I wish there was a easier way to put Linux mobile on phones, I mean it's pretty painless to put Linux on desktops and laptops. What's the hold up on mobile devices? Yeah I know there are some good Linux mobile options, but they are still hard to port to just about any device.
I haven't tried it yet, but I remember reading that one OS ( was it... PostmarketOS? 🤔 ) had a web installer, where you basically just plug the phone in by a usb cable, click "Install" on a web page, grant a couple of permissions in the browser and it takes care of the rest.
Sad there was so much resistance. It could lower the barrier to entry so very much, as seen by the OP.
Well some folks have issue that webusb is not supported in Firefox. But they can use chromium.
@Blort "recent advancements" meaning code that could be in a local app, instead of on a website.
I hear owners of Google Pixel phones can't restore their backups without Chrome/WebUSB. This despite the fact that the backups might be in local storage (and the web might not be accessible when restoring). Fuck Google.
Occulous users can't turn on their headsets without using Chrome/WebUSB to unlock the DRM. Fuck Facebook (and Google)!
WebUSB is not a W3C standard. It is not any standard, and its "advancements" are the usual shackles marketed as ultra-convenience. #FYI
@Blort @joao@librem.one @martijnbraam @justinkd
Honestly WebUSB, despite not being a "standard", has been pretty useful to me so far. I've used it to pair a mouse to a receiver, update the firmware on a controller, and install the awesome KOReader app on my phone via ADB. I don't see why having one app installed, Chrome or a similar browser that supports WebUSB, is worse than the alternative where things used to be a vendor-specific app for managing their hardware that was often limited by OS support.
@joao @martijnbraam @justinkd
Well, yeah. I'm a staunch FIrefox user and avoid Chrome / Chromium wherever I can. That said, I'm not going to suggest that Mozilla having not implemented WebUSB yet, means that Mobile Linux users shouldn't have access to a fast, easy way to try recent advancements because they'd need to use Chromium for a few minutes. That seems like "baby with the bathwater" behavior to me. 🤷
#Firefox #Chrome #Chromium #WebUSB #MobileLinux