As surprising as it may sound, Linux phones exist, and they are usable. I know that because I own one of those phones. The problem is, it’s not enough to be able to run Linux on a phone, we also need to find a way to make Linux phones popular. Some may argue that those phones don’t have to be popular to succeed, but it’s hard to deny that more popular platforms tend to have more attention and polishing. There are many purely egoistical reasons to promote open platforms, and I find them pretty convincing.

What can be done to promote mobile Linux? For starters, we need tons of new and shiny apps. Platforms are as valuable as the things they enable you to do. Unfortunately, mobile Linux is in its early stages and there are only a few apps which are usable on mobile screens. Writing more apps is a way to go, but that can take a lot of time. One of the quicker solutions might be the ability to run apps from other mobile platforms directly from Linux phones. Android is the ideal app donor, since it’s an open system.

Recently, I came across an article which describes a way to run Android apps on Mobian. It seems a bit complicated, but I’ll be watching this project. It’s still in alpha, but stable Android runtime on mobile Linux can allow a lot of people to transition from their Android phones without losing access to their favorite apps.