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Is there such thing as a palm-sized mobile PC that can just run a desktop Linux distribution (or Windows for that matter) that supports mobile features (calling
by summermusic 2mo ago
Is there such thing as a palm-sized mobile PC that can just run a desktop Linux distribution (or Windows for that matter) that supports mobile features (calling, SMS, and data)? Even if it has rough edges or compromises?
- TheRoque 2mo agoWhat's wrong with just Android?
- bpavuk 2mo agoGoogle!
- tester457 2mo agoThere's a powerlessness to using Android. It's difficult to just do things. Even windows feels more "free." Phone OSes are built like prisons. Ideally Android would let you drop into a real shell, without having to deal with android sandboxing. Regardless, I use termux and tasker to get my automations done.
- streb-lo 2mo agoProbably because carriers don't want a bunch of poorly secured devices on their networks.
- gruez 2mo agoThey don't seem to put much effort in proactively blocking residential VPNs though?
- dsr_ 2mo agoCounter-evidence: the Google Play Store, which is a wretched hive of scum and villainy. And also malware.
- armadyl 2mo agoCounter-evidence: Repos such as AUR That blast radius coupled with (non-Android) Linux's atrocious security is a far worse option
- akimbostrawman 2mo ago>Repos such as AUR AUR isn't a traditional repository but more functions like a paste bin for package build scripts you have to go out of your way to enable and use at your own risk. It is not how actual Linux repositories work which are way more safe than google or even apple app store.
- jolmg 2mo ago> way more safe than google or even apple app store. Probably because of how people submit directly to the commercial app stores and the app store staff are expected to accept them as long as no malware or other problems are detected. Such problems are generally explicitly listed on Terms of Service and app submitters may be able to dispute rejections. Meaning problems generally need to be concrete and justifiable. Also, because of the sheer number, problems are likely scanned for, rather than each app being personally considered by a developer. FOSS distro package repo maintainers generally don't have any such pressures. They get their absolute pick of what to include from the wild, only taking as much as they're able to handle. Also, distro repo maintainers handle the building from the source code themselves, while app store apps are closed source to the app stores. Their ability to inspect apps is very limited.
- lytedev 2mo agoCan't you get USB modems and cram a SIM inside? Are carrier networks really more scary than the internet at large?
- wao0uuno 2mo agoIf that was the reason then Windows laptops with WWAN wouldn't exist.
- Gander5739 2mo agoYou can root it if you really want (and if the bootloader is unlocked)
- smalltorch 2mo agoWhat are the main things you can do in a real shell versus termux for instance? It's a pretty big sandbox in my experience.
- deleted 2mo ago[deleted]
- seba_dos1 2mo agoIf something bothers me with my phone's UI or if I want to change the behavior of some system service, I can do e.g. "apt source phosh", patch it and then "apt build-dep .", "dpkg-buildpackage -b" and "apt install" it right on the phone. I can even send the patch for upstreaming from there. How easy it is to do an equivalent thing on Android?
- jolmg 2mo agoUI-wise, termux can run Xorg and you can modify the interface you use there. You're right about services. Can't run systemd, but they can just run the service programs in the background (e.g. they can call sshd directly). Regarding modifying programs, maybe not that convenient directly on termux, but if it's rooted, you may be able to run docker and modify them in a debian environment. The neat thing about non-Android phones with respect to what you mention is that you can do those things just like how you would on any other computer, without having to worry about Android workarounds that may one day stop working via an update.
- seba_dos1 2mo ago"interface you use there" - yes, with a strong accent on "there". Sure, you can even run a x86 emulator in a browser and run anything you want there as long as it's performant enough, but that's a very different thing to actually controlling the OS you run - and even if you do happen to be in some control, modifying anything in Android without reflashing the entire thing is still a massive PITA. And of course you're not gonna pass the attestations once you assert the control anymore, so why not just ditch Android completely at that point?
- exe34 2mo agoHow do you install kde?
- TheRoque 2mo agoWith Termux: https://www.reddit.com/r/kde/s/1DUmyqTYKJ https://www.reddit.com/r/kde/s/1DUmyqTYKJ
- Kim_Bruning 2mo agoI don't have control over my own device.
- nsonha 2mo agopeople shouldn't have to buy a mac mini to run openclaw, they already have an always-on computer, they just can't install anything computationally useful with it
- pixel_popping 2mo agodoesn't support btrfs snapshots.
- hommelix 2mo agoCurrently Google is planning to lock down the Android platform to only Google Play store software repository. See https://keepandroidopen.org/ https://keepandroidopen.org/ for more info.
- righthand 2mo agoLibrem 5 or one of the other recommended mobile Linux devices: https://linuxstans.com/linux-phone/ https://linuxstans.com/linux-phone/
- cwmoore 2mo agoWow, $150 vs $2000 for ~ the same thing ~
- jolmg 2mo agoMade in China vs Made in USA. PinePhone specs on table are old. They're currently 3GB RAM and 32GB eMMC at 200 USD for package including hub.
- seba_dos1 2mo agoFor starters, the Librem 5 costs $799. The Liberty Phone is a version manufactured in the USA, which is not something everyone will care about. Also, PinePhone is so much slower than Librem 5, which in practice feels closer to the (now discontinued) PinePhone Pro. Their specs only seem similar on paper, and only if you don't dig into the details. Though of course, Librem 5 being a 2019 design isn't a speed demon these days either - but I'm still using one and it's manageable.
- jolmg 2mo ago> PinePhone is so much slower than Librem 5 They're the same specs. Pinephone Pro has more cores, ram, and storage. > Their specs only seem similar on paper, and only if you don't dig into the details. What do you mean?
- seba_dos1 2mo agoThey're very much not. I have both of them on my desk right now. All the things that make the PinePhone so painfully slow (GPU performance, RAM bandwidth, eMMC speed, small caches) are significantly higher spec'd on the Librem 5. It also takes much longer to thermal throttle. Performance isn't defined by CPU cores and RAM size alone.
- pacifi30 2mo agohttps://thehammer.io/ https://thehammer.io/ right now texting device, runs linux :)
- jolmg 2mo agoPinePhone (Pro) or Librem 5 > run a desktop Linux distribution (or Windows for that matter) that supports mobile features (calling, SMS, and data)? The above use ARM SoCs. Palm-sized x86 with cell modem? Doubt it.
- summermusic 2mo agoThank you for the recommendation, but I have a Pinephone Pro and I find it to be so utterly useless because of how slow it is and how buggy the software is. Maybe what I want is just something that doesn’t exist.
- jolmg 2mo agoI get it. Got one. Compromises are many. Speed-wise, it clears the bar for me of being able to watch Youtube on Firefox and use the controls, but yeah it's got bugs and other issues. I may be able to tolerate the speed because of how I used my netbook many years ago. Windows XP was completely useless because of how laggy the GUI was. Archlinux with i3 and a focus on using the shell (e.g. hardly ever touched a file manager) with a very light terminal (urxvt; others like gnome-terminal were too heavy) and other very light apps made it very responsive. I've kept that habit of a core set of light programs even on desktop computers. On the PPP, SXMO with sway WM/composer, foot terminal, and wvkbd as a keyboard is very responsive, too. The only gripe I have speed-wise is that makepkg (an archlinux script) is weirdly slow to start up. Maybe GUIs that have animations are too laggy to be useful; I haven't tried. The eMMC is likely faster than your microSD if the disk is the problem, though I'm on a microSD without issue.
- fsflover 2mo agoPinephone Pro had a very small developer community and thus quite undeveloped software. It was discontinued for this reason. Librem 5 is being developed by both a community and a company, so it's much more usable.
- fooqux 2mo agoPine really fucked up with the PPP. That, and a few other issues around that time really soured me on Pine as a company.
- dsp_person 2mo agoLooks like some of GPD Pocket systems can have sim cards. But don't know how good the linux compatibility is.
- jolmg 2mo agoIf only they were like half the size. M.2 modems generally can't do calls nor SMS, though. It's just data, AFAIK.
- numpad0 2mo agoPurely an akchally, but there is the Fujitsu F-07C. Topologically it was a Windows 7 stick PC duct taped to a 3G flip phone that acts like a KVM console and a modem.
- summermusic 2mo agoYeah, that's basically exactly what I'm looking for, except modern enough.
- matejdro 2mo agoGPD Pocket / GPD microPC seem to be the only "small PC" products nowadays. But they do not support calling and SMS (they have 4G modem option for data, but it's not seemingly not very good). At that point I think I might get one of those and use them as an everyday computing device (with Waydroid for Android apps) plus a small light Android phone for calling, tethering and locked down apps that do not work otherwise.