[PLUG] Any recent developments with Linux/BSD based mobile phones?

[Gurbir Singh Dhaliwal]

Hi,

On Monday 27 Aug 10:44:04 PM Mayuresh wrote:
> Have there been any recent developments in *nix based cell phones or PDAs?
> 

Two different initiatives going on in this area which are backed by big 
players are the Mozilla Boot 2 Gecko - 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_2_Gecko

 and the Tinzen project which is a successor to Meego -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tizen

A smaller player has also picked up on the fork of Meego called Mer -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mer_%28operating_system%29

> I have N900. Great device for Linux enthusiasts. Looking for different /
> more recent devices.
> 

Best bet as of today for an upgrade from Nokia N900 would be the Nokia N9. All 
other phones are expected to arrive only by 2013 (might take longer to come to 
India).

> Not looking for Android. Prefer Linux (or BSD).
>
 
Is there a specific reason for not prefering Android ? If you prefer to run 
only Linux apps then you can always use the Linux-installer app on Android to 
run Debian in a chroot environment. This method gives you the widest variety 
of hardware to choose from for your phone. 
Only drawback here is that the X-server does not run in this mode (so no X 
based apps will run), but there is a ongoing project to remedy this as well.

> Neo FreeRunner / OpenMoko doesn't seem very active. Anyone has any
> experience with these?

I would not recommend this as given an option between Nokia N9 / N900 vs the 
Freerunner, both the Nokia's have much better hardware specifications. Plus 
the same great Debian apps can be run on the Nokia's using Easy Debian app 
(including X based apps) which are running on Openmoko. 

> 
> Mayuresh.
> 
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- Gurbir.