Not a lawyer or anything, but how possible would it be for a phone company, any no matter how big or small is, to just sell phones with lineageOS preinstalled (or any other similar custom ROM) assuming that company does not own custom ROM. This is more hypothetical question, because I really like Samsung phones and was thinking how a phones like Samsung S or even A series with lineageOS preinstalled (and working like stock ROM would work) would actually be a beast of a phone, like by both privacy, security, gaming and other aspects.
There is a market for it. I have been selling secondhand phones with custom ROMs installed on eBay for several years, though for me it has never been more than a hobby. There are quite a lot of people out there who are interested in having a more private operating system on their phone but feel uncomfortable installing one by themselves. Unfortunately, it is also a market that attracts grifters because it’s so easy to prey on people’s fear and paranoia and rush them into paying for massively overpriced hardware.
The problem is that whatever company sells custom ROM cell phones is going to need to eat the support costs for these phones. You’re also going to need to deal with customers who are going to lose access to a mainstream app store.
Yeah, I get that. I was just thinking, because I like how Samsung has beast of phones, in terms of hardware, but their software is bloated so I was thinking how cool would be if there is phone with Samsung hardware, but software like lineageOS and others similar.
It is going to cost money to buy phones, unpack them, upload the OS, test the product, then repack them and ship them. I would expect that to cost at least $20, probably more.
Then, after that, you have to maintain the phone software for several years. That includes testing the builds, which will likely be at least tens of thousands of dollars for each update.
So, you’re adding all this cost to a phone and for what? A phone that will be less capable than what is currently sold? And, likely, those who would be more likely to purchase this service can do it themselves.
It is going to cost money to buy phones, unpack them, upload the OS, test the product, then repack them and ship them. I would expect that to cost at least $20, probably more.
€50, based on the discount on stock ROM, although €20 out of that goes to GrapheneOS apparently. Based on donation amounts, they sold 67 of them in 2024
The issue being phone manufacturers don’t give a shit 'cos only a few will moan about this.
Regular users don’t even know what a custom ROM is or why they should use one.
Not a lawyer or anything, but how possible would it be for a phone company, any no matter how big or small is, to just sell phones with lineageOS preinstalled (or any other similar custom ROM) assuming that company does not own custom ROM. This is more hypothetical question, because I really like Samsung phones and was thinking how a phones like Samsung S or even A series with lineageOS preinstalled (and working like stock ROM would work) would actually be a beast of a phone, like by both privacy, security, gaming and other aspects.
/e/OS does this already, and I believe you can already buy phones (second hand) with Lineage on them.
There is a market for it. I have been selling secondhand phones with custom ROMs installed on eBay for several years, though for me it has never been more than a hobby. There are quite a lot of people out there who are interested in having a more private operating system on their phone but feel uncomfortable installing one by themselves. Unfortunately, it is also a market that attracts grifters because it’s so easy to prey on people’s fear and paranoia and rush them into paying for massively overpriced hardware.
Legally, it wouldn’t be a problem.
The problem is that whatever company sells custom ROM cell phones is going to need to eat the support costs for these phones. You’re also going to need to deal with customers who are going to lose access to a mainstream app store.
Yeah, I get that. I was just thinking, because I like how Samsung has beast of phones, in terms of hardware, but their software is bloated so I was thinking how cool would be if there is phone with Samsung hardware, but software like lineageOS and others similar.
The problem is the economics of what you want.
It is going to cost money to buy phones, unpack them, upload the OS, test the product, then repack them and ship them. I would expect that to cost at least $20, probably more.
Then, after that, you have to maintain the phone software for several years. That includes testing the builds, which will likely be at least tens of thousands of dollars for each update.
So, you’re adding all this cost to a phone and for what? A phone that will be less capable than what is currently sold? And, likely, those who would be more likely to purchase this service can do it themselves.
Well, proxysto.re does that with GrapheneOS: https://shop.proxysto.re/de/i/pixel/
€50, based on the discount on stock ROM, although €20 out of that goes to GrapheneOS apparently. Based on donation amounts, they sold 67 of them in 2024
Like Fairphone shipping with e/OS? https://shop.fairphone.com/the-fairphone-gen-6-e-operating-system
Yeah, that too. Forgot about them :)
There’s a few companies that do this currently.
The issue being phone manufacturers don’t give a shit 'cos only a few will moan about this.
Regular users don’t even know what a custom ROM is or why they should use one.