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Free Software Foundation Turns 40, Unveils LibrePhone
(linuxiac.com)
I really hope this is super based
gimme gimme
Just because it's a libre phone, doesn't mean it's necessarily a linux phone. Or at least any more so than Android is a linux phone because it uses a heavily modified (almost unrecognizable) linux kernel.
There's nothing in the article that says they're just going to use a mainline linux kernel and throw a touch optimized version of some existing desktop on it (ubuntu touch, etc...)
Heck, they could be meaning that they're planning on making their own heavily modified kernel for their very own OS so as to skip all of the trouble that trying to make mainline linux into a handheld device has been so far. (similar to I believe how SailfishOS is doing it)
Finally, a GNU/Hurd phone! /s
Why couldn't they just use usual Linux for that? Why a modified kernel? Is Linux as is not suitable for a phone?
Can't they just, idk, make a distro? Maybe from scratch? Pop!_OS is working on COSMIC. Can't they have their Linux-based OS, perhaps with its own things as needed, such as a phone-optimised DE? Or whatever the phone equivalent of a DESKTOP environment would be. A Mobile Environment, perhaps
If my laptop had touch screen with no other method of input built in, and were way smaller, could it not run Linux? Or is that different altogether?
Too many bits of a smartphone are proprietary hardware without open drivers.
I would assume that's the bit they're working on, otherwise there's no real point to the project IMO.
Linux by design gives the user enough rope to hang themselves with.
And that's certainly not a problem when dealing with tech enthusiasts who know what, when and where to touch to avoid messing things up. But when you're dealing with getting a phone into the hands of ordinary people, that isn't going to fly because all of those people will at some point start mucking around inside and then expect tech support when they mess up.
For mainstream adoption, the linux kernel must and the desktop environment must be at least somewhat locked down.
We have immutable distributions already, that is something that isn't a problem. It's replacing those pesky proprietary blobs used to talk to the hardware that is a headache.
Between capabilities, namespaces, control groups, mandatory access control (AppArmor etc) and other mechanisms, I think there are plenty of ways to reduce user access to any part of the system.
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I'm celebrating!
As a linux phone guy this is good news. Any more pushing towards a more solid linux phone environment is a big plus.
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My hopes and my expectations could not be more at odds with each other, and the only thing I know for sure is that one of them will be smashed.
As they would say: keep your hopes up and your expectation low to the ground
Honestly as long as they can fucking get something moderately priced that supports VOLTE and a decent camera I’ll buy it
What a nice thing to do
I'd rather see a stable OS and ecosystem for good, Free apps that we can flash onto existing devices. I'm quite happy with my Fairphone (repairable! modular! ethical!) and we know that building and marketing a device is painfully expensive.
Let's make Debian or Arch just work on most phones instead of trying to compete in a saturated market.
Mobian is Debian designed for phones. PostmarketOS is another project doing the same thing, but with an alpine Linux base.
There isn't much concrete information, but my guess is that OS/ecosystem is exactly what this project is, and that they are not talking about physical hardware. Specially considering that they are putting the emphasis on free software (not hardware) and they are involving a software developer. Making a phone's hardware free would be an entirely different beast.
In the afternoon, FSF executive director Zoë Kooyman announced an exciting new project: Librephone.
Librephone is a new initiative by the FSF to bring full computing freedom to mobile computing environments. The LibrePhone Project is a partnership with Rob Savoye, a developer who has worked on free software (including the GNU toolchain) since the 1980s. "Since mobile phone computing is now so ubiquitous, we're very excited about LibrePhone and think it has the potential to bring software freedom to many more users all over the world."
work on most phones
A lot of the world can hardly get an unlockable phone.
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Please god, help me find my keys! Tell St. Anthony I need my keys!
Also could you make this Foss phone be real and reasonably priced below the cost of a gaming PC?
I can't find any links to the project itself, only to announcements about the project. Anybody have anything more concrete? How far along is this project?
Interesting interview with FSF's new Executive Director Zoë Kooyman if you are curious about her/where the organization is at.
https://fossforce.com/2025/03/zoe-kooyman-on-post-stallman-changes-at-the-free-software-foundation/
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I'll use my de-Googled and update-blocked S23 until it's physically unable to boot up, and hopefully by then I'll find something that can run this OS, assuming it's ready
I guess I'll see phones with this in my local stores at.. 10 years? Too generous, maybe 15.
Let's hope this lights a fire under Google's ass too, so everyone can have free and open phones.
this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2025
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