5 ms·

In the past (pre-Android 10), you could do that with Samsung Galaxy phones - plug them into USB-C dock, launch Linux-on-Dex and you got Linux desktop.

goffi 6y ago
you can do that right now with a PinePhone.
- apatheticonion 6y ago
  Wait... What?! EDIT: ah, sadly looks like it's not something that's daily drive-able https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCKMxzz9cjs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCKMxzz9cjs
  - goffi 6y ago
    you can get a convergence pack with more RAM (3GB) and storage and with a USB-C docking bar (that you can also buy separately). Once plugged, you have a desktop GNU/Linux, I've tested with Plasma Mobile and it's working quite well (got a few crashes, but it's not flagged as fully stable yet).
  - josteink 6y ago
    The software is OKish and getting better at a steady rate. The SOC in the PinePhone is nowhere near beefy enough though. Running the same stack on an M1-chip would probably a game changer usability-wise.
PeterisP 6y ago
What changed with Android 10?
- Liquid_Fire 6y ago
  Samsung discontinued support for Linux-on-DeX (which was always experimental/beta anyway). I assume whatever hacks they had in place to make the thing work were too hard to port to Android 10 for what was essentially a feature for hobbyists. You can still use DeX itself to get a desktop environment when you plug your phone into a dock, but it's an Android desktop environment, with Android apps running in floating windows.
- vetinari 6y ago
  Linux on Dex (ubuntu in container) was abandoned and cannot be launched anymore. Dex itself works, but that is just an Android desktop.
randallsquared 6y ago
Still works with my Samsung on Android 11. ETA: actually, still an android interface, not X or anything.
- vetinari 6y ago
  That's why I wrote Linux-on-Dex, not Dex. Dex itself works, Linux-on-Dex doesn't anymore. Linux-on-Dex was Ubuntu container with X11.
zibzab 6y ago
Can do that already: * Termux on any android * dex on highend Samsung * moto has something similar * chromeos also has a built-in VM
- apatheticonion 6y ago
  This is pretty cool. I could host my development environment on my desktop PC and using Termux, ssh into it and use vim as an IDE. I can also forward ports so I can access things from my browser, though no debug, console, network tooling. There is an obvious lack of tooling - a full fat Linux desktop would be much better equipped, but it is incredible that this is possible at all. I'll experiment with this.
- awoimbee 6y ago
  The AnLinux app is great to setup a linux rootfs on linux. But it's limited, you can't run docker for example. I would love to recycle old phones into Kubernetes nodes !

goffi 6y ago

you can do that right now with a PinePhone.

apatheticonion 6y ago
Wait... What?! EDIT: ah, sadly looks like it's not something that's daily drive-able https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCKMxzz9cjs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCKMxzz9cjs
- goffi 6y ago
  you can get a convergence pack with more RAM (3GB) and storage and with a USB-C docking bar (that you can also buy separately). Once plugged, you have a desktop GNU/Linux, I've tested with Plasma Mobile and it's working quite well (got a few crashes, but it's not flagged as fully stable yet).
- josteink 6y ago
  The software is OKish and getting better at a steady rate. The SOC in the PinePhone is nowhere near beefy enough though. Running the same stack on an M1-chip would probably a game changer usability-wise.

PeterisP 6y ago

What changed with Android 10?

Liquid_Fire 6y ago
Samsung discontinued support for Linux-on-DeX (which was always experimental/beta anyway). I assume whatever hacks they had in place to make the thing work were too hard to port to Android 10 for what was essentially a feature for hobbyists. You can still use DeX itself to get a desktop environment when you plug your phone into a dock, but it's an Android desktop environment, with Android apps running in floating windows.
vetinari 6y ago
Linux on Dex (ubuntu in container) was abandoned and cannot be launched anymore. Dex itself works, but that is just an Android desktop.

randallsquared 6y ago

Still works with my Samsung on Android 11. ETA: actually, still an android interface, not X or anything.

vetinari 6y ago
That's why I wrote Linux-on-Dex, not Dex. Dex itself works, Linux-on-Dex doesn't anymore. Linux-on-Dex was Ubuntu container with X11.

zibzab 6y ago

Can do that already: * Termux on any android * dex on highend Samsung * moto has something similar * chromeos also has a built-in VM

apatheticonion 6y ago
This is pretty cool. I could host my development environment on my desktop PC and using Termux, ssh into it and use vim as an IDE. I can also forward ports so I can access things from my browser, though no debug, console, network tooling. There is an obvious lack of tooling - a full fat Linux desktop would be much better equipped, but it is incredible that this is possible at all. I'll experiment with this.
awoimbee 6y ago
The AnLinux app is great to setup a linux rootfs on linux. But it's limited, you can't run docker for example. I would love to recycle old phones into Kubernetes nodes !