cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/20111466

When I switched to a True Linux* phone five years ago most projects didn’t even have telephony working reliably.

I haven’t been following development a lot these days, so for me it’s time to ask the question again.

To qualify as a main daily driver, it should do the following reliably:

• be actively maintained
• be supported on easily obtainable** hardware
• handle standard phone calls and texting with a simple GUI
• including contacts
• support internet on mobile broadband up to 4G as well as wifi
• have a minimum set of apps or a current browser to handle basic things like email, calendar
• handle audio between calls/media etc.

And preferably it should also

• support 5G
• support VoLTE
• handle Bluetooth audio
• a working Camera app
• remote access via ssh or similar

Obviously some people will find other things more or less important, but I hope anyone gets the gist of what I’m asking for and concentrates on the larger picture more than details.

* meaning more than just the kernel - an OS that works like a standard Linux OS with familiar software, package management (preferably supporting 3rd party repos), command line access (preferably remote) etc.

** That’s a little squishy. For me it includes buying used from online markets as well, and there’d be an upper price limit. But I’d also count a batch ordering system from some small manufacturer. YMMV

Conclusion

According to these comments, there are many good projects in the works, and they’re obviously further along than 5 years ago. Some of them impressively so. Thanks for all the answers.

However, not one clearly states “this OS/device combo is my (or some youtuber’s) main daily driver”*. I’m not saying there isn’t one, but until someone comes out and says so, SailfishOS is still the best bet if you want something that works right now. I know that their commercialism and partly closed source isn’t to everybody’s taste, but you have to see the history here (Nokia). Also, I know that the company (developer owned afaik) is very open to open-sourcing the rest. One app has already made the switch. And lastly, they’re a EU company which means they operate under pretty strict legislation, but could also get EU funding.

* I hear that Ubuntu Touch works for some