I think that in the Android kernel (for your device) there are binary blobs for hardware drivers. Which are not in mainline and most of the times not even available anywhere.
It basically is, but this kernel is much modified by modem maker, SoC maker and device and component manufacturers. They almost always do dirty low quality patches just to make one device work with Android and not care about sending them to upstream (mainline) kernel or even about compatibility with anything but their Android version.
not.mainline.space - example of OnePlus 6 having more than 5,600,000 lines of code difference from normal Linux kernel. And is still considered pretty close compared to most phones.
They are publishing their version of the kernel. The problem is that this kernel is so much modified and dirtly patched it is useless to run anything other than Android.
And many device drivers for Android are now proprietary blobs in Android userspace outside of the kernel code.
No I meant that reverse engineering of it or something can help to make a universal Linux kernel or at least port some drivers which should simplify the development and increase the amount of supported devices
I want to try and port my Zenfone 8 to droidian when I have the will to do it, unfortunately Asus has disabled bootloader unlocking over a year ago and we still have no word since other than “soon™️” every 3 months. A shame really because this phone has great support by 3rd party android Roms such as lineageos or omnirom
I love Gnome and would love a Linux phone, but sadly I hear they aren’t as secure as Android, and security is important to me. I’m really curious how the experience is to use it though.
Very strange and not reassuring at all, thinking that GrapheneOS and everything else use the latest software always. Doesnt sound like a good solution.
Worth it to try out and see the current state. The ecosystem is close to daily usage if you mind some bugs and use only standardized FOSS things. There are bugs here and there like GNOME Web crashing on more load that definetly can be a turn off for many to switch now, but it is worth trying out especially when going back is easy on OnePlus phones.
