 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 825, 29 July 2019 |
Welcome to this year's 30th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
There are a lot of different Linux-based projects in the world, each with their own vision of what an operating system should be and what features it should provide. This week we talk about a wide range of distributions that fill many different roles, from mobile computing, to off-line desktop machines, to freedom-focused projects, to enterprise-level solutions. We begin with a review of Endless OS, a streamlined desktop distribution from a company that sells Linux laptops. We also share a review this week of UBports, a community-run project which has continued development of Canonical's Ubuntu Touch operating system. Read on to find out how UBports runs on a Nexus 5 Android phone. We ask you to let us know your thoughts on running GNU/Linux on mobile devices in our Opinion Poll. In our News section we link to a discussion Fedora developers are having about supporting CPU optimizations and legacy hardware support. Plus we link to a questions and answers session with Red Hat's CTO, Chris Wright. Project Trident is launching a stable branch, with a stable ABI and OpenRC, and we link to further details on the new branch. The gNewSense project has been quiet recently and is now looking for a new maintainer and we link to a mailing list discussion on the project's changing leadership. Plus we are pleased to share the releases of the past week and list the torrents we are seeding. We wish you all a fantastic week and happy reading!
Content:
- Review: Endless OS 3.6
- News: Fedora developers discuss optimizations, gNewSense maintainer stepping down, Chris Wright answers questions about Red Hat, Project Trident offers stable branch, Linux can be shipped with a headers module
- Technology review: UBports 16.04 on a Nexus 5
- Released last week
- Torrent corner: Bicom, GParted, KDE neon, Robolinux, Volumio
- Opinion poll: GNU/Linux phones in 2019
- New distributions: PakOS, Delinux, TROM-Jaro
- Reader comments
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (22MB) and MP3 (16MB) formats.
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| Feature Story (by Ivan Sanders) |
Endless OS 3.6
It has been more than two years since we reviewed Endless OS, so we wanted to see what is new about the system. From their website: "Endless OS is a free, easy-to-use operating system preloaded with over 100 apps, making it useful from the moment you turn it on. Explore what makes Endless OS different, intuitive, and powerful."
There are two main versions of Endless OS that you can download - the Basic and Full versions. The Full version is also available in English, Spanish, French, Indonesian, Portuguese, Thai, and Vietnamese. The main difference is that the Full version of the operating system is intended for installation onto machines that have little or no Internet connection. The Full version of Endless OS comes packed with all of their own packaged informational and educational materials. These include packages for all types of subjects ranging from animals to physics; over 50,000 Wikipedia articles and other video lessons are included. I used the Basic version of Endless OS for my review.
Endless OS 3.6.0 -- Browsing Wikipedia resources
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Endless OS is built from Debian, but there is not much connection to the parent distro. Endless OS utilizes OSTree, which is "an upgrade system for Linux-based operating systems that performs atomic upgrades of complete filesystem trees." As a fairly intermediate Linux user, I still don't completely understand what OSTree is, but I do understand that Endless OS utilizes Flatpaks as their primary package system and Flatpaks are intended to complement OSTree. There is no way, that I found, to use traditional APT commands or install .deb files. That being said, I was exceptionally surprised at how much software was in the Flathub repository and I was impressed at how well that software worked when I installed it and how well they integrated into Endless OS.
Installation of the distro was a breeze, but also very unorthodox as far as Linux distro installations go. Booting up the media from USB, the user has the option to try Endless OS or go straight into the installation. The installation portion only lets you erase your hard drive and your operating system and install Endless, with Endless OS taking control of your computer. I was okay with this to give the distro a proper review, but I know many users prefer to dual boot or partition their hard drives manually. The Endless OS installation process does not allow any partitioning, and the filesystem is only installed onto one disk. This is a big problem for me. I prefer to put my root partition on my SSD and my home partition on my HDD, but Endless OS only utilized my SSD. I am not sure why Endless OS does this, and I have read that OSTree allows manual partitioning, as in Fedora Silverblue, as well as dual boot, but not Endless OS. Endless OS tries to be as simple as possible to reach the widest audience, and this may have something to do with their partitioning scheme. I was able to mount my HDD after installation using gnome-disks and setting up auto-mount, but I was never able to get it to function as my home partition the way I wanted it to.
Endless OS 3.6.0 -- The Endless desktop with icons
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After installation, I was pleasantly surprised to see my wi-fi worked out of the box. This is not always the case, as in when I install Debian or Manjaro. Usually I have to blacklist a module or install specific drivers, but not in the case of Endless OS. I immediately noticed how quick and seamless Endless OS operated. It is very snappy and responsive.
Endless OS is locked down. It is important to remember that Endless is a company. The sell their own hardware with Endless OS installed on it and they market towards communities that may not have access to modern computers, money to buy them, or very good infrastructure. They lock down the OS to prevent breakage; probably the same reason they went with OSTree. Someone at Endless may have had a bad experience with Linux and didn't want that experience to happen to their users. For people who have never used Linux or people who have nearly no access to computers, this is probably a great solution. As a Linux user who likes to manage their OS, I hated the locked down system. I was surprised they give the user access to the terminal and sudo.
Endless OS 3.6.0 -- The Chrome Discover centre
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The software center is very straight forward and easy to use. Clicking on Chrome quickly installed Chrome (it did not come pre-installed but was an icon on the desktop). I had some hiccups installing Firefox, but I was able to accomplish the installation through the terminal using "sudo flatpak install firefox". The start page on Chrome is an interesting Endless OS "Discover" page that offers a number of links to educational materials, social networks, and news. To my surprise, Adblock Plus was a pre-installed extension on Chrome. Considering Google and Chrome's new fear of ad blocking software, I wonder how long that will last as a default. The Wikipedia front-end software from Endless OS is very nice and provides an exceptional educational experience across a wide variety of subjects. One frustration I had with the software center was that I had to enter my password many times for some application installations.
Endless OS 3.6.0 -- The software centre
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The desktop environment on Endless OS is a customized GNOME fork and gives a simple experience. Right clicking offers no functionality and the classic "Start" style button in the corner switches between showing your last app and showing the desktop, it is not a launcher or menu. Alt-tab offers a view of your applications in a pretty standard GNOME way. The desktop environment reminded me of Android in the way the applications are seemingly laid out on the desktop. This environment may be optimized for touch screens, but I do not use a touch screen so I cannot ttell you if that is the case, but it appears this would be a good use for the desktop.
Endless OS 3.6.0 -- Alt-Tab functionality
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My computer usage includes browsing the Internet and watching shows through the browser, downloading through Transmission, playing games on Steam, working with the LibreOffice suite, and editing and processing photos using darktable. I was able to do all of this on Endless OS. All of this software is either provided on the system by default (as in the case of LibreOffice) or is easily installed using Flatpaks. I was surprised at how well the Flatpaks worked.
I was also surprised to see that although the website says Endless OS does not yet work with Optimus laptops, my NVIDIA card was being utilized out of the box for operations like gaming. Endless OS has a neat tool called eos-diagnostics. This is primarily for the developers and staff at Endless so they can see what is going on with you system when you have problems. The eos-diagnostics log showed that NVIDIA was indeed being used on my laptop, and I was pleased to see this. I am not sure how to switch to the Intel card on Endless OS, for a situation where you may want to save battery, and there was no way for me to tell if they were using a fancy NVIDIA offloading feature like Ubuntu uses. The system was too locked down for me to use nvidia-smi and the GPU-Viewer front-end provided from the Flatpak store was blank, showing absolutely no information. None of this was an issue for me, because I primarily use the NVIDIA card anyway. Endless OS comes with relatively up to date NVIDIA drivers - version 418 and Linux kernel 5.0 as of writing this review. I was also able to seamlessly add a printer and print, which is pleasant to see.
Endless OS 3.6.0 -- Adjusting settings
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An operating system is more than the functionality it provides on your computer, it is also the community behind it that gives support. One hardware issue I had (a common one for me) is that audio was not playing through HDMI. I made a post on their community/support page and I received replies within 24 hours addressing my issues. The Endless team member who provided support clearly read my eos-diagnostics log output and told me where my issue was. He was unable to solve my issue but I was happy with the support and community.
Endless - the company
They sell computers, small computers, with up to 4GB of RAM, HDMI and VGA on most, and all the other usual accouterments like USB 3 and Bluetooth. They definitely aren't powerful machines, and there is no price listed, instead you need to submit a form with contact information and they will get back to you. The computers are sleek and some seem to be design pieces. With the lower end specs, they are probably able to get the price down pretty well to match their marketing agenda towards lower income audiences. One other thing the company offers is a pay-as-you-go system (which they call PAYG) that allows lower income people to more easily afford their computers. On the surface this seems like an admirable cause, but if you dig a little you can see that their system, "was designed to de-risk loans through a PC locking mechanism, built into the Endless OS, that is tied to the payment status of a loan. If a customer is not able to make their loan payment the laptop locks until payment is made. While locked the users' data, files and settings are all perfectly preserved and protected. Endless PAYG is a completely offline code based locking mechanism. Users receive unlock codes over SMS once they make a payment. These codes then unlock the PC for different time intervals (1 day, 1 week, 1 month, etc)."
In the free and open source world that we as Linux users have become accustomed to, it is hard to remember that companies exist - companies have employees and employees need to make money to feed their families and put a roof over their head. Still, this mechanism upset me a great deal. I understand Endless is a company and needs to make money, but this feels akin to hackers who hold data ransom. If a person is paying as-they-go to use a computer because they cannot afford it outright, maybe we as a society should give them a little more grace than locking up their data when they cannot afford to pay. I would recommend, personally, a more gentle approach - perhaps locking functionality to only educational purposes and LibreOffice would be more appropriate.
Overall, I am impressed with Endless OS. I would never use it because I am a tinkerer and Endless OS does not allow tinkering. Endless has a good little thing going, and if they are able to bring Linux to the whole world, I support them in their endeavors. (I do not have to approve of all the ways they go about doing that.)
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Hardware used in this review
- Laptop - Lenovo Legion Y530
- Processor: Intel Core i7-8750H CPU @ 2.20GHz x 6
- Storage: 256GB NVMe SSD Samsung and 1TB HDD
- Memory: 16GB
- Networking: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411
- Display: 1920x1080 @ 60Hz
- Graphics: Intel Corporation UHD Graphics 630, NVIDIA Corporation GP106M [GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile]
- At startup, Endless OS used 534MB of RAM.
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Visitor supplied rating
Endless OS has a visitor supplied average rating of: 5.8/10 from 20 review(s).
Have you used Endless OS? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Fedora developers discuss optimizations, gNewSense maintainer stepping down, Chris Wright answers questions about Red Hat, Project Trident offers stable branch, Linux can be shipped with a headers module
An interesting discussion was opened this week on the Fedora developer mailing list concerning optimizations in software builds versus backward compatibility. The discussion was launched by a proposal to rebuild Fedora packages using modern CPU architectures, essentially upgrades to the original 64-bit design. The rebuild would leverage newer hardware features to provide better performance. However, the drawback is most computers older than five years of age would no longer be able to run the distribution. Most developers have opposed the change, pointing out it would render many fairly modern machines unable to run Fedora. Others have suggested the proposal could be applied to a special, optimized Fedora edition. This would allow most people to continue using regular Fedora spins while people who wanted to take advantage of modern CPU features could run the optimized build. The mailing list has raised important questions about how long hardware should be supported and how soon new features should be adopted.
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gNewSense gNewSense is a Debian-based Linux distribution released without any proprietary or non-free components. The project has been mostly dormant for the past four years and maintainer Sam Geeraerts has indicated he plans to retire from the project. "After much consideration, I've decided to step down as the maintainer of gNewSense. It was the distro I fell in love with and it would hurt me to see it disappear. Yet I must be honest with myself and the community and face the facts. I feel like I can't give it the attention it needs to keep it in a state worthy of a distro recommended by the FSF. I'm sorry to disappoint current users and those anticipating a new release." Geeraerts has indicated he plans to leave the project's infrastructure running for now and invites interested parties to step forward to take over the distribution.
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This week Chris Wright took to Reddit to talk about Red Hat, the company's acquisition by IBM and open source technology. Wright is Red Hat's CTO and invited people to post questions about IBM, Red Hat, and the company's various projects. The questions and answers can be found in this Reddit thread.
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Project Trident is a desktop operating system based on TrueOS that features the Lumina desktop. Project Trident uses a rolling release update cycle using a "current" branch. The project has announced the availability of a new "stable" branch which also receives rolling updates, but with a static ABI. "A new update train is now available based on the FreeBSD/TrueOS STABLE branch (version 12). This version uses the TrueOS 'trueos/stable/12' branch. This train also provides rolling updates to the packages that are available in the repository. Train features: Static ABI: Self-compiled binaries continue to run as-is for the lifetime of the stable branch..." Further details can be found in the project's blog post.
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People who need to compile Linux kernel modules often run into a problem when it comes to missing or mismatched header files. When compiling a Linux kernel module, the module needs to read information from kernel header files which explain what functions are available in the kernel and how they are to be used. When these header files are missing, or are the wrong version, the kernel module will usually fail to build properly. This becomes especially challenging on distributions where the kernel version changes, or the system remains on-line after a kernel update, meaning the running kernel and the kernel headers package do not have the same version number. Joel Fernandes has written an article talking about this problem and one solution: making kernel headers available as an optional kernel module: "My solution to the problem is to embed the kernel headers within the kernel image itself and make it available through the sysfs virtual filesystem (usually mounted at /sys) as a compressed archive file (/sys/kernel/kheaders.tar.xz). This archive can be uncompressed as needed to a temporary directory. This simple change guarantees that the headers are always shipped with the running kernel." This approach has the potential to make compiling third-party video drivers and virtual machine modules easier and less prone to errors from missing dependencies.
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These and other news stories can be found on our Headlines page.
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| Technology Review (by Jesse Smith) |
UBports 16.04 on a Nexus 5
Three years ago I had the opportunity to try running Ubuntu Touch 15.04 on a Meizu Pro 5. While there is always a period of adjustment when switching between operating systems, on any platform, I got the hang of Ubuntu Touch's gestures after a few days and the system's use of scopes within a week. After a month I was greatly appreciating Ubuntu Touch's clean interface, short-cuts, and lack of annoying ads and nag screens. This led me to put aside my old Android phone and switch to using Ubuntu Touch full time. I have been using the same phone and platform since.
Lately I've been noticing my Meizu Pro 5 no longer offers the same good battery life span and the USB cable does not connect properly, making it impossible to transfer data directly between a PC and the phone over a wired connection. This prevents performing upgrades on the mobile device. I could live with these limitations, but the final straw gently settled onto this camel's back when Google announced it was cutting off access to my contacts and calendar from my phone. I had been holding out, hoping my Meizu Pro would survive until either the Librem 5 or PinePhone became available, but pressure was increasingly mounting to transition to a new phone, one with a fresher battery and the ability to receive updates.
UBports, the project which took over maintaining Ubuntu Touch, recommends three devices: the OnePlus One, the Fairphone 2, and the Nexus 5. The Fairphone is out of stock and I could not find any used units while the OnePlus One models in my region are both rare and oddly expensive considering the age of the model. Which left me looking at Nexus 5 devices on eBay. The Nexus 5 is quite common and relatively well priced, plus I had tried UBports 15.04 the Nexus 5 with mostly positive results.
A note on naming: Some people refer to the operating system maintained by UBports as Ubuntu Touch (the same name Canonical used) and some call it UBports. In an effort to avoid confusion I will refer to older versions of the mobile operating system that were developed and supported by Canonical as Ubuntu Touch. Versions of the operating system developed by the UBports community I will call UBports.
Installing
When the Nexus 5 arrived in the mail, with a full battery charge, it had a fresh copy of Android installed, ready to go through the initial setup process. I skipped through most of the configuration steps just so I would be able to access the phone's settings panel. I then downloaded the AppImage version of the UBports Installer from the project's website. Making the AppImage file executable and running it opens a graphical wizard that guides us through installing UBports on the mobile device.
UBports Installer 0.2.2 -- Selecting a version to install
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The first screen of the installer asks us to put the phone into developer mode. There is a button we can click in the installer which lists the specific steps required to do this on an Android device and there is even an animation to show the steps being demonstrated. Once the phone is in developer mode and plugged into the computer, the installer identifies the phone and asks which version of UBports we would like to install. At the moment, UBports 15.04 and 16.04 are available, in Development, Release Candidate and Stable editions. I opted for 16.04 Stable.
With the version selected, the installer reboots the phone for us, puts it in recovery mode, downloads the necessary files, and installs them on the phone. During this process the installer displays progress information. After a few minutes the installer reports it is finished and advises us the phone will complete the install process and automatically reboot within five minutes.
A few minutes later the phone restarted and showed me the Ubuntu Touch splash screen, followed by a first-run wizard. The wizard walks us through picking our language from a list, connecting to a wireless network, and picking a time zone. We can then optionally set a password (or passcode) on the lock screen.
UBports 16.04 -- The Apps scope and home screen
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How UBports works
The design of the UBports interface and how we navigate it requires a shift in the way we approach mobile devices. While other operating systems, such as Android, tend to rely on tapping buttons, with UBports we mostly use swiping gestures with our fingers.
For instance, dragging a finger from the left edge of the screen towards the middle causes the panel to appear. The panel acts as a launcher for commonly used applications and a task switcher, showing which programs are currently running.
Running a finger down from the top of the screen opens the settings panel. A status bar at the top of the screen shows new notifications, network connections, battery status, volume and a clock. Pulling down from any one of these icons opens a related drawer of settings and status information. Pulling down the network part of the status bar shows available networks and allows us to toggle mobile data, wi-fi, and hotspots on/off. Pulling down the battery icon shows screen brightness and links to the power settings module. This gives us quick access to most commonly used settings.
Swiping a finger from the right side of the display brings up a list of all currently running applications with previews of what each program is displaying. Tapping a window's preview switches to it, making it the active window. Sliding a finger left or right across the screen scrolls through the list of open windows, which is handy if we have a lot of them open.
UBports 16.04 -- Browsing open windows
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Pulling up from the bottom of the screen performs different actions, depending on which application is currently open. Typically, this rising gesture creates a new item. In the calendar app it makes a new appointment, in the note taking app it creates a new note, in the web browser it displays tabs and offers to create a new tab.
At all times there is always one window open, which we can think of as the Home screen or Scope application. By default, on UBports 16.04, this screen shows us installed applications we can tap to launch. Optionally, if we add more scopes, they are placed in this default window as pages we can swipe through with short left-or-right gestures across the screen.
Early Impressions
For the most part, UBports 16.04 is very similar to Ubuntu Touch 15.04 which I tried three years ago. With this in mind, I will mostly focus on the differences which I was able to observe. The first is that when I last tried UBports 15.04 on a Nexus 5, the screen never seemed to remain completely asleep, it would frequently wake up or display a very faint background glow. Version 16.04 seems to have fixed this issue and saves a little bit of battery power as a result.
One of the big features of Ubuntu Touch 15.04 was scopes. Scopes are essentially pages of widgets which are all contained in one application. Scopes are always running and are typically used for displaying information or summaries, such as what the weather is, upcoming appointments, and links to recent news stories. With 16.04, UBports appears to have mostly phased out scopes. The Apps scope, used for launching apps, is still present, but other scopes are not installed by default. The Today scope, for instance, which showed a summary of upcoming events, recently received messages, and the weather is no longer present. The only scope I could find in the phone's software centre was for reading RSS feeds.
At first I thought this would slow me down, especially in the mornings when I wanted to see what was on my schedule and what was happening in the news. However, I found out a summary of appointments can be viewed quickly by dragging down the date/time settings panel from the top of the screen. This let me see what was on my calendar in just a few seconds without opening a new application. For most other news and events I was able to set up RSS feeds once I had installed the RSS scope.
UBports 16.04 -- Checking events on the calendar pull-down
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Managing software
Canonical's original application store for Ubuntu Touch has been replaced by a new software centre (and infrastructure) provided by UBports. The new software centre is called OpenStore and can be launched from the phone's main page (or Apps scope). OpenStore offers three ways to find new applications. The main screen shows new and recently updated programs, along with highlighted apps (a sort of "editor's picks" section). Another tab shows us categories of applications we can browse. The third option is to type in searches for programs, using descriptive words.
UBports 16.04 -- Browsing apps in OpenStore
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I tend not to use many applications in the run of a day, and UBports pre-installs most of the functionality (camera, note-taking application, file manager, terminal, calendar, web browser) I want. However, I did grab a few items such as the RSS feed scope, a QR code reader, and a few games. Each of these downloaded and worked well. OpenStore includes a tab which displays available updates for installed programs. Alternatively, we can install updates through the operating system's settings panel, under the Updates module. Either approach seems to work equally well.
Ubuntu Touch Tweak Tool
One application I especially liked having was the Ubuntu Touch Tweak Tool (sometimes abbreviated UTTT). The Tweak Tool can adjust all sorts of aspects of the phone and its interface. Some examples include changing the size of the panel, adjusting how sensitive the phone's swipe gestures are, scaling fonts, and switching themes. (UBports 16.04 offers light and dark mode themes.) There are some other neat features, such as installing third-party Click packages we have downloaded and making the operating system's filesystem writable (which is dangerous, but useful sometimes). If you are the sort of person who likes to tinker with your desktop interface, I highly recommend the Tweak Tool.
UBports 16.04 -- Scaling text and images in Tweak Tool
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Some other observations
In the past, on both Android and Ubuntu Touch, I have eventually installed a flashlight application. It is a handy way to navigate in dark corners or when the lights go out. UBports allows us to skip this and we can turn the camera's flash on/off by simply pulling down the battery settings module and tapping a button to toggle the light. This saves time and means we do not end up searching for a flashlight app after the power goes out.
UBports 16.04 -- Accessing the flashlight from the battery pull-down
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The classic web browser that shipped with Unity 8 has been traded out for a new browser called Morph. Morph appears to offer most of the same settings and bookmark options. Morph defaults to using DuckDuckGo as its start page, includes tabs and seems to work well. One feature it offers that the old browser did not was the ability to request desktop-style pages from websites. The old browser would not work properly on some websites, particularly those which demanded we install a site-specific Android app when visiting a mobile site and would block access from mobile browsers. The ability to request desktop-style pages gets around those traps and limitations.
I connected the Nexus 5 to my Google account and it automatically synchronized my calendar and contacts from my old phone. One aspect of UBports I appreciate is we can place fine-grained permissions on applications. We can control which apps can connect with on-line accounts. We can also limit which programs can access certain features, such as GPS. For example, even when GPS is turned on the Weather app cannot access our location until it is specifically granted permission to do so.
On a related topic, notifications can likewise be finely tuned for each application. We can determine whether an application is allowed to notify us using an audio signal, vibration, or pop-up bubble. I find this very handy if, for instance, I want my calendar to make a noise when it is time for me to go to an appointment, but never want Twitter to be able to make a sound and only display a pop-up if someone messages me. This ensures I know when calendar events are coming up, but never worry about social media waking me up at 3:00am.
UBports 16.04 -- The virtual terminal
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One thing I appreciate about UBports is that is has a fully functional GNU/Linux virtual terminal. The display is a little squeezed on the Nexus 5's small screen, but I am still able to run commands like top, free, secure shell, and rsync. In fact, I transferred files from my old phone to the new one using rsync to move files through my desktop PC. For people like me who like the command line's flexibility and occasionally run scripts or use shell variables, it is an excellent tool to have.
Hardware support
Unfortunately UBports does not work on many devices. However, the devices it does run on seem to be well supported. The Nexus 5 is listed as being supported with no serious issues and I can confirm this is the case. Everything from phone calls to wireless networking to GPS all work as expected. The phone performs well and the operating system only takes up about half the available RAM (1GB of 2GB total). The Nexus 5 provides about 32GB of storage space and UBports 16.04 leaves about 24GB left for user data.
Common questions
When I tell people I am running an operating system that is not Android or iOS, I tend to end up answering the same questions. I would like to cover a handful of them here.
How is the battery life? In my experience it has been good and roughly on par with Android running on the same or similar devices. My Nexus 5 is used so I cannot state how fresh the battery was when I acquired it. When sitting idle, the Nexus 5 running UBports draws 2% of its battery per hour. In theory it would need to recharge every two days with minimal usage. Light usage (my usual pattern of checking my calendar, looking up information on the web, and sending texts) consumed about 5% of the battery per hour. This means I can typically get through a day with about half the battery's charge remaining. Heavy usage, such as watching videos, more web browsing, and taking pictures can use around 10% of the battery per hour. I have not done much testing with recharging the device, but it seems to recharge at a rate of about 1% per minute.
What about apps? Does it run app-name? UBports 16.04 can access OpenStore which has about 950 applications at the time of writing. There are lots of games, news trackers, a word processor, multimedia players, calendars, a Dropbox client, password managers, and so on. In other words, many tasks you might want to perform are covered.
With that said, if you are looking for a specific utility or game that you used on Android or iOS, it probably has not been ported to OpenStore. The way I tend to describe it to people is that if you want a word processor, OpenStore has that. If you specifically want Microsoft Word, then UBports is not the platform for you. If you want a Twitter client you are in luck, but if you want the official Twitter client, then it is not available.
How long did it take you to get used to the new interface? It took roughly three or four days for me to unlearn my old Android habits. After about a week I was starting to think in terms of the UBports interface. After two weeks I was comfortable enough with UBports I did not want to go back to Android.
What is the advantage of UBports over Android? There are a few advantages. One is privacy and security. Every week there is a new story about apps stealing data from Android users, or programs breaking out of their permission restrictions, or apps containing backdoors. UBports is not much of a target for large companies and malware authors. The platform is small and has relatively good security, partly thanks to fine-grained permissions and partly due to AppArmor support built into the operating system. My phone still leaks some information with the wi-fi enabled (as all phones do), but I'm less worried about my applications tracking what I do on a day to day basis.
Another factor is the lack of ads and nag screens. Android regularly demanded updates be installed, or a new version be downloaded. Several apps included ad banners with no way to disable them (within the app, there are third-party ad blockers). When I use Android I feel like I'm using an ad platform that is constantly demanding my attention. UBports doesn't show me ads, it doesn't nag me to install upgrades, it doesn't ask me to install new services. It displays what I ask it to show me. It feels more like a tool for me to use rather than a platform a company is using to sell me things.
Finally, one thing I like about UBports is it appears to be designed to provide me with information I want without requiring as many steps. If someone sends me a short text, I can drag down my notification area and tap the message to type a response without opening my SMS app. When I want to turn on the flashlight function, I drag down the status bar and tap a button, without opening an app. When I want to see my appointments for the next 48 hours, I pull down the calendar rather than opening yet another app. When I want to see RSS feed updates, I make a little swipe to the right from the home screen and the information is just there in a scope, again without needing an app.
When I was running Android (and using Blackberry before that) I always felt like I had to open a new program to do anything. I was always switching between windows. With UBports much of the information I want is a short swipe away and I don't need to open anything or switch to a new window. It is a little thing, but it adds up over time.
What don't you like about it? There are two things which I have noticed. The first is that UBports, at least version 15.04, tended to leak memory. After a week I'd usually need to either restart the desktop process (essentially a logout/login) or reboot the phone. So far, with UBports 16.04, I have not had to do that. I'm not sure if the leaks have been fixed or I just haven't been using it long enough to require a reboot. However, after coming from Android where the phone might run for months without restarting or killing a process, it was frustrating.
The other thing is that, while I don't use many apps, I do sometimes miss having a specific tool. If I wanted to play Ingress or Plants vs Zombies I wouldn't be able to with this phone. At least not until Anbox becomes more mature. Sometimes my friends want to send me invites or files over a specific service and I need to either use the associated company's web portal (usually an awkward experience) or ask them to send me information another way. This is a rare event, but many people are accustomed to everyone being on either iOS or Android, and are surprised when asked to use e-mail instead of Skype, or are told I don't have Facebook Messenger.
Can you run GNU/Linux desktop applications? Not really, no. At least not with the default settings. I have read that it is possible to run GNU/Linux desktop programs which have been ported to ARM, with some tinkering. This approach uses a technology called Libertine. And I suspect if I mounted my root filesystem with read-write permissions (rather than the default read-only) I could install command line programs using the APT package manager, which is included with UBports 16.04. I have not tried using APT yet though as it means taking some risks with the filesystem. In theory though, you can install and use command line tools that have ARM ports.
Can I run other Linux distributions on the phone? In short: no. Porting a Linux distribution to a new mobile device is a lot of work. Phone vendors tend not to make this process easy and you need to use a distribution image specifically matched to the device. Hopefully, in the near future, devices like the PinePhone will help change this limitation.
Can you use UBports with any network? I think this question comes up as often as it does because some early phones which were sold with Ubuntu Touch did not work with North American networks. Whether a mobile device works with your carrier's network is a function of the phone's hardware rather than its operating system. In other words, if you have a Nexus 5, a FairPhone 2, or OnePlus One that runs Android and works with your phone company's network, it will also work if the device is running UBports.
* * * * *
All in all, I'm very happy with UBports on the Nexus 5. I think it's a solid operating system that has been offering me a smooth experience thus far. There are some shortcomings in terms of applications if you need a specific program, but otherwise I think the phone offers all the capabilities people expect from their mobile devices. I am particularly impressed with the UBports Installer program. This is the easiest experience I have ever had installing any operating system on a mobile device and it greatly lowers the bar for people who wish to give UBports a try. I am very much looking forward to seeing this distribution ported to more devices, especially hardware like the Librem 5 and PinePhone.
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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Weekly Torrents
The table below provides a list of torrents DistroWatch is currently seeding. If you do not have a bittorrent client capable of handling the linked files, we suggest installing either the Transmission or KTorrent bittorrent clients.
Archives of our previously seeded torrents may be found in our Torrent Archive. We also maintain a Torrents RSS feed for people who wish to have open source torrents delivered to them. To share your own open source torrents of Linux and BSD projects, please visit our Upload Torrents page.
Torrent Corner statistics:
- Total torrents seeded: 1,522
- Total data uploaded: 26.9TB
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| Opinion Poll (by Jesse Smith) |
GNU/Linux phones in 2019
In our Technology Review column we talked about running UBports on an Android phone, along with some other mobile devices that are scheduled to launch this year with GNU/Linux installed. The PinePhone, which should be able to run a variety of Linux-based operating systems, and the Librem 5 running PureOS should both be available toward the end of 2019.
We would like to know if you already own a mobile device running GNU/Linux, or if you plan to purchase one later this year. Let us know your thoughts on the current GNU/Linux mobile options in the comments.
You can see the results of our previous poll on limiting disk usage in last week's edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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GNU/Linux phones in 2019
| I have an Android phone running UBports: | 58 (5%) |
| I plan to get an Android phone and install UBports: | 78 (7%) |
| I plan to get a PinePhone: | 121 (11%) |
| I plan to get a Librem 5: | 177 (16%) |
| I run another flavour of GNU/Linux on my phone: | 39 (3%) |
| I plan to use another GNU/Linux on mobile option: | 106 (9%) |
| I do not plan to run GNU/Linux on my phone: | 557 (49%) |
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|
| Website News (by Jesse Smith) |
Distributions added to waiting list
- PakOS. PakOS is a Debian-based distribution featuring the LXQt desktop environment. PakOS tries to maintain low minimal resource requirements and is developed with the people of Pakistan and their needs in mind.
- Delinux. Delinux is a Brazilian distribution for use on older computers, particularly those used in schools. Delinux is based on Lubuntu.
TROM-Jaro. TROM-Jaro is a distribution based on Manjaro Linux. The project avoids distributing any software which requires user tracking, payments, or ads to be displayed in order for the software to work. The project refers to its software as "trade-free". The distribution uses the GNOME desktop and customizes Firefox to block browsing elements considered to not be trade-free.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 5 August 2019. Past articles and reviews can be found through our Article Search page. To contact the authors please send e-mail to:
- Jesse Smith (feedback, questions and suggestions: distribution reviews/submissions, questions and answers, tips and tricks)
- Ladislav Bodnar (feedback, questions, donations, comments)
- Bruce Patterson (podcast)
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| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • Review of UBports on a Nexus 5 (by Newby on 2019-07-29 00:50:06 GMT from Canada)
Appreciate the review. Have been looking for some sort of mobile solution that would work for me. Have tried iPods/iPads (which I personally dislike altogether) as well as various Android based devices, mostly from Samsung.
The problem I find with ALL the devices I've tried, is the touch screens simply don't respond properly for me. I think these are mostly capacitive-based sensing screens, rather than resistive nowadays, so things like dry skin shouldn't be an issue. I CAN get them to work using a stylus, but that just slows me down. Have come across a few other people with same issue, but we seem to be a minority. Don't know what the cause is, but beginning to think the answer (at least for me, those devices may work fine for you), is perhaps a Chromebook. They are becoming affordable, have a decent size screen, and a REAL keyboard and touchpad.
Since they are not Intel-based, maybe they can be "rooted" and something like Raspbian installed?
Anyone have any experience doing this, and if so, what Chromebooks worked well with Linux? Also, how does one handle phone calls with such a setup?
Thanks for any suggestions......
2 • Meizu Pro 5 Battery Replacement to keep it going (by FT on 2019-07-29 02:01:32 GMT from Singapore)
Personally I am not too familiar with Meizu phone. But I think you should be able to DIY battery replacement for your phone. Search in YouTube for procedure. Personally I manage to revive some of my completely battery dead China phone using NOHON battery. No regret at all. I am not promoting it, just sharing my experience. Cheers..
3 • UBports on a Nexus 5 (by zcatav on 2019-07-29 07:52:33 GMT from Turkey)
Hi,
Thanks for review, you also answered some potential questions. I have a different one.
Is there any possibilities to use a firewall or VPN (as no-root firewall) on UBports?
4 • Alternate phone OS's (by Paul on 2019-07-29 09:06:53 GMT from United States)
What about the https://e.foundation/ version of Android, which is stripped of all Google related attachments?
5 • more universal installation of mobile Linux (by Justinian on 2019-07-29 09:23:50 GMT from Philippines)
Having patiently tried the aborted FirefoxOS phone five years ago, maybe this time someone will come up with a similar mobile OS that can be installed by users to units with common SOCs like Mediatek P60 or A55 octacore Unisoc. But it's not as easy to do this for the fragmented smartphone ecosystem as it is for desktop Linux distros. Wish UBports can gift us this breakthrough.
6 • UBports on Nexus 5 (by Semiarticulate on 2019-07-29 09:28:18 GMT from United States)
Thanks for sharing your experience! This is most interesting to me. I was very excited about the Ubuntu Touch, but I am rarely an early adopter. I was most disappointed to see how quickly it was dropped.
Quite some time ago, my Nexus 5 was becoming very sluggish and battery life was starting to suuuuck. Believing it wasn't the hardware, I installed LineageOS. Well go figure, it ran like a new phone. Having said that, I would be much happier leaving behind Android entirely. I really didn't know how far down the road UBports would get, but seeing that it's still got some legs, I may have to give it a try. I'm also very hopeful for the Librem 5, and curious about the Pine Phone.
7 • Phone OS (by excollier on 2019-07-29 09:35:00 GMT from Ireland)
I don't plan to run GNU/Linux on my phone - I use an old Blackberry and it's sole purpose is as a phone/text (sms) device. "smart phones" hold no interest for me. I look around in public and all I see is heads down staring at phone screens
8 • GNU/Linux phones in 2019 (by Fungalnet on 2019-07-29 10:24:04 GMT from Greece)
There was no option for me (I suspect others too) who are unwilling to use a "smart-phone" hence the poll is reflective of dedicated smart-phone users. I do have a phone, just not a smart one, and I am a casual user of that one as well.
I suspect if there was some "free" architecture to install an open and free system on I would, but it wouldn't be ubuntu or anything with systemd on it. On the other hand there seems to be a notion of priceless freedom, an elite whose freedom costs much more than those who need it most can afford. It is a perversion of freedom that is based on extreme inequality.
The rest of us will have to make do with the over supply and refurbished tools the elites sweep away to make room for new gadgetry. But neither a phone or a smart one is a necessity for living on the planet.
9 • Phone (by JIm on 2019-07-29 10:41:16 GMT from United States)
I have a Moto G. I would love to run something other than Android, but what is out their will not work on my phone, and even if it did I doubt I have the technical expertise to install it. I will have to wait and see if any cell company actually offers something other than Android or Apple.
10 • GNU/Linux phone (by TuxRaider on 2019-07-29 10:46:01 GMT from United States)
yeah, i want one, i want one bad, i am a late comer to smartphones, i was a flipphone user for the longest time until i seen some of the apps on android and i thought having google maps when out on a road trip would come in handy and could be a life saver someday i jumped on the best android phone i could find at the time so i bought a new Samsung Galaxy S9+ and after owning it a while i notice some third party apps preloaded that can not be removed like Facebook is the biggest offender, i never use it, and would love to uninstall it but it only lets me disable it and is it really disabled or just hidden from the user? and as a regular reader of slashdot i see the bad press google and facebook gets for datamining and spying on people, so this will be my first and last android phone and i will either go back to a dumb flipphone or a GNU/Linux phone of some flavor that is 4G & GSM and unlocked so i can use it with any carrier, and there is OpenStreetMaps as a good alternative to google maps,
11 • UBPorts (by OstroL on 2019-07-29 10:47:35 GMT from Poland)
What Jesse wrote about UBPorts on N5 is quite true, for I have one. But, I'd like to have UBPorts on a N6, as N5 is too small. Maybe, they'd port it some day!
12 • PinePhone (by R. Cain on 2019-07-29 12:30:40 GMT from United States)
June 2019 News: PinePhone, Pinebook Pro and PineTab--
"...the battery will be the same capacity as the Samsung J7 SM-J700H/ BJ700BU (3000-3400 mAh), which can be had for under $10 from amazon and eBay. So in the event you need replacement or spare batteries, getting hold of them will be easy and affordable. We also settled on the number, and the implementation of, privacy switches on the phone – there will be 4 switches in total: for the i) BT/Wifi module, ii) the modem, iii) cameras (front/back) and iv) lastly for the microphone. They will be located on the PCB, under the back-cover, to prevent them from being toggled by accident, e.g. in your pocket or purse...
"...we also came up with a way to expose I2C [I²C] using 6 pogo pins. These pogo pins will be located directly on the PCB. The idea behind this implementation is that entire back-covers with add-on components can be created (even 3D-printed) with additional functionality to enrich the phone’s functionality. The implementation only requires that the custom back-cover with additional hardware has the same dimensions and position of plastic latches as the original – and obviously that the component in question uses I2C [I²C] (contact pads). I expect that a back-cover with a keyboard – perhaps one similar to that found on the Nokia N900 – will be something a considerable number of people may be interested in creating. To this end, we’ll make sure to have detailed documentation on this feature. I really hope that the hackers and tinkerers among you will embrace and make use of I2C [I²C] for new cool implementations..."
****************************
https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/
13 • @4 e.foundation (by zcatav on 2019-07-29 13:31:51 GMT from Turkey)
Is there diffences from LineageOS?
They said this: Highly recommended: it is recommended that you have an /e/ account (like: john.doe@e.email) if you want to benefit from /e/ account integration for all online services such as: email, drive, calendar, notes, tasks. Register for your free /e/ account.
This are very similar early phase of Google.
14 • UBPorts (by gplcoder on 2019-07-29 14:26:11 GMT from United States)
I initially started with UBPorts based on Ubuntu Touch 15 on a Nexus 5 but this phone had hardware issues and I purchased a One Plus One, put UBPorts based on Ubuntu Touch 16. This turned out well but it draws a lot of battery (leaving the phone alone and not doing anything will barely last a day). I did not really know how to answer the poll because I am a contributor to the Librem 5 phone. I ended up voting for the UBPorts option because this exists.
15 • UBports follow-up (by Jesse on 2019-07-29 15:12:44 GMT from Canada)
@2: "Personally I am not too familiar with Meizu phone. But I think you should be able to DIY battery replacement for your phone."
The battery isn't set up to be replaceable. Even it it were, that doesn't solve the upgrade/connection issues, only the battery life.
@3: "Is there any possibilities to use a firewall or VPN (as no-root firewall) on UBports?"
Yes, there is an easy to use VPN module in the settings panel of the phone. You can just put in your server IP and port to activate it.
16 • phones (by dogma on 2019-07-29 17:06:19 GMT from United States)
I was disappointed to see the other day that pinephone won’t be released until next year, as I will need something before then.
I very much hope I can avoid the librem 5, as all of purism’s communications are disgustingly marketingy. They’re so in love with themselves.
17 • No Replicant? (by Carney on 2019-07-29 18:09:19 GMT from United States)
Surprised Replicant is not mentioned.
18 • UBPorts (by Christian on 2019-07-29 18:47:36 GMT from Brazil)
I have a Nexus 4 running UBPorts. It was vey easy to install and it works fine (considering the age of the hardware). Battery life is much better than using Android (but that's no surprise).
My install came with Libertine working OOTB, however I haven't honestly tried it...
@17 totally agree. Replicant could have been mentioned. And I believe postmarket OS also deserves some attention.
For those who owns a Xperia device, you can also try Sailfish OS, although it looks like you have to pay for it (but there's support included) and the license is not GPL (or any similar free software license).
19 • Available Poll Choices (by Scott Dowdle on 2019-07-29 19:20:41 GMT from United States)
I would have selected, "I don't have a phone" if it had been available.
20 • Poll is messed up and not valid (by Style99 on 2019-07-29 21:52:00 GMT from United States)
Where is the "I don't care about smart phones" option? I strongly suspect that that option would have been in the huge majority.
21 • UBports FAQ suggestions (by IBwondering on 2019-07-29 21:55:00 GMT from United States)
Thinking of the things I frequently use my Android phone for, I wonder how well UBports could take its place.
How well does Google Maps work? The store had a webapp version but how well does it work? E.g. will navigation continue to function even when you lose wireless service, like the app does?
Can you order an Uber? Again there was some sort of web shim, does it work? Reliably?
Anyone know?
22 • Linux Phone (by Bob on 2019-07-29 22:42:13 GMT from Australia)
I would probably prefer Busybox over GNU on a phone. but being able to run Linux would be great
23 • Chromebooks and Linux (by mikef90000 on 2019-07-29 23:07:37 GMT from United States)
@1, my one attempt was not pleasant.
The BIOS is very locked down and difficult to upgrade; I attempted that with Mr. Chromebox after Chrome OS on my used laptop expired (so much for testing its benefits). The result was very inflexible due to limited NVRAM functionality; some video glitch would not let me see the boot manager menu.
I eventually bricked it by losing access to the boot manager and an apparent motherboard failure sealed its fate.
I know there are other options for running Linux on a Chromebook but I will stay the hell away!
24 • SailfishOS (by PRifici on 2019-07-29 23:48:01 GMT from Australia)
I have been running SailfishOS phones since the original Jolla phone was released. SailfishOS is fantastic and despite my misgivings about their proprietary UI layer, it's the only mobile OS I enjoy using. My current phone is an Xperia X running Sailfish 3.1 and I plan to upgrade to a Xperia XA2 by the end of this year.
For anyone looking for a Linux phone, please give SailfishOS some serious consideration.
25 • @1, Chrome and mobile. (by Angel on 2019-07-30 00:15:36 GMT from Philippines)
Are you seriously considering using a Chromebook as a mobile device? Seems inconvenient at the least. You'd need to carry a bag or "man-purse" always. Phone calls? Why not just get a plain dumb cellphone for that? They are cheap and fit in any pocket. Most Chromebooks I've seen are Intel, so if you want ARM, you must make sure. There are plenty of how-tos on running Linux on Chromebooks. Not ideal, but doable. On the other hand, there are plenty of compact or foldable keyboards/touchpads that can connect through Bluetooth or USB OTG to just about any Android phone or tablet. I can even use the keyboard and mouse from my desktop if I want. (I do sometimes on an old 10" tablet.) All the info needed is available by using the evil-but-efficient search engine, or even the saintly-but-inefficient ones.
26 • @23. chromebooks (way, way, WAY OT) (by Titus_Groan on 2019-07-30 00:41:58 GMT from New Zealand)
Have several ex Chromebooks - some with HDD and others with eMMC devices.
All run Seabios without difficulty, and all now have a mainstream Linux on them.
Just needed to be sure supported by Seabios.
Thanks Mr.Chromebox.
27 • Chromebooks (by Tim on 2019-07-30 01:15:56 GMT from United States)
I've had good luck with crouton, which lets you run various distros in a chroot under ChromeOS. It obviously doesn't replace Google stuff but it means zero compatibility issues
28 • Opinion Poll (by GreginNc on 2019-07-30 03:18:03 GMT from United States)
I guess whoever made the poll never considered anyone would not be a part of the "Smart Phone" craze.
Some simply have no interest in them, others like me see them as a cancer on the computing world in general and the internet in particular.
29 • Linux Phone (by zcatav on 2019-07-30 06:51:26 GMT from Turkey)
@22 • Linux Phone (by Bob..
Termux is great for this reason.
30 • EndlessOS (by Daniel on 2019-07-30 11:06:29 GMT from Brazil)
Interesting review, and probably the most different approach to Linux desktop among all distributions. It feels to me it is not a developer’s distro (99.999% of all Linux desktops) but with a real focus o the desktop usage by people who just want to use a computer in the same way _lots_ of people do with competing OSs like Windows or MacOS. In those two cases, updates are managed by the company behind the OS, as they have to guarantee the software will work (not the case with the “traditional” Linux distro scene). I am surprised how well the Endless Company was able to implement that approach with Linux and indeed happy to see it is possible. Not only that, but it is this kind of approach that has made the other OSs all the commercial success they are (fact) for the desktop. The world of Linux desktop is too restricted to “made for developers, by developers” and yet I still see people writing about the Linux desktop fiasco. All that said, it feels refreshing that a different approach is available and that it is professionally done, with attention to detail and good hardware compatibility. Even if I might not use Endless right now, I wish them luck and much success.
31 • PinePhone (by R. Cain on 2019-07-30 12:30:43 GMT from United States)
From the UBports PinePhone Forum:
"...We think that the best chance to have a significant adoption of the PinePhone (and exposure to Linux on a phone in general) is by making a solid device, that performs well, and is inexpensive. As it currently stands, even the majority of Linux enthusiasts do not consider Linux on a Phone as a replacement for their iOS or Android daily driver - this is the reality of things. There is, however, a good chance that the same people will be willing to pick up the PinePhone... even if its just out of curiosity. This in turn will lead to exposure to the Linux phone OS platform such as Ubuntu Touch and help it grow.
The more people interested, the bigger the market, the more reasonable it is to create a higher-end device 🙂 One thing at a time."
[...and a bootable SD card as standard feature, doesn't hurt, either...]
OS teams working on compatibility with the PinePhone include (in addition to Ubuntu Touch)--
Postmarket OS [microSD Boot]; UBPorts; KDE Plasma; Sailfish OS; Maemo Leste; NixOS; LuneOS; Nemo Mobile.
32 • Re Using Chromebook as an alternative to a smartphone (by Newby on 2019-07-30 12:43:19 GMT from Canada)
@25 Angel (Chrome and mobile)
Yes, seriously looking at Chromebook for that purpose. As explained in #1, touch screen simply doesn't work for me. Chromebooks at least are smaller and lighter than most laptops, and seem to have replaced "notepads" in the market. The screens are a good compromise between laptop (rather large to drag around) and most smartphones (waaay to small to do any extended reading without stretching the screen).
Your comment about using a portable keypad with something like a Samsung Galaxy is interesting. Would solve the touch screen issue, but I'd still be stuck with the Android OS rather than a real linux distro on the Samsung. Also, the only connector on the Samsung is a micro-hdmi for charging. Never had any luck transferring data over that connector on the Samsung. Are you suggesting maybe plugging in a foldup/rollup keyboard via a usb-to-micro-hdmi adaptor? If data doesn't transfer, wouldn't have expected that to work either?
And then there is the matter of making telephone calls. Not sure what replaces Skype in the linux world? May just end up getting a Chromebook to actually get some real work done "on the go", and keeping the flip phone just for phone calls.
BTW - tks also for clarifying that most Chromebooks have Intel rather than ARM processors.
@26 Titus_Groan
Thanks for confirming you can put Linux on a Chromebook. Never heard of Seabios and don't know who "Mr. Chromebox" is. Guess it's back to the search engine.....
@27 Tim
Thanks for mentioning crouton.
@23 mikef90000
Thanks for the warning. That's why I'm trying to make sure I know what I'm doing before spending money and finding out it's an ill conceived idea.
33 • @ 32 Real Linux... (by OstroL on 2019-07-30 14:30:58 GMT from Poland)
"Would solve the touch screen issue, but I'd still be stuck with the Android OS rather than a real linux distro on the Samsung. "
Android OS is also "a real Linux" distro, just like any other OS that uses the Linux kernel.
34 • Poll Choices (by ben on 2019-07-30 18:23:55 GMT from France)
The POLL: "We would like to know if you already OWN a mobile device running GNU/Linux, or if you plan to PURCHASE one..."
Because as you can read in @31 post: "The more people interested, the bigger the market, the more reasonable it is to create a higher-end device"
@7 "I don't plan to run GNU/Linux on my ... old Blackberry"
@8 "There was no option for me"
@19 "I don't have a phone"
@20 ""I don't care about smart phones" option would have been in the huge majority"
@20 "poll never considered anyone would not be a part of the "Smart Phone" craze"
Well guys, as somebody in same old movie says:
This is not the Poll you're looking for! Move along... Move along...
35 • On avoiding cellular communication (by Nathan Vance on 2019-07-30 18:35:04 GMT from United States)
I recently moved to completely internet-based communication: SIP for calls, and an XMPP/SMS bridge called jmp.chat for messaging. This setup works from LineageOS as well as the Linux desktop. When I need to travel I get a pre-paid data plan for the phone, but otherwise the only thing that makes my phone different from a laptop is the form factor. In my opinion, this kind of flexibility (read: freedom) is the important bit. The Linuxyness of the phone itself is secondary.
I do still plan to get one of those PureOS phones just to have "a real Linux" distro on a pocket-sized device (@33 OstroL: I'm aware that Android is "Linux", but the "real" part deals with freedom).
36 • @ 35 Freedom...? (by OstroL on 2019-07-30 18:49:39 GMT from Poland)
"I'm aware that Android is "Linux", but the "real" part deals with freedom)."
Real and freedom...well...if you can find a place on this planet Earth, where you can get "real" freedom, let us know.
Android, btw is free, ASOP. You can create your own distro, if you want, or can. TK!
37 • /e/ Phone (by Jay on 2019-07-30 19:50:15 GMT from United States)
Does anyone know how long /e/ phones are going to be supported? They have a note on their site about selling refurbished phones in the future. Basically, my issue with Android and iOS is that the system is set up to get you to buy new phones to keep up with security updates. I switched to Linux so that I'd always have a supported OS, and having that mobile would be great since I use only basic functionality anyway.
Also, /e/ is a pain to find information on. I read their piece about the name and the legal reasons behind it, but come on, it's almost impossible to search for information on it (unless The Google is also skewing the results).
38 • Freedom of Communication (by paranoiac on 2019-07-30 20:37:00 GMT from France)
Why every OS (even a micro one like Puppy) has (auto)location?
Why every web-browser has (auto)location?
Why nobody care?
Why should somebody care?
If you use a GNU/Linux phone, your provider can keep tabs on you?
How about the web-browser?
Is " internet-based communication" safer then "cellular communication"?
Darn, cave-men had it so good...
39 • @34, Poll Choices (by NotMe on 2019-07-30 23:31:46 GMT from United States)
The survey omitted my options too:
a) I never answer survey questions
b) I believe all computers are tools of the Devil and only borrowed my friend's so I could answer this survey.
40 • @32, Chromebooks (by Angel on 2019-07-31 01:05:05 GMT from Philippines)
I think you need to be clearer, and follow with due diligence. Chromebooks are not any lighter than similar Windows Laptops, although most are low price. Example: The Asus E200HA Windows netbook costs around $200 new in the US, weighs just over 2 lbs, and comes with WIndows 10. Linux should be an easy install. This is not a recommendation, just an example. There are more.
Android phones and tablets can transfer data, run keyboards and mice, and other things from the micro USB plug. If you don't know how to do it on yours, you need to do a bit of searching.
If all you want is calls over WiFi with Skype, Skype is available for Linux. Download as .deb or .rpm from Microsoft, or your favorite distro may have it. You need 64 bit. If you have no SIM, then you are not replacing a smartphone and will be limited to WiFi. On the other hand, some Android, Apple and Windows tablets and 2-in-1s can be purchased with SIM card slots, so they can be used as a phone, albeit an oversized one. Aside from the SIM, the one convenience of a smartphone which I won't trade is that it can fit in the pocket. You won't have that either.
There are tutorials online on how to do just about anything. This is not the place for step-by-step. You need to do your searches and choose your poison.
41 • Android OS … (by Kragle Schnitzelbank on 2019-07-31 02:31:46 GMT from United States)
Android is Freed Open-Source, mostly - except for the proprietary drivers, of course. And most hardware, of course.
From a global corporation with vast resources - good luck keeping up.
…
Isn't auto-location a convenience, the usual security trade-off?
…
Isn't OStree a "versioning system for OS binaries", like a RH-pwned Nix?
42 • PinePhone (by R. Cain on 2019-07-31 13:02:53 GMT from United States)
Phoronix--
The UBports community developers continuing to advance Ubuntu Touch have shared their latest work items and plans. OTA-10 is being developed while they are also working on ports for the PinePhone...
...Bringing up Ubuntu Touch on the PINE64 / Pine Phone is ongoing...
...UBports developers finally received two developer kits recently... and they are prioritizing PINE64 work over the Librem 5 at least for now.
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=UBports-OTA-10-July-Update
43 • smartphone "craze" (by Slink on 2019-07-31 14:47:37 GMT from United States)
ROFLOL at the ideas expressed in the comments that smartphones are just a craze that's going to go away or that anything close to a majority would say that they don't care about smartphones. Smartphone adoption has done nothing but grow year after year for the past decade and we're now at the point that these devices make up more than 80% of the mobile phone market.
44 • What's with nearly all phones this week? (by Call me, we'll do lunch. on 2019-07-31 20:01:16 GMT from United States)
It's not actually Linux. I join the several who don't care.
@43: You could say about Linux that it's just a craze and majority don't care.
45 • Endless and Smartphones (by Angel on 2019-07-31 21:51:10 GMT from Philippines)
An odd juxtaposition this week. There's Endless OS, yet another do-good effort to get Linux to the masses. Or is it? The reviewer speculates that the "full" version may be useful for those with little or no internet connection, but since it's a 10-16 gig download depending on language, just how do you accomplish that with little or no internet? Low priced laptops on credit for low income? Gnome desktop is an odd choice for low power, but then there's this: They come with kill switches if you can't pay. Really? Around here they have small lenders, usually from India, called "bumbays." They will lend to anyone, but once you borrow from the bumbay, you will always owe the bumbay. This PAYG scheme smells alike to me. I expect this kill switch is not in the OS itself, otherwise it seems counter to the idea of open-source, not to mention licenses. With that, I guess it's proper that they headquarter in San Francisco, one of the most expensive locations in the world.
As for smartphones, it would be interesting to know the average age of the people commenting, because some comments remind me of the saying about old dogs and new tricks. I'm probably an older dog than most here, but since I spent my early life without electricity, toilets, running water, and a lot of those newfangled modern crazes, and since I had to learn more than two languages to get along, I'm still up for new tricks, including smartphones.
Anyone remember "one laptop per child"? There have been so many efforts to get computers in the hands of the world's poor, with little success. Now, if you gifted an average Filipino with a laptop, he/she would probably sell it and buy a smartphone. Why? People here, as in most places, use computers for surfing, entertainment and communications. A laptop requires a physical connection or WiFi, which means extra expense or inconvenience, or both. A smartphone with a prepaid SIM can be used from home or anywhere there's a suitable signal. Mom and pop can sit at home in Mindanao and video call/chat on Facebook with daughter in Qatar, or set a conference with the other one in Manila. All for a few US cents. And they could not care less what Facebook does with the information it gathers. A local provider even allows Facebook messenger when you have no load at all. Yes, free. No kill switch. And that's just a small part of what can be done with smartphones.
46 • Chromebooks (by Newby on 2019-08-01 06:20:35 GMT from Canada)
@40 Angel
Thanks for your comments. Found online searches very time consuming as key specs are often missing (weight, cpu, etc). After meeting a friend in the business, confirmed your advice was correct - lightweight laptop rather than chromebook, best suits the apps I need to run, and to avoid ANYTHING with a touchscreen (at least for me; if a touchscreen works for you, great).
He also found that the cable used to connect the android device to a pc was a "charging cable" not a "charging and data" cable, so that's why the gadget would charge but not communicate. I had gone through all the correct setup menus, but would never have known about different cable specs. So while your advice about doing your research online is correct, sometimes that's not going to work. Also, for me, the last place I want to carry such a device is in my pocket. Just think about all those 3rd degree burns people have suffered from such things exploding in their pockets!
Anyway, thanks again for the suggestions. Would never have solved the cable conundrum if you hadn't mentioned the flexibility of that connection.
47 • Crouton (by Tim on 2019-08-01 11:07:53 GMT from United States)
@Newby
One more thing about crouton, for the two Chromebooks I set up it was somewhat random which distros worked. A 2013 Samsung arm liked Ubuntu 14.04 or a 2017 version of Debian testing, but not stretch or Ubuntu 16.04. An HP amd64 one likes Ubuntu 16.04. So if the first one doesn't work, try related distros. It's a bit of a pain to setup but it's rock solid once you get it because ChromeOS handles all driver and firmware issues.
48 • EndlessOS/OLPC (by Dave Postles on 2019-08-01 17:03:33 GMT from United Kingdom)
OLPC continues: http://one.laptop.org/about/countries
Its target is schools and learning to code.
EndlessOS.
It's simple. You buy a usb drive from OSDisc with the fully-featured OS and run it either as a live OS or install. In either case, you can easily modify as the USB version has persistence. The people at Endless are really helpful too. I wanted to install Firefox instead of Chrome and Google search and they developed a flatpak to install using the CLI. In addition, you can add the full Debian repository.
Number of Comments: 48
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