PINE64 stopped producing devices dependent on RAM/storage chips — so, for example, no more PinePhones.

What did we lose? From a phone perspective not much. Low-end hardware with no software support from the vendor. To be fair, we did lose FOSS modem firmware — on a device that is hardly usable.

Today, companies like Fairphone produce phones of far higher quality than the PinePhone or PinePhone Pro, while also supporting Linux kernel development for their devices.

#MobileLinux #LinuxMobile

@okias Let me grab that click bait 🤭 :

There are people that have other priorities like the amount of firmware on the device, separation of components on the PCB, no proprietary hypervisors, full control over all bootloaders, etc.

So I think as a community we have interest in devices like the @pine64 #PinePhone's or @purism 's #Librem5 to continue.

It's also good to have devices that ship Linux out of the box.

@agx @pine64 @purism

I'm not denying the value in some of these points, but in general I think HW without sustained software development is useless.

Purism did the development for Librem 5 and invested a lot to make this happen, while PINE64 released device able to run software stack developed by others. PINE64 had best position to bring good experience to the users, but it ended up as a poor toy.

Regarding to the shipping out-of-box Linux, we still have Sendero Linux shipping OP6T.

@okias @agx @pine64 Mobile Linux benefits from many angles. We invest heavily in the Librem 5 with ongoing hardware/software R&D and upstream contributions. A Librem 5 v2 is in the works.

PINE64 has also been instrumental in making mobile Linux hardware more accessible. Their community has driven significant interest, too; in fact, our CTO joined Purism after using a PP/PPP and getting more involved.

Mobile Linux needs both: serious R&D and hardware that more people can experiment with.

@purism @okias @agx @pine64
I recently did an update on my d-googled smartpones mindmap and you can get #linux on smartphones out of the box 🎁

@hanscees @purism @okias @agx @pine64

Nice mindmap. Notice that the #Librem5 is also pretty #repairable. For more details and instructions see: https://docs.puri.sm/Hardware/Librem_5/maintenance.html

#Repair components are for sale here: https://shop.puri.sm/accessories/

#repairability #mobilelinux

@hanscees @purism @okias @agx @pine64

Also, maybe you could consider adding the "supporting Linux #hardware" to the mindmap as well. By buying native Linux hardware you also provide financial support to the #MobileLinux ecosystem.

And also there are several ways to financially support #Linux #software development for mobile phones.

See for example:
- https://opencollective.com/postmarketOS
- https://ev.phosh.mobi/donate/
- https://shop.puri.sm/?s=PureOS+subscription

Probably there are more, but these are the ones I know of.

@janvlug @purism @okias @agx @pine64 and natuve #linux hardware means volla and jolla and purism?

@hanscees

I think the difference between PINE64 / Purism and Volla / Jolla is that the former use mainline Linux kernels and the later use Android Kernels + libhybris. That makes a bit of a difference for the user in terms of hardware support, long term maintenance, etc and how userspace is layed out.

@janvlug @purism @okias @pine64

@agx @janvlug @purism @okias @pine64
Perhaps I read your message wrong but jolla has sailfish-Os and volla uses ubuntutouch. Those are not android kernels, or are they?

@hanscees

AFAIK they are. See e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libhybris and https://docs.sailfishos.org/Tools/Hardware_Adaptation_Development_Kit/

while PureOS, postmarketOS, Mobian, BengalOS, pocketBlue, etc are mainline Linux based.

(and to add even more to the mix: There's a libhybris/android kernel flavored Debian called Droidian).

Yes, it's complicated, we notice that when talking to ppl with our association (@ev) at conferences. Once people realize it's mainline, they really get excited.

@janvlug @purism @okias @pine64