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Sailfish OS showed me what Linux phones could actually be, and we need more of it (www.xda-developers.com)
submitted 5 months ago by to c/linuxphones@lemmy.ca
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[–] 32 points 5 months ago* (13 children)

I agree, and I desperately want a Linux phone, but the really problem with Linux phones gaining traction is that is the developers are DEVELOPERS.

"I make $200,000 a year... how much should a good smartphone cost... how about $700? It's a bargain!"

I get that making hardware is expensive, but asking people to jump into something with a learning curve and real sacrifices at a premium price is just guaranteeing it stays niche - especially when asking an audience that by and large has to have an Android as a backup for some apps anyway.

And this is coming from someone with no fewer than 16 machines running various Linux distros in his house. You can't ask someone to spend that much on a secondary phone to play with until they get comfortable enough with it to switch completely. You just can't. It's barely working for the Linux OS, and that's free.

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  • [–] 21 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

    I'm sure it's very difficult to compete with the established duopoly of Apple and Google.

    How are you supposed to make a product cheap against those enormous economies of scale, all while knowing very few people will want it or buy it when it doesn't have any apps for reasons of that same duopoly?

    Linux phones absolutely are a niche project with sacrifices, as you said, and the only people who can bear the cost of entry at the moment will be a niche market of engineers and tinkerers.

    It would be nice to get the price down to that of the consumer market, but the whole experience is still not even ready for consumers.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago (1 child)

    You mean like on PCs with Mac and Windows?

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

    No I don't.

    On PC, most of what people want to do happens inside a web browser, which means as soon as you have a browser your alternative operating system - like Linux - is very functional already.

    Of the remaining functionality, a lot of it are apps that work offline; CAD/CAM apps, video production, office and business. Any devs who are willing can build similar equivalents to these apps, and they can even make them interoperable with the big players like Microsoft Office.

    Compare to phones, where 90% of what people do is apps, and those apps are not made by random people, but by the company who provides the service. Which means if you aren't on iOS or Android then you probably can't book a taxi, can't access your banking app, can't message your family on the platform they all use, can't access your national government healthcare app, and the list goes on - you need support from service providers.

    Microsoft tried to launch an alternative operating system with Windows Phone. They made a great device with an OS that was nice to use, and although they threw absolutely millions of dollars at other companies to make apps for their platform it still wasn't enough. And this was over 10 years ago when people were far less dependant on apps than they are now.

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago

    The hardware isn't expensive (I run Linux on a phone that cost me 80 euros), the software development is.

    Also, SailfishOS runs on some Xperia phones that cost around a hundred euros. The main issue with SailfishOS is that the OS isn't free software as parts are proprietary and they don't use a mainline kernel, so that you will probably bot be able to run an up to date kernel after a while.

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago

    I'm a developer and i won't buy a 700€ phone lol!!

    I know the specs I need/want and go hunting, which excludes all apple and so on.

    My sweet spot is Xiaomi, stellar performance (it's like a developer phone but cheap IMO) and cheap. Loads of variants and price ranges, and lots of second hand where I live, got my latest for 300€ and it's a "flagship killer" with specs like a modern PC (almost) and LEICA cameras.

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    I don't entirely disagree, but I do. Developers are the problem. But it's not the cost of the hardware, it's the cost of the ecosystem.

    My creature comforts are a driving factor that incentivises my purchases. I have graphine on my phone because I value my privacy and control of my device, but it also has an ecosystem that still allows me to Snapchat my friends if I want to.

    The Linux phone ecosystem is a barren wasteland. Do you want a calculator app? Ok sure. It even works with your mint distro on your laptop. But do you want to send insta reels to your friends? Whoa buddy. Stop right there.

    The developers are the problem because they don't have a pool worth investing time and effort rewriting apps.

    It's not their fault. The Precambrian explosion happened because it was a clean slate. And we haven't had any substantial exotic life emerge since. It's tough to evolve an exotic new take of a eucaryote that resporates sulphur while mastadons are prancing around on top of you.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago

    The large-scale tech lifeforms are currently enshittifying themselves into extinction with AI and age verification and manipulative algorithms and other invasive irritants that people are already getting beyond fed up with tolerating.

    The precambrian explosion to replace them is already starting to mutate in different directions. We'll see what sticks.

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