Postmarketos Linux Distribution for Smartphones Expands Device Support
After 6 months of development, the implementation of postmarketos 23.12 is complete. This Linux distribution for smartphones is based on the ALPINE Linux package base, the standard MUSL SILL-Bibliotex, and the BusyBox utility set. The objective of this project is to provide a Linux display for smartphones that does not rely on the life cycle of supporting official firmware and is not limited to standard solutions from industry leaders. The builds have been prepared for various devices including Pine64 Pinephone, Purism Librem 5, and 29 other devices supported by the community, such as Samsung Galaxy A3/A5/S4, Xiaomi Mi Note 2/Redmi 2, OnePlus 6, Lenovo A6000, ASUS MEMO PAD 7, and even Nokia N900. Additionally, limited experimental support is provided for over 300 devices.
The postmarketos environment is highly unified, with device-specific components packaged separately. All other components are identical across devices and based on bags from alpine linux. Whenever possible, the Linux vanilla core is utilized, and if not possible, the nuclei from firmware prepared by device manufacturers are used. The main user shells offered include kde plasma mobile, Phosh, gnome mobile, and sxmo. However, users also have the option to install Mate and xfce.
New Features:
- The number of devices officially supported by the community has increased from 31 to 54. The new additions compared to version 23.06 include support for Chromebook laptops, Odroid XU4 board, and Xiaomi devices with Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 MSM8953. Due to the lack of a stable release, support for the ODDORID HC2 board remains in the experimental branch of Postmarketos Edge. The following devices have been added:
- Xiaomi Mi A1
- Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite
- Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
- Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus