@dan Looks like for mobile/tablet your only real options are to buy an Android device and then install a Linux distro. Here's a list of such things:

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/linux-smartphone-operating-systems/

The Mozilla Foundation had released a Firefox-based mobile OS called FirefoxOS, but it never caught on with OEMs, and it quietly disappeared about nine years ago.

@dan Not in the US, but AFAIR, T-Mobile (and those who use their network, like Mint) are your best bet when you want to have fun with 'different hardware'. I kind of concur though, the phone is not the first space to switch to Linux. Desktop and tablet are way easier, as Linux on Phones phones-projects are more viable in other parts of the world. Jolla (Sailfish OS) is based in the EU, most Ubuntu Touch contributors are European or Asian. @spaceraser @ossobuffo

@dan Phones are just hard, as they are the everything device to most consumers. Think payments: Supporting stuff like that is highly unlikely, big banks don't make deals with small community projects. Meanwhile, there are other things that need to be tackled first: VoLTE, which technically is just some VoIP stuff, but as carriers are in control, whether a device can do phone calls, is now determined by them (and not by 'device supports widely used standard'). @spaceraser @ossobuffo

@dan I am not sure whether RCS (the replacement for SMS and MMS) is a similar beast, as AFAIK no #LinuxMobile OS supports it yet (not an issue yet, as things fall back to SMS or MMS).
With regard to the PinePhone and Librem 5: I know that I don't recommend the PinePhone anymore (as a device for users at least), and while there's more hope for the Librem 5, I think other devices (originally running Android) are better choices for most. @spaceraser @ossobuffo

@linmob @dan @spaceraser @ossobuffo Purism (creator of the #Librem5) is a U.S. company and should have a large interest in having their devices work in north America.

The community wiki lists quiet a bunch of U.S. providers as supported: https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Cellular-Providers

@linmob @dan @spaceraser @ossobuffo I'd still recommend PinePhone over Librem 5, due to its battery life.

@pavel @dan @ossobuffo @linmob @spaceraser Doesn't sound right to me. You can browse the web for a few hours on L5; on PP it will go flat in no time. PP undeniably wins in suspend time where it can last for a few days and L5 only for one, but one is all I usually need...

I'd certainly love it to last longer, as while it's usable, it's just barely so - but PP has so many other disadvantages I just don't see battery life in suspend as a deciding factor. If anything, that would be its price.

@agx @linmob @dan @spaceraser @ossobuffo - not to mean about it, but in any honest evaluation the Librem5 phone is garbage hardware, and should be avoided. Purism's laptops work fine though.

@TotalSonic @linmob @dan @spaceraser @ossobuffo There's plenty of people using the #Librem5 as their only phone so I don't think this is a valid statement. Looking at the #Librem5 and #ShotOnLibrem5 should give some ideas what people are doing with it.

@agx @linmob @dan @spaceraser @ossobuffo - also, if someone was specifically looking for an open dev device, the Pine64 PinePhone Pro would be way cheaper, is better supported with more software options, and has more capable hardware than the Librem5 as well.

@TotalSonic @linmob @dan @spaceraser @ossobuffo I'm sorry but that makes absolutely no sense.

We recently compared available options for different devices and left out the PPP due to lack of stable camera and phone call support. If that's not right I'd be interested to learn where this is working out of the box on the PinePhonePro.

@TotalSonic @linmob @dan @spaceraser @ossobuffo Maybe you're mixing PinePhone and PinePhonePro here? (e.g. https://gitlab.postmarketos.org/postmarketOS/pmaports/-/issues/3434)

@agx @linmob @dan @spaceraser @ossobuffo - fwiw, calls are working for PinePhone Pro using Ubuntu Touch (including initial VoLTE support) - Camera is not yet working for it on UT though. https://devices.ubuntu-touch.io/device/pinephone-pro/

@TotalSonic @linmob @dan @spaceraser @ossobuffo …and the L5 checks all of these boxes. My point is not to sell it to anyone though, I just wish people would stick to the facts and fight proprietary operating systems rather than calling devices crap that are part of the change that needs to come.

@agx @linmob @dan @spaceraser @ossobuffo - the Librem5 also has horrible battery life, unreliable performance, crap cameras, and a super slow outdated soc, for the not worth it price of $799 USd. Anyone who recommends this device to new users is doing them a major disservice.

@TotalSonic @linmob @dan @spaceraser @ossobuffo

I sometimes wish I had the same amount of self confidence.

@dos @dan @ossobuffo @linmob @spaceraser I was talking about poor standby time. While Librem 5 may be better internet tablet, I'd really expect 48h+ standby from a phone :-). Neither PinePhone nor Librem 5 are really comparable to modern smart phone. At least PinePhone is usable for voice calls with adequate standby. If you need more than 90 minutes of web browsing, yes, Librem 5 may be better option. YMMV :-). [For the record, I'm using Geeksphone Keon. It actually fits in my pocket, I don't really need web. Its not great, but...]

@agx @TotalSonic @linmob @dan @spaceraser @ossobuffo In the end, hard part is really the software :-(. As of hardware... there's no great solution. OnePlus 6 may be best overall, but that's ex-android thus scary and something we should not talk about and I'm afraid it will turn into brick. Purism is doing great job developing hardware, so they need our support. PinePhone is not great but not terrible. Librem 5 is better in most metrics, but its standby time and weight is in "terrible" category :-(. OnePlus 6 may get usable, and I have some hope for Fairphone 4/5.

[I still hope to get phone that is 100 grams. Voice calls + sshd + tethering, and I'll be happy.]

@pavel @dan @ossobuffo @linmob @spaceraser @agx - there are numerous devices running Ubuntu Touch that are essentially feature complete in function, a good bit above the performance of PMOS on the OP6. Regarding ex-Android being "scary", frankly I think projects like Halium are a big way forward to having wider adoption of alternative privacy respecting OS's, and that scariness is mostly FUD. Also - the Furilabs FLX1 is cheaper than the Librem 5, and is infinitely better in its performance.

@TotalSonic @dan @ossobuffo @linmob @spaceraser @agx Halium is highway to hell. If I was okay with android kernel, rooted android would be an option. OP6 runs mainline kernel, still its scary (I had near brick few times, and still have red warnings on boot), and no, it is not FUD.

@pavel @dan @ossobuffo @linmob @spaceraser @agx - hey, if you can get all device functions working well using a mainline kernel, then more power to you. But as far as "highway to hell", if a tool allows quicker and easier porting of more devices to being capable of running alternative user empowering OS's, with pretty much every device function working as expected, then it's way more like a bent path to a pretty good day.