Linux on phones
Prepare for a quick survey of the diverse Linux options for mobile and a deep dive into Ubports’ fantastic Ubuntu Touch.
Nokia’s Maemo (and the cult classic N900 phone with slide-out keyboard that ran it) has been lamented as a missed opportunity for Linux to establish itself as a mobile OS. Likewise lamented was Ubuntu Phone which, alongside the Unity desktop and Mir display server, Canonical disbanded in 2017.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. If you have an N900, or indeed one of a considerable number of supported devices, then you can run PostMarketOS and have the complete Linux experience on your phone. This is probably not recommended for your primary phone though: a device being supported doesn’t necessarily mean it can do everything, including make phone calls.
THE BENEFITS OF LINEAGE OS
“If you do want to make phone calls and run regular Android apps, a popular option is LineageOS, which grew out of Cyanogen Mod.”
If you do want to make phone calls and run regular Android apps, a popular option is LineageOS, which grew out of Cyanogen Mod, a popular Android spin offering greater configurability and less Google. Proprietary apps like Whatsapp and Facebook are only available through the Play Store, which can be easily shoehorned into LineageOS through the G-apps package. G-apps comes in a few flavours so you can choose how much time you want to spend in the Google