The TL;DR version of this is that FLX1s is a Linux phone which has moved from being of interest to techie enthusiasts to working as an everyday phone - and computer - for a non-tech person.
[…]I describe myself as a "Linux enthusiast". I'm not a Linux novice, I've used it for about a decade. But I am only an end-user of Linux. I'm one of those people the more techie types are writing the software for, and I appreciate you all very much, and contribute (financially) where I can. I can't write software myself, I happily install software that is packaged ready to install, but drop out of the game if I have to "compile" it myself - I don't really understand what that means - let alone write it or code it myself.[…]
You might wonder why I got into Linux? I run my own small business. And I too frequently in the early days (it's 20 years old this year) got my fingers burned when big tech companies were able to hold me to ransom. One particular story that sticks in my mind - not that I'm bitter 😂 - is that we invested in Skype Phones and a Skype number for our telephony. And after Microsoft bought Skype, it decided it wasn't interested in going down that path, and a software update literally remotely bricked all the hardware we had purchased... I became determined I needed as far as possible, to understand, and to have control over, my own tech. And of course, to have nothing to do with Microsoft.
I think they've made modifications specific to the hardware (including stuff they legally can't release due to the OEM); from what I've seen, you can't just flash any OS to it, because of this. There's been some success, I've heard, with SailfishOS and UBports but you just don't get the same guarantees of just-working due to the hardware.
That's been my impression (it's been a while since I've run Mobian or PostmarketOS but I do own an FLX1s); battery lasts the whole day with regular usage, the Android emulations works with a lot of app.s, etc. It doesn't mean there aren't pain points (sadly); I've heard that calling and bluetooth headsets don't work (I don't use them, though, so I can't say directly) and noise cancellation is still a work-in-progress so people on the other end may hear themselves if you're using speaker phone. But they're also continuing development to continue improving things so it's not like these things are necessarily set in stone. Basically, better but not perfect; there's still painpoints.
I have the same reservations that I have with all companies/capitalist entities but they do seem to contribute back, where they can (like I mentioned, some things are out of their hands due to the OEM). https://furilabs.com/blog/swipe-keyboard/ mentions their extensions they've made to some open-source swipe models for keyboards; those improvements go back to the community. So, even though I bought the phone, I continue donating to Mobian and PostmarketOS; I see it as yet another front in our attempt to bring Linux to mobile.