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Luckily there's still postmarketOS what accomplishes the same thing by replacing android on android phones with an Alpine Linux install.

kick 7y ago
It doesn't achieve the same thing. Linux on DeX had full driver support because it was running on top of Android. postmarketOS has to play catch up.
- MuffinFlavored 7y ago
  driver support for what hardware on the device specifically? Is it not open-source? aka can it not be backported?
  - kick 7y ago
    Linux on DeX didn't have to worry about drivers at all, because it was running in a container on an Android system. Like how your USB mouse will work on an operating system that only has PS/2 support in a virtual machine.
  - bri3d 7y ago
    Android's driver APIs and userland implementation are nonstandard. They have their own libc (bionic) and their own linker. Vendors supply binary blobs for many drivers (RIL, graphics, etc.). These drivers need a series of compatibility shims to work with "normal Linux," on both sides of the driver API. The Kernel <-> Driver interface needs to be backported to Android's non-mainline HAL, usually using Halium. The driver <-> userspace API needs to be implemented, for example by xf86-video-hwcomposer or libhybris-libwayland-egl. Finally, the blob needs a libc shim to work with normal libc (libhybris itself). https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Hybris https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Hybris
    - MartijnBraam 7y ago
      I like to point out that most devices don't use hybris on postmarketOS
      - MuffinFlavored 7y ago
        and instead have native support?
jeroenhd 7y ago
Until pmOS can make a call, it doesn't. I love the postmarketOS initiative but right now it's very much a bare-bones project. The installation process is troublesome, hardware support is very limited and desktop environments work partially if at all. Phosh development is looking good but it's certainly not finished. As of now, I would certainly not advertise it as a Dex replacement.
Jonnax 7y ago
The same thing? I did some reading and it looks like the devices it runs on are ancient. Linux on Dex ran on a Note 9 which has either 6 or 8gb of RAM. With HDMI output it's possible to run visual studio code and it's very usable. Even possible to run a Dev server. And whilst I'm doing this using a monitor, keyboard and mouse, Android is still available on the device and I can use Spotify, send text messages and make phone calls. Postmarket OS looks like at best a dual boot setup, running on ancient hardware and very alpha.

kick 7y ago

It doesn't achieve the same thing. Linux on DeX had full driver support because it was running on top of Android. postmarketOS has to play catch up.

MuffinFlavored 7y ago
driver support for what hardware on the device specifically? Is it not open-source? aka can it not be backported?
- kick 7y ago
  Linux on DeX didn't have to worry about drivers at all, because it was running in a container on an Android system. Like how your USB mouse will work on an operating system that only has PS/2 support in a virtual machine.
- bri3d 7y ago
  Android's driver APIs and userland implementation are nonstandard. They have their own libc (bionic) and their own linker. Vendors supply binary blobs for many drivers (RIL, graphics, etc.). These drivers need a series of compatibility shims to work with "normal Linux," on both sides of the driver API. The Kernel <-> Driver interface needs to be backported to Android's non-mainline HAL, usually using Halium. The driver <-> userspace API needs to be implemented, for example by xf86-video-hwcomposer or libhybris-libwayland-egl. Finally, the blob needs a libc shim to work with normal libc (libhybris itself). https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Hybris https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Hybris
  - MartijnBraam 7y ago
    I like to point out that most devices don't use hybris on postmarketOS
    - MuffinFlavored 7y ago
      and instead have native support?

jeroenhd 7y ago

Until pmOS can make a call, it doesn't. I love the postmarketOS initiative but right now it's very much a bare-bones project. The installation process is troublesome, hardware support is very limited and desktop environments work partially if at all. Phosh development is looking good but it's certainly not finished. As of now, I would certainly not advertise it as a Dex replacement.

Jonnax 7y ago

The same thing? I did some reading and it looks like the devices it runs on are ancient. Linux on Dex ran on a Note 9 which has either 6 or 8gb of RAM. With HDMI output it's possible to run visual studio code and it's very usable. Even possible to run a Dev server. And whilst I'm doing this using a monitor, keyboard and mouse, Android is still available on the device and I can use Spotify, send text messages and make phone calls. Postmarket OS looks like at best a dual boot setup, running on ancient hardware and very alpha.