{"slug": "mobian", "name": "Mobian", "category": "os", "category_name": "Operating systems and desktop", "description": "", "recommenders": 2, "commenters": 3, "warners": 0, "score": 2.079, "rising": 0.67, "first": "2026-01-25", "latest": "2026-08-19", "why": "i recently put debian (mobian) on a pixel 3a and it's pretty solid", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 2, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0], "listed": false, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "i recently put debian (mobian) on a pixel 3a and it's pretty solid", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Mobian"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 789784433, "item_id": 49361527, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49361527", "by": "otekengineering", "date": "2026-08-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i recently put debian (mobian) on a pixel 3a and it's pretty solid", "excerpt": "i recently put debian (mobian) on a pixel 3a and it's pretty solid, though i haven't tried it out as daily driver yet. claude code makes stuff like that super accessible to do in your spare time. another example is installing debian on a synology 918+, there's no way i would've had the grit to do that without ai. it's open season for any gadget that's got a debug uart port.", "context": "", "use_case": "Linux on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "GrapheneOS in 2027 available on high-end Motorola phones"}, {"id": 748096608, "item_id": 46756038, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46756038", "by": "fsflover", "date": "2026-01-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "There are also Mobian, PureOS, postmarketOS and more.", "excerpt": "> alternatives to Google/Apple duopoly on mobile. Link: https://www.ubuntu-touch.io/ This is far from the only alternative. There are also Mobian, PureOS, postmarketOS and more. Unlike Ubuntu Touch, they allow you to run ordinary Linux desktop apps. Also there is hardware not tied to an ancient Android kernel, designed to run desktop GNU/Linux: Pinephone and Librem 5. The latter is my daily driver.", "context": "Librem 5 daily driver", "use_case": "mobile Linux", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google confirms 'high-friction' sideloading flow is coming to Android"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "fsflover", "context": "Librem 5 daily driver", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46756038", "date": "2026-01-25"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["linux on phone", "linux phone os", "mobile linux"], "compared": [{"slug": "postmarketos", "name": "postmarketOS", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "ubuntu-touch", "name": "Ubuntu Touch", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49360242", "title": "GrapheneOS in 2027 available on high-end Motorola phones", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49331220", "title": "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46688804", "title": "Google confirms 'high-friction' sideloading flow is coming to Android", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 789784433, "item_id": 49361527, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49361527", "by": "otekengineering", "date": "2026-08-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i recently put debian (mobian) on a pixel 3a and it's pretty solid", "excerpt": "i recently put debian (mobian) on a pixel 3a and it's pretty solid, though i haven't tried it out as daily driver yet. claude code makes stuff like that super accessible to do in your spare time. another example is installing debian on a synology 918+, there's no way i would've had the grit to do that without ai. it's open season for any gadget that's got a debug uart port.", "context": "", "use_case": "Linux on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "GrapheneOS in 2027 available on high-end Motorola phones"}, {"id": 789454549, "item_id": 49340909, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49340909", "by": "dredmorbius", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Mobian (based on Debian)", "excerpt": "If you want pure-play Linux, there's Purism (PureOS), Pine (PineOS), SailfishOS, Ubuntu Touch (33 supported devices, including Fairphone, Xiaomi, Google Pixel, and Lenovo, amongst others), Tizen, Mobian (based on Debian), and postMarketOS (based on Alpine Linux). If you want an alternative to the iOS / Android duopoly, and will accept AOSP (Android Open Source Project) or de-Googled Android, there are AOSP devices (i", "context": "", "use_case": "Linux phone OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI"}, {"id": 748096608, "item_id": 46756038, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46756038", "by": "fsflover", "date": "2026-01-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "There are also Mobian, PureOS, postmarketOS and more.", "excerpt": "> alternatives to Google/Apple duopoly on mobile. Link: https://www.ubuntu-touch.io/ This is far from the only alternative. There are also Mobian, PureOS, postmarketOS and more. Unlike Ubuntu Touch, they allow you to run ordinary Linux desktop apps. Also there is hardware not tied to an ancient Android kernel, designed to run desktop GNU/Linux: Pinephone and Librem 5. The latter is my daily driver.", "context": "Librem 5 daily driver", "use_case": "mobile Linux", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google confirms 'high-friction' sideloading flow is coming to Android"}]}