I’m taking the website down for maintanance tonight around 10:00 PM CST and I expect it to be back up by 11/2 1:00 AM.

This doesn’t have anything to do with PHP.

You’ll like it, I promise!

I care about Linux for mobile devices because it encapsulates the problem of smartphone e-waste. A viable alternative mobile operating system means we can keep our phones useful for longer, and out of the landfill.

I came across a great post by Amos Batto titled Will Linux phones become a viable alternative to the Android/iOS duopoly? (via Linux on Mobile). In exploring whether Linux will give us that viable alternative, Batto distinguishes between “pure” Linux phones which are designed, built, and sold for the purpose of running Linux, and Android phones which may be able to run Linux.

Android phones have modified Linux kernels that are supported by the chip manufacturer (e.g. Qualcomm, MediaTek). These are referred to as “Android kernels”, which distinguishes them from the “mainline” Linux kernel maintained by the Linux Foundation. The chip manufacturer provides a certain length of support, after which their Android kernel falls behind the mainline kernel, exposing the user to security vulnerabilities.

Batto says that, to be competitive with Android and iOS, pure Linux phones need better hardware, which is on the way:

[The Librem 5, Liberty, PinePhone and PinePhone Pro Linux] phones previously didn’t have the processing power to offer the functionality that people expect in a smartphone. They often lacked components such image signal processors, audio digital signal processors, hardware video encoders, Vulkan graphics, neural processors and encryption engines, or they lacked the FOSS drivers to support those components. The RK3588S and the upcoming RK3668, however, will give pure Linux phones the processing power to be viable alternatives to Android and iOS phones for the first time.

Additionally, Internet of Things (IoT) processors have gotten good enough to drive phones. IoT processors matter here because they receive 10-15 years of support. And lastly, regular mobile processors and their Android kernels are now supported for 7-8 years.

It’s a reasonable analysis. Niche device manufacturers have a better chance today at making a good Linux phone than ever before.

But I think about this in terms of what’s being sold today and what’s on the second-hand market. I want to know when mobile Linux will reduce our future garbage. Unfortunately, the path to a competitive Linux phone doesn’t include the phones sitting in the back of our desk drawers, even if they have 8-core processors and 6 GB of RAM or more.

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Previously:

• The best alternative to iOS and Android is… Android

I’m packing for a family trip to an unfamiliar place. Given how this world works, I moved the SIM card out of my Light Phone 2 and back into my iPhone 11 Pro after over two years apart. And yes, I am grumpy about it.

I don’t want to use a smartphone, but I’m overwhelmed by the amount of bureaucracy involved in traveling and taking a vacation. I need an app to get on an airplane, to call a cab, make a reservation, look at a menu, etc.

The attractions I’m taking my family to (I don’t want to disclose my location ahead of time) has it’s own app that is a multiverse of crap. And this gets to why I really don’t want to use a smartphone anymore: It’s sold as making life easier for me, but it’s really about making it easier for them.

It makes it easier to consume their products, yes, but most of all, it makes it easier for them to process me. My requests get captured in a ticketing system, or molified by a chat bot. My attention is redirected with suggestions, deals, and offers.

My interactions get flattened into metrics that middle managers can optimize for their promotions and bonuses. All my purchases count towards one rewards program or another. That data is bought and sold a hundred times, but hey, I get a free cookie on my birthday, which they know because my birthday was a required field on the form I don’t remember filling out.

Life is allegedly easier with a smartphone, but really that means it’s harder not to use a smartphone.

A big reason why I don’t need a smartphone is that I’m in a city surrounded by stuff. I have it pretty good most of the time. I live near where I work. I can get around without a maps application. The signage is clear and familiar. I know where the cheap gas is. And a lot of essential places are walking distance, or reachable through public transportation. Call it infrastructure, amenities, or community. I don’t need to consult a third-party source of information when there are signs everywhere, and everything else is visible with the naked eye.

Anyway, when I’m annoyed this weekend because I’m reading a menu on a phone, or getting turn-by-turn directions that are unclear about which lane I was supposed to be in to get off at the right exit, I’ll picture the serenity of my Light Phone, telling me nothing and asking nothing of me.