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I could fall in love with such a phone. One where I can easily run Python processes inside screen sessions, which gather GPS and other sensor data for rapid pro

I could fall in love with such a phone. One where I can easily run Python processes inside screen sessions, which gather GPS and other sensor data for rapid prototyping, stream that data over a WebSocket connection, then some Bluetooth stuff in Go. Computing stuff.

jegea 6y ago
I own the 3GB Manjaro edition of the PinePhone (same hardware as this one, AFAIK) and, while in theory you can do everything that you describe with it, it is hardly something you could use as your only smartphone for the day. (I still love it, though, and love hacking away with it!!) However, as of today, there's a much better way of achieving what you're describing in an Android phone: Termux (1) With Termux you can use an amazing number of regular Linux/UNIX tools, interface them with phone specific functionality (like GPS or other sensors) and still enjoy having a modern smartphone in terms of apps available, performance and battery life. (Shameless plug: you can watch Termux in action in this talk from last year (2). It's centered around Ruby, but Python works just fine, too) (1) https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/Main_Page https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/Main_Page https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/Termux:API https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/Termux:API (2) https://vimeo.com/482309000/1534e97efd https://vimeo.com/482309000/1534e97efd (edit: typo)
- hobofan 6y ago
  As of today yes, but who knows about tomorrow. Termux might be facing a harsh future given the changes in Android 10.[0] Actually switching to a pure Linux phone and might be the more viable long-term solution. [0]: https://github.com/termux/termux-packages/wiki/Termux-and-Android-10 https://github.com/termux/termux-packages/wiki/Termux-and-An...
  - stazz1 6y ago
    "Linux Phone"... music to my ears!
  - jegea 6y ago
    Sadly true, indeed. It's a shame we're losing so much useful functionality there. Security is a worthy goal but getting rid of useful features just because Google wants to handhold Android users so much seems to me like throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
  - qwertox 6y ago
    I was using SL4A [0] back in the days, had a Twisted server running on it, until the development on it stopped. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scripting_Layer_for_Android https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scripting_Layer_for_Android
    - goffi 6y ago
      You should have a look at Python-for-Android, it's maintained and works quite well. https://python-for-android.readthedocs.io https://python-for-android.readthedocs.io
  - anderspitman 6y ago
    This is important, but sadly a lot of people don't seem to notice/care what Google is doing to Android. The question in my mind is whether the quality of devices like the Pinephone can get high enough before the functionality of Android drops below a point where certain things simply become impossible.
criddell 6y ago
Did you ever get a chance to play with the Nokia Python phone? It was pre-iPhone days, but it looked very promising. https://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=148064 https://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=148064
- wayvey 6y ago
  Pretty much all their Symbian S60 phones ran a version of Python called PyS60. Fun times, I used to play with it a lot.
- Fnoord 6y ago
  Back in 2006 you could run Python on Maemo. Which, true, was neither a phone nor smartphone. However, a little bit later they released the Nokia N900 and the Nokia N9.

jegea 6y ago

I own the 3GB Manjaro edition of the PinePhone (same hardware as this one, AFAIK) and, while in theory you can do everything that you describe with it, it is hardly something you could use as your only smartphone for the day. (I still love it, though, and love hacking away with it!!) However, as of today, there's a much better way of achieving what you're describing in an Android phone: Termux (1) With Termux you can use an amazing number of regular Linux/UNIX tools, interface them with phone specific functionality (like GPS or other sensors) and still enjoy having a modern smartphone in terms of apps available, performance and battery life. (Shameless plug: you can watch Termux in action in this talk from last year (2). It's centered around Ruby, but Python works just fine, too) (1) https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/Main_Page https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/Main_Page https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/Termux:API https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/Termux:API (2) https://vimeo.com/482309000/1534e97efd https://vimeo.com/482309000/1534e97efd (edit: typo)

hobofan 6y ago
As of today yes, but who knows about tomorrow. Termux might be facing a harsh future given the changes in Android 10.[0] Actually switching to a pure Linux phone and might be the more viable long-term solution. [0]: https://github.com/termux/termux-packages/wiki/Termux-and-Android-10 https://github.com/termux/termux-packages/wiki/Termux-and-An...
- stazz1 6y ago
  "Linux Phone"... music to my ears!
- jegea 6y ago
  Sadly true, indeed. It's a shame we're losing so much useful functionality there. Security is a worthy goal but getting rid of useful features just because Google wants to handhold Android users so much seems to me like throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
- qwertox 6y ago
  I was using SL4A [0] back in the days, had a Twisted server running on it, until the development on it stopped. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scripting_Layer_for_Android https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scripting_Layer_for_Android
  - goffi 6y ago
    You should have a look at Python-for-Android, it's maintained and works quite well. https://python-for-android.readthedocs.io https://python-for-android.readthedocs.io
- anderspitman 6y ago
  This is important, but sadly a lot of people don't seem to notice/care what Google is doing to Android. The question in my mind is whether the quality of devices like the Pinephone can get high enough before the functionality of Android drops below a point where certain things simply become impossible.

criddell 6y ago

Did you ever get a chance to play with the Nokia Python phone? It was pre-iPhone days, but it looked very promising. https://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=148064 https://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=148064

wayvey 6y ago
Pretty much all their Symbian S60 phones ran a version of Python called PyS60. Fun times, I used to play with it a lot.
Fnoord 6y ago
Back in 2006 you could run Python on Maemo. Which, true, was neither a phone nor smartphone. However, a little bit later they released the Nokia N900 and the Nokia N9.