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Running Linux on your smartphone in 2020 (tuxphones.com)
40 points by jmngomes on Jan 15, 2020 | hide | past | favorite | 6 comments



Termux [0] is an excellent "other" method of having access to A LOT of GNU/Linux and FOSS tools on any Android device. You can also chroot a full distribution on it and get access to all the packages available from that distribution.

0. https://termux.com/


Termux is cool tech (including running full Linux in a chroot). I would also mention UserLAnd [0] to run full Linux distributions sand specific application with a simple install.

The thing I am missing the most is HDMI video out, as my retired Nexus 5 could do with MHL and a simple dongle on the USB micro port. That dongle could also provide power and another USB port for a mouse or keyboard. Very few modern phones seem to have any video out other than casting. I do see that DisplayLink does support Android, but I've yet to find a dongle that also provides USB C power delivery in a nice portable package.

0. https://userland.tech/


> The thing I am missing the most is HDMI video out, as my retired Nexus 5 could do with MHL and a simple dongle on the USB micro port. That dongle could also provide power and another USB port for a mouse or keyboard. Very few modern phones seem to have any video out other than casting. I do see that DisplayLink does support Android, but I've yet to find a dongle that also provides USB C power delivery in a nice portable package.

Many phones support USB-C's DisplayPort Alternate Mode which basically does HDMI over USB-C and allows for power and data, a cheap adapter [0] is all you need.

[0] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R7PD8TR


I'm using a USB-A DisplayLink adapter with a USB-C OTG adapter on my device, works very well for traveling, but yeah definitely wish there was one that was just straight USB-C and had a power pass-through.

Supposedly a few docks are coming out that will support it, but they seem to be fairly bulky.


Question for the knowledgeable, what "makes" Ubuntu touch and can those components be ported to arch?


Mír, libhybris and Unity8 are (AFAIK) the big pieces of the software stack.

I believe Mír is available on Arch.

Unity8 has been ported already, though I don't know how current that port is.

https://github.com/vanyasem/Unity8-Arch




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