5 mo. ago • 98%

Furi Phone FLX1: Debian smartphone debuts • The Register

www.theregister.com Furi Phone FLX1: Debian smartphone debuts

The FLX1 runs its own build of 'Trixie' but has an Android layer

Linux @programming.dev Furi Phone FLX1: Debian smartphone debuts • The Register

54 comments

Im very interested in an officially supported linux phone, however the fitmware seems not to be upstream(yet?). I hope it will be upstreamed, or else were back to square one with linux mobile hardware support if they stop working on it!

23
- China and upstream do not combine. I wouldn't be surprised if the bootloader was non unlockable too.
  
  8
  
  ~~Hong Kong only recently became part of China.~~ (This was not correct, it became part of China in 1997). I'm sure the protests are fresh in people's minds still. If anywhere would want private phones it would be HK.
  
  1
- They will upstream stuff, but sadly they are not going to mainline.
  
  https://mastodon.social/@GranPC/112690143171368646
  
  4
According to the Librem people: this is Android kernel (& other low level stuff) with Debian userspace, not a true Debian phone. https://social.librem.one/@dos/112686932765355105

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- At least it might actually get delivered, unlike the librem 5.... /s (but not really)
  
  7
  
  It’s already delivered - a Mastodon user got one.
  
  But getting an OEM to make a phone under your brand is easy. The real question is how long will they keep the software maintained?
  
  These people seem like passionate Linux enthusiasts, so one can hope.
  
  4
- So, not the droid we Are looking for... :(
  
  2
A phone for furis? How nice :3

14
Yet another Linux phone with subpar specs. That processor is quite underwhelming even compared to Google's Tensor G1, a proc that many regard as crap as is and it beats this Dimensity 900 handily.

13
- I think about creating a phone out of a raspberry Pi compute module and include a dedicated NPU in the build 🤔
  
  2
  
  That would be just as proprietary as Android
  
  3
Huzzah! A Linux phone with specs that wouldn't have looked pathetic five years ago!

Actually, those specs are comparable to the Pixel 7a I'm writing this on at a slightly cheaper price! Has the era of the Linux phone begun?

12
Despite the market domination of Apple's iOS

Since when?

8
- The register is out of the UK and the bulk of their readership is in the US, in both places apple has above 50% market share.
  
  33
  
  Thx. I didn't knew it was that bad
  
  15
- Despite the market domination of Apple's iOS and the legions of Android devices out there, there are alternatives in the smartphone market...
  
  just a wierd line break
  
  4
- since you crawled under a rock /s
  
  2
  
  This is Patrick.
  
  7
- It just shows the shady nature of this new company
  
  -5
So it will have good mainline linux support?

7
- No. It uses Hallium (Android kernel, basically).
  
  5
Furry Phone? Is this going to make me want to fuck a gazelle? Again?

7
These specs actually seem really solid for the price point, I'm glad to see decent alternative smartphones popping up that actually have some power.

What's bugging me is the lack of information about the software. Apparently this is Android with a layer like Hallium to run a Debian userspace on top? And yet they don't advertise that fact. It's just a little off putting that this product seems to be aimed at Linux/general tech enthusiasts, yet the company seemed to miss the fact that those customers tend to really like knowing what they're running under the hood.

6
- I thought $500 for only 6GB of ram is really disappointing.
  
  2
  
  I mean, I use maybe 3-4gb at any given time, without limiting myself. I personally don't need heaps of RAM, 6gb is enough to have some overhead for me.
  
  I haven't looked at too many prices recently, I've had the same phone for a while, but this doesn't seem to unreasonable imo, especially considering this is the first product from a small, new company.
  
  1
I mean Android is not magic, but a huge step up from desktop Linux regarding security, minimalism, battery life, ...

They also just use an LTS kernel, and I even found a Vulkan package.

The simple, core principle, security without compromises, is not hard, everythig is there.

And at the same time you can fix many of the Google issues, privacy invasiveness, design that sucks...

5
Headphone jack 3.5mm waterproof

It has a fucking headphone jack?!? I might actually consider this as my next device.

4
- Just use a $5 USB-C to 3.5mm DAC?
  
  -2
  
  I have the Samsung one right now, but the problem with it is that I can't charge while listening to music and I ain't gonna sacrifice sound quality with a 2 in 1 dongle.
  
  4
I really want phones like this to actually work and to succeed, but there are so many things these companies have to get just right -- it's a huge undertaking.

Releasing a phone that's admittedly unfinished seems really risky. People are getting sick of unfinished products being tossed at them for full price, with the empty promises from the company that those missing features will be added in later.

4
Furry Phone yay

2
Is it better than PinePhone?

2
- I don't think so
  
  1
We've tried this before. Didn't work out very well from what I remember.

1
- Sometimes ideas are ahead of their time.
  
  11
  
  I don't think this is the case here. Like, this is dead on arrival in most of Europe without WhatsApp. My phone is my most important device. I cannot access my bank account without it. But banks will not allow me to use that phone as a factor for authentication.
  
  5 or 10 years ago you could have forced those companies to either support something third party or develop for a new phone os but now we are stuck with android and ios until something really messed up happens to our economy or until one of them really fucks up and gets into legal trouble to a point where they can't sell phones or services anymore.
  
  2
Tough choice. Personally I wouldve taken display out over a macro camera.

1
Chinese

straight into the trash

-1
- Its a small company without VC, seems ok so far. Chinese track record for open sourcing things isnt too good because chinese courts dont care about the GPL I think, however they sound like linux enthusiasts, so Im optimistic.
  
  11
  
  I was more concerned with government ties.
  
  1

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