KDE’s Plasma Mobile Is Shaping Up Nicely on the PinePhone
9to5linux.com
9to5linux.com
What I still really weird, tbh, is that Plasma mobile seems to be some kind of extra project, instead of just Plasma, but with extra touch features.
I say this partly because that's exactly what I'm looking for for my convertible tablet that I use like a laptop most of the time, but in touch mode some of the time, which Plasma desktop absolutely sucks at.
Seriously, if this is nowhere near the usability of Ubuntu Touch, which was abandoned because it didn't have a chance, how can this succeed? The first iPhone in 2007 could do this.
Don't get me wrong, I would love to see a truly open Linux-based smartphone OS happen without the involvement of big business. I just don't think it's going to happen. If anyone has a shot it's sailfish and even that was too barebones to use last time I tried it (about 3 months ago), even with the Android compatibility layer.
Can they establish a strong enough market position to participate in the game of skimming 30% off the price all app sales for yet another walled-garden platform? Definitely not, but that's not the goal.
Can they provide a useful system for technical users, like KDE and Linux on the desktop? Seems like they have a good shot at it.
If I can get those features from a PinePhone, I'll ditch Android. And it seems like I will, since I've seen demos of calls, the browser, and a terminal app, and assurance that battery life on standby is ~12 hours with active time around 3-5 hours. I'm sure the rest of my requirements will be in a mostly useable state in the next few months (I saw a picture of evince on Phosh).
PinePhone and Librem 5 aren't targeting mainstream users, they're targeting a niche group that needs or wants a smartphone and is willing to put up with a lot of rough edges to not be spied on. And $150 is a very compelling price point for that.