This week the creators of postmarketOS came out of the shadows to show what they\u2019ve been making for the past year. The software system they\u2019ve created takes old Android devices \u2013 and some new \u2013 and boots an alternate operating system. This is a Linux distro that boots working software to Android devices that would otherwise be long outside their final official software update.<\/p>\n
Before you get too excited about bringing your old smartphone back to life like Frankenstein\u2019s Monster, know that this isn\u2019t for everyone. In fact postmarketOS isn\u2019t built to be used by MOST people. Instead it\u2019s made for hackers, developers, and for those that wish to spend inordinate amounts of time fussing with software code to get their long-since-useful smartphone to a state in which it can do a thing or two.<\/p>\n
At some point in the distant future, the creators of postmarketOS hope to develop \u201ca sustainable, privacy and security focused free software mobile OS that is modeled after traditional Linux distributions.\u201d To this end, they\u2019ve got \u201cover 100 booting devices\u201d in a list with instructions how to load. This does not mean that every version WORKS right this minute.<\/p>\n
Instead, the list is full of devices<\/a> on which just a few tiny parts of the phone work. But for those that are super hardcore about loading new and interesting software to their old devices, this might well be enough. Devices from the very well known to the very, very rare are on this list \u2013 Fairphone 1 and 2, the Google Glass Explorer Edition, and the original HTC Desire are all here.<\/p>\n Speaking today on Reddit about the future of the project, user \u201collieparanoid\u201d suggested that \u201cin the current state, this is aimed at developers, who are both sick of the current state of mobile phone operating systems, and who enjoy contributing to free software projects in their free time and thereby slowly improving the situation.\u201d He added, \u201cIf the project should get abandoned at some point, then we still had contributed to other projects by everything we have upstreamed, and you might even benefit from these changes in the future even if you don\u2019t realize it.\u201d<\/p>\n Let us know if you jump in on the party. If you\u2019ve got a device that\u2019s not on the list, let the creators of the software know!<\/p>\n