Are there mobile desktops for Debian?

If you just want the DE and to configure everything else yourself, you can always just install phosh or sxmo on top of a debian/raspbian installation.

Mobian/Droidian are targeted for smartphone SoCs, so they would take a lot of tinkering to get runnin on an RPi

If you want a full OS that’s already configured to be a smartphone-like device, something like Glodroid may be your best bet. They’re an infrequent updater, the only reason I mention them is because they can target Broadcom devices (like RPis)

If you don’t mind getting away from building the hardware yourself, and just want a phone that you can run linux on, FairPhone/PinePhone/Librem 5 seem to be the way to go

Aside from that, afaict you’re in for designing your own device from extant components and then crowd-funding to pay for a factory line to assemble it for you (this is essentially what the PinePhone did)

realistically how feasible is it going to be to have something be completely free of it?

It’ll be feasible if we encourage a culture of not using it. It doesn’t have to be the main mode of development — and all the big names can keep their slop generators — but as long as there remains a demand for slop-less software, there will be people willing to make it happen.

There’s also the saying “don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good”: besides the fact that I don’t trust slop-coders to put in any more effort into architecture/security/performance than they do actually learning the languages and writing the code, I also hate that they are willing to fund giant data centers that deplete local reservoirs and cause blackouts for small communities. In this case, I don’t care if it’s “no ai at all” or “no ai as much as is practical,” because both are still better than “full steam ahead.”

There’s probably a better way, but the way that works for me is apt show <package> and then copying everything from the Recommended section into an apt install command

Edit: people in forums are suggesting the simpler apt install --reinstall --install-recommends <pkg>.

I find this preferable because it means the recommended packages get marked as auto, which means an uninstall will automatically remove them.

On the other hand, it forces a redownload and install of <package> which might be unwanted. If you want the best of both worlds, you’re going to have to manually install the recommended packages, then also manually apt-mark auto <list of packages>—although that might make them immediately susceptible to an autoremove, so this might require some tweaking; I’ll work it out when I have time.

If you want to always install recommended packages, add APT::Install-Recommends "1"; to your apt.conf (which just includes the --install-recommends option by default, behind the scenes)

As a rule I don’t tell people to RTFM, because it has some rude dismissive connotations, although I will share when it helps me solve a problem I’ve been butting up against that would’ve been solved if I had just read the docs.

That being said, I do encourage people to read the docs, as others’ walkthroughs can be misinformational, and are usually tied to specific setups or software and hardware versions. It requires learning how to wade through a lot of information to find the info you need, but the info is usually guaranteed to be the most current and reliable.

That all being said, I’m more than happy to help when people want it.

I don’t have them, they just come up in a search for “Linux-based Phone.” Please share your experience if you have the time! People need to know what they’re getting into!

I got the Manjaro edition of the PinePhone, but then tried to multi-boot image. I wish it had been better, but the call quality was abysmal; basically required a headset to be tenable. It’s a great miniature computer, but a really awful phone. I’m hoping the PinePhone Pro is better, and it looks promising according to the forums, but I won’t get to try it for awhile.

I would guess that most Android ROMs are OEM ones that are not degoogled (and have the added spyware of Cellular Service Providers or phone brands), I’m not familiar enough with AOSP Stock Images to make a judgment on those, and the rest that I know of—which are actively maintained and have been around long enough brand-recognition that I trust them to be non-glitchy and spyware free—comprise the above list.

If you got more suggestions, I will gladly add them to the list though.

Ubuntu reports that nearly everything except VoLTE works on the Fairphone 4 and 5

Oh snap, so is that UBPorts? I’m not sure how to classify that tbh, I might need a 3rd category that’s Linux Phone OSes that work on Android-focused phones. Actually, just looking at it rn and it looks like PostMarket claims to support over 700 devices…

Is keeping time one of the services you provide, or do you just get bent out of shape if people don’t respond to you immediately?

I wouldn’t go quite that far. It doesn’t only protect their business interest; it definitely does achieve the goals they claim—like helping non-tech-literate users to avoid getting scammed with malware—it’s just they’re only doing it this way because it also aligns with their business interest.

To that end I’d contest the “Security Theater” label. All security measures are ultimately implemented in a way that defends the interests of the owners. It’s just that people have forgotten or aren’t aware that Proprietary Software means they’re not the owners.

Of course if it was just about users’ safety, the most effective way to help people avoid getting scammed is to educate them, but that would make people less dependent on Google and less susceptible to vendor lock-in, and people may even start having dangerous thoughts like “it sure is weird how many identifying traits of a scam are also just standard business practices for large corporations like Google.”

No thankss, I got tired of being surrounded by people like you

I agree with the sentiment, but I do have to argue with some of his points (because it’s fun, and it’s okay to do things just for the hell of it). Excellent point, ineffectively articulated

I wrote my MSc on The Metaverse. Learning to built VR stuff was fun, but a complete waste of time. There was precisely zero utility in having gotten in early… But I’m struggling to think of anyone who has earned anything more than bragging rights by being first.

You’re your own counterexample. You got to experience the metaverse when it was still alive, which you wouldn’t have if you had waited for just a few years. And you got a Masters Degree out of it, not just bragging rights.

But I’m struggling to think of anyone who has earned anything more than bragging rights by being first. Some early investors made money

So you’re not struggling that much if you can start of the next sentence with an example of people who earned more than just bragging rights.

But I’m struggling to think of anyone who has earned anything more than bragging rights by being first. Some early investors made money - but an equal and opposite number lost money.

This grossly overestimates the ratio of successes to failures. You’re muuuuuuch more likely to lose money on the gamble of The Next Big Thing than win; for every HTTP there’s a Gopher and Usenet and a dozen others that all look the same from the outside looking in.

For every HTML 2.0 you might have tried, you were just as likely to have got stuck in the dead-end of Flash.

Flash is a terrible example, it ran its lifecycle already, sure, but it was HUGE back in the day. And people benefited from using it; some of my favorite animators and gamedevs cut their teeth on Flash, people’s work got recognized by a global audience, people landed jobs, Flash made it onto cable TV channels, people still light up at the mention of Homestar Runner to this day. People also made money, sure, but there are more benefits to playing with tech than “it makes money happen.”

Which brings me to my final gripe: this is all framed as if the only benefit of a technology is if it’s productive or profitable. When you discuss your favorite show with friends, are you considering whether the conversation can be converted into capital? When you watch a beautiful sunset, do you fret over whether the clouds will help you achieve your quarterly goals? Out on dates with your SOs, do you have to take a break in the bathroom to worry whether the evening is meeting KPIs?

Sometimes the benefit of things is just having the experience, instead of treating it as a means to an end. Yeah, don’t let the FOMO ruin your day, but maybe take some time to play around with a doomed technology before it becomes abandoned and the community ceases to be. Maybe you’ll become a recognized expert, maybe you’ll learn some valuable lessons you can transfer to tech with more longevity, or maybe you’ll just have fun.

And honestly, whats the fucking point of living, working and grinding and suffering, if not for the fun in between it all?

https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/03/android-developer-verification.html

De-googled Android ROMs:

• GrapheneOS
• LineageOS
• /e/ OS
• Volla OS

Linux OSes that (allegedly) work on Android hardware (please suggest additions):

• UBPorts
• PostMarketOS

Non-android, non-apple smartphones:

• Pinephone
• Pinephone pro
• Librem 5
• Volla Phone 22
• Jolla Phone
• FuriPhone FLX1s

And pretty much every feature phone out there (way too many to list)

Matrix very recently has had e2ee calling since at least last april

I don’t host a server currently, so I can’t fully recommend it without knowledge of the backend, but i’m liking the experience as a user

Just looked at Session, and holy shit is that a massive downside…

From their own whitepaper:

Through the integration of a blockchain network, Session adds a financial requirement for anyone wishing to host a server on the network, and thus participate in Session’s message storage and routing architecture.

So you have to pay to self-host, and that’s somehow an upside???

This staking system provides a defence against Sybil attacks by limiting attackers based on the amount of financial resources they have available.

Which is a fine explanation in a world where everyone has a relatively equal amount of wealth. This is the epitome of dunning-kruger economics: a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Firstly, the need for attackers to buy or control Session Tokens to run Session Nodes creates a market feedback loop which increases the cost of acquiring sufficient tokens to run large portions of the network. That is, as the attacker buys or acquires more tokens and stakes them, removing them from the circulating supply, the supply of the Session Token is decreased while the demand from the attacker must be sustained. This causes the price of any remaining Session Tokens to increase, creating an increasing price feedback loop which correlates with the scale of the attack

So the more nodes a single entity holds, the harder it becomes for other entities to buy nodes and break the monopoly? Did you take 3 seconds to think this through???

Secondly, the staking system binds an attacker to their stake, meaning if they are found to be performing active attacks, the underlying value of their stake is likely to decline as users lose trust in the protocol, or could be slashed by the network, increasing the sunk cost for the attacker.

“Assuming every user is a perfectly rational actor, malicious actors would be shunned. This is somehow due to the economic incentive, and not just how humans operate when they’re assumed to be perfectly rational.”

Also: malicious actors when they find out they might lose their money if they get caught: “welp, I better not do that then. Thanks laissez-faire capitalism!”

Jesus christ fucked on a pike, these dipshits really drank the crypto kool-aid, huh?

If my responses are as stimulating to you as yours are to me, why tf do you keep responding?

I did do the 5 minute search, and found his write-up. I said I wouldn’t be surprised to find out it was fabricated, not that it was.

Thank you for proving my point

Nobody wants to point out that Alexey Grigorev changes to being named Gregory after 2 paragraphs?

Slop journalism at its sloppiest. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that this story was entorely fabricated.

Podcasts?