this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2026
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Privacy
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Personally, as much as I love the freedom of phones running desktop Linux on mobile (well most use Ubuntu as a starting point, so maybe "freedom"), I think freedom can only go so far with limited security.
Unfortunately so-called "Linux phones" (which is a horrible name imo, android is based on the Linux kernel, so really they should be called systemd phones) have very lackluster security on the device itself (app sandboxing is a joke on desktop Linux, which applies to mobile (non android) Linux too), not to mention physical security ("linux phones" are built with the goal of running Linux, not protecting their users from the combined hacking power of the US, Israel, China and other nation state actors). With the new terminal emulator allowing people to run desktop Linux apps on android, I really only see pinephone and other such devices as novelty phones, rather than a real daily driver smartphone. I don't really understand the obsession with putting desktop Linux on the phone anyways.
I'm personally hoping for the GrapheneOS team to grow enough to build their own microkernel instead of relying on the relatively insecure monolithic Linux kernel. That said, I'm definitely a minority, so as long as big tech is losing its monopoly on the smartphone market, more power to you I suppose.
I think you're right -- if your focus is security. Especially against a local gang or a not-so-developed and corrupt government that may get physical access to your phone. Especially short- to mid-term.
However, that is not the only possible threat to your or mine safety. Personally, I'm much more afraid of a very specific gang of billionaires. I believe they can do me more harm, currently. Them, and the overall process of centralization and monopolization. I also believe they have a high likelihood to do me even more harm in the future. While security against exploits etc is an ongoing battle that goes both ways, a total collapse of the market to monopolization is hard to revert. This is evidenced by our own chat earlier, where we both acknowledge that big corporations and hardware manufacturers simply tell us which binary blobs to install to run on their blackbox hardware. And we have to inhale quite some copium to start calling it OK.
If actually that is your or mine threat model, then the solution may naturally be different, too. You would then prioritize on projects that demonopolize the market, you would chose smaller brands when possible. And would you then vote with your pocket for projects that are technologically independent from the billionaire tech?