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In a universe of enshitification, Linux is one of the few things that consistently gets better.
(lemmy.world)
this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2026
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I do believe it's not just one of the things to keep getting better, it's a blueprint for the things we want to build in the future. From software to society. More individual participation, less corporate involvement, zero corporate ownership of essentials.
My current enemy is the stranglehold of corporate OSs in the mobile space. That really really needs to go for good.
I agree, however, rather than individual participation, I would say Linux represents a victory for the collective spirit. Yes Linus has spearheaded the kernal development for years, but without all the other contributors sacrificing countless hours, Linux wouldn't be nearly as successful (and ubiquitous) as it is. Linux demonstrates that we, as a community, can come together to work towards something we know is good and right, without the drive of monetary gain or social recognition, but just because it's fun, or fills a need, or helps us learn.
That's one of the biggest reasons I think Linux is so evangelised on Lemmy specifically: because it epitomises the power of collective altruism in a world increasingly dominated by corporate greed.
I've got some bad news about Linux then, the main contibutors are companies, and the infrastructure is owned by them.
It's not individuals who paying Linus $1.5 million a year (Under "Compensation").
Couldn't have said it better.
On mobile we got the different Linux Phone OSes, unfortunately none of them come pre-installed (not counting the obsolete phones from Pine or Librem) and they're still very much beta software. But they too get consistently better, both Plasma Mobile and Phosh make great strides.
There are more recent devices from Jolla, Finnish company. The only problem is the price, roughly the same as basic iPhone 17 (β700β¬).
I think we need to collectively understand that freedom and privacy have a cost. That $200 phone is subsidized with the spyware baked into it and the expected income of future repairs and upgrades, ad sales, etc. a $2k phone made with modular parts and software based on open source has a much higher up-front cost, won't be quite as sleek, will require some technical understanding, but a much lower maintenance cost.
Game consoles, phones, computers, cars and even refrigerators. If some company now considers the product a loss-leader, we should collectively shun it.
It's a hard sell, though, when everything is super expensive and things like phones and cars are pretty much requirements for living in some places.
It's also slightly cheaper (per unit) to manufacture a million phones vs ten thousand.
And even worse when you are poor or simply cannot pay.
We really need to find the square of the circle on this, where we can have total freedom, low cost, high modularity and grassroots origin.
I think that an progressivist approach would be the correct (basically, not static prices, but dynamical prices: you're rich? Then you pay more; you're poor? Then you pay less or don't pay at all. The ones in the top do subsidize the ones on the bottom). But of course, that's hard asf to do.
I thought we were talking about open phones. Sailfish OS is not fully open, and I see no reason to go from "open but Corpotrash" to "partially closed with a little bit less (?) Corpotrash".
Until they finally Open-Source their libraries Jolla is just one among many.
I'm an open source zealot as much as the next but I don't get this view honestly.
Sailfish is about the best you can get that's not based on one of the two main OSs. Normal people could use it and it's got the best shot to make inroads. Even if it's just a foothold til postmarket or something else comes along I find that huge.
I'm simply not seeing the benefit over a well maintained degoogled Android ROM such as Graphene or /e/OS. The amount of work I have to out in to relearn stuff is next to none, support is higher and you know hardware support lasts long (thinking of e.g. the Murena Fairphone 6). Sailfish looks like just another corporation with partially closed Source and bumpy track record, and with hardware such as Fairphone (and many other phones) you at least got some digital mobility to move to something else if your distribution of choice goes down the drain.
I get that having a third option is always better even if all three are questionable, but I don't see that in Sailfish either.
For me graphene and the like only enshrine the dominance of the two OSs, especially while governments seem all too happy to make laws that do the same.
We need more options to make sure all the functions of our digital lives are not beholden to two corporations. And make no mistake, Android despite being "open" is beholden to Google.
That's my angle anyhow. Sure, it's not fully open source but it will enforce actual openness more than using offshoots of the main two. Jmho.
Fairphones don't come with Linux pre-installed (I think you can pick LineageOS or /e/OS iirc), but they all support Linux and the past couple models of them are basically just regular smartphones specs-wise. Probably gonna upgrade to one of those when my GrapheneOS Pixel 8 dies.
Fairphones don't come with Linux pre-installed (I think you can pick LineageOS or /e/OS iirc), but they all support Linux and the past couple models of them are basically just regular smartphones specs-wise. Probably gonna upgrade to one of those when my GrapheneOS Pixel 8 dies.
Beautifully put.