It’d theoretically be possible to run a straight GNU/Linux tablet or laptop
“GNU/Linux” is the full way to say what sometimes gets shortened to “Linux” — a family of operating systems based on the Linux kernel and a lot of software from the GNU project. This explicitly distinguishes it from Android, which also used the Linux kernel.
The former is not, in 2025, typically used to run smartphones. The latter is the most-common smartphone operating system in the world. If you buy a smartphone that isn’t an Apple smartphone, it almost certainly runs Android.
with a 5G cell modem for data
5G is the current generation of cell phone radio protocols. Communicating directly via voice over this protocol is not something that I believe is available to GNU/Linux in 2025. However, it can send non-voice data.
, use SIP service
SIP is a protocol for running voice over a data connection to the Internet. If you have an Internet connection, you can use SIP. There are companies, SIP service providers, which will, for a fee, provide a phone number at which one may be called or call others from a computer that can make use of SIP.
and a GNU/Linux dialer,
A dialer is the piece of software that on a smartphone, a user would probably call something like “the phone app”.
and then run Waydroid for any specific Android apps that one has to run.
Waydroid is a piece of software to run Android apps on a GNU/Linux system.
Idle power usage is gonna be a lot higher than on a phone, though.
Phone hardware and software has had a lot of work put into optimizing it for very low power usage. A larger device, like a laptop or tablet, will probably also have a larger battery, but it will consume more power as well.
And a lot of Android apps are made with a touch interface
Smartphones, due to physical space constraints in one’s pocket, typically have an entire side be a touchscreen. They do not have a keyboard. In general, software optimized for this works somewhat differently from software optimized for use with a keyboard and mouse.
Most GNU/Linux software is written with the intent that it be used on a system that almost certainly has a mouse and keyboard available. Most Android software is written with the intent that it be used on a system with a touchscreen available.
This means that even if one can run GNU/Linux software on a phone, much of the (large) collection of GNU/Linux software available will not be designed with an interface ideal for use on a phone.
and small screen in mind and are aware of things in a cell environment, like “only update X when on WiFi”. Not really common for GNU/Linux software to do that.
Smartphones have two widely-used mechanisms of accessing the Internet — connecting to the often slower cell network, or to a much-shorter range, but faster, WiFi network. Many people connect their smartphone to a WiFi network at some times and a cell network at others. Because this is so common, a lot of Android software has behavior designed to support this and act more-appropriately, like having an option to only transfer lots of data when on a WiFi netwprk. This is not the case for most GNU/Linux software.
The comic is to point out why it’s difficult to grow adoption of a non-android / Apple smartphone.
Even what you think is a simplified explanation is, unfortunately, too complex for most as well. Tech literacy is REALLY bad in many places. Most don’t know what an “operating system” is, in many cases don’t know what a hard drive is (of any kind). Software is basically magic to them. Your explanation is great for people who already know the basic concepts, but sadly most of the population isn’t even at that level.
And this isn’t only the elderly btw, younger people are just as clueless these days because many schools don’t do computer classes anymore.
I feel like its implied by being on lemmy that you already know the basics and most of what was described in the reply though, making your point seem out of place without prefacing you meant the general public being able to use Linux phones and not just lemmings
“GNU/Linux” is the full way to say what sometimes gets shortened to “Linux” — a family of operating systems based on the Linux kernel and a lot of software from the GNU project. This explicitly distinguishes it from Android, which also used the Linux kernel.
The former is not, in 2025, typically used to run smartphones. The latter is the most-common smartphone operating system in the world. If you buy a smartphone that isn’t an Apple smartphone, it almost certainly runs Android.
5G is the current generation of cell phone radio protocols. Communicating directly via voice over this protocol is not something that I believe is available to GNU/Linux in 2025. However, it can send non-voice data.
SIP is a protocol for running voice over a data connection to the Internet. If you have an Internet connection, you can use SIP. There are companies, SIP service providers, which will, for a fee, provide a phone number at which one may be called or call others from a computer that can make use of SIP.
A dialer is the piece of software that on a smartphone, a user would probably call something like “the phone app”.
Waydroid is a piece of software to run Android apps on a GNU/Linux system.
Phone hardware and software has had a lot of work put into optimizing it for very low power usage. A larger device, like a laptop or tablet, will probably also have a larger battery, but it will consume more power as well.
Smartphones, due to physical space constraints in one’s pocket, typically have an entire side be a touchscreen. They do not have a keyboard. In general, software optimized for this works somewhat differently from software optimized for use with a keyboard and mouse.
Most GNU/Linux software is written with the intent that it be used on a system that almost certainly has a mouse and keyboard available. Most Android software is written with the intent that it be used on a system with a touchscreen available.
This means that even if one can run GNU/Linux software on a phone, much of the (large) collection of GNU/Linux software available will not be designed with an interface ideal for use on a phone.
Smartphones have two widely-used mechanisms of accessing the Internet — connecting to the often slower cell network, or to a much-shorter range, but faster, WiFi network. Many people connect their smartphone to a WiFi network at some times and a cell network at others. Because this is so common, a lot of Android software has behavior designed to support this and act more-appropriately, like having an option to only transfer lots of data when on a WiFi netwprk. This is not the case for most GNU/Linux software.
Oh you misunderstood, I already know all this.
The comic is to point out why it’s difficult to grow adoption of a non-android / Apple smartphone.
Even what you think is a simplified explanation is, unfortunately, too complex for most as well. Tech literacy is REALLY bad in many places. Most don’t know what an “operating system” is, in many cases don’t know what a hard drive is (of any kind). Software is basically magic to them. Your explanation is great for people who already know the basic concepts, but sadly most of the population isn’t even at that level.
And this isn’t only the elderly btw, younger people are just as clueless these days because many schools don’t do computer classes anymore.
I feel like its implied by being on lemmy that you already know the basics and most of what was described in the reply though, making your point seem out of place without prefacing you meant the general public being able to use Linux phones and not just lemmings