Graphene is good, though it’s still pretty reliant upon Google not making life even harder for them, which it has been doing consistently.
A safer long-term option that is detached from Google’s whims entirely is PostmarketOS, which isn’t based on Android at all, but is instead a project based on Linux directly.
I’m not entirely sure if that would be better than just adopting PostmarketOS, since forking AOSP would mean maintaining a fork of that entire ecosystem, and I’m unsure how they would deal with all the phone manufacturers dropping support for phones rather quickly, or using outdated kernels to access GPU and hardware drivers for said phones after the manufacturer drops support.
Investing in PostmarketOS instead would bring with it much less stuff to fork, along with access to the mainline linux kernel (instead of outdated Android ones) that use open-source GPU drivers that can be effectively maintained, and it can support Android compatibility with a compatibility layer, Waydroid.
A polished PostmarketOS ecosystem only seems to offer advantages compared to a forked AOSP, so if they’re choosing which to invest in, Postmarket seems like the clear winner.
It’s confirmed coming to Motorola hardware next year. With more funding and institutional support I’m sure they could assemble a larger pool of devices that meet their requirements
Other options exist, but not so polished. It’s a tough project that apparently needs more support than small FOSS projects can provide, I’ve seen a lot of promising alternatives come and go.
Hardware/firmware wise, would really like to see open standards like we have for PC bootloaders. EU requiring nonproprietary bootloaders on phones would be a real step forward.
would be great if they did phones next.
Jolla is the only real option software wise
They could throw support behind GrapheneOS, it’s great and it’s Canadian eh
Graphene is good, though it’s still pretty reliant upon Google not making life even harder for them, which it has been doing consistently.
A safer long-term option that is detached from Google’s whims entirely is PostmarketOS, which isn’t based on Android at all, but is instead a project based on Linux directly.
If the EU would dare, it could totally fork AOSP. Then each country, company, non-profit can build its own mobile OS on top of it.
I’m not entirely sure if that would be better than just adopting PostmarketOS, since forking AOSP would mean maintaining a fork of that entire ecosystem, and I’m unsure how they would deal with all the phone manufacturers dropping support for phones rather quickly, or using outdated kernels to access GPU and hardware drivers for said phones after the manufacturer drops support.
Investing in PostmarketOS instead would bring with it much less stuff to fork, along with access to the mainline linux kernel (instead of outdated Android ones) that use open-source GPU drivers that can be effectively maintained, and it can support Android compatibility with a compatibility layer, Waydroid.
A polished PostmarketOS ecosystem only seems to offer advantages compared to a forked AOSP, so if they’re choosing which to invest in, Postmarket seems like the clear winner.
For sure GOS is great, but it is still only android fork. Not real independent alternative for duopoly
And it also only works on Google hardware 🤮
(And maybe one future Sony phone maybe?)
It’s confirmed coming to Motorola hardware next year. With more funding and institutional support I’m sure they could assemble a larger pool of devices that meet their requirements
France is not going to support GOS, 🤣🤣
Just ordered a Sony Xperia with SailfishOS! I hope you’re right! 🤞
(FYI just in case: SailfishOS is NOT an Android fork! I didn’t realize this until recently.)
Other options exist, but not so polished. It’s a tough project that apparently needs more support than small FOSS projects can provide, I’ve seen a lot of promising alternatives come and go.
Hardware/firmware wise, would really like to see open standards like we have for PC bootloaders. EU requiring nonproprietary bootloaders on phones would be a real step forward.