this post was submitted on 27 May 2026
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Linux Phones
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The Discussion on Linux-based Phones.
Benefits:
- Hardware freedom.
- Perfect operating-system competition.
- Full utilization of specs.
- Phone lifespan raises to 10+ years.
- Less e-waste.
Linux Mobile Distros:
- Ubuntu Touch
- Sailfish
- FuriOS
- Postmarket OS
- Mobian
- Pure OS
- Plasma Mobile
- LuneOS
- openSUSE Mobile
- Nemomobile
- Droidian
- Mobile NixOS
- ExpidusOS
- Maemo Leste
- Manjaro Arm
- Tizen
- WebOS
Linux Mobile Hardware:
- Fairphone 5
- Volla Phone
- PinePhone
- FLX1
- Librem 5
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Its an end-of-life product regardless, so it should be recycled. Its not worth carrying around a forever-compromised device, at least not for me. Google offers a recycle program here:
https://store.google.com/us/magazine/recycling?hl=en-US
I've ported Mobian to the Pixel 3a, it can therefore still be used and is a perfectly fine phone. Also, there aren't many other small phones one could use with Linux.
You can port a lot of things to a Pixel 3a, but the firmware has been end of life for years now. At the hardware level, its always vulnerable. The OS alone can not protect you, even if its up to date.
Whatever. Still not a reason to constantly throw hardware away unless you have a specific threat model.
My threat model is anything vulnerable that can access a network should be gutted and smelted down if it has been abandoned from the manufacturer.
Don't throw it in the trash. Recycle the materials instead to rebuild newer better hardware.
The smartphone is far from ewaste, great jack, with good camera, makes the perfect device for an mp3 player to take along hikes.
As long as it never touches any network ever again and there is never anything personal installed on it ever again then it should be OK. Be sure to rip out the GSM and/or CDMA chipset, wifi, bluetooth, and NFC. When connecting it to another device through USB, make sure that device is offline and ADB mode is disabled. Remove all sim cards as well.
There are much better devices for your purpose than some old ass phone tho