Linux Daily Driver Questions

[tanabi]

Hey there;

So I purchased a Cosmo Communicator and I'm waiting for it to show up.  While I'm doing so, I've got some questions!

I don't particularly like Android and I don't really use my phone for any apps -- email, web, messaging, voice calls.  I'm pretty boring like that!

So I'm thinking when I get this thing, I will probably just want Linux on it -- on the rare occasions I've done a dual-boot setup, I've found having the less desirably OS on there is a waste of disk space.  Practically speaking, I don't use the other OS.

I've got a few questions before I do this:

1. Is Android required for firmware updates?  When I read the docs it mentions that Android must be fully updated before installing Linux.  Makes me wonder if you have to boot into Android occasionally for certain updates.

2. If you install 100% Linux, is it possible to re-install Android down the road?  Of course it would require blowing away the linux installation and re-partitioning.

3. Are there any major show-stopper things with Linux at this juncture?  I've read the camera doesn't work and that's okay.  Bluetooth doesn't work, that's okay.  Heard a problem with the backlight staying on all the time, is that still a thing?

Thanks so much!

[oida]

1. Yes. You also need it for blobs for linux (hybris)
2 Even with 100% Linux, the Android system will stay. DO NOT EVER WIPE the device in twrp because there is no android image available for download. As in Sailfish OS devices, the base android firmware has to be on the device.
3. There are many apart of what you mentioned. Syncing numbers is one of them. You can use Thunderbird for exchange and dav sync but those numbers will not show up in the phone app.

For a daily driver the phone delivers - in my opinion - not a good user experience. Under Linux even aweful. Too bulky, too heavy, too buggy. Still, there is no alternative on the market in that small size. My needs are as yours, I am happy with Thunderbird with PGP, Firefox, Hexchat and Telegram. But I still have my Sailfish phone with me for calls and as a hotspot for the cosmo, connman does not work as it should. There are downsides with connman AND with the KDE network manager: First is bad for wifi, the latter does not work for 4G.

[sven1999]

You can easily turn your device into a triple-boot device by installing Ubuntu Touch. And the new boot loader delivered by the Android update v25, even allows to easily change the default boot option. Very convenient ...

[wbielak]

Hi
Any step by step tutorial to install Ubuntu?
I have dual boot now.

[sven1999]

I followed this description: https://github.com/gemian/gemian/wiki/UBPorts
I successfully used the 'flashable' build from 2021-02-17; but you could try the new one from 2021-03-27 and report your experiences.