My Experience Daily Driving A Real Linux Phone

Smartphones have become universal devices in the past few decade. What has also become almost universal is the type of software they run: iOS or Android in any of its skins. Both of these are not community maintained, but backed by Big Tech, and have anti-features like intrusive AI and short software life-cycles which we of the FOSS community despise.

When it came time for me to pick out my first phone (this April), I had been exploring postmarketOS, a community developed linux distro targeted at phones. I hunted for one the most supported smartphones of this project (OnePlus 6T) at a local second hand market, and found one! I now daily drive this phone running Phosh and postmarketOS v25.12.

Sure, there are lots of rough edges, and kinks to be worked out, but isnt that part of the fun we all look for in our desktop linux experience. Here is what I love about the mobile linux experience:

1. Distro-hopping (yes there is more than one distro for this phone!)
2. Ricing your favourite desktop, and having FOSS UI options to finding whats right for you.
3. Contributing back to it (I made some of my very first contributions to Phosh).

This gives you a much more intimate connection with your smartphone, and also lots of great interactions in the wider mobile linux community.

I will speak about this experience, my rationale behind my decision, what works and doesn’t, and finally try to encourage you, the audience, to break free of the duopoly controlling smartphone software!

1. Linux on mobile is catching up, and its not as broken or unusable as you may have thought.

2. The community pioneering this front is awesome and friendly. Get in touch and explore, you might just find your next main smartphone is the old one sitting in your drawer.

3. Contributions aren't as hard or overwhelming (as I first thought they were) if you start small, be respectful and most importantly, communicate clearly.