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- Linux smashes past 5% on the Steam Survey for the first time
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How to setup OpenMW for modern Morrowind on Linux / SteamOS and Steam Deck
How to install Hollow Knight: Silksong mods on Linux, SteamOS and Steam Deck- The Great Android lockdown of 2026.
- sonic2kk - Away all of next week
- scaine - What Multiplayer Shooters are yall playing?
- Strigi - New Desktop Screenshot Thread
- Hamish - Proton/Wine Games Locking Up
- Caldathras - See more posts
[http://keepandroidopen.org/](http://keepandroidopen.org/)
What are your thoughts on this? I might be switching to an iPhone and a new carrier cause of this shit outta principle. Google's half-assed backtracking on it isn't enough and this is a bunch of bullshit.
I like the Google Fi phone service, but my satisfaction with Google Pixel phones is a mixed bag. My Google Pixel 3a and Pixel 4a 5G were good, but my Pixel 6 had a shitty battery life. My current Pixel 8 Pro is good, but it still has some issues sometimes. To where I really can't tell if it's planned obsolescence or just the enshittification of Google and their apps (which would still be shitty on iOS) instead. I do know that I don't ever wanna switch back to Samsung bloat though. lol
The lockdown of Android really removes one of the big points of it over iOS and if that's the case, then you might as well go to Apple and get the better features and updates. (Some might also argue supposed privacy too, but I don't trust Apple either.) Plus KDE Connect is on iOS, so you can use an iPhone with Linux or FreeBSD and then you also get all of the iPhone integration features with macOS as well. Which leaves little point for staying on Android after this shit.
If I do decide to switch to an iPhone, then I'm gonna still get a cheap decent Android tablet too, cause I'm not about to lose access to my paid games on Android.
Help us, Linux phones. You're our only hope!
I'll see if I can patch out the components that will bring the bogus updates. Or prevent them from updating.
Yes, I know that the basis of Android is technically open source but hardly any Android device is ever open in practice. I actually don't even use phones because the whole situation is so hopeless.
I have a Fairphone 5 and 6 as my phones.
The 5 is admittedly, mostly for trying out other platforms.
So far I have test Ubuntu Touch by UBPorts and PostMarketOS with KDE Plasma.
My experiences in short are:
Ubuntu Touch is the most feature complete 'Linux' phone. Everything works on the Fairphone 5, but for most android apps that you can't do without you can use Waydroid. Ubuntu Touch itself runs through Halium, so it's not a pure linux kernel on your phone.
The looks and feel are... old fashioned Ubuntu. It's a bit sluggish and doesn't work as enticing as gestures on android.
PostmarketOS with KDE Plasma LOOKS a lot better but is so buggy at the moment that daily driving it is not possible. (They don't claim this either so no hate here to PostmarketOS or anything).
For me this is the project I want to succeed.
THey have, not long ago, released an immutable version:
https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Duranium_(Immutable_postmarketOS)
There is also Jolla Phone, but I have no experience with them!
TL;DR:
Ubuntu Touch is closest to being daily driveable, personally I like PostmarketOS with KDE Plasma more, but can't daily drive it.
Last edited by Strigi on 2 Apr 2026 at 9:40 am UTC
Pressuring back where you still can and considering the alternatives is the better option, I think. And though indeed there's much to catch up to in terms of counter-pressure, they've been at it for decades, so with equal patience, resilience and rising awareness of others, reverting may still be possible.
At this point, if I'm gonna be trapped in a walled garden regardless, then it's just pick your poison and makes little difference. I may as well be trapped in the nicer walled garden then.
I can use an iPhone on Google Fi if I did decide to switch. So I can at least keep my phone carrier, cause PAYG phone carriers are stupid and T-Mobile and Verizon are kinda expensive for unlimited data. Plus Google Fi doesn't charge extra for data-only SIMs either. Which is useful for an iPad or my 4G hotspot.
Looking into it, buying an existing handset and putting something like postmarketOS on it is what will suit my needs best. My problem is that I want a phone with a headphone jack and no notch/droplet/punchhole/etc. I will not budge on these, I want a clean forehead and chin, exactly the way Sony make the Xperia phones except with a larger screen.
I don't enjoy using my phone, so if I don't find a way to use a Linux phone, I think I will simply give up my phone. I don't really use it anyway, I barely take it out with me anymore too. It's a glorified alarm clock, and when I do travel I really only use it for KDE Itinerary. It would just be nice to have something I can take out that functions like my desktop PC that I can use to listen to music and give me that PC-like experience when I'm not at my PC.
Last edited by sonic2kk on 8 Apr 2026 at 12:52 am UTC