this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2026
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I just think they're neat!
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A big purchase needs a big screen!
When you can plug your phone into your workstations USB c dock and you have DeX or another equivalent, the lines start to get blurry.
I can’t plan a trip without two 27” screens.
Its true! One needs a couple windows and/or several tabs with different things open. Itineraries, transport options, budget stuff, its a research project.
Yeah you can't compare prices when using a phone. On my computer I can have a dozen tabs open searching different flight options to compare and find the cheapest/ most convenient option
Thank you. Plane tickets, like doing my taxes, is a PC task, not a phone one...
I still wouldn't enter any of my credentials on a phone though. Don't even trust it enough to open my main email account on it.
I'm tech literate enough to understand potential points of failure and that level of security. I do, however, have an earnest question: how is this more secure when your information still exists on ~public servers in the form of credit assessors and the like? All of those credentials that you enter into your secure machine still go through the same pipes to the same bank that is ultimately still a target using AWS for all their internet-banking needs. So again, I understand limiting the points of failure, but then why not use graphene or another similar OS and keep convenience and security?
I mean no offense and am definitely not trying to convince you to change your habits, I am just genuinely curious as to your reasoning. Cheers, friend.
I am currently using Graphene, but that's on a ticking clock until support runs out since so few devices support it, and the ones that do aren't exactly cheap. TBH I'm sick of the whole smartphone concept, I hate that you're supposed to do security-critical things on an expensive device with maybe 5 years of security support (much less if you're buying used/refurbished, or cheaper models) that has a pretty high risk of breaking, getting lost or being stolen.
Some of it is also inertia TBF, I'm not used to doing that stuff on smartphones, I don't like smartphone UI for anything that involves a lot of typing and I'm just not motivated to set it up.
If I wasn't using Graphene, holy shit standard Android is SO insecure and most third party ROMs like LineageOS aren't that much better.
He's basically just paranoid and has no real grounding for it. It's just good ol fashion paranoia.
that's definitely a factor in it
There are dozens of us
I didn't want to say it but I may know he's paranoid because I too am paranoid...
Exactly. I want all my protective software in play. The big screen is preferable too.
Thats interesting. Do you have a smartphone but dont use the app store?
Not that app store, at least not without protection. Coz gOS lets me.
Wish I could have graphene on my phone. I had an android tablet that I didnt log into and had F droid and Aurora and I was able to do everything with it. Changed my view on google play services.
I did most of my house purchase from my phone, and I'm Gen X
You should be studied in a lab.
Why do people keep telling me that?
With Linux phones, will you even be able to tell the difference.
Yes. Right now there are significant functional differences. In the future, maybe. Human Interface capabilities are always going to be the primary limiting factor, and as of now there are plenty of people who still much prefer actual tactile responses to computing to verify interaction. Physical buttons very clearly respond to inputs - except of course when they don't for [insert IT guy sigh here].
Plus, I can tell you for sure that Linux ARM distros are functional, yes, but don't compare to what an optimized PC distro or a dedicated mobile OS on ARM is like. My RaspberryPi with its fully optimized OS and ARM processor can't handle the same thing my phone can do in the background while I browse several tabs on the internet. Is it the RAM? I dunno, my laptop had the same RAM as the Pi until a couple months ago and still could multitask better. Play a game and watch a video and have multiple tabs open for the game. The Pi struggles on certain websites and that's all I ask of it.
Just because it exists doesn't mean it is ready for primetime.
Upvoted for truth, I was going with the idea of a monitor out from a phone, aka DeX (a horrible Samsung proprietary version of something that could be from a Linux phone, a free desktop, I believe it can happen, but expressed poorly) which has heaps of potential for turning phones into general computers. The next PC, in your pocket, and re-purpose a whole lot of e-waste, perhaps through LLM decomposition.
Right now I'm exploring SBC versions of the idea, nothing dramatic, give me books to read, music to listen to and whatever else a free OS has to offer and ideally a 5. something inch OLED or maybe a drawable eInk (currently remote desktop to my phone) screen and I'll be happy, especially if I plugged it together myself.
Not at all prime time, not sure I even want that. But fair criticism if it was, idea may have some resonance?
And no, you couldn't have guessed from one sentence. Seems we're mostly aligned?
Look up Project Ada, I believe it was. Google/Motorola had a functional mockup of basically a Lego kit for phones. Abandoned for lack of general interest.
If you want it DIY, then DIY. The vast majority of people want something that just works. There's a slice of that who care about the specifics, the nitty gritty, the full capability and functionality. I'm somewhere in that surprisingly broad range of a slice. You are too, it seems, but even then my willingness to tolerate jank with the amount of processing power available to literal children these days is extremely limited. My 8-bit NES ran better with only a few spare kilobytes and you mean to tell me actual gigabytes isn't enough room to do flying cartwheels? Sorry, fuck outta here.
Proof of concept is one thing and I can run with that, but daily driver? I need more.
I think I will.
I dunno. Someone should give me a linux phone so I can find out. Ive been searching forever :(
Fair cop.