That makes a lot of sense until you realize those are no longer made and are not updated with security fixes, in many cases.
It makes very little sense to buy a network-connected device which can’t be updated. And if you say “put Linux on it” it could be argued that you don’t know what tools like phones are for.
I only buy phones with great support for LineageOS [0], which is basically the open source version of Android with some adaptations... Even if I bought a 2024 phone, I would install LineageOS to make sure there are no backdoors on my phone.
Aren't the backdoors gonna be in the baseband firmware that no phone allows you to modify?
I always felt that we basically "lost" with open source: Intel did the Management Engine and phones stuck everything in the baseband.
There's no real possibility of having fully software-hackable hardware. Someone else ultimately has control of all hardware, if they want to exercise that control.
Running all sort of apps that wouldn't exist native on Linux (banking, whatsapp, ...) or whose equivalents although better and safer on Linux aren't compatible with what the mass uses.
I finally settled with a phone (Nokia 8110 4G) that does just the phone, the hotspot and the occasional low quality photo, then a Thinkpad for serious stuff, and don't miss at all a smartphone. But I have no use for social media etc. most people mileage will vary.
Actually I would be interested in Graphene OS, but it only supports devices that are either too old or too costly for a mere curiosity, therefore I will wait.
As someone writing this on a pinephone the primary issue with the statement is the lack of context. You 'put linux on it' and get OSS, and control of your own device. But most of the time lose 90% access to the abilities of ios/android installs...
I can sudo pacman -S dub & ldc2 + fav editor of the week. But had to spend hours getting an android emulator working to sign up to use the telegram install that came with most/all of the distros I've tried!
TLDR: you get a pocket laptop instead of a phone, despite owning a "phone"
> TLDR: you get a pocket laptop instead of a phone, despite owning a "phone"
Yes, exactly, thank you. You get a project that never ends instead of a useful tool. Maybe that’s what you want, and that’s fine if so, but that’s not what I want.
It makes very little sense to buy a network-connected device which can’t be updated. And if you say “put Linux on it” it could be argued that you don’t know what tools like phones are for.