6 ms·

Running a full desktop environment on a Kindle (2019)

197 points by slondr 6y ago

aminozuur 6y ago
Day 192 of lockdown.
trilinearnz 6y ago
Link to it in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx386xpDqCY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx386xpDqCY
- ianai 6y ago
  That’s way better than I imagined. Would love to have seen some keyboard feedback by typing into the terminal screen.
  - walrus01 6y ago
    I think it would be much more usable as a electronic signage display, however, rather than interactive... Or if you needed to manipulate anything in detail in the GUI, it would be less awkward to do it over VNC.
cstross 6y ago
Obviously a valuable project to know about when you don't have enough dead badgers to hand. https://everything2.com/title/How+to+install+Linux+on+a+dead+badger https://everything2.com/title/How+to+install+Linux+on+a+dead... (Originally documented in Strange Horizons magazine, but the original source appears to be offline.)
- da_big_ghey 6y ago
  Ahh, a classic. Original source is still online: http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/installing-linux-on-a-dead-badger-users-notes/ http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/installing-l...
- walrus01 6y ago
  That's cool and all, but if you have a dead beaver you can put a whole computer in it: https://www.instructables.com/Compubeaver---%3E-How-to-case-mod-a-beaver---in-29-e/ https://www.instructables.com/Compubeaver---%3E-How-to-case-...
FreakyT 6y ago
This is great! I've always wanted more hackable e-ink devices -- the Kindle is nice but it feels like there's so much unrealized potential of an e-ink screen.
- andrepd 6y ago
  The reMarkable is a pretty hackable eink device.
  - ianai 6y ago
    I’ve read it’s basically a Linux box with an ssh server. Not read about running a DE/wm on it though.
  - crooked-v 6y ago
    It suffers a lot from the low storage, which is enough to keep me from wanting one even as a consumer device, let alone to hack on it.
    - justarandomq 6y ago
      USD $ 450 (price) buys 72 reams of paper (amazon) which also requires a lot of storage :^)
  - rahulroy 6y ago
    Unfortunately, it's only available in limited countries[1]. [1] https://support.remarkable.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002645938-Countries-we-ship-to https://support.remarkable.com/hc/en-us/articles/36000264593...
    - sn41 6y ago
      Yeah. Sucks that it does not ship to India. Feels like the 80s again, where you tell your relatives and friends to get one for you when they return from abroad. plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
    - scaladev 6y ago
obrajesse 6y ago
Everything old is new again. https://gizmodo.com/amazon-kindle-2-hacked-to-run-linux-5351348 https://gizmodo.com/amazon-kindle-2-hacked-to-run-linux-5351...
jhfdbkofdcho 6y ago
wow that is surprisingly not terrible
- bjarneh 6y ago
  Way better than expected.
caiobegotti 6y ago
...and all I wanted was to change the default screensavers, damn you Amazon :-(
- solarkraft 6y ago
  Easily possible! Check out the mobileread forums.
  - toyg 6y ago
    It _used to be_ easy, I did it on an old Kindle ages ago. Last I checked, it was much harder on the Voyager I currently use, and it would get lost at every OS update.
tppiotrowski 6y ago
Amazon is still offering Kindle's with lifetime cellular connectivity [1]. I'm not sure what kind of arbitrage possibilities exist here... [1] https://www.amazon.com/All-new-Kindle-Paperwhite-Waterproof-Storage/dp/B075RNKT6G/ https://www.amazon.com/All-new-Kindle-Paperwhite-Waterproof-...
- abdullahkhalids 6y ago
  I imagine they track usage and block accounts that abuse the service.
- TylerE 6y ago
  Pretty limited. The cellular connection only connects to amazon.com and Wikipedia
  - tppiotrowski 6y ago
    The Kindle also comes with an "Experimental Browser". [1] I've used it on an old Kindle to read the news, craigslist. I'm not sure if it supports JS. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q7eHUI6rSo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q7eHUI6rSo
    - vlunkr 6y ago
      It's been probably a couple of years, but I tried to load HN in it once and it was unreadable, so I don't think it's too great.
      - Tijdreiziger 6y ago
        I read HN on my Kindle's browser fairly regularly. HN itself (and similar pages with a simple layout, such as i.reddit.com) works great. For the articles that are linked, it's a coin flip whether it works or the page has so much cruft that it crashes the browser.
      - skykooler 6y ago
        I used to use the built-in browser to load Google Voice and Google Talk and they worked fine. Of course, this was before they were overhauled into bloated, JS-heavy pages that barely run on non-Chrome mobile browsers.
samspenc 6y ago
Just a note that this post (and accompanying Youtube video) are from early 2019. Not taking away anything from this accomplishment of course, just FYI.
neurobashing 6y ago
I would think an i3-type WM would work better since there's less need to move windows around.
smusamashah 6y ago
I wonder if it's good enough to run a paint app for note taking like experience.
seba_dos1 6y ago
Woah, it's been 8 years now since I've ran Debian on Kindle Paperwhite in pretty much the same way :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHoPgXb-JNM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHoPgXb-JNM
joeskyyy 6y ago
Yeah but can it run kubernetes? /s
heavyset_go 6y ago
Probably could get something like this running with deboostrap[1] if you prefer Debian over Arch. [1] https://wiki.debian.org/Debootstrap https://wiki.debian.org/Debootstrap
zoom6628 6y ago
Insanely cool.
wingi 6y ago
But does it run doom? On pocket book with eink is possible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0apFspOlK10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0apFspOlK10

197 points by slondr 6y ago

aminozuur 6y ago

Day 192 of lockdown.

trilinearnz 6y ago

Link to it in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx386xpDqCY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx386xpDqCY

ianai 6y ago
That’s way better than I imagined. Would love to have seen some keyboard feedback by typing into the terminal screen.
- walrus01 6y ago
  I think it would be much more usable as a electronic signage display, however, rather than interactive... Or if you needed to manipulate anything in detail in the GUI, it would be less awkward to do it over VNC.

cstross 6y ago

Obviously a valuable project to know about when you don't have enough dead badgers to hand. https://everything2.com/title/How+to+install+Linux+on+a+dead+badger https://everything2.com/title/How+to+install+Linux+on+a+dead... (Originally documented in Strange Horizons magazine, but the original source appears to be offline.)

da_big_ghey 6y ago
Ahh, a classic. Original source is still online: http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/installing-linux-on-a-dead-badger-users-notes/ http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/installing-l...
walrus01 6y ago
That's cool and all, but if you have a dead beaver you can put a whole computer in it: https://www.instructables.com/Compubeaver---%3E-How-to-case-mod-a-beaver---in-29-e/ https://www.instructables.com/Compubeaver---%3E-How-to-case-...

FreakyT 6y ago

This is great! I've always wanted more hackable e-ink devices -- the Kindle is nice but it feels like there's so much unrealized potential of an e-ink screen.

andrepd 6y ago
The reMarkable is a pretty hackable eink device.
- ianai 6y ago
  I’ve read it’s basically a Linux box with an ssh server. Not read about running a DE/wm on it though.
- crooked-v 6y ago
  It suffers a lot from the low storage, which is enough to keep me from wanting one even as a consumer device, let alone to hack on it.
  - justarandomq 6y ago
    USD $ 450 (price) buys 72 reams of paper (amazon) which also requires a lot of storage :^)
- rahulroy 6y ago
  Unfortunately, it's only available in limited countries[1]. [1] https://support.remarkable.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002645938-Countries-we-ship-to https://support.remarkable.com/hc/en-us/articles/36000264593...
  - sn41 6y ago
    Yeah. Sucks that it does not ship to India. Feels like the 80s again, where you tell your relatives and friends to get one for you when they return from abroad. plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
  - scaladev 6y ago

obrajesse 6y ago

Everything old is new again. https://gizmodo.com/amazon-kindle-2-hacked-to-run-linux-5351348 https://gizmodo.com/amazon-kindle-2-hacked-to-run-linux-5351...

jhfdbkofdcho 6y ago

wow that is surprisingly not terrible

bjarneh 6y ago
Way better than expected.

caiobegotti 6y ago

...and all I wanted was to change the default screensavers, damn you Amazon :-(

solarkraft 6y ago
Easily possible! Check out the mobileread forums.
- toyg 6y ago
  It _used to be_ easy, I did it on an old Kindle ages ago. Last I checked, it was much harder on the Voyager I currently use, and it would get lost at every OS update.

tppiotrowski 6y ago

Amazon is still offering Kindle's with lifetime cellular connectivity [1]. I'm not sure what kind of arbitrage possibilities exist here... [1] https://www.amazon.com/All-new-Kindle-Paperwhite-Waterproof-Storage/dp/B075RNKT6G/ https://www.amazon.com/All-new-Kindle-Paperwhite-Waterproof-...

abdullahkhalids 6y ago
I imagine they track usage and block accounts that abuse the service.
TylerE 6y ago
Pretty limited. The cellular connection only connects to amazon.com and Wikipedia
- tppiotrowski 6y ago
  The Kindle also comes with an "Experimental Browser". [1] I've used it on an old Kindle to read the news, craigslist. I'm not sure if it supports JS. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q7eHUI6rSo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q7eHUI6rSo
  - vlunkr 6y ago
    It's been probably a couple of years, but I tried to load HN in it once and it was unreadable, so I don't think it's too great.
    - Tijdreiziger 6y ago
      I read HN on my Kindle's browser fairly regularly. HN itself (and similar pages with a simple layout, such as i.reddit.com) works great. For the articles that are linked, it's a coin flip whether it works or the page has so much cruft that it crashes the browser.
    - skykooler 6y ago
      I used to use the built-in browser to load Google Voice and Google Talk and they worked fine. Of course, this was before they were overhauled into bloated, JS-heavy pages that barely run on non-Chrome mobile browsers.

samspenc 6y ago

Just a note that this post (and accompanying Youtube video) are from early 2019. Not taking away anything from this accomplishment of course, just FYI.

neurobashing 6y ago

I would think an i3-type WM would work better since there's less need to move windows around.

smusamashah 6y ago

I wonder if it's good enough to run a paint app for note taking like experience.

seba_dos1 6y ago

Woah, it's been 8 years now since I've ran Debian on Kindle Paperwhite in pretty much the same way :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHoPgXb-JNM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHoPgXb-JNM

joeskyyy 6y ago

Yeah but can it run kubernetes? /s

heavyset_go 6y ago

Probably could get something like this running with deboostrap[1] if you prefer Debian over Arch. [1] https://wiki.debian.org/Debootstrap https://wiki.debian.org/Debootstrap

zoom6628 6y ago

Insanely cool.

wingi 6y ago

But does it run doom? On pocket book with eink is possible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0apFspOlK10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0apFspOlK10