The world of open-source in your pocket

Before I tell you a story that made me rediscover the world of open-source, a small prelude - the results of the poll “What comes first to your mind when you say 'Linux on the phone'?” :
66.9% - Android
20.02% - Maemo / Meego
13% - other options

But, no, do not be afraid, I'm not going to breed another flame on whether Android is a full-fledged Linux. We all know that it’s not about Linux as such, but about the fact that it was essentially the entrance ticket to the open-source world for most of us. It was thanks to Linux that many people learned about open source free software, and realized that this is a completely different world - a much more worthy, harmonious and, I’m not afraid of this word, spiritual.
The world that you are free to improve without limit. A world in which the principles of freedom and mutual respect are key moral tenets. The world in which programs are written to work, not sell. A world in which a computer does not think that it is smarter than you. A world without viruses and reboots, after all.

This is not necessarily a Linux-based system, but historically it happened that it was Linux that became the flagship of this world. Once having been in this world, then it is difficult to understand how to live in a world of closed systems. And, actually, my story is about how I twice experienced the discovery of the open-source world for myself - first on desktops in the early 2000s, and then on the phone, which is always with me in my pocket.

Open-source world on desktops

I will not particularly dwell on the first discovery of open-source for myself - at that time I was a high school student, avidly learned programming, sitting out evenings in the computer science office, and nothing foreshadowed trouble. But once a friend brought a disk with the Red Hat Linux 5.1 distribution (not Fedora and not RHEL, but much earlier), and I, solely out of idle interest, decided to try. Yes, there was still a completely raw system, there was a modeline for my monitor to calculate with handles to start X, but I was amazed at how deep I could dig, and how much the system was obedient and pliable — it makes itself understood and recognized. And it bribed, captured and delighted!
Later, I learned about the great atmosphere of mutual respect that prevails among developers, about the programming culture that is being developed among the participants of open-source projects, about the incredible successes that Linux has achieved in the embedded sector and much more. And although at that time I had heard plenty of things about Linux (“this is a system for geeks, there are few programs for it, it has no future!”), It would be just as stupid and senseless to go back to Windows as consciously to go back to prison after being released !
')

Open-source world on phones

And now a certain number of years have passed. Gigahertz grew, computers decreased, and at some point I had a thought - I want Linux on the phone. And what - I follow the news, I read reviews, a lot of things have already been released on Linux. I heard about openmoko, about maemo, about some other developments, but - and this is very important but - I didn’t doubt that Linux on the phone was Android ! And not otherwise! In fact, I have been looking at different models for a month now, comparing inches and megahertz, and, again, nothing foreshadowed trouble.
Quite by chance, my boss told about his friend, who had a Nokia N900. I listened to the half-ear, preparing to tell you about the read news of the latest Android-smartphone. But after the phrase “He can even run Open-Office on him in the end,” I became interested. I immediately got into the reviews, I realized that this is actually the phone in which Debian actually runs, and it is available in the context of “I went to the store and bought it”.

I bought it on the same day, and to this day I have been tormented by the thought - how could I not know about this before? Why was I so sure that linux on the phone is Android and not the other? But let's leave these arguments to Nokia marketers.

Let me just say that I once again experienced this delight, which envelops you from the awareness of the power and freedom before you! Only now it is in your pocket and is available at any time! This is really a full-fledged Linux - despite some closed components, the whole system is based on open components - on xorg, gstreamer, pulseaudio, dbus, hal, telepathy, and so on. This is a very slim and gorgeous system, and still, while holding the N900 in my hands, I feel the same sensational sensations as on the first day of purchase.

And yet - what is Linux on the phone

In the context of all of the above, it becomes clear that the only system at the moment that can bring to the phone all that the world has loved Linux for is Maemo / Meego. Even if other systems use the Linux kernel and source codes are available - this does not make the system as open and free as we used to understand by the word Linux. Maemo and MeeGo are born Nokia, but brought up and grown in an open-source community, and on the same worthy principles and foundations.

Now I regularly listen to such words to Maemo and Meego - “this is a system for geeks, there are few programs for it, it has no future!”. We know, passed!

Conclusion and bonus

In general, with this article I wanted to give the same chance as me to find out that “Linux on the phone” is not a dream, but an accessible reality, and describe in more detail about the Nokia N900, as the first and last true representative of the world of open -source on phones.

But I was on the list of the lucky ones who received the Nokia N950 device. This phone is a hackers dream. This is the only heir to the N900, but, alas, the name of the device was only 250 copies (!) And they are not sold. I’m still unable to send HOW MUCH it is a magical device. I just get used to this brutal linux computer day after day, seemingly covered up with the fantastically intuitive and licked interface of a regular fashionable smartphone, and then I launch the terminal and write in vim code right on the phone - with its keyboard. And I don’t even know if I have a moral right to show off or be proud of this miracle ...

But one thing I can say for sure - the world of open-source has long and really been available on phones, and those brave souls who are not indifferent to this world - just look at it.