Sailfish OS

[greguu]

Hi all,

we are very excited to hear about the announcement made by Jolla and Planet Computers at MWC 2018 to officially support Sailfish OS 3 on the Gemini PDA!
 
For the curious, here are more details : https://jolla.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/0...t_Computers.pdf

Not familiar with Sailfish OS ? No worries, have a look at these sites:  https://sailfishos.org/ & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailfish_OS

In regards to the current Sailfish OS support for the Gemini PDA: There are still quite a few questions unanswered & some hurdles need to be overcome to make it a smooth experience. The current Sailfish OS port seems to be preliminary, according some reports. https://www.engadget.com/2018/02/26/gemini-...jolla-hands-on/ . (This report contains a mistake, stating the Gemini PDA will feature 6GB of RAM, so take it with a grain of salt)

Nevertheless, we very much welcome the collaboration between Jolla and Plant Computers! This really feels like a good start and looks very promising!  We hope to hear more from Planet Computers and Jolla in the near future in regards to Sailfish OS 3.

Are you an OpenSource Enthusiast ? Please understand that Sailfish OS does rely in some cases on closed source drivers and blobs, same as Android, but most of the UI and base are actually opensource.

Note: Please use this forum section for any Sailfish OS related questions or topics!


Ahoi!

Greguu

[Murple2]

Are you an OpenSource Enthusiast ? Please understand that Sailfish OS does rely in some cases on closed source drivers and blobs, same as Android, but most of the UI and base are actually opensource.

My concern initially was that Sailfish would be offered as the Linux offering alongside Android. Now I see that Sailfish is being offered along side Android and 'true' Linux I am really pleased and excited. This is really adding more value and more possibilities to an already impressive device. I'd be more than happy to replace Android with Sailfish if the hardware support is polished enough.

[speculatrix]

I'm looking forward to trying out Sailfish, perhaps it will give us the features of android and the hackability of a Linux desktop.

[depscribe]

Interesting video on Sailfish 3:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CujSvOu0z0

Two things worth noting, I think. The first is that the video is 18:9 -- same as Gemini. Second is that video says Sailfish 3 won't be with us until autumn. According to the Engadget first impressions, until it gets some Gemini-specific features the experience on Gemini won't be fully rewarding.

[Grench]

One of the issues likely to be encountered with running Linux on the Gemini is going to be drivers - specifically 3D graphics drivers.

Sailfish may be the way around this.  Since they have a history of using Android graphics drivers on what is otherwise a Linux device, they may have the way around this.

A broader question - what will Jola charge for the Gemini Sailfish OS?  Remeber, Sailfish is not FOSS but more of a hybrid with parts being FOSS and parts being proprietary.

But, if they can truly offer a Linux OS with 3D drivers that is GAPS compliant and can run Android apps along side Linux apps including the touchy ones like Netflix and Blackberry's Good corporate e-mail applications?  That is a best of many worlds scenario where I'd cough up $50 or so for a solid OS with a non-carrier-dependent update & upgrade cycle.

[vader]

I've always liked sailfish, but never had the opportunity to use it. It is a fully fledged linux distro with an easy to use GUI. It is easy to install dev tools and all the CLI tools you are used to and use it as a linux box. The advantages are that it has telephony services that already work (phone calls, SMS etc). You get a polished phone experience, and a complete linux system. I run linux all day every day for work and for me, this appears to be the best of both worlds. You can still use your gemini as a phone, but also have a linux box on call.

Sailfish for the win.

[depscribe]

I've always liked sailfish, but never had the opportunity to use it. It is a fully fledged linux distro with an easy to use GUI. It is easy to install dev tools and all the CLI tools you are used to and use it as a linux box. The advantages are that it has telephony services that already work (phone calls, SMS etc). You get a polished phone experience, and a complete linux system. I run linux all day every day for work and for me, this appears to be the best of both worlds. You can still use your gemini as a phone, but also have a linux box on call.

Sailfish for the win.

Your enthusiasm brings hope. Do you know if it will run mainline Linux applications? I am thinking of Libreoffice and the GIMP, as well as a couple of Gnome applications I use regularly. I fear that the adaptation of desktop Linux distributions to the Gemini will be slow and never quite complete, and fear that PC substantially overpromised in this regard. But if Sailfish can run most mainline productivity applications, that fear is assuaged considerably.

Still to be determined, I guess, is how Sailfish will be on an external monitor, assuming that this can be gotten to work reliably. And of course there is the landscape issue.

[vader]

I've always liked sailfish, but never had the opportunity to use it. It is a fully fledged linux distro with an easy to use GUI. It is easy to install dev tools and all the CLI tools you are used to and use it as a linux box. The advantages are that it has telephony services that already work (phone calls, SMS etc). You get a polished phone experience, and a complete linux system. I run linux all day every day for work and for me, this appears to be the best of both worlds. You can still use your gemini as a phone, but also have a linux box on call.

Sailfish for the win.

Your enthusiasm brings hope. Do you know if it will run mainline Linux applications? I am thinking of Libreoffice and the GIMP, as well as a couple of Gnome applications I use regularly. I fear that the adaptation of desktop Linux distributions to the Gemini will be slow and never quite complete, and fear that PC substantially overpromised in this regard. But if Sailfish can run most mainline productivity applications, that fear is assuaged considerably.

Still to be determined, I guess, is how Sailfish will be on an external monitor, assuming that this can be gotten to work reliably. And of course there is the landscape issue.

Sailfish uses Wayland (not X). In the sailfish open repo, you can install QXCompositor and XWayland, meaning you can run X apps. You can install a native compiler, so you can compile from source. You could skip the compositor, and use a pi connected to a monitor/tv and run X apps displaying on the pi over wifi (basically your own chromecast). You wouldn't be mirrored.

Search for sailfish repos for community compiled/maintained software. One good one is: https://openrepos.net/ - although not having a sailfish device (yet), I can't say how well it works.