Starting September 30th, there’s going to be a tsunami of Android users looking for an alternative system fleeing this developer verification malware.
In your opinion, are things like post market OS and the rest of the Linux phone ecosystem ready to take on these new users?
Maaaybe SailfishOS? Although it only works on Jolla Phone and Sony Xperia phones…
and the new commodore flip phone!
Can you even get the Jolla phone in the US?
I’m it sure if it’s possible to get a Jolla phone in the US
It is possible to get a Sony Xperia 10 with SailfishOS pre-installed in the US though: https://buy.jolla-devices.com/product/sony-xperia-10-iii-sailfish-os/
I bought one and have kinda messed with it a little. I haven’t had time to fully switch over yet though.
Initial impressions are:
I am a bit concerned because it sounds like Sailfish OS doesn’t have any kind of accessibility settings and I use a combination of magnification and screen reader.
I don’t think Post Market OS has a screen reader either, but I have seen the accessibility section of GNOME Mobile and PHOSH, and they at least appear to have the zoom capabilities.
kde plasma has a screen reader so kde plasma mobile probably supports it
Wait, kde has a screen reader? Since when? I was only aware of GNOME Orca.
kde uses orca too
in settings: Accessibility > Screen Reader
I thought Orca would only work for applications written in GTK. I didn’t realize it would work for apps built
id assume anything with a compatible accessibility api would work
edit: shit, you meant the J2, I replied as if you asked about SfOS. Well, I’m still leaving this comment. I’m sure someone talked about ordering the J2 to the US as well.
Yes.
https://forum.sailfishos.org/t/sailfish-in-the-usa/5307/321
(There are other threads discussing SfOS working outside of Europe)
Sadly SFOS is largely (UI, core apps) proprietary.
You’re not wrong, but I wouldn’t say “largely”. It’s mostly the elements that guarantee them a niche in the market: their very good Android App Support, some of the UI, plus some carryover from the NOKIA days (but they have started opensourcing some of those apps).
The rest is a bog-standard Linux/systemd/wayland system with an rpm/libzypp based package manager.
Yeah, that’s true. It’s Linux, but it’s not FOSS.
Given the lack of viable options and the importance of having an alternative, I’m worried about maintaining the status quo because we don’t have a perfect solution. So I’m OK with SailfishOS being partly proprietary for now… and we should push them to open up more. Idk.