Linux Phones

Currently, many smartphones and other electronic devices come with locked bootloaders, restricting users from fully utilizing their devices. This practice limits the ability to install custom software, enhance privacy, and prolong the lifespan of these devices. Typically, most carriers (Verizon, AT&T, StraightTalk), do not offer any options to unlock the bootloader that would allow the mobile phone to run an Operating System of their choice.

Carriers are not the only offenders. It turns out that OEMs themselves have started to remove the option to unlock the bootloader. Samsung, one of the most popular phone manufacturers out there, has abandoned bootloader unlocking in the U.S. for quite some time now. Nubia is another phone manufacturer that has slowly started to abandon bootloader unlocking by removing the adb (Android Debug Bridge) command that sends a request to the software that tells the phone to unlock itself at the request of the user.

Carriers and manufacturers often resist unlocking bootloaders because it threatens their control over the devices and the software ecosystem. However, they should be held accountable for restricting consumer rights and stifling innovation.