Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Mobile (GNU/) Linux World is Growing Beyond Android

Growing all around the world, in every continent

Travel



Summary: Geeksphone, Firefox OS, Sailfish OS, Tizen, Ubuntu, COS and WebOS show that Linux is not a one-horse race in mobile

NOBODY can say with a straight face that Linux is a failure. It has grown dominant in servers, phones, and increasingly in desktops too. It is a decent platform for gaming and it is a popular platform for development.



Other than Android there are several strong contenders that can gain significant market share. A few days ago we learned about Geeksphone, which boasts Firefox OS [1,2] among other operating systems. It's not just about Android anymore [3]. Sailfish OS too looks promising [4]. Jolla staff claims it will run Android apps. Sailfish OS now runs on Android devices [5] and makes headlines [6-7] because it sells very well in countries like Finland. Then there's Tizen [8-9], Ubuntu [10,11], and COS [12], making it seem like Linux domination in mobile is quite secure [13]. Even if Android ever faltered, there would be several competitors that are based on Linux (and are Free/libre software) ready to fill the gap. Even WebOS is no longer proprietary.

Related/contextual items from the news:


  1. The New ‘MultiOS’ Handset From Geeksphone
    Currently the Geeksphone is referring to the Firefox OS option using the original “Boot2Gecko by Mozilla” name, since Geeksphone isn’t licensed to use the Firefox brand or logo.


  2. Geeksphone Revolution specs revealed


  3. It’s Not Just Android: 3 Upcoming Linux Mobile Operating Systems
    Of the many mobile operating systems in the marketplace, Android has the largest share of users, and Android is based on Linux. It’s not surprising then to know that Linux is also the basis for several new (if slow-moving) operating systems for mobile devices (phone, tablet, phablet). Some are in production today, but most are still in the development stages. Then again, this is the rule for most products in mobility today.


  4. Linux Video of the Week: Sailfish Mobile OS Updates
    Jolla's Linux-based Sailfish project released its first handset in Finland this past November to favorable reviews. Since then the Meego-derived mobile operating system has publicized a few small, but interesting updates, including a new IRC client and a demo of the OS running on a Nexus 4 (watch the videos, below.)


  5. Sailfish OS Has Been Ported To The Google Nexus 4
    Hello Linux Geeksters. About an hour ago, a video of Sailfish OS running on a Google Nexus 4 smartphone has been uploaded on Youtube.


  6. Two Interesting Jolla Stories About The Icons And The “Do It Together” Ringtone From The Poppy Red


  7. Friends For Jolla’s Sailfish OS Has Been Updated Yet Again


  8. First Samsung Tizen smartphone makes an appearance
    It is known that Samsung has been working on Tizen-based smartphones since a long time now, but we have not seen any device emerge from that project yet. We might see the first Tizen smartphone launch at MWC this year. However before the official launch, a Korean website has already managed to publish an alleged picture of the Tizen-based Samsung ZEQ 9000 smartphone.


  9. Samsung has Tizen devices to show at MWC 2014
    Here is some good news for Tizen fans! Samsung has sent out invites for a February 23 event just ahead of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) at Barcelona. The invitation promises a sneak preview of the latest Tizen devices.


  10. Ubuntu not set for major mobile vendor backing until 2015 – report


  11. Ubuntu Touch and Tizen phones a no-show for 2014
    Will anyone ever be able to break Android and iOS’s stranglehold on the mobile landscape? Last year we saw signs that ‘someone’ might just be able to threaten them, with the first demonstrations of phones running Firefox OS, Tizen and Ubuntu Touch. But just when we were hoping that 2014 might be the breakthrough year, those hopes have quickly been dashed.


  12. New China-developed OS takes aim at Android, Windows


  13. How Linux dominates the mobile market
    Linux is a free and opensource operating system built by thousands of contributors across the world. The Linux kernel was developed by Linus Trovalds in 1991. Linux gained good traction after its release and in the years has become one of the most secure operating systems in the world. Linux is used by almost every organisation in the world at some point. Linux runs on mobile phones, tablets, servers, desktops, supercomputers and in embedded systems such as network routers, building automation controls, televisions and video game consoles. Linux was originally developed for Intel x86-based personal computers. Over the years, Linux been ported to other hardware platforms such as Arm, x86_64. It is a leading operating system on servers, mainframe computers and supercomputers.


Recent Techrights' Posts

Free Software Foundation's Miriam Bastian: We Surpassed Our Year-end Goal of $400,000 USD Thanks to You!
Miriam Bastian: We surpassed our year-end goal of $400,000 USD!
Red Hat Offers DRM, TPM, and Backed Doored 'Confidential' Containers (CoCo) for Microsoft (Proprietary Spyware)
No kidding!
 
Links 22/01/2025: Jeju Air Blame-Shifting (Talk to the Wall), Copyright Maximalism Rebounds
Links for the day
[Meme] The 'Garbage in, Garbage Out' Patent Office
"law of the buzzword"
Clueless and Nontechnical EPO Management Uses the 'Great Scam' (Hey Hi Hype) to Justify Automation Where It's Both Detrimental and Illegal
The EPC has been practically set aflame; thus, the EPO has no legitimacy or reason to exist anymore
Links 22/01/2025: Democratising Tech Initiative and "Bye Bye Meta"
Links for the day
The Japanese translation of the term "free software"
by Akira Urushibata
Links 22/01/2025: "The AI Bubble Is Bursting" and Microsoft's Scam Altman is Already Looking for De Facto Bailout From the Insurrectionist
Links for the day
Dr. Andy Farnell's Latest Article About Software Freedom and Richard Stallman
why Dr. Stallman is being picked on
Geminispace (Gemini Protocol) Offers an Escape From Social Control Networks Owned by Oligarchs and Governments
Gemini capsules that promote fascism and retreat to feudalism are rare and scarce
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Has Formally Added an Outreach and Communications Coordinator
Maybe the addition happened last year (we mentioned it in passing), but now it's in the "rota"
Electronic Frontier Foundation: Fighting 'for the Poor and Powerless' While Taking Home $336,000 in Annual Salary
nowadays works for or serves not the interests of the masses
Of Note: The Misguided, Infiltrated, Weakened Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Now Operating at a Loss of Over a Million Dollars
Worst since the COVID-19 lockdowns
[Meme] Omit Microsoft When It's a Scandal or a Breach, Whereupon It Becomes Just an 'IT Company'
Microsoft is like a cult. Members of this cult promote the opposite of security, expecting to be financially rewarded for it.
Calling Out Windows (TCO) is Apparently Impermissible in Some News Sites
The online news sites are failing us (and corporate sponsors play a role)
Richard Stallman's Remarks on His Pain
Published two days ago
Focusing on the Issues
we'll do our best to find the news and not talk about "Mr. T"
Only About 3.6% of Web Users in Pakistan Use Vista 11, According to statCounter
It's not hard to see why so far in 2025 Microsoft has already had several waves of mass layoffs - more than any other company
Rumour: In IBM, Impending "25% Reduction in Finance Roles"
25% to be laid off?
[Meme] Fake Articles From linuxsecurity.com (Just Googlebombing "Linux" With LLM Slop)
Google should really just entirely delist that site
RedHat.com Written by Microsoft Staff, Promoting Microsoft' Proprietary Software That Does Not Even Run on Linux!
This is RedHat.com this week...
Links 22/01/2025: Mass Layoffs at Stripe, Microsoft's Illegal Accounting Practices Under Scrutiny
Links for the day
Fake 'Article' by Brittany Day (Guardian Digital, Inc) About Linux Mint 22.1 'Xia'
Apparently they've convinced themselves that this is OK
Red Hat Dumps "Inclusive Language", Puts "Master" In Official Communications and Headlines
Red Hat: you CANNOT say "master" (because it is racist). Also Red Hat: we put in it our headlines.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, January 21, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Gemini Links 21/01/2025: Media Provocations and Nazis Not Tolerated
Links for the day
[Meme] Plagiarism Does Not Eliminate Jobs by Replacing Humans, It Replaces Human Knowledge With False Cruft
We need to boycott sites that fake their output
Slopwatch: BetaNews Plagiarism and LLM Slop by UNIXMen
"state-of-the-art" plagiarism
What Fedora, OpenSUSE, and Debian Elections Teach Us About the State of Weak (or Fake) Communities
They show a total lack of trust in these communities
[Meme] Doing Dog's Job (Not God's Job)
The FSF did not advertise the talk by RMS (its founder), who spoke in France almost exactly 23 hours ago
Links 21/01/2025: Mass Layoffs in "Security" at Microsoft (Despite Microsoft Promising It Would Improve After Many Megabreaches), Skype is Dead (Quietly)
Links for the day
Alternate Version of Daniel Pocock's 2024 Talk, "Technology in European Parliament Election Campaign"
There's loud ovation at the end of the talk
Gemini Links 21/01/2025: London Library, Kobo Sage, and Beyerdynamic DT 48 E
Links for the day
The January 20 Public Talk by Richard Stallman (Around Midday ET), Livestream 'Assassinated' by Google's YouTube
our guess is that the 'cancel mob' sabotaged it, possibly by making a lot of false reports to YouTube
[Meme] Free Software and Socially-Engineered Groupthink (to Serve Big Sponsors Like Google and Microsoft)
They do this to RMS all the time
[Video] Daniel Pocock's Public Talk About Free Software Politics, Social Engineering, Debian Deaths and Suicides, Coercion and Exploitation of Women
took many months to get
BetaNews Cannot Survive If Its Fake Articles Are Just SPAM for Companies Like AOHi and Aren't Even Composed by Humans
This is what domains or former "news" sites do when they die and look very desperately for "another way"
Pocock shot in the face, shot in the back, shot on Hitler's birthday saving France, Belgium and FOSDEM
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Dr Richard Stallman in Montpellier, Robert Edward Ernest Pocock in France
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, January 20, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, January 20, 2025
Links 20/01/2025: Conflict, Climate, and More
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/01/2025: Conflicted Feelings and Politics
Links for the day
Daniel Pocock's ClueCon 2024 Presentation Was Also Streamed Live in YouTube and Later Removed by Google, Citing "Copyrights". Now It's Back.
The talk covers social control media, Debian, politics, and more
Google 'Cancels' RMS
Is the talk happening?
Microsoft Revisionism Debunked by Microsoft's Own Words About “the Failure of OS/2”
The Register on “the failure of OS/2”
Improving Daily Links by Culling Spam, Chaff, and LLM Slop
the Web is getting worse
Links 20/01/2025: Indonesia to Prevents Kids' Access to Social Control Media (Addiction and Worse), Climate News Catchuo
Links for the day
[Meme] EPO Targets
Targets mean nothing if or when you measure the wrong thing
EPO Union Says Monopoly-Granting Targets at EPO "Difficult to Achieve Without Compromising [Staff] Health, Personal Time or the Quality of the Final Products" (Products as in Monopolies, Not Real Products)
To those of us (over 99.999% of people impacted by this) who do not work at the EPO the misuse of words like "products" (monopolies are not products) should be disturbing
The EPO is Nowadays Trying to Trick Staff Into Settling Instead of Solving the Underlying Problems of Corruption and Injustice
This seems like a classic case of "divide-and-rule" or using misled/weak people to harm the whole group (or "the village")
Links 20/01/2025: More PR Stunts by ByteDance and MLK’s Legacy Disrespected
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/01/2025: Magnetic Fields, NixOS, and Pleroma
Links for the day
BetaNews Spreads Donald Trump Propaganda, Promotes Scams, and Publishes Fake 'Articles' About "Linux"
This is typical BetaNews
Richard Stallman 'Unveils' His January 20 Talk in Montpellier, France
It's free (gratis)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, January 19, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, January 19, 2025