| znpy wrote:
| Serious question: can you make phone calls or send/receive
| texts with pmOS?
| SahAssar wrote:
| The Poco does not have working calls or camera, the redmi seems a
| lot more reasonable though.
|
| As for the cosmos, from what I've heard their linux support is
| lackluster (as in non-mainline and with a bunch of functionality
| missing) but that might be outdated. Anyone has first-hand
| experience?
| AndroidKitKat wrote:
| I bought a OnePlus 6 for this exact reason. I think a OnePlus
| 5(t) would work better since the notch gets in the way on the
| 6(t)!
| vlmutolo wrote:
| Keep an eye out for the Pinephone Pro.
|
| https://www.pine64.org/pinephonepro/
|
| It's still not crazy-fast, but it's definitely more competitive
| than the original PinePhone.
|
| > Rockchip RK3399S 64bit SoC - 2x A72 and 4x A53 CPU cores @
| 1.5GHz
|
| > ARM Mali T860 4x core GPU @ 500MHz
|
| > 4GB LPDDR4 @ 800MHz
|
| > 128GB eMMC flash storage
|
| > Optional micro SD card (SDXC up-to 2TB)
|
| > 6'' 1440 x 720 in-cell IPS with Gorilla Glass 4(tm)
|
| > 3MP Sony IMX258 main camera
|
| > 5MP OmniVision OV5640 front-facing camera
|
| > Samsung J7 form-factor 3000mAh
|
| > $399
| fsflover wrote:
| > I have not seen any love for the Cosmo's mobile linux hardware.
|
| This is because they lack the main advantage of L5 an PP: all
| free drivers allowing to run mainline Linux kernel (or install
| other operating systems) and therefore guaranteeing lifetime
| updates. Lack of planned obsolescence and verifiable security.
| Same with the other hardware.
|
| More reasons: https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-
| wiki/-/wikis/Freque....
| GhettoComputers wrote:
| That isn't a selling point when Google has been added mainline
| support for the hardware since Android 8.0 with project treble
| and now plans to use a generic kernel and upstream to mainline
| Linux for android. Lots of Qualcomm chips already have mainline
| support. Kernel support as a selling point matters little when
| the hardware both companies sell can't function properly, isn't
| currently supported, its proof mainline linux support doesn't
| really mean a functional device, or real support, it is an
| empty promise and preys on hope that the long outdated hardware
| they sell new devices with might eventually might work with
| modern software of the future one day.
|
| https://www.xda-developers.com/android-project-mainline-modu...
|
| https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Android-...
| fsflover wrote:
| Are the Qualcomm drivers FLOSS or will we have to rely on
| their willingness to update them for future kernels?
| yjftsjthsd-h wrote:
| > the Cosmo's mobile linux hardware
|
| I haven't used a Cosmo; _perhaps_ it 's better. I do, however,
| own a Gemini (the first generation of that series), which is the
| _reason_ I don 't own a Cosmo.
|
| > https://store.planetcom.co.uk/products/gemini-pda-1
|
| This is actually a great example with which to answer your
| question. So this device, the Gemini, sells today, in 2021, for
| $680.00 (or right now $400 with a black Friday deal). The most
| recent Android version for it is an Android 8.1 image from
| 2019[0], using a kernel that doesn't even try to match upstream,
| also last touched in 2019[1]. Now, they ship an official Debian
| image, which _is_ super cool! Of course, it still uses the same
| ancient out-of-tree kernel, and they somehow managed to ship an
| official image _with apt broken_. To reiterate: This is the best
| software officially available for that device, which they _are
| still selling for $680_. Okay, so forget the vendor; maybe others
| have filled in its failures? Well... XDA is dead [2], and PMOS is
| doing _better_ but the device is still mostly broken[3] and
| running the same ancient kernel[4].
|
| So: Having owned a Gemini, I decided that unless I had some
| specific reason to think the situation was going to be better, I
| wasn't going to waste money on another Planet Computers product.
| And to your general question, AFAIK this is the reason in general
| why Pine and Librem as such a big deal: The software doesn't
| suck; you have an actual hope for getting updates and things
| working nicely. Hallium might let you use something better than
| Android, but it still kinda sucks because it just lets you bolt a
| nicer userspace to the awful base that the vendors ship.
|
| [0] https://support.planetcom.co.uk/index.php/Gemini_Firmware
|
| [1] https://github.com/dguidipc/gemini-android-kernel-3.18
|
| [2] https://forum.xda-developers.com/f/planet-gemini-pda-roms-
| ke...
|
| [3]
| https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Planet_Computers_Gemini_P...
|
| [4]
| https://gitlab.com/postmarketOS/pmaports/-/blob/master/devic...
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(page generated 2021-11-28 23:00 UTC)