Unless they allow the same kind of control a user can get with normal x86 machines or better, I can't see this being taken seriously by developers. I can't see developers jumping on a closed, locked-down platform other than apple's (and even those folks are starting to get tired).
Linux on Dex
131–140 of 228 posts
Re: Linux on Dex
#132> Linux on DeX currently supports one customized Ubuntu image (Ubuntu 16.04 LTS version provided by Canonical) which only operates on selected Samsung devices. (Note9 and Tab S4). A crappy distro on a couple of old devices? No thanks. I'll just wait for the Librem 5 [0] 0) https://shop.puri.sm/shop/librem-5/ Edit: Misread "Note9" as "Note7" (don't ask). Ooops. My conclusion still stands.
Note 9 is an old device? What world are you living in? Note 9 will probably be years ahead of that Librem smartphone
Oops, for some strange reason I read that as "Note 7".
In any case, in terms of what you are capable of doing to your device (e.g. running Linux distros, controlling radios, etc), the Librem smartphone is years ahead of anything else in the market.
Re: Linux on Dex
#133Earlier quoted context omitted.
Note 9 is an old device? What world are you living in? Note 9 will probably be years ahead of that Librem smartphone
Oops, for some strange reason I read that as "Note 7". In any case, in terms of what you are capable of doing to your device (e.g. running Linux distros, controlling radios, etc), the Librem smartphone is years ahead of anything else in the market.
This is not about running Linux distros on your phone.
This is about your phone doubling up as a Linux PC and being able to use your phone as a PC seamlessly when required by simply connecting it to a monitor. This can be super useful for a lot of users.
Current 8 core SOCs with 4 to 8 GB RAM should be more than usable and its great Samsung has been trying to make this happen. And there is nothing 'crappy' about Ubuntu 16.04 especially given all distros are the same underneath. Why this name calling against Ubuntu?
Re: Linux on Dex
#134I have pretty much given up on the prospect of running a full fledged FOSS OS on devices that don’t give access to the bootloader’s root of trust, or give you a userland that works with a kernel you can’t control (eg Crouton). It all sounds great until you start trying to do actuall work. As soon as you need anything that’s not provided by the manufacturer software image you start to notice all the foundational thing…
UBports is pretty close: https://ubports.com/
It uses libhybris, so they're limited to the original kernel or something close to it because of proprietary drivers. But it's a community project since Canonical stopped Ubuntu Touch development, and it's had a desktop mode like this for years!
The PostmarketOS project is similar, with an explicit goal of mainline support where possible: https://postmarketos.org/
But yes, I would be much happier if devices had support in the mainline kernel and could run any distro you wanted right out of the box. (And some devices just straight up lock you out - I try to avoid those whenever possible.)
Re: Linux on Dex
#135For those of us who don't have a supported device, there's an android app called [Termux]( https://termux.com/ ) which provides a surprisingly linux-y experience. I sometimes code on my 10" tablet with a small (60%) keyboard.
Tasker can be combined with Termux, to allow scripts to be run in response to events like battery charging etc. The combo is very powerful.
Re: Linux on Dex
#136I have pretty much given up on the prospect of running a full fledged FOSS OS on devices that don’t give access to the bootloader’s root of trust, or give you a userland that works with a kernel you can’t control (eg Crouton). It all sounds great until you start trying to do actuall work. As soon as you need anything that’s not provided by the manufacturer software image you start to notice all the foundational thing…
You forget there's also the security twonks in the mix. Those people in favor of forced updates and signing everything too. "Oh my god", they say "what if the user ran something bad!?".
Re: Linux on Dex
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oops, for some strange reason I read that as "Note 7". In any case, in terms of what you are capable of doing to your device (e.g. running Linux distros, controlling radios, etc), the Librem smartphone is years ahead of anything else in the market.
This is not about running Linux distros on your phone. This is about your phone doubling up as a Linux PC and being able to use your phone as a PC seamlessly when required by simply connecting it to a monitor. This can be super useful for a lot of users. Current 8 core SOCs with 4 to 8 GB RAM should be more than usable and its great Samsung has been trying to make this happen. And there is nothing 'crappy' about Ubun…
> This is about your phone doubling up as a Linux PC and being able to use your phone as a PC seamlessly when required by simply connecting it to a monitor. This can be super useful for a lot of users.
Something a phone that supports running arbitrary Linux distros will naturally do without having to depend on random projects like this one which try to give similar functionality by shoehorning a Linux distro on top of a mobile OS. You're also at the whim of mobile OS 'manufacturers', who may make changes to the OS which then break the shoehorning effort.
> And there is nothing 'crappy' about Ubuntu 16.04 especially given all distros are the same underneath.
This isn't even remotely true. Here's a few ways distros differentiate from other distros: custom kernel patches (or not), custom patches (or not) for applications they distribute, package management (!!!), response time to security issues, support they offer (official, community, etc), upgrade model (rolling release vs big crap dump of updates every X months).
> Why this name calling against Ubuntu?
Ubuntu does a lot of the above differentiation stuff wrong, IMHO.
Re: Linux on Dex
#138I'm confused--is this really running a VM on your device, or is it somehow cloud run or cloud accelerated?
Re: Linux on Dex
#139I have pretty much given up on the prospect of running a full fledged FOSS OS on devices that don’t give access to the bootloader’s root of trust, or give you a userland that works with a kernel you can’t control (eg Crouton). It all sounds great until you start trying to do actuall work. As soon as you need anything that’s not provided by the manufacturer software image you start to notice all the foundational thing…
You forget there's also the security twonks in the mix. Those people in favor of forced updates and signing everything too. "Oh my god", they say "what if the user ran something bad !?".
Permission granted to the user is also granted to malware.
Re: Linux on Dex
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
It wasn't that no one wanted them - they just weren't powerful or portable enough. Snapdragon's 835 changed that. So will the A12X from Apple.
I think you’re underestimating Apple’s chip performance. Going by https://browser.geekbench.com/ the best performing Android devices(Samsung’s special thing for single-core, Snapdragon 845 in a OnePlus for multi-core) appear around even with an A10 for single-core and an A10X with multi-core. If this/last year’s Android chips were enough to make Dex viable, you’d expect last generation’s iPad Pro and the iPhone 7 to…
Oh not at all. Apple chips are beasts and surpass anything out there.
But it's likely a greater chance to see a snapdragon head into a convertible desktop format than an iPhone or iPad, neither even allow a mouse. Still have hope for an A12X powering a MacBook tho.