Weekly GNU-like Mobile Linux Update (05/2025): (Post-) FOSDEM Blues Big Band
Table of Contents
The One After FOSDEM: Lots of news from Europe's FOSS Superspreading Event, featuring: PineNote content, Volla Tablet shipments, reports on accomplishments in January and more!
Commentary in italics.
Worth Reading
- fossphones.com: Linux Phone News - January 31, 2025
- postmarketOS Blog: postmarketOS in 2025-01: systemd in edge, mobile-config-thunderbird and Lomiri
- Tzafrir: My new Linux phone
- Colors of Noise: Free Software Activities January 2025
- tim.sh: Everyone knows your location
Hardware
- Liliputing: Volla Tablet is now shipping (Google-free Android tablet that can also run Ubuntu Touch)
- valpacket: First photo taken with and directly posted from the Moto E5 with #postmarketOS yay #linuxmobile (don't have a driver for the focus coil on this yet so the rear cam is blurry for now)
Worth Listening
- LinuxUnplugged: LINUX Unplugged 599: Psycho Shower Linux Power. Yes, that brief mention of the Liberux Nexx is enough to add it, IMHO.
Worth Watching
- Martijn Braam: The FOSDEM 2025 live streaming box
- Continuum Gaming: Continuum Gaming E454: Sailfish OS – Banking Apps
- Anino Ni Kugi: Lomiri Plus on a Tablet | Ubuntu Touch
- Anino Ni Kugi: Dynamic Cove on an Ubuntu Touch Tablet | Lomiri Plus #lomiri #ubuntutouch
- Felipe Borges: The GNOME LATAM 2024 recordings are now live! Not sure how much is relevant for mobile, but ... if you are desperate for video content, it may be worth a look!
FOSDEM Early Birds
PineNote Corner
- carbonatedcaffeine: "Full #pine64 #pinenote software demonstration, reading ebooks, taking notes and the tailored Gnome experience.This video is to help users wondering if they should buy one, if it will suit their needs. Note (haha pun), the PineNote is still a developers/tinkerers device, so you will still need enough knowledge to recover the device if something goes wrong.#linuxmobile #debian"
- carbonatedcaffeine: #PineNote Debian (Eraser + Pressure Sensitivity) Demo
- carbonatedcaffeine: "How to boot a PineNote into RockUSB mode using a magnet.In this tutorial I will be showing users how to boot into RockUSB mode on their PineNotes using a magnet. This is useful for re-flashing your firmware in case it becomes bricked. Users purchasing a 3rd batch PineNote will need to use this method as that batch will no longer include a USB UART adapter. I hope you find this tutorial useful despite it's lack in quality, please comment if you want to see anything else."
- carbonatedcaffeine: #pine64 #pinenote recovery and flashing tutorial: Hello and welcome to possibly the last of my PineNote tutorials, this is a continuation of the RockUSB video where I'll show you how to recover/flash your PineNote. This video doesn't really go into the batch 1 PineNote (since I don't have one), but the same instructions should apply.#mobilelinux #debian #linuxhttps://youtu.be/r415Rt1Xo0g?si=6ARe85PzG7UjZ2-v
Worth Noting
- dos: "Seems @postmarketOS is now successful enough for some people to think it was the first community-run GNU-like/Linux distro for phones.Let me remind you that SHR would turn 17yo this year, and it wasn't even the first one. I bet some #postmarketOS contributors are younger than that 😄#mobilelinux". The (childless) grandpa editing this collection of links agrees!
- valpackett: "Woah, the Lumia 950 has the FM radio of all things working in mainline Linux?? 0.o #linuxmobileStill no GPU for msm8992/msm8994, I wonder how hard that would be…?"
- flypig: "If you're at #FOSDEM and interested in running #Linux on your phone or watch (you should be!) then swing by the #LinuxOnMobile stand on Saturday or Sunday in building K, stand K1-C-6! We'll have #AsteroidOS, #Mobian, #SailfishOS, the @jolla Mind2 and more to test out and try. @linmob will be there with stickers and insight. Plus @postmarketOS and @calyxos are right next door!https://linuxonmobile.net/https://nav.fosdem.org/l/k1-c-6/"
- mntmn: "hey i wrote (actually mostly recorded) a new update post for the MNT Reform Next crowdfunding campaign, check it out: https://www.crowdsupply.com/mnt/mnt-reform-next/updates/gnome-47-desktop-demothis one is about running "big" desktop environments like GNOME 47 on the MNT Reform Next. at the end of the article there's a 3 minute raw unfiltered video of how that turned out."
- debian: "The Debian Publicity Team will no longer post on X/Twitter. We took this decision since we feel X doesn't reflect Debian shared values as stated in our social contract, code of conduct and diversity statement. X evolved into a place where people we care about don't feel safe. You are very much invited to follow us on https://bits.debian.org , on https://micronews.debian.org/ , or any media as listed on https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Publicity/otherSN #debian"
- justsoup: "Going through all the #AlpineLinux #Lomiri packages to find ones that I need to enable #systemd support for in #postmarketOS is quite the pain. But, it will be worth it when we have better stability and upstream parity.#MobileLinux"
- LAS: "Support the development of a new, open alternative to closed-source systems by sponsoring #LAS2025! Together, we can create a vibrant marketplace for Linux applications, benefiting developers, entrepreneurs, and software companies worldwide. Learn more: https://linuxappsummit.org/sponsor/ #linux #apps"
- krafting: "I've just joined the #LinuxMobile gang with a Redmi Note 9S, Mobile network works, Cameras works, Wifi and bluetooth works, almost everything is working on this phone!I'll try to install #Phosh to see if it's better than #GnomeMobile !"
- alex: I'm so excited to see the news about #Pebble today! Google has generously open sourced the original firmware ( https://opensource.googleblog.com/2025/01/see-code-that-powered-pebble-smartwatches.html ) and Eric Migicovsky is planning on relaunching the company! ( https://ericmigi.com/blog/why-were-bringing-pebble-back )My #pebblewatch was my first (and remains my favorite!) smart watch of any kind. I still miss it to this day. Can't wait to see what they come up with for the next generation!
- fakeshell: "Initially the plan for bootman was to make it split a partition from LVM and reuse that for dual boot, but then @doggestman brought up sd card for installation storage which sounded good, so i decided to make it work. now, it can now boot from that too.This will also allow for installation of other operating systems such as SailfishOS or Ubuntu Touch when they get ported over to the device, so its not limited to FuriOS only.#flx1 #furios #furilabs #FuriPhoneFLX1 #LinuxOnMobile #LinuxMobile"
- r/linux: android 16 terminal
- Purism community: Third party modems and wifi&bluetooth modules for Librem 5
Events
- sri: Linux App Summit 2026 – Call for Papers Open Now. Linux App Summit will be a hybrid event, taking place in Tirana, Albania (and the internets) on April 25 and 26 2025.
- Aleix Pol: Linux App Summit and building a lasting space
FOSDEM 2025
Just some Mastodon posts for now (for poor visuals powered by the Pixel 3a front camera), maybe more coming later on in separate post / the next Weekly Update if talk recordings are released by then. Thanks to everybody I met (I had a great time), and apologies to everybody I failed to meet or talk to - this FOSDEM felt even more 'blasty' than the previous ones, it was over so quickly - _tempus fugit_, for real!-
@linmob@fosstodon.org: Getting ready for #FOSDEM!Cc: @linuxphoneapps #ShotOnLibrem5
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@linmob@fosstodon.org: The #FOSDEM2025 #FOSSonMobile devroom is about to start in a few minutes schedule: https://linmob.net/fosdem2025/#the-foss-on-mobile-devices-track-developer-room | https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/track/mobile/find it: https://nav.fosdem.org/l/h2214/ All talks were great, although some could have used more time than the 20 minute slots, e.g., Alfreds talk that went deep in the differences between halium/libhybris/mainline (to be clear: Neither blaming FOSDEM crew, organizers or speakers here - I know everybody did their best; but maybe we could have BoFs for some specific topics where discussion is what is intended instead of a talk?)..
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@linmob@fosstodon.org: From Kernel to user space @VolkerKrause and Nucleus talking about FOSS weather and emergency alerts#FOSSonMobile #FOSDEM https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/event/fosdem-2025-5102-weather-and-emergency-alerts/
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@linmob@fosstodon.org: #FOSSonMobile at #FOSDEM OpenAGPS - Open source GNSS Assistance | Alexander Richardshttps://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/event/fosdem-2025-6739-openagps-open-source-gnss-assistance/http://openagps.net/
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@linmob@fosstodon.org: Bored at #FOSDEM? Come by the Linux on Mobile stand https://nav.fosdem.org/l/k1-c-6/@1,132.35,291.33,5
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theawesomerandomness: The MNT Reform Next prototype is having a blast at #fosdem2025 today visiting open source friends at @genode @kicad @FreeCAD @nlnet and more!
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AsteroidOS: "#AsteroidOS will be part of the @linmob stand at #fosdem2025 You can find us here: https://nav.fosdem.org/l/k1-c-6/@1,132.31,289.85,5#fosdem #linuxmobile" ... guess what: I'll finally get a watch strap for the LG Watch R I was given over year ago; AsteroidOS is really cool!
More Software News
Gnome Ecosystem
- This Week in GNOME: #185 Adwaita Sans
- Planet GNOME: freedoms-for-who, revisited briefly
- AliceM: New Website
- Marcus Lundblad: Pre-FOSDEM Maps wrap-up
- mclasen: What’s new in GTK, winter 2025 edition – GTK Development Blog
- Phoronix: GNOME 48 Lands HDR Support Bits At The Last Minute
- Phoronix: GNOME Text Editor Gains A Sidebar, GTK's Android Backend & Other Excitement This Week
- Phoronix: GTK's X11 Backend Now Deprecated, Planned For Removal In GTK 5
- Phoronix: GNOME 48 Switches Over To "Adwaita Sans" As Default Font
Phosh
- agx: …nothing to see here, please move along. Status update for January 25: https://honk.sigxcpu.org/con/Free_Software_Activities_January_2025.html #phosh #LinuxMobile One word: Awesome!
- valpackett: Pretty cool that #phosh lets you adjust the torch brightness. Not something my daily Android phone offers! #postmarketOS
Plasma Ecosystem
- Nate Graham: This Week in Plasma: Feels Like a Good One
- Carl Schwan et al.: This Week in KDE Apps
- Volker Krause: December/January in KDE Itinerary
Sxmo
- #sxmo: #sxmo #peanutbutter is cat hack proof (at least when hacking while as sleep)
- #sxmo: @T_X Also the bet i made 5y ago is won: how disappointing it seemed at first, it is the power of the communities, the cleverness of the free/libre software developpers and users, and the personal work on tweaking and tinkering that made it over time get way better: more performance, adequation to my own needs, battery life even!I composed an environment based on the free/libre modem "distro" https://github.com/the-modem-distro/pinephone_modem_sdk, #postmarketOS edge, #sxmo and mostly TUI tools: #tut #aerc #gomuks #links -g
- @pocketvj@fosstodon.org: am i the only one using #inkscape on #pmos #linuxmobile ?we desperately need scrollbars (it was a huge pain to modify the #posmarketos logo for the docs).see: https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/issues/4987#note_2327178365andhttps://gitlab.com/inkscape/ux/-/issues/296#note_2314525807
- @pocketvj@fosstodon.org: @milan is the matrix whatsappbot working?i dont get any response when sending 'login'
Sailfish OS
- flypig: "There's a bunch of exciting #SailfishOS stuff happening at #FOSDEM this year: 1. The #LinuxOnMobile stand will have phones to try. I'll be there, please come say "Hi"! 2. A Sailfish social event Saturday night (they're always amazing). 3. A Sailfish Community BoF on Sunday with the @jolla team.Plus a bunch of talks in the devrooms. Looking forward to an amazing event! https://linuxonmobile.net/ https://forum.sailfishos.org/t/sailfish-community-meetup-1st-february-2025-brussels/21765/9https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/event/fosdem-2025-6773-sailfish-os-community-bof/". The BoF had some interesting news (from what I've heard); TL;DR: They're working on a strategy to open source a bit more!
- sxa: Argh! The complete lack of information about what happens after a year of owning the @jolla C2 on their site is frustrating. I think they force you to a EUR4.99/month subscription for OS updates but with the lack of clarity In rapidly going off the idea sadly 😭😭😭 #SailfishOS
Ubuntu Touch
- fredldotme: I hope you're looking forward to my FOSDEM 25 talk "Mainline vs libhybris: Technicalities, down to the buffer":https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/event/fosdem-2025-4917-mainline-vs-libhybris-technicalities-down-to-the-buffer/See ya in Brussels!
- Liliputing: Volla Tablet is now shipping (Google-free Android tablet that can also run Ubuntu Touch)
Distributions
- FuriLabs: Update 13.0.7. Having played with a FLX1 at FOSDEM, the result is definitively impressive. The focus on userspace certainly shows in the resulting user experience!
- Alpine Linux: Alpine Linux joins Open Collective
- danctnix: "it's us, we're a part of the multiverse 😎 #linuxmobile #mobilelinux #DanctNIX"
- postmarketOS Blog: postmarketOS in 2025-01: systemd in edge, mobile-config-thunderbird and Lomiri
- Lemmy - linuxphones: postmarketOS in 2025-01: systemd in edge, mobile-config-thunderbird and Lomiri
- Lemmy - postmarketOS: postmarketOS in 2025-01: systemd in edge, mobile-config-thunderbird and Lomiri
so many new Wiki pages on the postmarketOS wiki
- postmarketOS Wiki New Pages: Galaxy J2 Prime (SM-G532M)
- postmarketOS Wiki New Pages: Senraise H10
- postmarketOS Wiki New Pages: Cat S22 Flip (cat-s22-flip)
- postmarketOS Wiki New Pages: ASUS PadFone T004 (asus-a86)
- postmarketOS Wiki New Pages: MSM8227 Mainlining
- postmarketOS Wiki New Pages: Tolino Shine (tolino-shine)
- postmarketOS Wiki New Pages: Samsung Galaxy Core 2 (samsung-core2)
- postmarketOS Wiki New Pages: Alpha Speedybot (alpha-speedybot)
- postmarketOS Wiki New Pages: InkBOOK Prime
- postmarketOS Wiki New Pages: SiFive HiFive Unleashed
- postmarketOS Wiki New Pages: MediaTek MT6739
- postmarketOS Wiki New Pages: QEMU s390x (qemu-s390x)
Apps
- jane: polycule with flutter ❤️ flatpak#fosdem feature branch :3
- afranke: Looking for a conversation topic for this coming weekend? How about #Fractal 10 which we just released? 😉https://discourse.gnome.org/t/fractal-10-released/26573
Kernel
- phone-devel: [PATCH v3 0/3] Add missing SDCC resets for SDM630/660
- phone-devel: [PATCH 0/2] Enable panel and GPU on Fairphone 5
- phone-devel: [PATCH v2 1/3] dt-bindings: clock: gcc-sdm660: Add missing SDCC resets
- phone-devel: [PATCH 0/2] Support single-PD in wcnss driver
- Phoronix: Arch Linux Powered CachyOS Updated With Propeller-Optimized Kernel
- Phoronix: Linux 6.14 RISC-V Kernel Adds Support For T-Head Vector Extensions, GhostWrite
Stack
- Phoronix: X.Org / FreeDesktop.org Encounters New Cloud Crisis: Needs New Infrastructure Very Soon
- Phoronix: Chromium Embedded Framework "CEF" Seeing Progress On Wayland Support
- Phoronix: Steam Linux Use Dips For January 2025 Amid Odd Survey Numbers
- Phoronix: gendwarfksyms Tool Added To Linux 6.14 To Help With Rust Push
- Phoronix: Servo Aims For Shadow DOM & Improved Embedding API In 2025
- Phoronix: LLVM 20.1-rc1 Released For Testing This Updated Compiler Stack
Matrix
- Matrix.org: This Week in Matrix 2025-01-27
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 the hedgedoc 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!