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I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

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Re: I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

#121
post #2

I reverse-engineered a Doogee U10 (Rockchip RK3562) to boot Debian natively from an SD card. No BSP, no kernel source, no vendor documentation — just a DTB extracted from the stock Android firmware and rebuilt from there. The tablet boots Linux directly from SD without modifying internal Android storage. Remove the card and Android still boots normally. The process is intentionally simple: write the image to an SD ca…

No — you didn't.

Re: I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

#122
post #23

Booting into Debian with most devices fully functional is great. What I'd like to know is what software runs adequately under it in 4 GB RAM. Web browsing should definitely be possible, but I suppose it's limited to very few tabs. Some very lightweight DE could likely make it more usable. Running something like WezTerm + tmux as the DE could be even more economical, leaving some room for e.g. development tools.

What software doesn't run with 4GB of ram is the real question.

Re: I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

#123
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are things I will just not bother to learn. I can either not do them, or let AI do them for me. There are things I can do for myself, but can't be bothered. I can either not do them or let AI do them for me. I prefer spending my time doings I actually want to do. Let the machine do the boring things.

I prefer not letting my brain rot. You do you though.

Everyone only has a finite time on this planet.

You can be dedicated to Biomedical Medical science and your whole world may revolve around it. You may be the smartest person in any given room, although sometimes it might not be worth learning something else given your time constraints or energy constraints.

If said Biochemist needed to write a simple Python script, why would he bother learning Python, setting up the .env and debugging when an AI could do it and he could go back to doing whatever he was doing?

Re: I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

#124

It's interesting how everything is a "workstation" these day.

If it can't run video games, it's a workstation.

Most "workstations" probably can run games, although what is a "Game", is it a 2026 AAA release? is it at low settings? is it the original Doom?

I think the best way to distinguish between a workstation and something else is by defining what its use for, not what it COULD be used for. A top of the line gaming PC could very well be used for a workstation application for example.

Re: I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

#125
post #23

Booting into Debian with most devices fully functional is great. What I'd like to know is what software runs adequately under it in 4 GB RAM. Web browsing should definitely be possible, but I suppose it's limited to very few tabs. Some very lightweight DE could likely make it more usable. Running something like WezTerm + tmux as the DE could be even more economical, leaving some room for e.g. development tools.

What software doesn't run with 4GB of ram is the real question.

Most individual programs will run with 4GB but you won't be able to have multiple open at the same time.

Re: I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

#126
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It helps for fuzzing, maintaining and is actually a great help for seniors, maybe not for the ones who don't care for the project and publish slop. It could now actually help a lot in some ways not just coding though but things surrounding project management.

No it doesn't. It helps lazy people. It helps Lazy seniors, it helps lazy project managers. You have this ass backwards. It helps everyone who is Lazy.

[dead]

Re: I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

#128

You can still get old Mac minis for less than that, which have more memory and can run Debian. Probably best performance per dollar hardware available on the used market

80 euro equivalent seems to provide a 2014 Mac Mini with 4GiB of RAM and half a TB of storage over here. Doesn't come with a touch screen, though, and carrying around a PSU for the thing is also a massive pain. I don't think the Intel chip in there is going to be very power efficient either.

2014 mac mini doesn't have an external power supply, it just takes a standard figure-8 ac cord directly.

Re: I turned a $80 RK3562 Android tablet into a Debian Linux workstation

#129
post #23

Booting into Debian with most devices fully functional is great. What I'd like to know is what software runs adequately under it in 4 GB RAM. Web browsing should definitely be possible, but I suppose it's limited to very few tabs. Some very lightweight DE could likely make it more usable. Running something like WezTerm + tmux as the DE could be even more economical, leaving some room for e.g. development tools.

Browsers and anything electron-based are your enemy. Firefox is actually pretty good in low-memory situations, silently discarding tabs when under memory pressure, but the main benefit comes from being able to run proper adblocking. Chromium-based browsers just can't compete these days. Otherwise, a bog standard Gnome-based Debian Trixie desktop should be pretty doable. I'm currently using an 8 GB machine with 3.7 GB…

... I haven't seen an ad in years, thanks to Brave, which is as of the last time I checked Chromium-based.
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