Weekly GNU-like Mobile Linux Update (04/2026): Hardware in the Loop
Table of Contents
This past week: postmarketOS launches hardware testing automation MVP (OnePlus 6T now tested in CI on real hardware via custom PCB and CI-tron) and posts January 2026 update covering systemd musl upstream progress and contributor highlights, Mecha Comet modular Linux handheld launches on Kickstarter, immutable Duranium boots on OnePlus 6, a Ubuntu Touch Q&A, a collection of Sailfish OS Community news and Jolla Phone referral program announced with 10,000 pre-order deadline extended to end of February. Enjoy!
Commentary in italics.
Worth Reading
- alaraajavamma for FuriLabs blog: “Honey, I’m home” - Part 8
- postmarketOS Blog: postmarketOS in 2026-01: monthly blog post reboot
- postmarketOS Blog: Hardware testing automation: a minimum viable product
- Lemmy.ca - linuxphones: Hardware testing automation: a minimum viable product
- Lemmy.ca - linuxphones: This smartphone runs Android, Linux, and even Windows 11
- Jan Wagemakers: Broken shift6mq phone - oops I did it again...
Worth Watching
- Continuum Gaming: Continuum Gaming E505: Thinking about preordering the Jolla Phone 2026? SFOS App Compatibility
- mkiol: Slideshow feature in Jupii 2.16 for Sailfish OS
- UBports: Ubuntu Touch Q&A 182. Great one, make sure to watch this :-)
- thevoidkernel: How to Install Ubuntu Touch on Android Phone - Complete Tutorial 2026
- 고르고르 건즈: "DIY UMPC - uConsole Cyberdeck cm4,cm5 실사용후기"
- Laura Malvoyante: Jolla 2026 Announced | Is This European Device Worth Upgrading From the C2?
- Software Relics: Linux Explained in 30 Seconds – The OS That Runs the World 🐧 #techshorts
- JuanBagnell: This Android Phone is ALSO a Linux AND Windows PC! NexPhone Hands On!
Worth Noting
- craftyguy: "Hey lookie here, it's the first boot of Duranium (immutable postmarketOS) on a OnePlus 6 / Android phone 😁#postmarketos"
- Jc00qe: first steps done. next would be to add the "add to dash" and "remove from dash" when holding an app. then to stop unpinned running app from showing.don't expect a release until everything is all done.
- okennedy: "While repairing my #librem5 screen a month or so ago, I took the opportunity to run some fine grit sandpaper over the GPS antenna contacts and very gently bend the contact pin out a touch.Since doing that, the GPS is now actually usable. I usually have a rough position by the time maps finishes loading, and a full lock only a minute or two later. Last major nit overcome!"
- Purism community: Most missed feature / most wanted improvement for Librem 5
Hardware Corner
- Liliputing: Mecha Comet modular Linux handheld hits Kickstarter for $189 and up
- CNX-Software: Mecha Comet is an open-source hardware, modular Linux handheld computer (Crowdfunding)
- Luigi311: The Mecha Comet #mobilelinux kickstarter has gone live. Comes with either an IMX8M Plus up to 4GB Ram or a IMX95 up to 8GB Ram. Looks like a really nice linux first device running a downstream 6.12 kernel. It has a m.2 slot which can accept a modem for cell service but no ear piece so calls will be speaker mode only. Cameras are already working using the ISP. Hope they meet their timeline of this year as I can’t wait to get mine.https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mecha-systems/mecha-comet-modular-linux-handheld-computer#MechaComet
- Liliputing: NexPhone is a phone you can use as a desktop PC with Android, Linux, and Windows 11 support. The NexPhone is not what I would call a Linux Phone - it's an Android phone, that can launch a Linux app (think Termux + GUI) and reboot into Windows 11 - if anything, it's a Windows 11 phone out of the box.
FOSDEM
- @FuriLabs: We will be at FOSDEM 2026. Jan 31 and Feb 1.Just look for our black flags with the Furilabs and VoidPhone logo’s on them. We will have a heap of phones to test and buy in person. We will have at least 3 people at the booth to answer all your FLX1S questions. https://furilabs.com/fosdem-2026/#flx1s #furilabs #fosdem2026 #fosdem
- gnome: "Meet GNOME at FOSDEM 2026!Come and visit our booth, talk with contributors, get some swag! See you there in almost one week!You can find the booth in building K level 2."
- Codeberg: Codeberg and Forgejo will have a stand (K5) at FOSDEM 2026 in Brussels. Come by and chat with Codeberg and Forgejo contributors.There'll also be Codeberg and Forgejo stickers. If your Codeberg or Forgejo hosted project has stickers and you're looking for a way to distribute them: Get in touch and we can organise it!#fosdem #fosdem2026 #codeberg #forgejo
- phosh: Going to #FOSDEM and interested in #Phosh? @devrtz will give a talk on Saturday 16:30 in the FOSS on Mobile devroom (UB4.132) and there'll be devices running Phosh in UD1 at the #linuxonmobile and @postmarketOS booths.#linuxmobile
- nlnet: "Each year we are excited to see how many NLnet grantees we can spot in the list of @fosdem speakers. This year is a new high with over 100 speakers!Another record will be broken at our hex sticker table. We'll be bringing over 300.000 stickers featuring more than 300 unique hex designs.We have 2 BoF meetups, 1 with @NGIZero and 1 NLnet get-together and we'll be bringing snacks.And Michiel Leenaars will give the opening keynote on Saturday.Let's meet at #FOSDEM!https://nlnet.nl/events/20260131/FOSDEM26/index.html "
- genode: We're looking forward to @fosdem in a week!The microkernel devroom will be on Sunday starting 11:15 in K.4.201https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/track/microkernel/We also have a stand in building H level 1 (group A).https://fosdem.org/2026/stands/See you there!
More Software News
Gnome Ecosystem
- This Week in GNOME: #233 Editing Events
- Ignacy Kuchciński: Digital Wellbeing Contract: Conclusion
- Allan Day: GNOME Foundation Update, 2026-01-23
- Phoronix: GNOME's AI Assistant Newelle Adds Llama.cpp Support, Command Execution Tool
Phosh
- phosh: 🥳 Earlier today we landed the bits in #phosh to show the splash screens of running apps in the overview. This also hopefully looks a bit more polished than the initial version . Likely not much news on other platforms but this was bugging us for some time 😅:#LinuxMobile #gtk #linux #mobile
- Phosh (gotosocial): From the photo it looks like #phosh is under test there too, awesome and congrats to this big step in driving test automation...
- Phosh (gotosocial): FIrst screenshot we've seen from #Pocketblue with #Phosh on a real device: https://wetdry.world/@runefish/115905527751141646...
- #phosh: Everytime I play fullscreen a #phosh screencap video on android, I feel the need to have it for real...
- #phosh: @dubstar_04 @phosh Just tested #gnome-network-display which #phosh and it works. The TypeCee MMS-3000 I have for testing is sometimes not detected by the TV but when it is I can mirror things. I'm seeing a lot of
2026/01/22 11:55:37 [DEBUG] - pipewire: buffer already exportedfrom the portal and some corruption when that happens which I'm not seeing when using the portal for e.g. screen-sharing in BBB/Jitsi . - #phosh: #MobileLinux folks, is there a way to use the #stevia on-screen keyboard from #Phosh on #GnomeMobile ?#postmarketos #mobian #linuxphones
- sequencode: 5G 🎉️ #droidian #linuxmobile #phosh #gnome
- agx: @peja #kooha flatpak works as well for me in #phosh both for recording the full screen as well as a part of the screen.
Plasma Ecosystem
- Nate Graham: This Week in Plasma: fixing all the things
- Carl Schwan et al.: This Week in KDE Apps
- KDE Mentorship: Season Of KDE 2026 Projects
- Nicolas Fella: Detecting Memory Leaks in KDE CI
- Qt Blog: Qt 6.5 Reaches End-of-Support in April 2026
- #plasmamobile: In Sunnyvale for ~12 hours, love the photos #megapixels takes at dusk #pinephone #manjaro #kde #plasmamobile
- Phoronix: KDE Plasma Saw At Least 9 Crash Fixes This Week
Sxmo
Sailfish OS
- Community News - Sailfish OS Forum: Sailfish Community News, January 22nd 2026 - FOSDEM 2026
- frankps: Another milestone is 7.500 pre-orders of the upcoming phone from @jolla . Hm. I just recently got my C2 phone and it is so tempting to pre-order the new phone!#SailfishOS #LinuxMobile #Privacy
- adampigg: Yay, I helped convert an IPhone user to #SailfishOS with Amazfish :)
- jolla: "When long-time community member @cybette said the Jolla C2 felt a bit too big for her hands, we didn’t just take notes. We invited her over. She stopped by the office to try the new Jolla Phone appearance models in person.Her verdict:“8.5/10 for size, materials, and hand-feel. After handling the sample model for the better part of an hour, I’m apprehensive no more. It fits well in my small-ish hands.” She also notes it may go up to a 9/10 once the final weight and balance are locked in.Read the full, unfiltered forum post here:https://forum.sailfishos.org/t/my-first-impression-of-the-jolla-phone-appearance-models/27272/6#Jolla #SailfishOS #DeGoogle #european #DigitalSovereignty #CommunityPowered"
- #sailfishOS: Jolla Phone - Referral Program Jolla recently introduced a referral program and shares ideas on how the community can help newcomers get started with #SailfishOS or support them with questions such as Android app compatibility. There’s also the possibility to get a referral code if you’d like to promote the Jolla Phone — with it, you can earn yourself a #Jolla T-shirt.❗️Also, the 10'000 pre-order challenge has been extended until the end of February 2026 🥳Link: https://forum.sailfishos.org/t/jolla-phone-update-referral-program/
- #sailfishOS: I'm jumping up and down, and I can't wait to try this app out!A first version of a native #Immich app for #SailfishOS just got published over at OpenRepos: https://openrepos.net/content/cyberdream/sailmichSweeeeeet!
- #sailfishOS: Just released Jupii 2.16 – the ultimate UPnP/DLNA app for Sailfish OS and Linux desktop.Release highlight: - A new Slideshow feature - lets you combine a series of images into a low-framerate video that plays in real time.SFOS video demo (YT link, sorry): https://youtu.be/6Yya4BMha9wFull changelog: https://gitlab.com/mkiol/jupii/-/releases/v2.16.0Flathub link: https://flathub.org/en/apps/net.mkiol.Jupii#sailfishos #sfos #jupii
Ubuntu Touch
- Ubuntu Touch Forums News: Ubuntu Touch Q&A 182 Call for Questions
- UBports - Development - Issues: buteo-syncml: sync packaging from salsa.debian.org
- UBports - Development - Issues: Screen/Display switching still works in Virtual Touchpad mode
- UBports - Development - Issues: kf6-kcalendarcore: Vendor package from Debian unstable
- UBports - Development - Issues: qmenumodel: Upstream needs to be ported to Qt 6
- UBports - Development - Issues: buteo-sync-plugins: sync packaging from salsa.debian.org
- UBports - Development - Merge Requests: Synchronize parts of Debian packaging with Debian downstream
- #UbuntuTouch: @subhanqedirli @sequencode Does it have banking via a conventional web site? Perhaps not as fully-featured as a bank app, in my experience, but still usable for certain transactions.#UbuntuTouch has an app called Webber that creates a half-decent webapp from any web page.
- Jozef Mlich on Fosstodon: I was still wondering why navigation wasn’t working for me (PineTime + Amazfish on #UBports). In the end, it turned out to be AppArmor in Pure Maps (there is now an unconfined version of the app in the store). Navigation must be enabled in the #Amazfish settings, and the resources (navigation images) must be uploaded to the #PineTime.
Distributions
- postmarketOS Blog: postmarketOS in 2026-01: monthly blog post reboot
- postmarketOS Blog: Hardware testing automation: a minimum viable product
- Breaking updates in pmOS edge: The postmarketos-mvcfg package has been removed
- postmarketOS (Mastodon): If you have quiet audio in postmarketOS edge or stable with systemd and GNOME or Phosh installs, read this blog post: https://postmarketos.org/blog/2026/01/17/v25.12-release-issue/
- postmarketOS pmbootstrap tags: 3.9.0
- Martijn Braam: BodgeOS pt.6
Apps
- Luigi311: Looks like a really good #jellyfin music player is coming to #mobilelinux hopefully soon. Finamp is flutter based and looks like someone added in a CI for building an arm build recently and it looks great. Seems to require EGL > 1.5 and GLES > 3.0 though for hardware acceleration. This is a nice looking app and hopefully at some point i can run it accelerated on one of my devices i actually carry.
- LinuxPhoneApps.org: Apps: Mousam
- LinuxPhoneApps.org: Apps: Unify
- LinuxPhoneApps.org: Apps: Cine
- LinuxPhoneApps.org: Apps: Morse
- LinuxPhoneApps.org: Apps: NoMoreBackground
- LinuxPhoneApps.org: Apps: Ricochlime
- LinuxPhoneApps.org: Apps: Deliveries
- wannoye: #phanpy is cute PWA application that you can use for browsing fediverse on your #linuxphone using Web Apps app from #flathub.
- mark9064: PineTime Bluetooth utilities. Thanks TelegraphRoad!
Kernel
- phone-devel: [PATCH RESEND v7 0/7] clk: bcm: kona: Add bus clock support, bus clocks for BCM21664/BCM281xx
- phone-devel: Re: [PATCH] arm64: dts: qcom: milos-fairphone-fp6: Add Hall Effect sensor
- phone-devel: Re: [PATCH v3] drm/msm/dpu: Add DSPP GC driver to provide GAMMA_LUT DRM property
- phone-devel: Re: (subset) [PATCH v2 0/5] Enable QoS configuration for SM6350
- phone-devel: [PATCH v2 0/5] Fix volume up and add RTC, PRNG, UART in xiaomi-ginkgo
Releases
- Phoronix: VVenC H.266 Encoder Rolls Out More ARM Optimizations For Nice Performance Gains
- Phoronix: DXVK-NVAPI 0.9.1 Released With New Override & Improvements
- Phoronix: GNU C Library 2.43 Released With More C23 Features, mseal & openat2 Functions
- Phoronix: GNU Guix 1.5 Released With RISC-V Support, Experimental x86_64 GNU Hurd Kernel
- Phoronix: Vulkan 1.4.340 Released With Descriptor Heap & Other New Extensions
- Phoronix: Servo 0.0.4 Browser Engine Released & Finally Supporting Multiple Windows
Matrix
- Matrix.org: This Week in Matrix 2026-01-23
Thanks
Huge thanks to Plata for the nifty set of Python scripts that speed up collecting links from feeds by a lot.
Something missing? Want to contribute?
If your project's cool story (or your awesome video or nifty blog post or ...) is missing and you don't want that to happen again, please just put it into this pad for the next one! Since I am collecting many things there, this get's you early access if you will ;-) If you just stumble on a thing, please put it in there too - all help is appreciated!