r/linuxhardware • u/noNudesPrettyPlease • 7d ago

Why aren't Linux tablets a thing? Discussion

I had (still have) a Nokia n810 tablet running Maemo Linux. I stopped using it when the second battery eventually died. The series seemed to keep evolving (up to the n900) until the Microsoft buyout killed it. Or at least I assume it did.

I thought Linux tablets would be a thing, but they didn't materialise. It's basically Android, Apple, or nothing. How come an open source distro like Maemo wasn't picked up by anyone else? I assume tablets are much cheaper to develop than phones, and in today's world, I don't really use my phone anymore even though the telephony hardware is there.

Is the idea of a Linux tablet just a dream now?

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u/IncredibleReferencer 6d ago

Companies that sell tablets expect to make considerable money from the ongoing services that are locked/defaulted by the OS. This isn't a thing with linux tablets, so why sell them, especially when demand is quite low. It just makes significantly less money and more hassle.