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Comment by xnx | Hacker News Reader

The world needs a Steam Phone.

It sure needs a large enough push from one of few big companies (with their explicit backing) that can bring businesses to support other app store(s). But imho that has to happen in a way that it doesn't create a need to write and publish apps in yet another language to yet another platform. Because if businesses have to do that as well that will be a good way to ensuring it becomes a DoA effort.

I've a feeling companies like Meta, Amazon, Steam are well placed to do this (esp. Meta and Steam). But not sure it will be helpful to them in any way, besides they'd want to ensure their own control and locks.

Facebook tried doing a phone in 2013: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_First

Amazon did one in 2014: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Phone

Do you really hope to get a phone respecting your freedoms from a megacorp? This is incredibly naive in 2026.

If you mean GNU/Linux phones, they already exist and can be used as daily drivers by technical people. Sent from my Librem 5.

Yes, but a popular one that's usable by regular people and with a very wealthy organization behind it.

I miss my blackberry

It's not the same, it does not run BBOS10, and de-Googled LineageOS will have to do for now (for me).

But at least we can get updated internals for the Q20 (and soon the Passport). It'll be the closest we can get to carrying a BlackBerry for some time, if ever, and I'm happy enough with mine that I picked up a spare mainboard

https://zinwa.com/

While it's not exactly blackberry-alike, a hopefully soon-to-be-released option is the clicks communicator[0] phone. I just ordered their bluetooth keyboard attachment for androids/iphones with magsafe backs, but if it's any good, I may shell out for their phone as well.

I was also a backer for the Mecha Comet[1] earlier in the year, which I'm hopeful about, although that's a couple of steps away from a daily driver phone at this stage, I guess.

I never owned a blackberry, but for me, the ultimate winner would be for someone to copy or licence the layout and form of the dopod838pro[2] (a.k.a. HTC Hermes 100) and pop some newer internals in it... If I had 100 million dollars, that's what I'd be doing...

[0] https://www.clicks.tech/en

[1] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mecha-systems/mecha-com...

[2] https://kaitech.hk/2006/10/dopod-838pro-htc-hermes/

This can be achieved if more people support the effort. If you expect megacorps to offer you a device respecting your freedom, think again.

Why GNU? I get the appeal of Linux, but Android has that angle covered. What makes GNU a better userspace than Android for phone use? I actually think the Andoid userspace is very good for what it is. If Google's influence were magically removed, Android would be more or less the ideal OS, at least for me.

It's not GNU itself that's appealing, it's the fact that it's not controlled by a company.

How do you expect things to be popular without a company with self-interest? Producing a linux phone that people want requires immense capital, they're not just spending that and then releasing as open source forever.

By the time the product becomes "popular", it's then just one more platform that needs to follow investor interest and laws.

Valve is kinda doing that with SteamOS ? It's primarily made for their own hardware, but they also use work time to add features for installs on non valve hardware, and all of their components are open source.

That is exactly what Purism is doing with their Librem 5 phone. Valve didn't offer great experience immediately, too.

They exist but they need more polish and support from device vendors to be a viable alternative to the duopoly. It should be just as easy for the average phone buyer to get and use a 'Linux phone' as it is to get an Android or fruit phone. This is more or less true now for Linux distributions no matter what the naysayers keep on repeating, the next step is to make it true for mobile devices. There will still be naysayers but... who cares? Let them listen to themselves in their echo chambers like they've been doing w.r.t. 'Linux on the desktop'.

> They exist but they need more polish and support

Which is why we should support them today and not wait until the walled gardens become inescapable.

Wake me when they get modern hardware.

Wake up, babe: https://forgejo.catcrafts.net/Catcrafts/fp6-img

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45312326

I have a Furiphone. Despite the hardware being plenty decent, the software is unbearably slow due to Phosh and libhybris.

Can you install SXMo or something else on it?

My attempts to get Plasma mobile working, which is the shell I actually want, failed miserably. I can't imagine sxmo to be in any way pleasant.

Does the Brax Phone fit?

Robert Braxman's provisions have ranged from highly insecure devices, EOL devices, charging for TOR as a service, an "e2e encrypted" chatroom that sends the key in plain text, etc.

He is a serial fabricator and charlatan.

https://nitter.space/GrapheneOS/status/1894511926962446670#m

https://forum.f-droid.org/t/brax2-alternatives/22469/6

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