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The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

giantpockets.com

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Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

#41

Post by Joeboy »

f_allwein wrote: post #38
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

Can't deny the price is right but the keyboard looks a bit too big and the display too small and limited. Interesting device but I think I'd rather schlep my (also not quite portable enough) netbook than that.

Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

#42

Post by ansible »

I used to be sort of obsessed with some kind of handheld Linux machine. Devices I've had included:

HP 200 LX with 40MB PCMCIA storage. Tried to run a cut-down 16-bit version of Linux on it, but I don't think I ever got that running properly.

Original Sharp Zaurus, the first Linux PDA. Tried to run Linux on a Compaq iPaq at some point too.

Asus EEE PC 401 with the 7in screen and 4GB of storage. The first of the netbooks. Performance and build quality were not good. But it was very cute.

HTC ADP1 (G1), the first Android phone. Decent keyboard, terrible battery life. Connectbot was awesome for SSHing into remote systems, and local development was slightly possible with a Linux chroot environment.

Samsung Sidekick 4G. By far the best keyboard on any handheld device I've ever tried. Great feel, and I could get up to 30wpm. I was also able to set up a chroot environment. Had to modify the keyboard map to enable the last few ASCII characters not normally available via Fn keypress.

The idea was that I'd be able to do some software development on the go. But that didn't really work out either.

The device I'm most happy with so far is my current Chromebook. I've got a full Ubuntu environment via Crouton on a 128GB SD card, though most of the time I'm just SSHing into a workstation. Light, cheap, and with a long battery life. The keyboard is good enough that I'm running at nearly full speed, though I do miss my dedicated caps-lock.

Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

#43

Post by tough_luck »

stuaxo wrote: post #35
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?

Google keyboard or Gboard has swype like feature for a while now. Other options are SwiftKey and choorma keyboard

Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

#44

Post by tluyben2 »

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.

I want something that fits in my pocket; the Pocket does. It is not phone size but for me it is comfortable and it has a lot longer battery life. The air is too big for what I use the Pocket for.

Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

#45

Post by tluyben2 »

primitur wrote: post #14
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…

I got used to the keyboard eventually, but it was devilish few weeks until I did. As a vim user, the placement was bonkers .. but a bit of retraining of muscle memory was, admittedly, in order anyway. Pyra is going to be great - only wish it had the Pocket form-factor/design ethos. The chunky plastic is a bit gauche for my tastes, and if we think the Pocket keyboard is terrible, well .. Pyra ain't no better! (Have pl…

I remapped the keyboard for Vim but as Vim user and i3wm user I actually imagined it would be easier for ‘us’ and to me to was.

And yes you are right about the Pyra but I love the community. The lifetime of the thing will be long like the Pandora. It costs a lot but he, it outlives all phones by quite a bit with my usage. But yes for the casing my dream would be Pocket unibody, Zaurus swivel, a Gemini/Psion keyboard and exandable and community like Pyra.

With this pocket pc revival it might happen.

Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

#46

Post by AlphaWeaver »

qengho wrote: post #7

Check out Noodle Pi – http://noodlepi.com It’s the world’s smallest and lightest handheld computer. And unlike most of these devices with tiny built-in keyboards, it features a modular docking system so you can dock it with a range of different keyboards, from a tiny thumb keyboard to a full-sized one, or a gamepad. Noodle Pi can be assembled, disassembled, repaired and upgraded by users, with no soldering or tools r…

Your account has promoted the Noodle Pi repeatedly over the past several weeks... What's the threshold for spam?

Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

#47

Post by qengho »

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #13
qengho wrote: post #7

Check out Noodle Pi – http://noodlepi.com It’s the world’s smallest and lightest handheld computer. And unlike most of these devices with tiny built-in keyboards, it features a modular docking system so you can dock it with a range of different keyboards, from a tiny thumb keyboard to a full-sized one, or a gamepad. Noodle Pi can be assembled, disassembled, repaired and upgraded by users, with no soldering or tools r…

> It’s the world’s smallest and lightest handheld computer. Only for very specific definitions. Some phones are smaller than that, and there are GNU+Linux wrist watches.

Phones aren't PCs. They are crippled and locked-down devices. Of the ones that are capable of running a full Linux distro, I don't believe any are even close to the size of Noodle Pi.

I'm not aware of any Linux wristwatch or any other computer that's in production and available to buy that is smaller than Noodle Pi. If you know of a Linux wristwatch that's for sale commercially I'd love to know about it.

The only Linux wristwatches I see in a quick online search are two prototype devices, one made by Steve Mann and the other by IBM. Neither of those devices were actually usable as a PC, or available commercially. Mann's actually relied on a second hidden wearable computer to provide the actual processing power.

Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

#48

Post by ekianjo »

lostmsu wrote: post #40
ekianjo wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Do you still have to download their builds on shady servers?

Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018

#49

Post by leadingthenet »

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?

And those people are exactly the reason why Linux will never be the OS of choice on desktop for the vast majority of people. Which it should be, because it's a great piece of software, underneath the horrible UX.
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