
Ask HN: All I want for Christmas is a Linux phone - sysdumb
Has anyone tried or is anyone currently using a Linux-based operating system such as Plasma Mobile or Ubuntu Touch?<p>Based off of articles like this https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.makeuseof.com&#x2F;tag&#x2F;linux-smartphone-operating-systems&#x2F; the best one, to me, looks like Plasma Mobile (which requires a Nexus 5).<p>Is anyone using a Linux-based mobile operating system? Do you have any advice?
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jamieweb
I bought a Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Phone in 2015 for €300. This was quite early on in
the development of Ubuntu Touch, and overall it was pretty good.

The operating system was pretty solid, and I really liked the lock screen
design and pull-out Unity sidebar. It was fast and sleek, but didn't quite yet
have the polish of something like iOS - which of course is to be expected for
something early in development.

As usual with less well-known mobile operating systems, there were very few
apps available. You could get many of the hacker-y/privacy ones that us HN lot
probably use, but if you wanted a 'mainstream' social app then you probably
couldn't.

After a few months I did end up flashing Android onto the phone, mainly
because of the early Ubuntu Touch versions lacking features.

Hardware wise, I still have the handset today and it's great - performance
wise the phone was ahead of its time when it was released in 2014, and it
still performs well.

~~~
rchaud
How is the battery life now? I'm considering buying a used one online if I can
find it and trying out the Ubuntu builds available now.

Also, did Ubuntu come as the default OS, or was it an Android phone onto which
you installed Ubuntu?

~~~
jamieweb
The battery life is still good, although I switched to a different phone in
early 2017 and have only used the Meizu as a secondary handset since then.

It came with Ubuntu pre-installed. I believe that the pre-installed Ubuntu
ones have an unlocked bootloader, so you can put whatever you want on it as
long as it's compatible. I know that a few people got CyanogenMod working.

I currently have Android Flyme on it, which is the standard Meizu OS that
comes with the normal version of the phone. It's really good, but I would say
lacking in security. I use it as a 'dirty' phone, for connecting to public Wi-
Fi and insecure stuff like that, so I don't have anything confidential or
important on there, and I never sign-in to things in the browser or apps.

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vhodges
Not for Christmas, but
[https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/](https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/) is
coming next year.

~~~
caymanjim
They can't even make a simple website that renders properly. Not promising.

~~~
dman
People who make great websites cant make phones that run linux either :)

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thedevindevops
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N900](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N900)

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tiernano
Isn't android Linux based?

~~~
sysdumb
You win!

~~~
octosphere
[http://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/News/How-Much-Linux-
Is-...](http://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/News/How-Much-Linux-Is-in-
Android)

[https://www.howtogeek.com/189036/android-is-based-on-
linux-b...](https://www.howtogeek.com/189036/android-is-based-on-linux-but-
what-does-that-mean/)

------
wartakode
And I want Linux ncurses based phone, with long battery life.

