Being able to make apps in plain Python or Rust, without running Android Studio sounds like a dream.
Automatic simple things with cron.
Using standard systemd, pipewire, wayland software stack…
Being able to see data of apps and backup them with Restic or Syncthing.
Repurposing old smartphone as Raspberry Pi replacement…
Of course those would be good things. It still doesn’t sound like priority #1 when it comes to software freedom alone especially in a world where smartphones are mostly not open systems designed for installation of any new operating systems.
Yes, alas the tech community is too infested of liberals who don’t see how the current make up of corpo backed up “foss” is bad for the overall community, like the commenter above. We’re in an all time low disinterestedness about FOSS policies and politics.
Nope, this os more about the state of things in general. I’m not only blaming the kids, certainly there also insidious work at play here in how nobody is stepping up to keep the boat on the original intended course.
And the old gurus are to blame as well, many either kneel to the Man with fat pockets or stopped to care.
As for what is the right course, do you see the “socialist” up there? That’s also a discussion we have in our circles. “Is mass adoption always good?” Or “Is it better to have 5% of highly engaged people in a community whom the (apolitical) ‘sheep’ will follow and learn to and to build up from there?” You may guess my favorite approach.
You know Foss is where it is right now because of corporation backing. Good or bad Linux the OS would not be where it is without the money. People are not going to donate and people have to provide for themselves and family.
You know all the big FOSS projects are the same. Foss is nightly controlled by corporations because as much as people would like to deny it people like to eat.
Eh, for sure corporations do contribute a lot to every major FOSS project out there. I don’t expect huge, versatile codebases to be maintained by volunteers lemmy-style, and corpos are the dominant organization kind under the capitalist mode of production, so of course they will have the resources to have a foot in every door.
But the key differentiator is how much control any single entity has over the project’s code, maintenance and infrastructure. On one side of the spectrum there’s stuff like Rust or ffmpeg or GNU which are being pulled in various directions by various corpos and the community, on the other there’s stuff like Chromium and AOSP where Google unilaterally controls everything. Projects like Linux or Firefox fall somewhere in the middle. We desperately need more projects to be of the first kind, and I feel like to achieve this projects should go as far as to ban donations over a certain amount and limit the number of contributors affiliated with a single organization. “Avoid success at all costs” is my single favorite rule of FOSS building, and it should be applied to technical, financial and organizational decisions all the same.
2027 year of the Linux… phone???
Linux is already the most common kernel in phones in 2026. In this case we really have to distinguish between Linux (incl. Android) and GNU/Linux.
And given that AOSP is already FOSS, it doesn’t exactly sound like a priority to reinvent the wheel of a FOSS smartphone OS.
Being able to make apps in plain Python or Rust, without running Android Studio sounds like a dream. Automatic simple things with cron. Using standard systemd, pipewire, wayland software stack… Being able to see data of apps and backup them with Restic or Syncthing. Repurposing old smartphone as Raspberry Pi replacement…
There are so many things we miss.
i dont want syst*md on my phone
the rest of gnulinux sounds good on mobile tho
Of course those would be good things. It still doesn’t sound like priority #1 when it comes to software freedom alone especially in a world where smartphones are mostly not open systems designed for installation of any new operating systems.
Replying from my SailfishOS phone. It’s everything you dreamed it is.
AOSP is controlled and maintained by a single bad-faith entity. We need a community-maintained, community-led replacement ASAP.
Yes, alas the tech community is too infested of liberals who don’t see how the current make up of corpo backed up “foss” is bad for the overall community, like the commenter above. We’re in an all time low disinterestedness about FOSS policies and politics.
back in my day <shakes fist at cloud>
pun definitely intendedNope, this os more about the state of things in general. I’m not only blaming the kids, certainly there also insidious work at play here in how nobody is stepping up to keep the boat on the original intended course.
And the old gurus are to blame as well, many either kneel to the Man with fat pockets or stopped to care.
As for what is the right course, do you see the “socialist” up there? That’s also a discussion we have in our circles. “Is mass adoption always good?” Or “Is it better to have 5% of highly engaged people in a community whom the (apolitical) ‘sheep’ will follow and learn to and to build up from there?” You may guess my favorite approach.
Do you work for free? People are doing this full time how do they live, in your scenario?
You know Foss is where it is right now because of corporation backing. Good or bad Linux the OS would not be where it is without the money. People are not going to donate and people have to provide for themselves and family.
You know all the big FOSS projects are the same. Foss is nightly controlled by corporations because as much as people would like to deny it people like to eat.
Eh, for sure corporations do contribute a lot to every major FOSS project out there. I don’t expect huge, versatile codebases to be maintained by volunteers lemmy-style, and corpos are the dominant organization kind under the capitalist mode of production, so of course they will have the resources to have a foot in every door.
But the key differentiator is how much control any single entity has over the project’s code, maintenance and infrastructure. On one side of the spectrum there’s stuff like Rust or ffmpeg or GNU which are being pulled in various directions by various corpos and the community, on the other there’s stuff like Chromium and AOSP where Google unilaterally controls everything. Projects like Linux or Firefox fall somewhere in the middle. We desperately need more projects to be of the first kind, and I feel like to achieve this projects should go as far as to ban donations over a certain amount and limit the number of contributors affiliated with a single organization. “Avoid success at all costs” is my single favorite rule of FOSS building, and it should be applied to technical, financial and organizational decisions all the same.
Linux *car