• linule@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Time to popularize Linux phones. I read that the security model is lacking, but especially given that Android is Linux too, it shouldn’t be too difficult to catch up. The EU is also interested in tech independence, so that could be one of the sources of funding. And there are a few viable early projects, like Ubuntu Touch and Sailfish.

    • jabjoe@feddit.uk
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      1 day ago

      There need to be enforced of competition law here. Companies aren’t going to voluntarily support a platform with few users. Users aren’t going to move to a platform without critical apps.

      We live in a dystopia were you have to have the banks app to do online banking even on your desktop. You can’t charge your car without an app. You can’t navigate your car without a map app that has traffic information. Etc etc. I want FOSS alternatives to all these, but there isn’t and Google could take even having a FOSS platform at all.

      This something we need regulators to fix. It is a politically problem, not a technical one.

      America screwing up trust should wake up Europe to dealing with American tech monopolies. Now it’s not something just nerds and economists complain about, it is a geopolitical problem.

      • tomiant@piefed.social
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        12 hours ago

        Corporations are getting WAY too much fucking power over our personal lives, it’s at critical mass where their power is superseding that of our basic democratic rights.

        We all knew it would happen, and here we are. We need to fight the fuck back with everything we’ve got, and coordination and planning is the first step.

        There has to be something already happening, where do we sign up, who do we get in contact with? Where’s the team?

        Does anyone know or have any leads on that? I have the possibility to devote my life full time to it and I’m feeling like me and many others are not being utilized the way we could and are capable of.

        • jabjoe@feddit.uk
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          5 hours ago

          The fight was always going against these monopolies.

          In the UK with have OpenRightGroup to some extent the Greens. In the US EFF, FSF, SFC. In the EU ESFe, Pirate Party, Greens.

          There are many groups fighting the political cause. They have had victories over the years, but winning the odd battle doesn’t win a war. They all need support.

          Until now, a lot of open source has tried to be nonpolitical, but that may be changing:

          https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event/SFKNTZ-welcome_to_fosdem_2026/

      • linule@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Fully agree, there should be regulations, temporary at least, that require/incentivize critical companies to make a mobile Linux version of their apps, as well as strategic funding and incentives to make the platforms viable. We as citizens should contribute too, increasing pressure for this to happen, spreading the message, becoming early adopters where possible, submitting feedback, contributing to development, etc.

        • jabjoe@feddit.uk
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          1 day ago

          We need to support political groups fighting for us, not just think in terms of technology. In the UK it is OpenRightsGroup, maybe the Greens party, in Europe there is the Pirate Party, Greens, Free Software Foundation Europe, and more. We should be trying to get politicians into this.

    • Meshuggah333@piefed.world
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      1 day ago

      Android is not Linux (the OS), it just uses the Linux kernel. That means almost nothing is transferable from one OS to the other unfortunately.

    • vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org
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      1 day ago

      Sailfish is not very alive. Ubuntu Touch too.

      But honestly yes. I think the problems are mostly in hardware support.

      • linule@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        The political problems driving the push for independence are fairly recent, so the current state is unlikely to be extrapolable.

        There are devices using these operating systems that are also gaining popularity, like Jolla, Volla and Fair phone.