this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2023
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Yeah, this is why i want to have a linux phone sometimes...
Can you even do that? Do you need a custom ROM written specifically for the device?
I thought Android was based on Linux anyway.
Yep, you can install Linux on a phone, depending on the model and if someone's made a custom Linux ROM for it - you can't just download a Linux distro and install it directly, because this is the ARM architecture and the way it boots and the way drivers are handled is quite different from PCs (x86 architecture), which is why you need a custom Linux ROM with the bootloader, drivers, config etc all baked in.
PostmarketOS is one such ROM/distro, and you can install it on some popular phones like the OnePlus 6/6T, but there may be some limitations, such as the camera not working etc. It would be better to instead buy a phone that explicitly supports Linux, such as the Pinephone, the FxTec Pro1, some Sony Xperia phones (SailfishOS), or Planet PDA phones like the Gemini/Cosmo Communicator.
Don't forget the FairPhone