GNU/Linux is also not successful by such definition. It doesn't make it worse than Windows.
Linux is succesful, it is a base for Android and billions of network devices.
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There was Firefox OS, but they ended it too soon. Now, they’re just trying to make money from ads
Kai OS is a moderately successful continuation of Firefox OS.
I have no answer, I'm asking the same question. Who can raise serious funds like 1 billion to do it? I'm guessing for FOSS/Linux crowd to get fully behind, it can't be a company, but a person like Linus Torvalds. Given that browsers are becoming a platform themselves for major apps, maybe it can lower the bar in the future for smaller vendors to create a feasible market.
Even Linus wouldn't be enough. If anybody could, it would be China and its conglomerates like Huawei, Xiaomi, Alibaba, Tencent.
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Eh, that's a multi-faceted question. I personally am tired of Pine. They've made some questionable calls over the past couple years and their "make open hardware with almost nothing working software-wise and see what the community does" business plan has started feeling exploitative to me.
PPpro was mismanaged especially badly. Nothing against the amazing community- it's just there were some hardware/firmware decisions by pine that made it especially hard to develop for. Meanwhile, the non-pro version is handicapped by a very slow processor.
There's still some development happening, and the window managers like KDE are still improving stuff on the front end. But you're right, it has slowed down. That all said, this is still the only non-Google/Apple device you can get in the USA that actually kinda works. I used both the non-pro and pro versions for a few months a couple years ago as my daily driver. I could make calls, send texts, connect to matrix, etc. I wouldn't claim that "it just worked" but it did work.
You can have Volla phone with Ubuntu Touch, Jolla C2 or Sony Xperia with Sailfish OS worldwide.
That's exactly what I'm saying. They don't let you take actions using only a web browser. If you don't use a mobile app they issue you with trusted hardware that performs a similar function (although usually less secure and not as convenient).
My bank does still allow login and txns to be authorized with a smart card reader. You have to type in fragments of the account number to authorize a new recipient. After that you can send additional transactions to that account without hardware auth.
Pure NFC tokens don't work because you need trusted IO.
Not necessarily. In Poland you can do banking with a web browser + SMS code or one-time code card, no special hardware needed.
You highlighted the problem I was stating: Effort is scattered among small players. I would love for SailfishOS to win, but crowdfunding is hard with random Thingamabob companies; it needs name recognition behind it.
For the new ecosystem to win, it needs to have its own user base for companies building apps to recognize it. Even with SailfishOS, the banking apps still require Android compatibility layer, which is slowly eroded with Play Services and Play integrity check disabling those one by one in the coming years.
Weren't Jolla (Sailfish OS), Canonical (Ubuntu Touch), HP/LG (webOS), Mozilla (Firefox OS), Samsung (Tizen) recognized companies? Yet they failed to break the duopoly. Even Facebook failed with their phone. Who would fight with Andoid/iOS then?
> But none were really successful.
By which criterion? I'm happily using Librem 5 as a daily driver; wrote this reply from it.
By general adoption. It's great that Librem serves you well, just like SfOS for me, but sadly we're a tiny minority. I think KaiOS has the third place in popularity.
> in the end I can access my bank from a web browser.
If your bank allows you to access all features from a browser, consider yourself lucky. Mine requires the app to authorize any online transaction.
Here in Poland most banks are usable via web browser + SMS for auth.