Finally, Some Good FOSS Smartphone News, New X86 Actor  ## Metadata - Author: [[Linux & Open Source News]] - Full Title: Finally, Some Good FOSS Smartphone News, New X86 Actor - Category: #podcasts - URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/cfc6df3c-e22b-4937-bfe1-c26e93494ce0 ## Document Notes ## Highlights - **GrapheneOS Expands Beyond Pixels** - GrapheneOS will expand beyond Pixel by partnering with a major OEM to ship phones preinstalled with GrapheneOS. - These devices will use Snapdragon chips, be Pixel-priced, and may arrive in late 2026 or early 2027. Transcript: Nick So let's begin with Graphene OS, and one of the biggest issues with that ROM is going to go away. That's their full dependency on the Google Pixel line of smartphones. If you don't know, GrapheneOS is a de-Google, secure, and private Android ROM, which only ran on Google Pixels because they felt this was the only phone they could get security patches From, but also probably because Google published most of the necessary blobs and firmware bits to make sure that those phones could be supported properly. Google actually published that alongside Android's code because they kind of wanted people to use Pixels as the testbed for the next release of Android. As the Pixels blobs will no longer be shared all that readily because Android moved to recommending a virtual Android phone for testing the code they publish instead, it seems that GrapheneOS also has found another partner. They say it's a major OEM, but they do not name it, so we don't quite know what phone it's going to be yet, but we know that they will enable support for future versions of existing models, So it is someone already established and someone already selling devices, not a brand new unknown manufacturer. These devices will run with Snapdragon chips, will be priced similarly to Pixel, so fairly expensive, and they will be sold with Graphene OS pre-installed. Now people are speculating it could be nothing phones, because they are one of the few manufacturers that actually allow a bootloader unlocking, but nothing has been confirmed by Anyone yet. Pixels will still be supported until they become end of life. Pixel 10 will also be supported, but the GrapheneOS team says that they cannot guarantee that Pixel 11 will be because it is getting harder to support these phones now with the changes Google made in how they publish Android code and the related firmware bits for their Pixel devices. Now this should happen in the second half of 2026 or maybe early 2027 so it's not for right now. Graphene OS seems to be one of the most liked Android ROMs out there. It seems to be pretty serious and pretty well supported so it's nice. ([Time 0:01:59](https://share.snipd.com/snip/7c761eb7-fbf8-4355-8ec4-4ae0b434321e)) - **LibrePhone Targets Firmware Freedom First** - The Free Software Foundation's LibrePhone aims to reverse-engineer firmware and binary blobs to free a modern phone's software stack. - The project targets replacing proprietary modules for one phone first and may be a long, device-specific effort. Transcript: Nick They describe it as an effort to reverse engineer obstacles that prevent mobile phone freedom. And they say they want to provide full freedom to smartphones. So they hired Rob Savoy, a developer that works on OpenStreetMap and worked on a bunch of GNU tools to lead the technical part of that project. And he started investigating the state of firmware and binary blobs. As the Free Software Foundation says, it will take time to do so. It's going to be a long game, but they basically want to close the last gaps between Android and software freedom. Android is open source, but it tends rely on a bunch of proprietary elements to actually work on real hardware, so I guess that's the part they want to fix. They say, for example, that Lineage adds a lot of proprietary binary modules, and they want to replace these with fully free software for at least one modern phone, this being the crux Of the problem. You you have to do this work for every device because they all rely on different firmware. So the first step is to find a phone with the least amount of problems and then to reverse engineer all the non-free software needed to build an android compatible OS that doesn't rely On any proprietary software. So that project is unfortunately far from what I had envisioned. Now, don't get me wrong, those were my expectations. It's my fault for building this up in my head as a full Linux distro on any smartphone kind of project. But what they're fixing here is the part I don't personally care much about, the firmware bits and binary blobs that run the software, I don't think those are what most people think about When they think about freeing the phone. When you think about freeing the phone, you're not thinking about running an Android version with open source firmware bits. I don't think at least that's what most people want. You're still going to build a de-Googled Android ROM that will not be Google certified, so a lot of apps will not run. And if you are Google certified, then you haven't fixed the problem that Google apps that you will run on this phone are just not open source. So I don't really think that this is what most people were expecting. At least it wasn't what I was expecting from this project. It's still cool. It's still a lot of work, but it's just going to be for one major phone? Will this effort be continued over time with newer phones being added and supported? Or is this just going to be a one-off and then completely forgotten? ([Time 0:04:55](https://share.snipd.com/snip/b7317be6-3781-4720-83b6-cb157668ca9c)) - **Mysterious New x86 Entrant Appears** - A new x86 actor submitted novel opcode values to the Linux kernel mailing list via Christian Ludloff, implying a non-Intel/AMD x86 entrant. - The origin remains unclear but could signal more competition or architectural change in x86 space. Transcript: Nick Now there's apparently a non-AMD and non-Intel x86 corporate entity in the wild, as in a potential x86 CPU manufacturer is using codes that aren't normally used by Intel or AMD. Christian Ludloff, an expert on x86 who worked at Google, AMD and other companies, posted a message to the Linux kernel mailing list relaying those operation codes saying he was asked To do so by that new corporate entity. These operation codes are binary values that tell the CPU what it should accomplish and so Christian is relaying these new codes being used by this new entity to inform people involved In x86 development that those things are being used and have potential conflicts with existing codes or historical uses of those codes. In short, it means there's a potential new x86 actor, which some people speculate could be Xiaoxin, a Chinese manufacturer, although this doesn't explain why they wouldn't just communicate Themselves instead of going through Christian Ludloff. What is certain is that there is a new manufacturer of x86 devices coming soon. ([Time 0:07:30](https://share.snipd.com/snip/08ac7710-1075-46b0-9441-46598c6274ac)) - **Consider Migrating From Windows 10 Now** - With Windows 10 reaching end of life while still holding ~40% market share, consider migrating away before security support ends. - Try Linux if your hardware and needs allow, as it’s now more compatible and may avoid forced hardware replacement. Transcript: Nick I already made a dedicated video on the channel explaining why it is such a big problem and why it is so different from the usual migration that we see from Windows. But the gist of it is this time Windows 10 is still 40% of the Windows market share. Usually when a Windows system goes end of life, it is like 5, 10, maybe 15% of the market share. This is not the case here. It's virtually almost half of the Windows users that will be left out behind. And the options that they have are just not good. You have one year of extended security updates and three years of Windows Defender updates, which are not enough to keep your system safe. By the way, Windows Defender is just not enough if you don't have system updates that fix flaws and vulnerabilities. So either you stick with that system and it becomes insecure in a year, and then you're just a risk for yourself and everyone around you. Or you move to Windows 11 if your PC supports it, and you're now using pretty much a terrible operating system. It's riddled with ads, it's privacy invasive, and every major system update breaks your system. There are reports of that every single time Windows pushes an update and it's not just 10 users, it's a lot of users being affected by that. And the final option is your PC doesn't even run Windows 11 currently, you could bypass that but most people will never know how to do so, and so you're buying a new computer, meaning you're Just generating e-waste when your computer is perfectly capable of working. All of these compounds to make this transition much, much different from the usual Windows to Windows transition and the usual end of life that you would see, for example, on a Linux Distro. If you want to learn more about why it is absolutely horrendous, check on the channel. The video before this one is a video about that same exact topic. But what's sure is that this is a major event. It is a great time to move to Linux. Linux has never been better, more compatible, compatible with more games, with more programs. I know a lot of people cannot move to Linux or don't want to try that, or it's too complicated for them and they would much rather just buy a new PC. ([Time 0:10:46](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9df5bc0b-09e1-4807-ba26-a38130fe19f4)) - **LMDE 7: Mint On A Debian Base** - Linux Mint Debian Edition 7 uses Debian 13 and ships kernel 6.12 LTS with Mint's Cinnamon features like fingerprint and Wayland improvements. - LMDE 7 supports OEM installs and provides a non-Ubuntu Mint base for users who prefer Debian. Transcript: Nick Speaking of which, Linux Mint Debian Edition 7 has been released over the weekend. It's basically Linux Mint, but with Debian 13 as its base instead of Ubuntu 24.04. It has all the improvements of Cinnamon that Mint unveiled in their latest release, like fingerprint authentication, accent color support, the new lib adapter library and the experimental Wayland session improvements. On top of that, LMDE 7 now supports OEM installs, it comes with the kernel 6.12 LTS and of course all the Debian packages in Debian 13's repos, meaning the base is currently actually a Bit newer than the one Linux Mint classic uses, at least in some areas. You can, of course, upgrade in place from Linux Mint Debian Edition 6 by just installing the Mint upgrade tool, if it's not already installed, and then running it. Obviously, do make some backups beforehand, to be sure, and don't forget that 32-bit systems are no longer supported. You can run 32-bit apps on a 64-bit system, but you cannot run a pure 32-bit system. ([Time 0:12:54](https://share.snipd.com/snip/c0d1ff16-a45a-4ad2-95e8-370289cbc0e5)) - **Fedora 43 Release Delayed** - Fedora 43 was delayed because of 10 release blockers, including installer language issues and GNOME input problems. - The team postponed to October 28 and may push to November 11 if blockers persist. Transcript: Nick Still on Linux distros it looks like Fedora 43 will be delayed in the long tradition of Fedora releases being pushed back a week or two. The original release date was planned for the 21st of October but they decided it was a no-go because there are still a few blockers, 10 blockers in fact. Some of them affect the installer with it being broken in certain languages and also some features of it not working under KDE. The default initramfs being generated by Drakut is apparently far too big in some cases. There are some input method issues in GNOME, some touchscreen related UI freezes in GNOME's quick settings, and some failures in the rescue mode as well. So the release of Fedora 43 is now pushed back to the 28th of October for now, and if these blockers cannot be addressed by then, they will move another week all the way down to November 11th, which seems to be the final deadline they're giving themselves. It is not a big deal. It's better to release something that is fully featured and fully fleshed out instead of releasing something half-baked. You could warn users in the release notes saying, hey, don't do this or don't install this yet if you have this language or this system, but a lot of people would just not read those notes And break their systems. It's better to delay and fix those issues, and people who really cannot wait for Fedora 43 can install a daily ISO if none of these issues affect them personally. ([Time 0:14:37](https://share.snipd.com/snip/e6ecd4f7-883a-4623-93f3-26a4138bca7b)) - **GNOME Drops 32-Bit Flatpak Runtime** - GNOME removed 32-bit support from its Flatpak runtime due to loss of donated CI machines and low usage. - The change primarily affects Wine and a handful of apps and asks users to help maintain 32-bit support if needed. Transcript: Nick GNOME removed 32-bit support from their Flatpak runtime alongside the release of GNOME 49 as part of their effort to drop 32-bit support in the future. They had an extension in their GNOME platform runtime which is now removed. Apparently the main reason isn't that GNOME really wants 32-bit to go away, it's that they no longer have machines to do continuous integration with, those were donated, and that donation Was apparently pulled, so they had to scale back, and 32-bit support is the obvious candidate to be removed here. That 32-bit extension was apparently mostly meant to help with Wine 32-bit, which in itself will probably no longer be useful soon because Wine 11 should have solid 32-bit on 64-bit Support anyway. Apparently, only four GNOME apps used that 32-bit support, two on Flathub, one on Flathub beta, and one archived, so potentially no longer used or maintained. As GNOME says, you'll now be expected to debug and fix issues yourself if you depend on a 32-bit build of GNOME or of GNOME libraries for running your apps. All they say, you can also decide to help upstream maintain this 32-bit part of GNOME if you have the time and you prefer. ([Time 0:15:59](https://share.snipd.com/snip/055eb3d1-d848-48e2-bd2d-63278d15c063)) - **Treat Firefox Built-In VPN With Caution** - Testers are being selected for a built-in Firefox VPN, but it currently logs connection metadata for three months and defaults to local servers. - Avoid relying on it as a whole-system VPN until location choice and logging policies improve. Transcript: Nick They already have Mozilla VPN, which is an independent app that works as any other VPN, but this one would be a built-in VPN service inside of Firefox that you can turn on from the address Bar in one click. It is experimental and they are just selecting users at random and offering them the ability to test the thing over the course of a few months, although of course you can decline that Testing if you don't want that, if you get offered that testing. Now, it seems way too limited currently. It defaults you to servers from the country you're in because they default you to the location that offers the best performance. So you're not really going to use that to access content from streaming services, for example, that you wouldn't have access to in your own country. They're also keeping logs for three months. They say they don't log the websites that you visit or the contents of your communications, but they are still logging the fact that you enabled the VPN or not, how long you stayed and The bandwidth you used, which is still a bit too much in my opinion. We don't know yet if you'll be able to select a location manually at some point and if this logging policy will evolve, but I personally don't really see the point. It's nice to have the convenience of a potentially free VPN accessible in one click, but you also have plenty of free VPNs out there that affect your entire system. And I'm afraid that some people will think that by enabling the Firefox VPN, their entire system is fully protected, which is not the case. You're just tunneling the traffic from the web browser, but everything else you're doing online outside of the web browser doesn't go through the VPN. So I'm still convinced that if you need a VPN, you need one with choice, location choice, no logs, and that affects your entire system. I personally would not go to this Firefox VPN, but hey, if it suits the needs of some users, if it stays free, if they remove the logs, if they let you pick locations, then why not? ([Time 0:17:45](https://share.snipd.com/snip/7e153d4c-e354-4cf3-bdb9-6eff2b914364)) - **German State Migrates Email To FOSS** - Schleswig-Holstein migrated 30,000 employees from Exchange to OpenExchange and Thunderbird, covering 40,000 mailboxes and 100 million items. - The move faced initial downtime but now serves as a large-scale example for future public-sector FOSS migrations. Transcript: Nick Now, this week we have another win for Germany, because the state of Schleswig-Holstein has completed the first part of their transition to open source. Namely, their entire email system has been moved from Exchange and Outlook to OpenExchange and Thunderbird. That is about 30,000 employees now using free and open source software for their communications. 40,000 mailboxes, 100 million emails and calendar events. Apparently it wasn't all smooth sailing. There were some initial downtime issues and some delays in email traffic, but apparently it's all solved now. They also started deploying LibreOffice last year, and as they say, they are pioneers, as in there is not much experience in transitioning this sort of systems on that scale, although That's probably going to be true of every single migration because virtually every infrastructure will have key differences in how things are set up and thus won't be able to take advantage Of a lot of the previous experience of other entities. They also say that they will be able to help other organizations do the same kind of migrations through their data and their monitoring, which is nice and fully in the spirit of open source. And hopefully this migration serves as an example to other countries, other German states, other cities, whatever else, other entities that, yes, you can actually ditch Microsoft And it works. ([Time 0:19:40](https://share.snipd.com/snip/13d10fa8-e416-4f18-b2c4-9218124c7db3)) - **Chat Control Law Refuses To Die** - The EU 'chat control' proposal was postponed, but proponents will revise and try to pass parts of it via negotiations. - Activists warn the law could return via closed-door compromises and still threaten privacy and security. Transcript: Nick Hopefully, France could learn a thing or two about that. Now, we talked about chat control a lot, and we thought it was actually dead, but it's still not done. It's the law that refuses to die. The vote has simply been postponed. Its proponents knew that the vote couldn't be passed with Germany siding against this Chad control law in the EU. So instead of having that vote, they decided to withdraw it and to revise their draft instead of just accepting that countries don't want that crap. This thing had already been pushed in 2022 and already was postponed because it was clear back then that it wouldn't have been accepted either. Now, as a German member of parliament says, EU governments continue to work on that proposal with another meeting in a couple of months, likely in early December. Chances are they will remove the provisions that made some countries tick in the hope of passing the rest of the law. The only other option they have would be to completely recall the bill, as in withdraw it entirely from the agenda, which would be admitting it failed, and the people who proposed it Either don't understand or don't want cybersecurity or privacy, so they're never going to do that. The president of the Signal Foundation said that it's likely that this law will end in closed-door negotiations where some countries push others to accept by giving them some concessions On maybe other things, and this is just not going to look good for everyone else. This law just refuses to die, unfortunately. Some countries are just hell-bent on actually reading what you're saying to your friends. I don't know why they actually want that, because once you create that backdoor, it is open for everyone else. It just weakens security for everyone. And generally, the countries that are pushing for this law, they are all the ones for national security and isolationism and nationalism. And so this should be something they don't want, but it's something they seem to really, really want to pass. ([Time 0:21:16](https://share.snipd.com/snip/124924fe-0af3-4881-b69d-240f02a34526)) - **California Strengthens Online Privacy Rights** - California passed laws to simplify account deletion, let residents ask data brokers to delete their data, and require a browser opt-out setting for data sales. - Enforcement and residency limits remain unclear, but the measures could inspire broader privacy reforms. Transcript: Nick But still on privacy, California is apparently getting their own privacy laws, which notably requires social media companies to make it very easy for users to entirely delete their Accounts and all the personal data stored in that account as well. Basically, users must have a simple, no dark pattern way of deleting the account, and when they do so, everything that is stored on this person, on this social media website, must be Deleted as well. California also passed a few more laws recently, notably one that allows Californians to delete all the data held by data brokers through a single interface, or at least it will allow That in August 2026, even though I don't know how that's really doable, how you can verify that they actually deleted the data and how it would be limited to residents of California only. Another bill that was signed mandates that browsers include a setting to send an opt-out preference to websites so these websites would no longer have the right to sell the data they Collect once you have opted out of that. It would be a one-time opt-out that would work for all websites to tell them, stop selling my stuff. Again, I'm not sure how that's really enforceable and how they could limit that to the people living in California, but it's great stuff. And if it can be emulated in other states and other countries, that would be neat. ([Time 0:23:24](https://share.snipd.com/snip/4b24cfd7-bf12-4033-aeb3-44108d533a29))