Google will require developer verification to install Android apps, including sideloading

MAU: > I don’t know how old you are Old enough to remember when Ubuntu started, and to have experimented with desktop GNU/Linux a few times before that. Old enough to have been learning about and using Free Code projects for a few years before Indymedia started in 1999. MAU: > there are in fact many Linux based phone initiatives Yes, this is what you and I have been discussing here. Pretty much all mobile devices run Linux in some form, except for iThings (a BSD variant) and BorgSoft Surface devices (proprietary god-only-knows-what). Android/Linux and its variants are Linux phone OS. Not sure what kernel Jolla uses, but that’s probably also a Linux OS. If by “Linux based phone” you mean Mobile GNU/Linux specifically, there are various distros including Ubuntu Touch, Mobian, PureOS. The 2 commercially available devices I know of are Librem5 and PinePhone. MAU: > In addition to native apps, it also accepts Android. As I mentioned a few posts back, this is not unique to Jolla. Android compatibility layers are relatively easy enough to build, because full API documentation and source code are available for it. AFAIK all Mobile GNU/Linux distros have them available. MAU: > When demand intersects a ‘refined enough’ product, there might be an exodus As I’ve already pointed out, the change we need doesn’t happen when a critical mass of customers all choose one commercial product. But rather when a critical mass of devices and app developers to choose on OS commons to standardise around. Yes, many Proof of Concept projects have been launched, including those listed above. But what I’m talking about kickstarting is a standisation effort, with sufficient buy-in to move the needle.