02-14-2020, 09:31 AM
After several days of juggling SD cards, I feel it is time to make a decision (at least for now, I can always change my mind).
It is just not sustainable that I have to open and close my phone all the time. With hindsight, we might have been better off with an external card slot.
Here are my impressions of the different OS options:
Ubuntu Touch
Admittedly the most advances OS. I like the fact that they even have a little app store running already. But it is also the slowest software. I find it unacceptable that it takes 3 minutes to start my Pinephone up and 1 whole minute to start a simple application such as Calculator or Settings. Unless they can do something to speed things up, I may conclude that my Pinephone is just not powerful enough for this.
Manjaro Plasma
I may be wrong, but this feels more like a tinkerer's OS than a user's one. I'll be watching it.
Sailfish
Much talked about, but I find the installation procedure too awkward. Most other distributions can easily be installed on an SD card using Linux Mint's "USB Image Writer". If I want to enlarge the partition, I can do so with GParted (it will end with an error message, butthis doesn't cause any problems).
LuneOS
This comes as a WIC file and I have not found out yet how to install it.
Neon Plasma / Postmarket Plasma
Somebody commented that these look quite "polished". But look a bit closer and you'll find they are mostly just just mock-ups. I am not interested in fancy screen elements, backgrounds etc. I want functionality.
AND THE WINNER IS...
Postmarket Phosh
First of all, I am quite impressed with the speed of it. The system will start up in 30 seconds and simple apps such as Calculater and Settings take an incredible 3 seconds to load (Compare that with Ubuntu!). PM Phosh also can already do things that the others can't, such as switch from portrait to landscape, handle SMS and even run Firefox. I don't mind the simple screen layout, this is all I need.
Where it falls short at the moment is that the moblie data modem is always on, draining the battery, and some screens have not yet been adjusted to the Pinephone screen size, leading to situations when essential buttons such as "Done" are off the screen. But I am sure over time these issues will be addressed.
I will of course keep an eye on the other options, but for now, PM Phosh stays in my phone until the next version comes out.
It is just not sustainable that I have to open and close my phone all the time. With hindsight, we might have been better off with an external card slot.
Here are my impressions of the different OS options:
Ubuntu Touch
Admittedly the most advances OS. I like the fact that they even have a little app store running already. But it is also the slowest software. I find it unacceptable that it takes 3 minutes to start my Pinephone up and 1 whole minute to start a simple application such as Calculator or Settings. Unless they can do something to speed things up, I may conclude that my Pinephone is just not powerful enough for this.
Manjaro Plasma
I may be wrong, but this feels more like a tinkerer's OS than a user's one. I'll be watching it.
Sailfish
Much talked about, but I find the installation procedure too awkward. Most other distributions can easily be installed on an SD card using Linux Mint's "USB Image Writer". If I want to enlarge the partition, I can do so with GParted (it will end with an error message, butthis doesn't cause any problems).
LuneOS
This comes as a WIC file and I have not found out yet how to install it.
Neon Plasma / Postmarket Plasma
Somebody commented that these look quite "polished". But look a bit closer and you'll find they are mostly just just mock-ups. I am not interested in fancy screen elements, backgrounds etc. I want functionality.
AND THE WINNER IS...
Postmarket Phosh
First of all, I am quite impressed with the speed of it. The system will start up in 30 seconds and simple apps such as Calculater and Settings take an incredible 3 seconds to load (Compare that with Ubuntu!). PM Phosh also can already do things that the others can't, such as switch from portrait to landscape, handle SMS and even run Firefox. I don't mind the simple screen layout, this is all I need.
Where it falls short at the moment is that the moblie data modem is always on, draining the battery, and some screens have not yet been adjusted to the Pinephone screen size, leading to situations when essential buttons such as "Done" are off the screen. But I am sure over time these issues will be addressed.
I will of course keep an eye on the other options, but for now, PM Phosh stays in my phone until the next version comes out.