So - not talking about the Nokia hand-helds, which don't server as phones - and primarily interested in the best phones _and_ companies that support a Linux/OS agenda. I find that mobile devices are a very important area for OS development/ exploration - but unfortunately this area is stifled by hardware vendor/ software/ carrier relationships.

At first I thought Motorola was the way to go, and purchased a Ming a1200 about a year ago. It had some firmware problems and I never got around to putting a shell on it - but I was happy to have the option.

The big site for motorola-linux phones is Motorolafans.com - but it seems more like a phone hacker/hot-rod community, rather than an idealistic OS front. That's what I'm more interested in. To get a lot of the apps to work on the Motorola phones using the motorolafans.com guides, it seems you need to get the MotorolaTools software - which I believe is just a Windows or Mac binary.

OpenMoko looks very promising - but you can't find any OpenMoko neo1973s anywhere. The latest OpenMoko device - the FreeRunner - is supposed to start shipping next month. Still - they're talking about a >$400 price-point, which is about $200 over what I will afford myself.

So I'm kind of stuck because I think mobile/phone hardware is a very important area for Linux and OS, but there don't seem to be any good or affordable options.

Would love to hear any other opinions on which phones are best for a Linux/OS agenda. Thanks.

I think you'll have to be clearer about 'support a linux/OS agenda'. if you want a phone that can interface with, for example, your Linux box, that is one thing. On the other hand, if you want to run Linux (or other Open Source software) on the phone, that is something else completely.

As you say, the freerunners are expensive, difficult to get and currently not really suitable for end users. You can make a bet that this last part will change, but right now I'm not aware of anything else that cures all of those problems. Sure, there is stuff this promised Real Soon Now that are rumoured to be soon available that will be better/smaller/cheaper/more capable/shinier, but really that's not much good until you can get them. Sure, there are Asian market phones that have Linux as an underlying OS (and its not clear whether, even if you had one of those, it would do anything that you would want).

And anyway, don't think that just because you've got Linux, you would be able to play with everything. I know you can with a PC, but if you look at OpenMoko (OpenSnot! Way to go!) they've been quite careful to ensure that there is some stuff that you can't get at. OTOH, it would be quite attractive to have a phone that upgrades like a linux box rather than the the 'throw away and buy new' cycle of the typical 'phone.

By 'Linux/OS agenda', I mean not just phones that you can synch your calendars with on a Linux desktop/laptop - but phones that run on Linux and are best suited and most open to OS development. I want to be able to look at a feature on my phone that I don't like, figure it out, and change it. Let's say there isn't a press-and-hold speed dial feature - I want to be able to figure out how the key-pad presses are detected and add some logic to the appropriate events to suit my needs. And so on.

I understand there may not be an option right now that is totally open or allows you to do much more than customize skins or add some third party apps, but I still would like to know which phones and companies are heading in the right direction. I used to think it was Motorola, but I'm unsure. OpenEZX.org says: . Some people have called this just a reverse engineering attempt. So I'm wondering, is this the best we can do for OS development right now? Or is it a vain hacking attempt and OS development resources should be shifted toward other projects like OpenMoko or Android? Or, in the short term, should one settle with a Nokia phone - maybe not based on Linux, but at least it interfaces well and Nokia is the only company that put real OS/Linux portable devices on the market and may be more friendly to real OS/Linux phones in the future?

I heard a rumor that the next generation Nokia Internet Tablet will include cellphone capability.

Also, this project may interest you:

http://gpe.linuxtogo.org/

Thanks for the link, jgombos. Looks like they got GPE running on the Motorola A780 and a few other mobile phones - but I doubt that means they actually got the phone functionality working. I'll report back if I find out any success here.