Linux Smartphone OS

1. Ubuntu Touch

Originally released by Ubuntu developers Canonical, UBports are currently maintaining ubuntu Touch. That means that Ubuntu’s abandoned mobile operating system lives on.

Ubuntu Touch’s smartphone approach is intelligent, dealing with the lack of apps by providing social, news, and photo tools natively. That is done in the guise of Scopes, different pages of the Home screen that provide customized information, weather, apps, and social networks.

It works well, too, although there is always a time when apps are needed.
Perhaps Ubuntu Touch’s greatest strength, however, is Convergence.
That is a system, much like Microsoft’s Continuum and Samsung DeX, in which the mobile device is connected to a wireless HDMI device, keyboard, and mouse and used as a desktop computer. The only real difference between this and your desktop Linux device is that the phone has an ARM processor.

Currently supported devices include the handsets where Ubuntu Touch came pre-installed and the OnePlus One, Fairphone 2, and Nexus 5 (Hammerhead). Many more are in active development, such as the OnePlus Two and OnePlus 3.

2. Sailfish OS

Jolla, Mer (a middleware stack developer), the Sailfish Alliance (a group of corporations), and community members, Sailfish OS, continue the abandoned operating system MeeGo, itself on Maemo and Moblin.

The latest version of Sailfish OS is Sailfish X, which runs on Sony Xperia X devices. Unfortunately, Sailfish OS is not open source, and the free version is a limited-time trial.

The full version of Sailfish X will set you back around $50, and it’s only available within the European Union, Norway, and Switzerland.
Sailfish OS has Android app support, so if that appeals, this OS is worth trying out.

3. Plasma Mobile

Perhaps the most exciting option on the table is Plasma Mobile, a smartphone-focused spin on the popular Plasma; the latter deemed one of the best Linux desktop environments.
Having gained a lot of attention during 2017 (mostly due to Ubuntu abandoning Ubuntu Touch), Plasma Mobile aims to become a “complete and open software system for mobile devices.”

Currently compatible with the Nexus 5 (Hammerhead) and OnePlus One, Plasma Mobile (based on Kubuntu) is also available for Intel-based PCs and tablets, thanks to an Arch Linux-based version. Plasma Mobile is one of the Linux distros you can run on the PinePhone.

There is also multi ROM support for the Nexus 5 (Hammerhead), enabling you to run Plasma Mobile alongside your preferred custom Android ROM.
Perhaps the best thing about the Plasma Mobile project is that you can run desktop Plasma apps and widgets and Ubuntu Touch apps. That gives the project a wider selection of apps than Ubuntu Touch.
Other Linux Mobile Projects

Halium

Intended as a system to improve future Linux mobile projects, Halium aims to “unify the Hardware Abstraction Layer for projects which run GNU/Linux on mobile devices with pre-installed Android.”
There is also an intention to standardize other software and improve Linux access to audio, camera, GPS, and other hardware.
As you may imagine, if successful, this will make it far easier to install Linux on smartphones.

PureOS

A complete project comes in the shape of a mobile version of PureOS, the privacy and security-focused Linux distro from Purism.
There is no way to download PureOS for mobile, but Purism’s first phone, the Librem 5, will be released in 2019. That will be the most secure and private mobile device yet, and much of this will rely on the PureOS operating system.

postmarketOS

Describing itself as “a real Linux distribution on the phone,” postmarketOS (PMOs) is a version of Alpine Linux for smartphones.
In early development, PMOs aims to create a sustainable mobile OS, one with long-term support.

Many devices can run PMOs, including the Amazon Fire HDX, Google Nexus devices, and Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets.
However, few of these devices have a full set of features at this early of PMOs development. However, in offering multiple desktop environments, the PMOs project looks well placed to fulfill its aim of creating a long-term sustainable mobile operating system based on Linux.

If you are desperate to have Linux in your pocket but do not have any of the devices listed above, there are alternatives.
These enable you to run Linux (or give the appearance of running Linux) from the comfort of your Android device as an app. A rooted phone is necessary in most cases, but these are mostly offering emulation.

Linux Deploy

Rather than a command-line environment with some Linux tools, you may prefer something like Linux Deploy from Google Play. Requiring both a terminal emulator and a VNC client to be installed—as well as a rooted phone Linux Deploy enables you to choose from several different distros. These are installed in a disk image on your device storage.
Once installed, however, you will be able to access a Linux desktop environment on your phone or tablet.

Your Smartphone Deserves Linux

In short, Linux is available for many smartphones already, and we have seen several great Linux tablets too. But there is a long way to go. Linux distros on mobile devices are rare but need your support.

If you have one of the devices mentioned or linked above, please try out a compatible Linux mobile distro.
Please spend a few days with it to see how it works out for you. Then let the project community concerned know how it went. Let them know what worked and what didn’t.

If you can code, why not offer the benefit of your experience to one of the development projects? Better still, you could even start developing your mobile version of Linux using the Halium project.
Have you tried a Linux mobile operating system? Found it too hard to install? Well, do not worry too much; you can run Linux on any Android smartphone.