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Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

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Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#81

Post by sametmax »

pjc50 wrote: post #70
sametmax wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How was it revolutionary ? USB worked pretty well.

Until USB-C it doesn't carry analog audio. Like the iPod itself, it's not a question of new functionality, but better usability/popularity of existing functionality. The revolutionary aspect was that you could just drop an iPod into the dock and it would start playing your music through the dock's speakers, while also charging. This didn't require the dock to be "smart", it was analog audio.

What you describe qualifies for "nice". Not "revolutionary".

Apple's marketing is working a bit too well.

Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#82

Post by microcolonel »

byterollingbits wrote: post #4

No thanks! I'm not buying a phone that won't get updated with security updates. My trash box is littered with Korean Android phones that have no upgrade path or ability to clean with a fresh install. I'm opting for a Pixel 2 and an iPhone X for work and personal. They're expensive at first, but way cheaper and far more convenient in the long run. They always have immediate security updates, and they update their OS f…

You sound like a bigot, dividing phone manufacturers by country. Nation and industry are not so close in Korea that you could conflate any one company (especially any one subdivision) with every other similar company in the country.

The Pixel 2 and iPhone 8 are as Korean as a Kia. Surely you should not buy them, since they contain that pesky Korean commoditized OLED technology.

Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#83

Post by morganvachon »

nopacience wrote: post #50

We need phone drivers! To enable us to install any distro or OS. I would love to download X distro directly from their website > install on the smartphone somehow > boot > install phone drivers > make calls I have nothing against Android. I would like to choose who creates the OS used on my smartphone

> "I would love to download X distro directly from their website > install on the smartphone somehow > boot > install phone drivers > make calls"

Unfortunately it will never be that simple. First, the distro you want would need to have an ARM port targeting the same version of ARM SoC in the phone. ARM isn't like x86 with just two targets (32 bit and 64 bit), it's a quagmire.

Second, your distro of choice would need to stick with the exact kernel version used by the phone, and I guarantee if you take any three Android phones by three different manufacturers made in the past two years, you'll see three different kernel versions, each with tweaks made just for that device. Said tweaks would make it impossible to have a distro targeting all three devices even if they did have the exact same kernel version.

Third, your distro maintainer would need to own or have access to every Android device she wished to target, and while that works for a community driven project like Lineage OS, it's not realistic for the lone Linux distro developer or small team who wants to add phones as targets for their existing desktop class distro.

Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#84

Post by albertgoeswoof »

JorgeGT wrote: post #10

It's quite interesting that with the power of today's mobile devices (multicore 1GHz+ CPUs, GPUs, 2Gb+ RAM) we still don't have a standardized interface to plug them into desktop peripherals and launch a desktop OS/GUI. One would thing that such an universal interface would quickly become a standard offering in airports, hotels, libraries, conferences, etc.

We are almost reaching tipping point here - my laptop is still more powerful than my phone, but only just. If USB-C can really support this connectivity (2 monitors, plus keyboard, mouse and a couple of usb ports), a really great implementation could work well.

I think Apple are the only company that can pull this off right now, everyone else is too fragmented to get the hardware/software integration right, and popular enough for mass adoption.

If they release it they could tigger a whole new era of computing. e.g. Imagine going to work without having to bring a laptop along.

Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#85

Post by andai »

boyce wrote: post #43
nickcw wrote: post #12

I think termux ( https://termux.com/ ) does most of what I need when I need a bit of emergency Linux on my phone. Termux provides a recompiled debian distro which runs as a android App. It doesn't chroot or need root and it works amazingly well. No desktop apps though.

Termux is so bloody handy. That and one of the recent Blackberry phones and you've a tool rather than a toy

What about the recent Blackberries?

Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#86

Post by coconut08 »

K0SM0S wrote: post #60
pwdisswordfish wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple did that with Thunderbolt quite some time ago.

Thunderbolt is developed by Intel. As for Apple products, it's available on the desktop (using Intel CPU's/chipsets) but not compatible with their iOS devices. So it's far from "universal" given that iOS devices are an overwhelming majority of their sales. My intuition is that USB-C standards will eventually replace most Thunderbolt interfaces (e.g. for eGPUs etc.)

can usb-c support multiple monitors + keyboard + other peripherals? can it support running an egpu?

Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#87

Post by LeonM »

pjc50 wrote: post #70
sametmax wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How was it revolutionary ? USB worked pretty well.

Until USB-C it doesn't carry analog audio. Like the iPod itself, it's not a question of new functionality, but better usability/popularity of existing functionality. The revolutionary aspect was that you could just drop an iPod into the dock and it would start playing your music through the dock's speakers, while also charging. This didn't require the dock to be "smart", it was analog audio.

Whats the problem with USB3 not carrying analog audio? Instead of placing the DAC in the phone, we now place it in the audio device, it makes no difference. One could argue it's better, as we now have choice in the quality of the DAC, instead of being stuck on the one in your device.

Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#88

Post by maccard »

albertgoeswoof wrote: post #84
JorgeGT wrote: post #10

It's quite interesting that with the power of today's mobile devices (multicore 1GHz+ CPUs, GPUs, 2Gb+ RAM) we still don't have a standardized interface to plug them into desktop peripherals and launch a desktop OS/GUI. One would thing that such an universal interface would quickly become a standard offering in airports, hotels, libraries, conferences, etc.

We are almost reaching tipping point here - my laptop is still more powerful than my phone, but only just. If USB-C can really support this connectivity (2 monitors, plus keyboard, mouse and a couple of usb ports), a really great implementation could work well. I think Apple are the only company that can pull this off right now, everyone else is too fragmented to get the hardware/software integration right, and popul…

My phone has already replaced what I used to use my laptop for, but it's not going to replace my work PC anytime soon. Compiling our work C++ proejct takes about 40 minutes on a 32 core workstation, and my mobile phone isn't going to replace that right now, even if I can connect some peripherals to it.

Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#89

Post by bergie »

andai wrote: post #85
boyce wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Termux is so bloody handy. That and one of the recent Blackberry phones and you've a tool rather than a toy

What about the recent Blackberries?

Blackberry KeyOne has a physical keyboard. Should make Termux much nicer.

Re: Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones

#90

Post by bergie »

saagarjha wrote: post #55

> Linux on Galaxy allows the latest Samsung Galaxy smartphone users to run their preferred Linux distribution on their smartphones utilizing the same Linux kernel that powers the Android OS to ensure the best possible performance. (emphasis mine) I knew there was a catch somewhere. I seriously doubt there's a technical reason why older Galaxy models can't support running Linux as well. I don't understand why it's so…

I think in this case the technical issue is connectors ... the latest Samsung phones use USB-C that can carry DisplayPort, mouse, Ethernet, etc.

Older ones had micro-USB, so they don't have the hardware needed for DeX.

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