Question about Ubuntu and other Linux distributions as cellphone OS

[Jeffrey Walton]

On Tue, Oct 29, 2024 at 5:33 PM Robert Heller <heller at deepsoft.com> wrote:
>
> Well, Android is based on Linux, so any cellphone currently running Android
> could probably run any other version of Linux.

Also be careful of Android and Android-derived images.

I run LineageOS on my two Pixels. LineageOS is privacy enhanced
Android minus the Google stuff. However, carriers do not play nice
with non-Googled Android phones. For example, AT&T refuses to allow
Wifi Calling on my phones. Provisioning always fails with a
non-descript error. As another example, Uber and Lyft don't work --
they just crash -- because there is no Advertising Id to track users.

I should probably write a letter to Lina Khan at the FTC. She has done
more for consumers in the last 4 years than the last 40 years of FTC
chairs. She should be the next president of the United States.

> I also know that several of
> the Pi-"clones" have Android images available.  I don't know how one would
> install Ubuntu on a cell phone, but some (non-Apple) cellphones do have the
> ability to have a uSD inserted.  I also know that various Linux distros will
> run on Apple's laptops and desktops, so it might be possible to install Linux
> on an iPhone (but I have no clue how one would do that).
>
> I guess there are two main hurdles:  I/O (driver) support -- what is published
> as to interface hardware used in cellphones? And "external" boot options -- eg
> install media -- boot off the network?
>
> There is also the question of what sort of support mainstream Linux has for
> the telephony / sms / cell-data interface.

Jeff