It seems like what Europe really needs to do this is a viable mobile OS. It's been true for a while that Linux + LibreOffice is plenty to handle most government workers' needs on the desktop, but that's only good for when they are at their desks. Are there any viable alternatives to iOS and Android that are totally free of "dépendances extra-européennes"? What's the plan?

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embedding-shape 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The Finns, as always, continue to develop mobile phones, Jolla is back from the dead and supposedly starts shipping sometime in 2026 with a new iteration on the hardware and the OS, time will tell if it'll have any impact.

Might not be 100% Europe-made from the get go, but good ideas and executions often start with small steps and iterate rather than having something groundbreaking out of the gate.

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WhyNotHugo 2 hours ago | parent [-]

I'm not convinced that replacing one proprietary OS with another is the solution.

That said, I won't deny that Jolla is much more trustworthy than Google or Apple.

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embedding-shape 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> I'm not convinced that replacing one proprietary OS with another is the solution.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, as I'm not super familiar with Jolla's/Sailfish's architecture, but isn't most of the OS actually FOSS, while there is a thin proprietary compatibility layer, and that's about it? Was some months ago I last read about it so could be misremembering, but seems like a good first step at the very least.

	▲	microtonal an hour ago \| parent [-]
		I think it is a lot more, as far as I understand, most of the UI is proprietary: https://forum.sailfishos.org/t/sailfish-os-clarifying-claims... https://forum.sailfishos.org/t/sailfish-os-clarifying-claims...

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fsloth an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

> I'm not convinced that replacing one proprietary OS with another is the solution.

Consumer don't care if the OS is proprietary, as long as it works and there is a responsible party they can trust to serve them the offering.

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WhyNotHugo 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Linux on Mobile has been progressing steadily in recent years, and is in a state suitable for very early adopters and tech enthusiasts. Definitely not for the general population IMHO.

See: https://postmarketos.org/

FWIW, it's not just the EU that needs this urgently: most of humanity sorely needs a trustworthy mobile OS that's not designed against their interests.

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apatheticonion 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

A big hurdle to this is hardware vendors locking bootloaders and making it impossible (or impractical) to write or use existing drivers.

Manufacturers maintain long running forks of Android (often very old Linux kernels) with their drivers hidden in their fork's source.

I'm a firm believer in the right to repair software - and the fact that it's illegal to reverse engineer binary blob drivers (or proprietary software at all) is a shame (not that you could even untangle a driver from a binary blob of a Linux fork). I'd go as far as feeling strongly that drivers should be open source, and if they aren't, documentation sufficient for the community to write drivers should be made available by manufacturers.

Linux on M5? Should be easy

Linux on an X Elite Surface Book? Should be easy

Ubuntu Touch on my Pixel 9? Should be easy

Android TV on my TV? Should be easy

Proxmox on my 5g mobile router? Should be easy

No drivers / locked bootloaders = not possible

	▲	opan an hour ago \| parent [-]
		>the fact that it's illegal to reverse engineer binary blob drivers (or proprietary software at all) is a shame Where? I don't think it's illegal in the US at least. The only things I'm aware of that may have legal issues are related to radios, specifically modem/baseband stuff, and maybe WLAN cards.

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dackdel 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

remind me of firefox os https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/products/firefox-os

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samus 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Android Open Source is good enough. The tough part are device-specific drivers that never make it upstream and are eventually abandoned by the vendor, making upgrade past specific kernel versions very troublesome.

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notrealyme123 2 hours ago | parent [-]

It is controlled by Google so it not. As long as Google is setting the roadmap for android it is not a viable option.

	▲	microtonal an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Why not? GrapheneOS and others show that it is possible to make viable operating systems on top of AOSP, which also have their own useful extensions. It seems like a waste not to use an existing, well-developed, hardened, open source base, that at the same time provides great compatibility with most existing apps. Since it is open source, it would always be possible to fork if AOSP goes off the rails. I think the primary issue is that it is currently hard to get embargoed security patches, unless you have some partnership with an OEM.
	▲	samus 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		At the same time it is an open source product and can therefore be forked. Being controlled by Google presents not nearly such an issue as Microsoft products or the Apple ecosystem.