this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2025
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There's a few ungoogled privacy OSes. Graphine, Lineage, CalyxOS, Plasma, and a half dozen others. They're very model specific.
There are also mobile Ubuntu and a "Linux phone" setup.
The problem with Linux phones is that, AFAIK, calling and SMS are not supported. Which is kind of important for a phone to do the basic definition of a phone. In the privacy comms, people who have used them flatly say that a Linux phone is no where near ready to be seriously used by anyone as a real replacement for Android.
You're not wrong that a more universal phone OS needs to be out there, but since the hardware varies so oddly by manufacturer, devs can't rely plan for new drivers and test well. That's why Graphine sticks to ONLY Google Pixel hardware, to keep the driver set smaller and easier to test.
I'm disappointed netbooks are no longer a thing, netbook + dumbphone would be a great combo for all things that you need a phone for.
There are the GPD pocket computers but they don't have the netbook price.
"But you can just buy one of our ultrathin notebooks with a 16 inch display, which is the same as carrying a thicker netbook in our calculation!" - tech CEOs
How do the Linux Phones already on the market (like the Furi Labs one I saw posted recently that has physical switches to disable GPS, mic, baseband, etc.) work? Do they just use cellular for data and require you to use wifi-calling and messaging apps?
Depends entirely on the device and custom OS.
The phone you mentioned has a specific custom OS bud on Debian. It does get mobile data, and unless I missed it, no mention of calling. No E-sim option either. So it's basically just a fancy small Linux iPad.
https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/03/furiphone_flx1/
The issue becomes then installing apps, like Signal, which is a point they mention, gets down to finding an APK and then just reinstalling for updates. While these phones are "commercially" available, they're still buggy and janky AF. None of them are ready for anyone beyond Linux nerds willing to tinker and accept the jank. Additionally, only the most ideologically anti-Western of the edge of the privacy community would be OK with full Chinese equipment as the PRC requires manufacturers to include hardware back doors.
Thanks for the response! I've been confused about that for a while now and wasn't sure if there was a major leap in the Linux phone space with that release.
Sadly, no. All our thoughts and prayers do not a mobile OS make.