This is really all about the iPads to me. Having that "magical piece of glass" run free software for years to come is an absolute win.
What is the benefit compared to a rooted android tablet?
We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices
61–70 of 181 posts
Re: We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices
#62Although it's always good news to have Linux on more device, in the case of Apple I find it a bit problematic. That means you encourage Apple getting a huge cut on device sale. Or further justify the high prices of second-hand device because now you can 'give them a second-life' (to counter Apple's in-house planned obsolescence program). It's not just about freedom. Apple's walled-garden means you need in every compa…
Let's say I have an iPhone 6 that stopped receiving updates. What do you suggest I do with it: - landfill - install Linux - something else?
> - something else?
Recycling it would benefit the planet more right?
Re: We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices
#63This is really all about the iPads to me. Having that "magical piece of glass" run free software for years to come is an absolute win.
What is the benefit compared to a rooted android tablet?
As someone who owns an OG iPad 1, the benefit of potentially being able to run Linux on it is I already have an old iPad but I don't have a rooted Android tablet. Currently, due to Apple refusing to support it with software updates, and providing no other means for me to update it myself, the iPad is kind of useless.
Re: We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's kind of weird, since phones are generally on all the time when being actively used. I guess it depends on what active/sleep "modes" are available - ie can Linux on Apple run processes with the screen asleep or whatever. As long as it's plugged in, it should be workable, maybe. But, in my mind, you wouldn't try to build a server farm out of 5+ year old iPads. Instead, you'd continue to use them as consumption d…
I believe what people have said is that the components can’t handle continuous use (instead of basically idling on user input). Even when being in use for the most part these machines just are rendering some textures onto the screen and the cpu is not doing much
Oh damn. That sort of explains why my phone gets super hot when I try to solve a project euler problems on it. I never thought about this.
Re: We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices
#65Although it's always good news to have Linux on more device, in the case of Apple I find it a bit problematic. That means you encourage Apple getting a huge cut on device sale. Or further justify the high prices of second-hand device because now you can 'give them a second-life' (to counter Apple's in-house planned obsolescence program). It's not just about freedom. Apple's walled-garden means you need in every compa…
You need a lot more “Android guys” to keep Android usable on old phones when the manufacturer drops support in a year..
Re: We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices
#66How could we benefit from having Linux on old iDevices? Would I be able to repurpose a device to do something useful I can’t do with iOS?
>How could we benefit from having Linux on old iDevices? On old devices that do not get updates your internet will stop working because of old browser, missing SSL certificates or old libraries. With Linux you might get an updated browser and you could use the device to browse things and you can do whatever your mind can imagine like maybe write a simple bash/python script to automate something.
Technically yes, but when?
I just retired an iPhone5 that we were using as a "house controller", streaming Pandora, home automation app, etc. I retired it not because the software stopped working but because the battery won't last more than 30 minutes off the charger, and I had an iPhone8 sitting around doing nothing.
IMO an iPhone with linux is going to be less of "do whatever your mind can imagine" and more of "spend countless time trying to hack random stuff into this unsupported platform".
Overall, I think it is cool achievement, but (to me), it feels more along the lines of solution looking for a problem than an actual truly useful thing.
Re: We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices
#67Re: We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
And the iPhone has a built-in touch screen, wifi, bluetooth, two cameras, internal storage, a GPU, a bunch of sensors, a giant battery, physical buttons, speakers, microphone, a giant market for third-party peripherals, cases, chargers, mounts, etc...AND it's way easier to get your hands on an iPhone (especially an old one) than a Raspberry Pi today. Sure, getting everything to work in a Linux port wouldn't be easy,…
I wonder about the implications of running them in an "always-on" configuration. Would it be possible to remove the battery and run them entirely on AC power? If you could do that, you might be able to have some pretty nice low-power home servers.
If you just want a server, you can use an android phone already. Either pick one that works with postmarketOS, or termux could work fine (I don't know the overhead of that though). No point in using an iPhone here.
Re: We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices
#69This is really all about the iPads to me. Having that "magical piece of glass" run free software for years to come is an absolute win.
What is the benefit compared to a rooted android tablet?
Not sure this applies here since the OP seems to be only for certain hardware, but...
I'd have bought an android tabled years ago if I had found something that seriously competes with the iPad Pro 12" versions.
Re: We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices
#70How could we benefit from having Linux on old iDevices? Would I be able to repurpose a device to do something useful I can’t do with iOS?
I don't know if it's worth it but maybe contribute to cloud compute like DreamLab