Will Linux on phones become as easy as PC?

[Ekterm]

Hello!
I've been using manjaro pretty exclusively as a daily driver on my laptop for quite a few years. I love how there is just one install image for all computers, boot it on either a brand new HP or a 10 year old Gateway it makes no difference, almost all the drivers are already there and you're immediately off and running. 

My question is, will this ever come to the arm/smartphone space?

When android came out with treble I thought it was the answer, but even phh-treble doesn't work completely on everything and my Xiaomi Mix 2S happens to be one it doesn't even boot on. Lineage is great, but eventually a phone loses support and stops receiving updates.

Will Linux phones be any different? Will there ever be just one Ubuntu Touch image that can boot up just fine on any new or old device just like desktop? When arm laptops eventually become popular, could the same image be bootable on them too? I dream of a world where I can reload my arm laptop and phone from the same flash drive.

Sorry if this is a weird question lol

[KC9UDX]

Well I hate to say it but, hopefully not. I hope to not see ARM devices get as generic as Wintel boxes.

[nathanielwheeler]

Well I hate to say it but, hopefully not. I hope to not see ARM devices get as generic as Wintel boxes.

Why not? It seems to me that would make ARM easier to support as well as increasing accessibility. Are there drawbacks I’m not thinking of?

[bcnaz]

Hello!
I've been using manjaro pretty exclusively as a daily driver on my laptop for quite a few years. I love how there is just one install image for all computers, boot it on either a brand new HP or a 10 year old Gateway it makes no difference, almost all the drivers are already there and you're immediately off and running. 

My question is, will this ever come to the arm/smartphone space?

When android came out with treble I thought it was the answer, but even phh-treble doesn't work completely on everything and my Xiaomi Mix 2S happens to be one it doesn't even boot on. Lineage is great, but eventually a phone loses support and stops receiving updates.

Will Linux phones be any different? Will there ever be just one Ubuntu Touch image that can boot up just fine on any new or old device just like desktop? When arm laptops eventually become popular, could the same image be bootable on them too? I dream of a world where I can reload my arm laptop and phone from the same flash drive.

Sorry if this is a weird question lol

  
   *  I Think it may get close to that,

   Debian has  already started an 'arm download' on their download site.

    However,   to have every device firmware available,  on one installation medium may not be practical  ( ? hmm ? )

[Ekterm]

Well I hate to say it but, hopefully not.  I hope to not see ARM devices get as generic as Wintel boxes.

Why not?  It seems to me that would make ARM easier to support as well as increasing accessibility.  Are there drawbacks I’m not thinking of?

Yeah, I would think more generic would be better with wider and easier support and maybe cheaper parts?

[KC9UDX]

Well I hate to say it but, hopefully not.  I hope to not see ARM devices get as generic as Wintel boxes.

Why not?  It seems to me that would make ARM easier to support as well as increasing accessibility.  Are there drawbacks I’m not thinking of?

Yeah, I would think more generic would be better with wider and easier support and maybe cheaper parts?

Maybe.  I was just discussing this with someone earlier: how we've lived through so many different stages of what is considered acceptable hardware that all PC's being PC's must have.  Cheaper possibly.  Better?  No, because the better parts are always the ones ahead of standardisation.  There are so many times in Wintel history that a good path was rejected for the cheaper "more standard" one.

[nathanielwheeler]

Well I hate to say it but, hopefully not.  I hope to not see ARM devices get as generic as Wintel boxes.

Why not?  It seems to me that would make ARM easier to support as well as increasing accessibility.  Are there drawbacks I’m not thinking of?

Yeah, I would think more generic would be better with wider and easier support and maybe cheaper parts?

Maybe.  I was just discussing this with someone earlier: how we've lived through so many different stages of what is considered acceptable hardware that all PC's being PC's must have.  Cheaper possibly.  Better?  No, because the better parts are always the ones ahead of standardisation.  There are so many times in Wintel history that a good path was rejected for the cheaper "more standard" one.

Okay, so non-standardized hardware can have better performance.  Is that really worth losing better support, reliability, and cost?  I just feel that, for the majority of developers and users, the advantages of universal standards are too great to sacrifice for a slightly faster processor.  Multicore threading and orchestration software has advanced to where it's cheaper and easier to just buy more processors than it is to buy some sort of expensive custom processor that you have to support yourself.

[bcnaz]

Well,

This forum is does support most ideals,  AND   it is about having different choices available.