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I want to buy a new smart phone. I am thinking of buying Samsung Galaxy S2 and I was thinking is there a Linux operating system for smart phones? I have been using Ubuntu for years and I would like to continue use Ubuntu on my smart phone as well.

Brandon
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    There is Android which is a fork of the Linux kernel with some Android stuff such as Dalvik. There is also Meego. There is also CyanogenMod which is a mod of Android. – Anonymous Nov 26 '11 at 18:32
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    Ubuntu is a desktop OS really. Running it on a smartphone would be a terrible experience I think - how would you make calls?! Can you imagine trying to touch some of the window widgets on a 3" or 4" screen? While it is technically possible to get a "proper" Linux on some phones (N900 in particular is very Linux hackable), I'd say stick with Android/CyanogenMod as per the previous comment. – Caesium Nov 26 '11 at 18:43
  • 1)The Galaxy S 2 already has Android which uses the Linux Kernel but it's not by any means a Linux distribution 2)The Best known Linux Based Smartphones OSs are Meego now dead and Android, 3)There are builds of Ubuntu for ARM devices however you'd need to make the drivers for the OS to properly work, 4)As it is this question is off-topic here. – Uri Herrera Nov 26 '11 at 18:46
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    There are plans to put Ubuntu on phones, but that will be a while from now. – RolandiXor Nov 26 '11 at 18:47
  • And from what i've seen Meego for Smartphones only works in the Nokia N900 and N9 – Uri Herrera Nov 26 '11 at 18:48
  • AND.... http://askubuntu.com/questions/3782/smartphones-and-ubuntu – Uri Herrera Nov 26 '11 at 18:50

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Mark Shuttleworth recently announced a plan to develop smartphones and tablets with Ubuntu, but the tentative goal is to achieve this by 2014.

However, Android is running a modified Linux kernel, and you can write apps for Android, particularly in Java. There are also official Ubuntu One apps for Android: a file syncing app, with an option to automatically upload photos from your phone camera; and a music syncing app for use with the Ubuntu One music store.

bgvaughan
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Samsung showed a demo of the Linux based Tizen operating system running on a Galaxy S2 HD at the Tizen Developer Conference in May 2012: http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/05/tizen-on-samsung-galaxy-s2-hd/

The Ubuntu for Android program http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android seems to be open to operators or companies cooperating with Canonical at the moment, but I haven't seen any devices being sold with that software installed.

Samsung will release Tizen based devices in 2013, and rumors are that they will be based on the Galaxy S3 hardware.

r.bitter
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Buying a Galaxy S2 is already buying a smartphone with linux. Android itself is a linux operating system, and is quite good indeed. But if you want something different, try Meego (actually now called tizen), but be careful, for I don't know if It can run on the S2

Stramato
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  • No Meego doesn't run (it could if drivers were available) in the Galaxy S 2 or any other smartphones for that matter, except in the Nokia N900 and N9. – Uri Herrera Nov 26 '11 at 18:51