True, Graphene would be a good start.

China don’t have Google PlayStore, but only their own apps market, also Amazon and Samsung have their own app stores.

It’s not impossible to have a different apps market, it there’s an user base, and developers will follow the market

That’s why Android needs to be forked and have an independente development asap.

EU is ditching big US corporations, however Google is restricting third party app stores, and control over which apps can be installed.

Google Services are built-in on almost Android devices, giving access to everything that happens on those devices (phones, tablets, Android TV…), which is basically an rootkit, it can remotely access any app, any file, and control the device.

EU and any other nation needs an alternative to Android or iOS, truly open source without external control of any corporation

PS: I know there are open source alternatives like PostmarkedOS, but lacks of apps, and still requires Android to run Android apps

After using opencode.ai to create some python apps and a webui, when you ask to do something you don’t know if it will fix it or break everything

Red Hat Linux 7.3 (2002)

Tried it to install a few months ago on 86Box and couldn’t figure it out to setup network card.
Today everything is mostly plug & play, back then was a pain to setup graphical server, network

KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)
That’s why i use Markor on, it saves on markdown (.md), text (.txt) files, and sync with Syncthing to other devices.

Without databases, or third party hosts, i can open any file on other devices using the apps of my choice, can use Markor on Android and nvim on PC.

No need to pay extra or use specific apps to work.

I also tried other not taking apps, but I needed to use some electron app that uses 1GB RAM to edit a markdown file, and decrypt some proprietary online storage. Why use some overcomplicated software when i can do the same Kwrite or nano

2026 the year of desktop Linux

My ISP doesn’t provide IPv6, and with other ISP using CGNAT instead don’t think that IPv6 will be the main standard any time soon.
It’s more of “if it works, don’t fix it”, just apply workarounds like tunnels

The Fly

Just the case of the packages being removed only a few hours after been published just makes my point of “trusted users” reviewing and reporting then.

And is not only an archlinux/AUR problem, the same happens with python pip, npm, dockerhub, github… With bigger popularity, bigger the target.

These days after the success of Steamdeck many users switched to Linux, and many of those started using arch or based distros like EndeavourOS because some one on reddit, YouTube or other said is the best for new hardware and you can find everything you need on AUR.
New users won’t review scripts or PKGBUILD, that’s gibberish, just search and install, and a few hours could be too late for some.

I don’t care if Linux loses or gains popularity, but if there’s no guard rails of some kind of control things could get worse, and even end AUR as it is now.

Having people control what’s published or not, probably not the best solution, but leaving it as a wild west also not

Arch also warns uses about AUR, use at at your own risk, and can break your system.

My approach isn’t definitely not the best solution, I was saying this is only the beginning, and with other arch based distros also using AUR only gets worse, if there’s any moderation and some kind of package control before publishing then when thins get real bad maybe too late and arch starts loosing users.

Now is just some packages, later could be some popular package take overs or some kinda spoofing of other packages.

I use arch BTW (since 2011), and Debian Armbian on Raspberry Pi, one is rock solid the other sometimes break with updates

That’s why you shouldn’t blindly trust AUR, and always review the scripts before installing.

But something needs to change:

• packages need to be reviewed (maybe also updates on new/untrusted users)
• New package adoption need to be reviewed
• Trusted users don’t need package review
• Trusted users can review new packages (from other users)

This won’t stop here, more malware packages will appear, arch and Linux in general is getting more users and becoming a target, not only ArchLinux AUR but also other distros with custom repositories. Many users install packages from custom repositories blindly, or follow guides without any knowledge what they do.

2025 is the year of malware on Linux