this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2023
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Linux Phones
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Community about running GNU/Linux on phones. Projects like Ubuntu Touch, Plasma Mobile, PostmarketOS, Mobian etc. Either on former Android phones or hardware like the PinePhone.
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@duckweed @linuxphones
Linux phones lack in all aspects compared to AOSP: security and privacy enforcement (mandatory sandboxing, permission control, full-system MAC, verified boot), usability and compatibility with the mobile app ecosystem. The much better approach would be to get a Google Pixel and install GrapheneOS. This will get you a very secure and private smartphone with almost perfect Android app compatibility. Recommend reading about Linux phones on madaidans-insecurities.github.io
@Scorpion8741 @duckweed @linuxphones
> mandatory sandboxing, permission control, full-system MAC, verified boot
Those are actually not mandatory when all your apps are free software, you don't have to sandbox a program you know what it's doing.
@didek @duckweed @linuxphones
That's utter nonsense. Open-source doesn't necessarily mean private or secure. In fact it's quite easy to build an open-source app with a bugdoor which is very unlikely to be found just by looking at source code, especially if you use memory-unsafe languages, as long as it's not just a tiny code base. The things I mentioned are important security measures and shouldn't be neglected just because you run open-source apps. They are the basics of modern secure OS's.
Agreed, especially if you get your software directly from the developer. But if you get your software from a distribution that you trust, with dedicated maintainers, then the chances of such backdoors are greatly reduced.
Also agreed that this is the way things are going in linux desktops as well as commercial platforms, thanks to the increasing complexity of software. These approaches are very useful if I want to run
curl | bashfrom some random git repository, run nonfree software, or have something very important to hide on my computer.But these approaches also come at the cost of simplicity, ease of configuration and "tinkerability". So I think it can be valid for some people to choose not to use the approaches you mentioned, given their individual priorities.