Shulou(Shulou.com)06/02 Report--

Recently, the editor noticed a piece of news about successfully booting the Linux operating system on iPhone 7, and could not help but sigh that the power of open source has penetrated into Apple's territory. As a member of the open source world, I am proud!

Should old mobile phones be eliminated? What about our choice?

A detailed search of the keywords in the news reveals that there are still some little-known stories behind the news.

In life, we often see a white-collar worker buy an Apple PC, but feel unaccustomed to the iOS system, or find someone to install the Windows operating system, commonly known as dual systems. In general, Apple iOS is used to demonstrate to customers, and switch back to the Windows operating system when you work on your own. Some engineers install a Linux operating system in addition to Windows in order to build a test environment, which is the requirement of a specific job.

But you've seen people who install two operating systems on their smartphones: Andriod, iOS, Windows, or even all of them. It should be said that ordinary consumers will not have such a strange demand.

However, if the operating system provided by the original manufacturer no longer supports the old smartphone and your old phone becomes a functional phone, will you consider another operating system? It may or may not, because most consumers who are forced to get rid of their old phones give up their old phones to relatives and friends who are not in high demand after purchasing new ones.

We are not in a hurry to answer the above question, the editor lays the groundwork for another scene.

In the functional phone era, if a Motorola or Nokia phone is well protected, it will not be a problem to last at least four years of college. But have you had your phone for more than 2 years in the smartphone era? Whether it's Apple, Samsung, or domestic smartphones. New products are being released non-stop, and a new product comes out in about 6 months.

Has your mobile phone really reached the point where it has to be changed? Of course not. You know, fashion is led by a small group of die-hard fans. The reason for these people to change their mobile phones is that they have to keep up with the trend and buy new phones as well as selling kidneys. For such a young man, the editor can't reason with him. He just wants to care: how many kidneys do you still have?

However, most consumers are pragmatic, and their reasons for changing phones are somewhat passive: mobile phone manufacturers do not support the old version, or the storage space is not large enough, the system is too slow, and so on. Several old phones were kept in the editor's drawer. In addition to the completely obsolete functional phones, there were two intact old Apple phones: one iPhone 4s and one iphone 4, which were later sold to mobile phone recycling sites for tens of yuan. In addition, iPhone 5s and iPhone 6 were also delivered to parents successively.

So, there's a question the editor wants to ask. Have you ever had a flash in your mind: why must the pace of changing smartphones be led by the nose by phone manufacturers? Why should consumers pay for a new model as soon as the manufacturer releases it? Fashion consumers who are willing to catch up with the trend, this is its freedom, then there are most consumers who do not want to go with the trend, manufacturers do not give them a choice.

It doesn't make sense! Yes, maybe we all realize that. But how to change the status quo?

Geeks think that "this is unreasonable" and go straight to work.

From most times in history, it is always led by a small group of people who think that a certain situation in reality is "this is unreasonable", or at least initiated by them.

Although ordinary consumers feel that "this is unreasonable", they often feel helpless about the fact that old mobile phones are forced to be eliminated. When programmers with geek plots think "it doesn't make sense", they won't talk more nonsense and just do it!

Many people have many old mobile phones whose hardware is not damaged, but when the manufacturers no longer update the system, the old phones that have no problems can no longer be used properly, except for giving them to others or selling them cheaply to the Recycle Bin. Most of them lie in drawers and are actually dead. After a fierce attack by a group of foreign geeks, it did not end there. They soon assembled a group of like-minded programmers who planned to develop an operating system that supports old phones based on Alpine Linux, a lightweight Linux distribution, with the aim of continuing the life of old phones.

After a lot of research, they officially launched an old mobile operating system called PostmarketOS in May 2017. If you have to ask how long it can last an old phone, PostmarketOS promises ten years.

There are so many technical terms that the editor would like to briefly describe the awesome aspects of this operating system. The basic installation conditions of an old mobile phone only need 6MB space. Think about the storage space of consumers' current smartphone systems that can be easily calculated in terms of GB. Thank you. In addition, based on the stable version of Alpine Linux, the software package is reconfigured every six months to reduce security vulnerabilities.

When it was first released, PostmarketOS did not support iPhone phones, but focused on breaking Andriod smartphones. According to the latest data on PostmarketOS's official website, PostmarketOS has been able to guide 150 smart mobile devices, such as Google NEXUS 5, Nokia N900, Hongmi 2, Samsung S4 and so on.

When to start working on Apple's iOS operating system? it's a closed operating system. Indeed, no one thought Apple's iOS proprietary device had a chance of becoming an Linux smartphone until the PostmarketOS was ported to iPhone7 and successfully booted on the iPhone7. Six months ago, PostmarketOS's development team did not confirm it themselves. In mid-April, the team officially announced that the PostmarketOS operating system had been successfully booted on iPhone 7.

However, it is time to pour cold water on readers who are looking forward to the trial. Although the PostmarketOS has successfully entered two major categories of smartphones, Apple and Andriod, there is still a long way to go in terms of popularity.

The current PostmarketOS is not suitable for ordinary rookies to download and install, its installation and migration have a threshold, and it is still only for geek players who have hands-on ability and want to transform their old phones. In addition, the operating system is not perfect in terms of functions, such as problems with Google Nexus 5 audio after installation and the need to enter instructions when making a phone call.

For the reader, the old phone will have to lie in the drawer for a while. But what does it matter? After all, this is something to look forward to for consumers. As the saying goes, do not break, do not stand. The power of open source is to let the world hear another voice. This kind of sound may be too small and unpleasant at first, but it is precisely because of the emergence of these voices that the world is always full of vitality. This is also the embodiment of the open source spirit and the value of existence.

Download the Android version of the operating system with 1:PostmarketOS:

Https://gitlab.com/postmarketOS/postmarketos-android-recovery-installer

Attachment 2: if you are interested in how to run PostmarketOS on iPhone7, please visit the blog: https://blog.project-insanity.org/2020/04/16/running-postmarketos-on-iphone-7/.

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