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Questions for linux phone enthusiasts:
1. What's to stop Instagram etc creating apps for mobile linux? (In principle I mean, obviously there's no market yet)
2. Is it possible to set up phones with users, so (in principle) you could have a child as a user who can't install anything without the root password?
Thanks ahead of time (this is for my forthcoming blog post on the benefits of linux mobile for young people)
I'm developing a flowchart of impacts of use of 'normal' phones...happy to collaborate with others on this, or to use existing one if available!
@TCMuffin Diolch Jayne, things have moved quite a bit over the last three years (thankfully!) - I have a beautifully operational Ubuntu Touch on a Fairphone 3, and a very much alpha Droidian on a Pixel 6.
I am extremely optimistic about the future of open source mobile telephony!
Me too, @davidoclubb 
I have all Planet computer’s PDAs…mostly because of nostalgia as I wrote all my OU MBA assignments on a Psion Series 3a 
Oh and I loved rooting all my Pixels and installing “alternative” OS
For the second part, you could with #mobian or #postmarketos for example, using phosh/phog as the DE.
You can create user accounts and at boot choose which one to login to.
I am not sure about other shells, but I suppose so.
@davidoclubb
1) nothing. No market and maybe not enough access to track and harvest data from the phone. Instagram collects data on photos, contacts and more
2) yes it is possible, though i do not know how to configure it. The GNOME and KDE software centers for example support that. I guess it is because of an underlying setting in the OS.
@chfkch yes I wasn't sure whether data harvesting would be possible on Linux. Presumably users can just decline...? I am out of my depth 
@chfkch @davidoclubb regarding 2) there quite a few apps that can now be installed via app images (flatpak, snap, appimages).
These do not require root or admin rights and are often pre-installed (so you'd have to uninstall them); appimages do not require anything to work, so I'm not sure there is any way to prevent a basic account from running them.
Just to say that, as usual, trying to prevent a motivated kid from accessing what they want to access could prove difficult 
@silmathoron @chfkch I think I'd be happy with them installing via app image as it would show initiative and creativity 
even if it was contrary to my objectives
@davidoclubb
AppImage requires chmod to make it executable right?
@silmathoron
@silmathoron
Snap and flatpak can be configured to be root-only as far as i know.
@davidoclubb
Shalien @davidoclubb little to no market and web browser exists on all platforms.
Having a limited account can indeed prevent app installation but not running apps directly via the command line if they get the executable.
You can setup profile on some distro with allowed apps list etc.
@davidoclubb #SailfishOS has user accounts configurable from the UI. Seems to match your use case, documentation is here https://docs.sailfishos.org/Support/Help_Articles/Shared_Device_Multiple_Users/#additional-users
@piggz thanks Adam, I will definitely check it out
@davidoclubb
1. Nothing IMO. The fediverse and matrix already have clients. I use Tuba for fedi, and Fractal for matrix (although FluffyChat works too).
2. Yes, absolutely, PostmarketOS is like a regular Linux distro, so I don't see any reason why that wouldn't work.
@davidoclubb
Looking forward to the blog post!
Tbh, though, I don't think I want Instagram to begin with, part of the reason I got a pinephone is to escape that part of the Internet. Pixelfed and the fediverse is much nicer to hang out on anyways.
@RannyBergamotte I don't want Instagram or any other surveillance capitalist app either; my 'thesis' is how linux phones could reduce the pressure on kids to access and/or use these sorts of apps
@davidoclubb 1. Technically you could already use Instagram and similar via VM, Waydroid or as web application, I assume. But since there are fediverse alternatives, I don't think you need to do so.
2. I don't think you can technically stop users from downloading app-images or flatpaks and running them via user permissions. But you can definitely restrict system-wide installations.
I think one of the biggest benefit I currently see is that social media and ads are heavily restricted/limited.
@thejackimonster Yes that's the line I am taking....with some side benefits of keeping old hardware relevant and useful
@davidoclubb advocating linux phones for young people... I think it might be a bit early. Mobile linux is still quite immature, like I don't trust mine to make a phone call / send text reliably.
Also, as someone in my early twenties, a lot of socializing is done through messaging apps like instagram, not having access to it is alienating. I don't care because fuck social norms, but most people do.
@aren This is a forward-looking piece, not least because I have about 18 months before our family has to take a decision!
Lots of families are confronting these issues, and the functionality of messaging on Instagram (or other platforms) is part of the negotiation/nuance. Fundamental issues is mental health and well-being which (for me) trumps peer pressure.
Different families will doubtless have different dynamics!
@davidoclubb Havent read the other comments yet. Android is F/OSS
and is essentially already Linux but with major tweaks made to help them run on different hardware. Whats not F/OSS is the Play store and the apps in it.
1) Nothing. They could hire linux devs but dont b/c Linux isnt condusive to capturing user data and thats what they want. Device, location, other user data they want it and Linux isnt friendly to those principles.
2) Yes. This is possible in Android but takes work.
@olenglishD Thanks, my feeling is that data capture would be tricky but I'm not a developer so I wanted to canvass opinion!
@olenglishD @davidoclubb Major tweaks in this case are often blobs of proprietary software and Android isn't based off (current/recent) mainline kernel. That's why often people make the distinction between Android, which sort of is and isn't "linux" and Linux outside that realm. While big part of AOSS and Android are FOSS that matters less when essential parts crucial to the functions of the OS aren't.