Comment on Today 10 years ago I got a Firefox OS phone
walnutwalrus@lemmy.world 1 year ago
today there are comparable projects with like postmarketos and ubuntu touch for specific phones, among other linux mobile projects
Ubuntu Touch has been pretty decent, and because of how it’s built, device support is a lot more widespread. Although it’s in this perpetually broken state now, because of the transition to the Focal base.
No luck at all with Postmarket though, on any of my devices. One is marked as bootable but unusable, but I can’t even install it fully
Ahh, my appraisal might be the opposite, PMOS seemed to have better software and support for things like the Pinephone and I thought it ran on more devices, but I am happy to see both projects and it’s nice to see both designs
On a device that supports PM, it will without a doubt have better software support. Current UbPorts runs on Ubuntu 16.04 base, so it basically can’t run anything new until they fully migrate to at least 20.04
rikudou@lemmings.world 1 year ago
Also Sailfish OS (though it’s not fully open source), which I use.
matlag@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
I really wish they had opened all of the system.
I mean: what is it they can still lose? I’m pretty sure a few licenses are not making them break even. Do they fear some third parties would copy the OS and release phones with it? Would that not be a sign that other companies trust in the OS and help them land bigger contracts?
/e/ managed to get a business off with a full opensource stack, without building the phones themselves. What prevents Jolla to try the same approach?
They could have been the main developers of the true Linux opensource phone OS. Instead, they’re going to get passed by Plasma Mobile, and then they’ll have nothing left to offer.
rikudou@lemmings.world 1 year ago
I think they can’t open the Android part because of aome 3rd party licensing, but yeah, the rest should be open source.
voracread@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I sincerely hoped Jolla would at least continue to make one technology demonstrator hardware model available for purchase by enthusiasts. The current situation where I have to buy a phone and then buy OS separately is not feasible for me.
rikudou@lemmings.world 1 year ago
I mean, the license cost me $50 (maybe €50, not sure). It’s not that much, just pretend the phone cost $50/€50 more.
gadgetroid@lemdro.id 1 year ago
Jolla can also be purchased and used in very few countries. 4 according to their list. I don’t mind paying for an OS and a phone, but their phone support is also only for very expensive Sony Xperia phones. So I can see why it is not feasible for a lot of people