Ubuntu Touch

TL;DR: I have a Fairphone 5 on Verizon in the US and am looking to switch to Ubuntu Touch, and am looking for others who use/have used this OS to share their experience. Overall user experience or other suggestions are welcome.

Also hoping this doesn't break rule one, looking for discussion on Ubuntu Touch as a whole even though I'm providing a lot of "me" specific detail.

So I am doing what I can to move into Linux/open source OS and programs as much as I can. My biggest hangup has been with my phone. I get quite a bit of entertainment and media from my phone as well as using it for my main form of communication and I haven't looked much into Linux Mobile after seeing a few videos a year or so ago showcasing Linux phones and they were clunky at best.

But now I just saw a video about Ubuntu Touch, and it looks smooth, the video creator says it does phone things like calls and texts, but didn't touch on much more. I'm concerned about my experience (or lack therof) with Linux and about my ability to revert back to Android if things don't workout.

My experience with Linux is limited; I have used Kubuntu on my desktop primarily for gaming since the end of 2024, but I switched to Bazzite a few months ago because I kept having issues on Kubuntu (so far Bazzite has just worked for 99.9% of what I am doing). Issues like my OS seemingly corrupting to the point it won't boot and needing to completely reimage the machine, not being able to figure out how to install programs (most often their dependencies) without getting errors I just don't have the knowledge to solve and couldn't find solutions on forums, etc.

I primarily use my phone for calls, texts, GPS navigation, note keeping, calendar, camera, important apps like my bank info and insurance, reddit, tiktok, and occasionally youtube. I know many of these will likely not be on Ubuntu Touch as apps and I will need to view them in a web browser, and I am prepared for that. What scares me most, is I only have one phone and not enough money to get a new one should things go really south.

I have a Fairphone 5, which the Ubuntu Touch touts as it's most supported device. Thing is, I live in the US, and the phone already had asterisks in its denoscription when I bought it saying service is not guaranteed due to it being designed mainly for the European market. I have only had minimal issues with connections so far after over a year of use, but rarely I have to turn my sim off and on again to get it to connect to towers. I also don't know if different carriers will have issues with the different OS or not, I currently have Verizon. Not looking for solutions to these, just think it's important to mention in case people using a FP5 are from Europe.

Just hoping to hear some more experiences from people that have used Linux mobile before I decide to try and make the jump and accidentally effectively brick my phone.

https://redd.it/1qzbdte
@r_linux

What's your backup distro?

I posted this first in r/Fedora, but I thought I'd drop this here too to get a broader response. What if, for whatever reason, your Linux distribution of choice were to just blip out of existence, or fall due to poor morals, or whatever else that could ruin it? What distro would you go to next? I've been using Fedora for well over a decade at this point and the question recently popped up to me. Like in r/Fedora, I think I'd go with openSUSE, independent forks exist, so I might go with Bazzite. I also have a Steam Deck so SteamOS is viable too.

https://redd.it/1qzd82e
@r_linux

What piece of Linux abandonware do you still use or at least miss?
https://redd.it/1qzg95x
@r_linux

PULS v0.6.1 Released - A unified system monitoring and management tool for Linux
https://github.com/word-sys/puls/releases/tag/0.6.1

https://redd.it/1qz93yb
@r_linux

Igalia.com - Opensource company

I was wondering if anyone knew anything about this company.They seem to have alot going on when it comes to open-source.I see that they are EU based. Is anyone from the sub working for them or have worked with them?

Any information would be awsome!

Thank in advance.

https://redd.it/1qzigqy
@r_linux

Chirp #4: Panels, Policies, and Progress | Buddies of Budgie
https://buddiesofbudgie.org/blog/chirp-4

https://redd.it/1qzk5zt
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The 6.19 kernel has been released
https://lwn.net/Articles/1057417/

https://redd.it/1qzlkrc
@r_linux

Linux Kernel 6.19 has been released!
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/

https://redd.it/1qzn6y1
@r_linux

What would it take for Linux to support TPM-backed biometric keyring unlocks?

After using Linux for the better part of a decade, I've recently had to start using Windows for work - and one of the things that I've gotten used to really quickly is using my face to log in with Windows Hello.


I found a cool solution for this on Linux called Howdy, which lets you log in with your face in the same way. It works really well, but the annoying part is that Gnome keyring doesn't unlock, so I have to type in my password anyway after reboot.


I believe the problem here is that the key used to encrypt and decrypt the keyring is derived from your password, which means biometrics through Howdy or fprintd won't work to unlock it.


Does anyone know if there is any work being done on supporting biometrics for decrypting a keyring? My understanding is that Windows has this set up by generating a random encryption key and storing it in some secure enclave backed by the TPM module. And then setting it up so password, pin, fingerprint, face, etc. can all unlock the secure enclave to retrieve the key for decryption (someone please correct me if I'm wrong here).

A lot of modern laptops have TPM now. I know it's also possible to use TPM to, for example, automatically decrypt a LUKS partition. And Linux already has good biometric auth support. Is it possible that we ever see biometric unlocking of TPM secrets in the near future? Is there any ongoing work on this?

I'd love to work on this, but it seems like such a feature would require changes in PAM, fprintd, Howdy, keyring, and maybe more.

https://redd.it/1qzo6yc
@r_linux

Linus Torvalds Confirms The Next Kernel Is Linux 7.0
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-7.0-Is-Next

https://redd.it/1qzqbqm
@r_linux

Linux gets exposure in OpenAI Super Bowl TV Ad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCN9iCXNJqQ

You can see a generic Linux CD/DVD inserted in an old PC at the 0:19 mark of the video. Any visibility for Linux is good I guess.

https://redd.it/1qzpnjs
@r_linux

Credentials for Linux (FOSDEM 2026)
https://alfioemanuele.io/talks/2026/02/01/fosdem-2026-credentials-for-linux.html

https://redd.it/1qzrf0a
@r_linux

What is your preferred software installation method?

For me, I always install software from the main repo first before going to anywhere else.

If it doesn't exist on the main repo, I install it from flatpak.

If it doesn't exist on flatpak, I extract the .tar.gz from github to /opt/software_name folder and use a symlink to /usr/local/bin/software_name so I can run it from anywhere. I rather avoid installing "universal" .deb file or "noscripts" because of the risk of "FrankenDebian".

If it a "24/7" software that always runs on the background like pihole, arr-stack, plex, etc, I installed it on a Docker container.

Which method do you guys often use?

https://redd.it/1qzvqd7
@r_linux

Sydney metro screens running ubuntu
https://redd.it/1qzytik
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