The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018 • Hacker News Board

Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

#31

Post by Theodores » Sun, Mar 04, 2018, 1:49 PM UTC

chx wrote: post #17

You can put a Linux in a chroot on most (? all?) Android devices , even non rooted https://www.xda-developers.com/guide-installing-and-running-... and the Moto Z family has a landscape keyboard upcoming https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/physical-keyboard-mod-for... so that should be a contender too, I feel.

I carry a Bluetooth keyboard with me anyway so this sounds like the way to go. Or to skip the chroot bit (so things like '/etc/hosts' can be edited). Maybe 2:1 tablets with the detachable keyboard could be an option, however, why learn a new keyboard, a cramped one at that?

Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

#32

Post by stuaxo » Sun, Mar 04, 2018, 1:58 PM UTC

I've got the GPD pocket, haven't had much time to use it because of a baby being around (she's pretty interested in it though). i wish the keyboard was better, I would probably use it more if it was.

Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

#33

Post by ekianjo » Sun, Mar 04, 2018, 2:18 PM UTC

csydas wrote: post #27

tluyben2 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really like the Pocket; everyone (including you) complains about the keyboard but it just takes a few days to get used to it imho. It has stellar battery life (ubuntu + i3wm gets me well over 20 hours while coding). For casual gaming my OpenPandora is still my go to. Indeed a Switch seems tempting but I like having a device I can code on, again, stellar battery life, and I have spare batteries for the thing so I ca…

The Pocket seems dubious to me - the article got my attention, but the price tag I'm seeing on Amazon ($600+) makes me shy away. Refurb 11" MacBook Airs are in that range, plus any other number of low-end Windows laptops, or even hacking away at a Pi-Top.

Yeah, it's expensive, but it has a pretty high resolution screen and it is pretty small. Definitely easy to carry compared to a laptop+charger.

Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

#34

Post by Jaruzel » Sun, Mar 04, 2018, 2:27 PM UTC

chx wrote: post #17

You can put a Linux in a chroot on most (? all?) Android devices , even non rooted https://www.xda-developers.com/guide-installing-and-running-... and the Moto Z family has a landscape keyboard upcoming https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/physical-keyboard-mod-for... so that should be a contender too, I feel.

I've got a Motorola Droid 4 sitting in a drawer, that I no longer use - it's got a slide out hard keyboard - I think I'm going to give this go and see how useful it is.

Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

#35

Post by stuaxo » Sun, Mar 04, 2018, 2:35 PM UTC

jokoon wrote: post #22

For years I was reluctant to type with a tactile screen, but after trying the "swype" mode to type, I found that I'm actually faster with it than with a classic keyboard. So a keyboard now seems obsolete for me. I admit that there are still issues with it, like for example this annoying bug when it does 2 words suggestions However, I still have to find an adequate solution to efficiently type code (offline or online,…

Now Swype is going, can you recommend anything in it's place?

Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

#36

Post by brokensegue » Sun, Mar 04, 2018, 2:38 PM UTC

dorfsmay wrote: post #26

fyfy18 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Linux on the desktop and this is my biggest gripe their too (well it’s the same on BSD too, nothing Linux specific). Sometimes I wish the desktop environments were a bit more opinionated like MacOS (but without all the restrictions). I’m keeping a close eye on elementary OS to see where that ends up.

Isn't one of the main criticism of GNOME that it's too opinionated?

well that opinion is expressed by people who want nearly zero opinion OSs.

Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

#37

Post by Joeboy » Sun, Mar 04, 2018, 2:38 PM UTC

I really like the idea of having the Gemini or Pocket for occasionally writing on the move, but I don't think I can justify them at that price. Is there any cheaper option for somebody who's not too bothered about Linux or powerfulness? I note the cool but ancient Psion 5mx still seems to go for £200 or so on ebay. Is there any kind of pocketable writing workhorse in production at a sensible price?

Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

#38

Post by f_allwein » Sun, Mar 04, 2018, 2:45 PM UTC

Joeboy wrote: post #37

I really like the idea of having the Gemini or Pocket for occasionally writing on the move, but I don't think I can justify them at that price. Is there any cheaper option for somebody who's not too bothered about Linux or powerfulness? I note the cool but ancient Psion 5mx still seems to go for £200 or so on ebay. Is there any kind of pocketable writing workhorse in production at a sensible price?

How about keyboard + storage + minimal display? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaSmart

Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

#39

Post by ufo » Sun, Mar 04, 2018, 2:47 PM UTC

fyfy18 wrote: post #6

saagarjha wrote: post #4

My personal take on Linux handhelds is that they're held back by their user interfaces. None of the options I've seen have the polish of iOS and Android; they just look ugly and painful to use. On desktop this is 1. improving and 2. partially masked by the paradigm that you're supposed to "get work done", but mobile is in a large part still a platform for consumption and issues such as these make it difficult to seri…

I use Linux on the desktop and this is my biggest gripe their too (well it’s the same on BSD too, nothing Linux specific). Sometimes I wish the desktop environments were a bit more opinionated like MacOS (but without all the restrictions). I’m keeping a close eye on elementary OS to see where that ends up.

What desktop environment do you use now? What you are asking for does sound like the reason why people who use GNOME like it. It is focused on having sane and opinionated defaults but it is still tweakable via advanced settings (tweak tool, dconf) and extensions.

Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

#40

Post by lostmsu » Sun, Mar 04, 2018, 2:49 PM UTC

ekianjo wrote: post #19

chx wrote: post #17

You can put a Linux in a chroot on most (? all?) Android devices , even non rooted https://www.xda-developers.com/guide-installing-and-running-... and the Moto Z family has a landscape keyboard upcoming https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/physical-keyboard-mod-for... so that should be a contender too, I feel.

It's not optimal because your have to go thru Android anyway and since Android phone end up having a very limited lifetime of updates you will have to run a chroot on top of an unsecure/obsolete Android version over the long run.

There's Lineage OS