Is it possible to have mainline kernel on all and old devices?
What is the difference between mainline and hybris kernel (sorry for this question, but I don’t know really but want to understand)
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mainline is the regular linux kernel, hybris kernel is the patched android kernel (which is usually a relative old version and most of the time device is stuck on this version or maybe get 1 or 2 updates)
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If someone ports it, yes. It’s usually a lot of work, but there are people who do it for different devices. See e.g. Mainlining - postmarketOS Wiki
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For example the pinephone already runs SailfishOS as far as I understand
PostmarketOS only runs on mainline kernels, right?
So if there is a OnePlus 6 port for postmarketOS, which is mainline, I wonder if the SailfishOS port of the same phone uses that or if it uses hybris?
Does someone know that? I’m just curious
I’m pretty sure it uses hybris, otherwise you wouldn’t have to downgrade the OP6 to OxygenOS9 and then to flash a specific version of lineageOS to install the SFOS port. I’m using a OnePlus 6 as a backup phone with postmarketOS. The camera doesn’t work well yet, battery life is not great and general reliabilty is not quite there yet.
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One good thing about Sailfish is that it has built-in support for autosuspend, which reduces power consumption significantly when the phone is in standby mode. The C2 port makes use of this, and I think the PinePhone port also does. postmarketOS does not yet suspend by default.
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OP6 is on hybris. But mr.magister I think is working on mainline… PMOS is very interesting but very far away from daily driver on op6. I have both.
Mainline is the target to be on, sometime. Mainline needs no android in any way. A personal dream would come true.
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So, the mainline kernel has all the needed drivers for mobile platforms and no longer requires Android blobs?
It’s a little bit confusing. Perhaps someone could create a graphical diagram to compare the two paths (mainline vs. hybris kernel).
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Exactly, that’s the purpose of postmarketOS.
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Does anyone know if the drivers are there -meaning no need for lib hybris- for the new phone?
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Edited out the nonsense I wrote (see Mainline kernel and Sailfish - #15 by affe_null for an educated comment )
I think the main problem with postmarketOS is always the mainline kernel adaption to that device. If the port is good →postmarketOS is fine, if not, you might have a hard time with postmarketOS
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I wasn’t aware that there is so much confusion about the meaning of “mainline”. I suggest reading https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Mainlining (this is the second time I’m posting this link here).
Most hardware manufacturers do not use mainline kernels. They fork the Linux kernel in a way that will never be accepted upstream, adding custom drivers that only work with Android blobs.
A mainline kernel is the opposite: drivers are generic and should work with standard Linux distributions. Any differences to the upstream Linux kernel releases should stay minimal. Devices with mainline kernels should not require any blobs besides actual firmware that runs on separate processors.
All official Sailfish OS ports use the kernel provided by the manufacturer, which is why they rely on Android blobs. Sailfish OS is technically capable of running natively with a mainline kernel. However, this is not very likely to happen on the new Jolla phone out of the box.
It is still possible as a community effort, similar to Mainline Linux kernel for the Jolla C2, but porting drivers from scratch usually takes a long time.
BTW, postmarketOS is constantly improving.
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@affe_null:
Did you dailydrive your Jolla C2 with the mainline kernel?
Yes, although I don’t use my phone very often.
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Regarding the OP6 and pmos. I disagree: It’s painfully close to a daily driver. The camera is the only thing that doesn’t work yet, but it’s only a matter of a few months. I use SFOS on my Xperia 10iii, only because it’s more reliable. Also, AAS is better than waydroid and SFOS UI is nicer than gnome-mobile, which I’m using. Battery life is comparable (not great for both devices). But in many aspects, pmos has a lot to offer: firefox, flatpak support (and due to that xmpp clients, kodi, matrix clients,…), great nextcoud integration, and the list goes on.
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The cameras already work on mainline for the OP6! (it’s just missing proper processing, debayer things and autofocus)
Using the edge kernel. I know, I meant in a way that allows you to use it properly. The main dev is working on autofocus right now.