Over the long term, we definitely need something like Linux phones. I find it bizzarre by how little companies support this mission of Linux phones.

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birdsongs 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

It's not Linux phones that we need. We already have alternatives, like graphene and other AOSP forks.

We need corporations and governments to stop locking down and gatekeeping vital software to closed ecosystems.

A Linux phone doesn't help me when my government's 2FA system (BankID) only runs on Android and IOS phones and can only be acquired with an app store account.

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Avicebron 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> We need corporations and governments to stop locking down and gatekeeping vital software to closed ecosystems.

If you can't get the government to do this for you in Norway the US has very little hope currently.

We need some standard of minimal digital accessibility. Too much of our lives mediated by digital interactions with capricious systems.

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vintermann 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

You say that as if Norway is somehow super civilized and enlightened when it comes to these things, that's not the case. Norway is best in class when it comes to compliance.

The new base agreement with the US, for instance, for practical purposes declares several areas in Norway to be US territory. It's rampantly against the Norwegian constitution of course, but that doesn't matter because the parliament seems to have agreed to just unanimously consent and not talk about it further.

Sea bed mining was a farce. Everyone said it was a terrible idea, including Equinor itself. Approved anyway. My assumption is that someone from US/NATO whispered "strategic minerals" into some party leader ears, and they suddenly decided to fast-track it without further discussion.

It would surprise me a lot if there weren't similar fast-tracked, no discussion, "it has been decided" deals about digital sovereignty. Norwegian politicians may not like the guy currently in charge over the Atlantic, but they view him as a temporary aberration and an occasion to prove their loyalty (to the crown, rather than the guy currently wearing it).

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hparadiz 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

The irony is none of this is a problem in the US. We still have a ton of banks that you can use without a smartphone. Even my bank's app works fine on a rooted Android or GrapheneOS.

Europeans are doing this to themselves.

	▲	vintermann 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Competing to be best in class at US loyalty, more like it.

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type0 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Speaking from experience, it's not only ID systems but if you run non-Android (some AOSP) they might still require you to install an App only available with Play Services or on iOS to do business with government agencies or even apply for funds in some European states. In other words if you are using GrapheneOS, from gov. agencies point of view you might as well be a criminal. Actually given how frequent ID-theft is nowadays, it's actually easier for criminals to launder their money than privacy preserving individuals or companies to pay taxes in EEA.

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troyvit an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I'm not familiar with that system. Here in the US I can go to the bank and do anything I need personally with an ID. Is that not doable where you are?

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economistbob 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Graphene does not really solve the problems. Read their terms. They still run everything through Google services. They are essentially a man in the middle to Google services. I read their terms to mean that they could snarf everything that every graphene device would normally send to Google because they are "anonymizing it" before sending it to Google. What we need is Android like Lineage that works on more devices than Pixels and simply have it without Google services at all.

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vitally3643 an hour ago | parent [-]

You read the terms wrong

	▲	an hour ago \| parent [-]
		[deleted]

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echoangle 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I don’t want to be too pedantic but Android uses the Linux kernel. Degoogled Android is basically what you want.

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microtonal 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Why do you need a Linux phone (as if Android is not a Linux phone), when there is also AOSP. If Google closes it up, it can be forked, but I don't see any fundamental benefit of throwing away decades of development done on AOSP.