Linux Mint compared to Android on phone

[Petermint]

I wish I had Linux Mint on my phone. Android is criminal. Both Google and Samsung install applications for their own benefit and refuse to delete them.

You can disable some of the forced applications but others you can only stop temporarily. They may randomly restart.

You can switch off permissions but they may be switched back on by Google or Samsung.

There is talk of using real Linux in India. I have not found any of those phones on sale anywhere.

[gm10]

Linux Mint is not available for phone CPUs. You can install Debian to a phone though.

[Petermint]

Samsung promoted their Tizen as an open mobile Linux but only in India. Canonical produced Ubuntu Touch then stopped development.

CyanogenMod is something I will look at again for my new phone. LineageOS is the current fork of CyanogenMod.

[Hoser Rob]

.... Canonical produced Ubuntu Touch then stopped development.....

Because it was a disaster. Peoplle using Linux phones generally expect to be able to use whatsapp et al and they can't, they're not open source and whatsapp charges 7 figures just to be able to read the API.

Basically, your $500 smart phone becomes a $50 feature phone. I'd like a Linux phone as much as anyone but I am not holding my breath.

[Moem]

LineageOS is the current fork of CyanogenMod.

And it's really good. I've been using it for a couple of months now.

[gm10]

LineageOS is the current fork of CyanogenMod.

And it's really good. I've been using it for a couple of months now.

I've been using it for years. Also while technically I suppose it's a fork, in reality it's a continuation under a new name in response to CyanogenMod being discontinued.

If we're discussing Android, I should think this should be moved out of the main edition support forum.

[Moem]

I agree... you can't compare Linux Mint to Android on a phone, because you can't actually run Linux Mint on a phone.

[Portreve]

It's going to be a while before a legit GNU+Linux distro becomes viable for enough users at large to consider. And, honestly, that's being optimistic. If there was something like a common standard reference platform for messaging (analogous to BitTorrent being a standard, but anyone can write a client for it) then this probably would not be a big deal. However, that's not the case, and it's a considerable downside because it would certainly be preferable to chat and/or talk securely, but it's difficult to do that because everybody does something different on their phone, or they have not bothered to do anything to have secure communication on their phone.

It's the same thing for email; however, one can at least use a web browser to access ProtonMail, Tutanota, etc.

The only people I know I can rely on to have WhatsApp are my friends in Germany. I don't know anybody stateside who uses it or, frankly, even knows what it is.

[Petermint]

Linux Mint to Android on a phone

Given that there are/were several projects based on Ubuntu and other open versions of Linux, I think the comparison is valid. Linux is used on tablets and some tablets have SIM cards for network/telephone connections. Televisions use Linux and have voice response. There will be televisions with their own SIM to bypass firewalls and ship your private conversations direct to big brother and sister corporations. Something like Tizen will succeed.

Linux projects are big in India where cost is the number one driver. Tizen and similar projects are responses to demands for something other than the locked up versions of Android. There are enough criminals in the world to finance a secure Linux for conversations.

[Moem]

Given that there are/were several projects based on Ubuntu and other open versions of Linux, I think the comparison is valid.

Don't get me wrong, I'd jump at the chance to get Linux Mint on a phone. But currently it's not a feasible option. I can't wait until it is.

[Portreve]

I don't think I'd much care to have Linux Mint on a phone. I mean, one of the most important things it's known for is the Cinnamon DE, and that's not something which would translate well, if at all, onto the mobile form factor.

Don't get me wrong. If Clem and crew were to decide to tackle that platform and form factor, I would love to see what they might come up with, though I would advise him against taking away from the development and refinement efforts they are pouring into LM itself, if he were ever to ask. (Not that that would be likely, either.)

[Moem]

If Clem and crew were to decide to tackle that platform and form factor, I would love to see what they might come up with

Yes, exactly.

[Petermint]

Linux Mint on a phone might be a stretch. What about Linux Mint on a notebook with a touch screen? Which GUI would you use with a touch screen?

Canonical worked on a touch screen compatible interface for Ubuntu. Ubuntu became a candidate for mobile phones

Comparing Linux Mint to Android, the big differences are the control you have over what you install. Google and all the companies modifying Android for their phones are working to create Android for their benefit, not yours. Their benefit is almost the opposite of our benefit. Linux Mint is different because the developers are users working to benefit themselves, which benefits all users.

By law, corporations have to make shareholders rich. Google , Sony, Samsung, etc, want to copy the Apple model of locking customers into the sellers market. As an example, Google lock Youtube into Android. A good brand of Linux lets you delete anything.

The icons on LM notebook screen are the same size as the icons on my phone. Comparing the two, the Cinnamon GUI does not need many changes.

Many applications would need big changes to fit and most of them are applications I would not use on a phone. Doom would be hard to play on a phone.

And there is the Signal/Skype notebook. A touch screen. A headset. Talking over the Internet. A small step from a mobile phone.