this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2025
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Linux has become good enough to replace desktop operating systems.
Now, we are back at square one. I’ll be the first to inaccurately declare, “This will be the year of the Linux phone.”
All I need is a good enough emulation of android apps to fool them (eg for banking).
Sailfish OS has it.
Unfortunately the project has some closed source bits which, imho, aren't an issue when you look closer (some parts of the UI). Maybe I'm naive but I trust this EU company.
I use it as my daily driver. It certainly is frugal compared to recent Android versions, but fully functional.
It's an actual Linux OS (as opposed to any Android version). Things work the same way they do on my laptop & server.
Sadly, SailfishOS is region locked. Being from North America, I can't purchase their phones, or use the trial/emulation option, which really sucks because I like a lot of what I'm seeing there.
There are a few happy US users on the forums. Maybe check out what they have to say.
I'm sure the company is perfectly happy with having these users. AFAIR the reason they don't sell licenses outside EU is that it would add hassle, mostly sales legalities.
I didn't know you cannot buy the C2 in the USA, but I would recommend an Xperia X10 II or X10 III anyhow.
Us here in NA finally get to see what its like on the other side of the region locking coin haha.
Yeah, I'd be happy if they had an unsupported version, but I get that could cause negative publicity for those who couldn't accept that unsupported means exactly that.
Fwiw I use a phone imported from the UK (Nothing Phone 1) in NA without problems so who knows why they won't do this.
I used Maemo on my N900 <3.
I don't wanna use Sailfish bcs of the phone support tho, I'm shallow af & I need my hardware :(.
(I also have a few other Sailfish issues, the source code/availability/package, the licencing - but I feel like all of those could/would change with some growth.)
I understand. But I think it's right that they concentrate on a few devices. There's also something about SONY openly providing firmware and encouraging unlocking, something "Open Devices" iirc.
Ah, the N900...
Yes, I agree.
But Sony has drivers out there for a few more devices.
Do you by chance know if WeChat and Facebook messenger work on it?
Those apps are critical for my work.
Check the forums.
FWIW, Signal works perfectly, WA too.
Unfortunately banking apps are only going to get harder to run on software uncertified by Google.
Just monopoly things.
Can you get by with web access? That's what I do and it's fine.
Depends who you bank with. Some desktop websites suck on mobile and some don't even allow certain actions on desktop. For some ungodly reason Wealthsimple requires me to do almost everything via app. It's one of the reasons I barely utilise their services.
Not for depositing checks
Yup. I use my bank's website on my phone. Works plenty fine for me.
"Hello there." - Play Integrity API
Android... is a Linux phone..?
Not really.
android is linux and its great. the problem is the google crud on top of it, and their iron fist ruling it. windows is similar tbh.
we have to fight google not compete with android. the problem is not technology itself, its the oligarchs controlling it.
Android is Linux… sure.
But it’s not what anyone means when they say they want a Linux phone.
i know that.
my point is that it doesnt really matter while the oligarchs control the mainstream OS.
Its a vexingly pedantic point.
Looking at postmarketOS for my phone too, so sick of this shit
PostmarketOS is cool, but as an actual phone replacement it is tough, at least last time I tried.
I haven't tried, but I took a closer look at their wiki yesterday:
IMHO they should focus their efforts on getting at least one actual phone working fully.
I want this project to succeed, but until then I use Sailfish OS, btw.
I'm looking at a Volla phone https://volla.online/en/
But I also have no experience of Linux in general yet so I have no idea if this is a good move.
I just really want to get away from android/apple/windows on all of my devices.
I want SteamOS for desktop, because quite frankly gaming is all I really use a desktop for anymore.
Didn't know volla. Looks cool but expensive.
I don't think steamos on desktop is a good idea, IIRC it targets specific hardware.
Maybe look into Bazzite if you get impatient waiting for SteamOS to become more widely available.
I'm going to second a recommendation for Bazzite. If you've used normal Linux before, it takes some getting used to the quirks of an atomic distro, but I've been using it for a month or two and love it!
Volla also has a (reliable, judging from reports) community version of SFOS
Behold, the Linux phone:
https://liberux.net/
That looks far too polished with locked in specs for them to not have any prototype. I'd trust companies that have actually made a product that has a janky Linux implementation that's improving, than one that doesn't exist yet relying on crowdfunding.
This is my fourth comment shilling SFOS here, but it just might be what you're looking for. It is my daily driver.
Wish it was supported in more countries.
That’s pretty cool, I’m working now, but I’m checking out its Android app compatibility.
If it can run my work stuff, I’ll be so happy.
The forum has a thread specifically about banking apps.
Isn't Android using a Linux kernel already?
Yes, but everything above it (including drivers) is custom-made and tightly controlled by Google.
Yeah, but the kernel is a low-level module that handles hardware, memory, and processes—it’s not what users interact with directly, so sharing the same kernel doesn’t make it all that similar as you’d think.
What makes Linux feel like ‘Linux’ to users is the stuff on top: the userland—bash, coreutils, package managers, X11/Wayland, etc. Android replaces almost all of that, so even though it uses the Linux kernel, it doesn’t feel like Linux.
Yes. IIRC it's based on latest LTS kernel with Google patches. So it's been "year of the Linux phone" for a while now.
It's unfortunate that the slop they put on top of it is such a privacy nightmare. PostmarketOS is trying to change that and supports Plasma, Gnome, etc. But it's early days yet and still rough around the edges from what I've been reading.