It's not Beta. At the time I purchased it, it wasn't even Alpha. Beta, as a game developer, implies to me that there's a few outstanding show-stoppers but on the whole the product is safe to show to eager end-consumers who are willing to tolerate some rough edges. The PinePhone isn't even that, yet; I couldn't conscientiously hand it to a non-techy and ask them for feedback because I'm not even sure it would reliably respond to their touch input, let alone do anything else.

Seems like you're just arguing semantics. The pinephone is very clearly advertised as aimed at developers

The question was if anyone was using a Linux phone.

Did I use it to tinker with mobile Linux? Sure.

Did I find success using it as a phone? No. It's nowhere near ready to be used as a phone outside of tinkering.

Well, I don't disagree with that, my point was just that you're arguing semantics regarding the word beta, because their marketing is very clear about what it is (and I'd also argue that beta for hardware is a different standard than for games, but I guess now I'm arguing semantics)

Do you think even a developer will want to use something that falls apart in their hands like wet sawdust as a daily driver? As a developer, hell no. I'll give Linux phones a couple more years before I try that.

well, the point is to develop on it so that future becomes possible.

Yes, but if it's to address the needs of a real user and not a spherical user in a vacuum, the phone has to be able to handle some rudimentary functionality in the meantime so developers can dogfood what they made. Few developers will carry two phones all the time.

well, the hardware has to exist to develop it, it's a chicken and egg situation. We're clearly in the very early baby step phase here

> Beta, as a game developer, implies to me that there's a few outstanding show-stoppers but on the whole the product is safe to show to eager end-consumers who are willing to tolerate some rough edges.

I don't know what games you have worked on but as a user that description seems to match what is called "final patch" by the games industry.

The Pinephone isn’t a video game.

Considering that video games are usually released unfinished; if you're saying it doesn't even meet the dismal quality standards of video game development, wrt Beta quality, then I agree with you.