
The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018 - ekianjo
https://www.giantpockets.com/?p=5615
======
ansible
I used to be sort of obsessed with some kind of handheld Linux machine.
Devices I've had included:

HP 200 LX with 40MB PCMCIA storage. Tried to run a cut-down 16-bit version of
Linux on it, but I don't think I ever got that running properly.

Original Sharp Zaurus, the first Linux PDA. Tried to run Linux on a Compaq
iPaq at some point too.

Asus EEE PC 401 with the 7in screen and 4GB of storage. The first of the
netbooks. Performance and build quality were not good. But it was very cute.

HTC ADP1 (G1), the first Android phone. Decent keyboard, terrible battery
life. Connectbot was awesome for SSHing into remote systems, and local
development was slightly possible with a Linux chroot environment.

Samsung Sidekick 4G. By far the best keyboard on any handheld device I've ever
tried. Great feel, and I could get up to 30wpm. I was also able to set up a
chroot environment. Had to modify the keyboard map to enable the last few
ASCII characters not normally available via Fn keypress.

The idea was that I'd be able to do some software development on the go. But
that didn't really work out either.

The device I'm most happy with so far is my current Chromebook. I've got a
full Ubuntu environment via Crouton on a 128GB SD card, though most of the
time I'm just SSHing into a workstation. Light, cheap, and with a long battery
life. The keyboard is good enough that I'm running at nearly full speed,
though I do miss my dedicated caps-lock.

~~~
qubex
Like you, I have an almost obsession-level fascination with Linux on palmtops.
I think I can trace it all the way back to seeing a young John Connor ‘hack’
an ATM or something in the watershed _Terminator 2_ movie when I was a kid.

Like you I've had an HP 200LX (the closest I've come to Connor's pocket Atari-
or-whatever), a Compaq iPaq, a PSION Series 7 ‘netbook’, and (most recently,
not Linux-related) an Apple eMate 300 (the clamshell, translucent, school-
oriented Newton ‘laptop’ variant).

~~~
morganvachon
Joining the club, I've had the same obsession with portables. The first
portable device I tried to shoehorn Linux onto was a Fujitsu Stylistic 2300
from the late '90s (attempt made in 2001). From there I tinkered with the
Sharp Zaurus series, the HP palmtops, and the Netpliance iOpener "web
appliance", which I had running Slackware Linux. I carried that contraption to
college and used it as a demonstration of the power of Linux to my NA
instructor's delight.

I always wanted the eMate 300 having never owned a Newton. I also was a PalmOS
fanatic from about 1999 through the late 2000s, with my first "smartphone" a
Treo 650 after having owned over a dozen Palm devices previously.

------
primitur
I have pretty much every Linux handheld ever made, and my original First Batch
Open Pandora is still the one I go to for my casual gaming needs. The reason
is that the community around this device continues to produce absolute gems
for the machine, as can be witnessed in what would have to be one of the most
underrated app-store/repo's around:

[http://repo.openpandora.org](http://repo.openpandora.org)

My next-favourite device is the GPD Pocket. Its simply a _great_ Linux
workstation - near-perfect hardware design (unibody: yay! shitty keyboard:
boo!) and - since its Intel - pretty much everything you could want to run on
a machine this size is just an "apt install" away. Paired with a couple of
iControlPads' (lol!), this is pretty much the ideal portable gaming rig.

I can't wait for the Pyra, and if there's a GPDPocket2, I'm definitely in for
that. I'd love to have a device that delivers the community and form-factor of
the Pyra, with the materials (unibody) and architecture (Intel) of the GPD
Pocket some day. In order that we get there, I'm supporting any of these
companies that push us closer .. even though, of course, a Switch or an
Android tablet would probably be a better investment for gaming needs. ;)

~~~
tluyben2
I really like the Pocket; everyone (including you) complains about the
keyboard but it just takes a few days to get used to it imho. It has stellar
battery life (ubuntu + i3wm gets me well over 20 hours while coding). For
casual gaming my OpenPandora is still my go to. Indeed a Switch seems tempting
but I like having a device I can code on, again, stellar battery life, and I
have spare batteries for the thing so I can go hiking for days and do some
gaming + coding at night. Can't wait for the Pyra indeed.

My ideal device would have unibody, swappable battery and 3g, so the Pyra. The
Gemini seems great but not sure about the battery life on it. Or the Linux
support although they seem serious about it.

~~~
csydas
The Pocket seems dubious to me - the article got my attention, but the price
tag I'm seeing on Amazon ($600+) makes me shy away. Refurb 11" MacBook Airs
are in that range, plus any other number of low-end Windows laptops, or even
hacking away at a Pi-Top.

~~~
tluyben2
I want something that fits in my pocket; the Pocket does. It is not phone size
but for me it is comfortable and it has a lot longer battery life. The air is
too big for what I use the Pocket for.

------
TheAceOfHearts
I pre-ordered the Pyra and have been following its development ever since.
IMO, many companies could learn a lot from them. Despite being such a small
team they give out regular updates and are completely transparent. I think as
long as you're honest about what's going on people are very understanding
about delays and many other issues.

For an example of a massive hardware screw-up, take a look at the Jolla
tablet. They barely gave any updates, always pretending everything was great,
and suddenly they're out of money and cancelling the whole thing. Springing
that up out of nowhere completely killed my trust with them.

~~~
gadgetoid
I'm still on the sidelines with the Pyra, but keen to see how it pans out!
It's looking really really close now, though.

Two Months?

------
sexydefinesher
How could they not mention the most important and groundbreaking one, although
it doesnt release in 2018.
[https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/](https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/)

~~~
nextos
That's true. We need a phone running a pure Linux userland.

The Nokia N770-N9 saga was too good to be forgotten. IMHO, Librem should
include some form of physical keyboard to take full advantage of Linux. GNOME
is already quite touch friendly, but still.

Aside, Jolla seems to be going to be purchased quite soon. I hope the new
owners try to come up with a new business model that involves open-source.
Sailfish failed to attract a critical mass of developers due to closed
components and never meeting their own open-sourcing promises.

~~~
mpol
Jolla is very much in survival-mode. Their priority is to build a sustainable
business. Making Silica open source is not aiding that sustainable business in
the short term.

Be aware, making software open source involves a lot of work. You don't just
throw stuff over the fence and be done with it. You need to maintain it,
review and apply patches, answer questions, write docs. That doesn't come
free, and doesn't help the cause of surviving in the short term.

Just look around at all the businesses that have failed to make a sustainable
business out of mobile linux phones. Ubuntu Touch is dead, and forked into
UBports. Firefox OS is dead, and forked into something else. Purism has a good
marketing team, but they are just starting. It is not easy to create a
sustainable business out of this. And users are very critical and often demand
feature parity with iOS and Android.

~~~
nerdponx
_You need to maintain it, review and apply patches, answer questions, write
docs_

I don't understand this. None of that is necessary at all in order to release
the source code. Just make it available to download. Heck, you can even
"protect" it (nominally) with a download code that you ship along with the
device, like you find with music.

~~~
mpol
Even then you need to vet it beforehand, if it all legal and clean to offer as
open source download.

------
saagarjha
My personal take on Linux handhelds is that they're held back by their user
interfaces. None of the options I've seen have the polish of iOS and Android;
they just look ugly and painful to use. On desktop this is 1. improving and 2.
partially masked by the paradigm that you're supposed to "get work done", but
mobile is in a large part still a platform for consumption and issues such as
these make it difficult to seriously use them as such.

~~~
fyfy18
I use Linux on the desktop and this is my biggest gripe their too (well it’s
the same on BSD too, nothing Linux specific). Sometimes I wish the desktop
environments were a bit more opinionated like MacOS (but without all the
restrictions). I’m keeping a close eye on elementary OS to see where that ends
up.

~~~
dorfsmay
Isn't one of the main criticism of GNOME that it's too opinionated?

~~~
leadingthenet
And those people are exactly the reason why Linux will never be the OS of
choice on desktop for the vast majority of people. Which it should be, because
it's a great piece of software, underneath the horrible UX.

~~~
nine_k
In this sense, Linux already _is_ the OS for hundreds of millions, in the form
of Android.

It just got a very different UI and somehow reworked userland.

Is this what you'd prefer on the desktop, too?

~~~
saagarjha
Personally, I think so. Leave the custom Arch or Debian builds for those who
need it, and have a polished Linux distro “for the masses”. That’s basically
what Chrome OS is, and it’s pretty popular (though, I’d like it if it was more
customizable like Android is rather than just being a web browser).

------
fractallyte
I'm keeping it modular and simple: Jolla's Sailfish X on a Sony Xperia, and a
Jorno bluetooth keyboard.

All my development tools run on a _native_ terminal (Emacs, SBCL, Erlang). SSH
'just works'. Android apps too, if I really need any of them.

Basically, for my needs, it's an ultra-portable computer with the benefits of
telephony. (And protected - on trips - in an absurdly over-the-top armored
case by Love Mei.)

~~~
walterbell
Is it difficult to install Sailfish on the Sony Xperia?

~~~
xeeeeeeeeeeenu
No, it's not hard and it's officially supported by Jolla. Note that Sailfish X
is a commercial product, it costs 50 EUR:

[https://jolla.com/sailfishx/](https://jolla.com/sailfishx/)

~~~
walterbell
Thanks, it looks like a VPN is needed to purchase from the US.

------
chx
You can put a Linux in a chroot on most (? all?) Android devices , even non
rooted [https://www.xda-developers.com/guide-installing-and-
running-...](https://www.xda-developers.com/guide-installing-and-running-a-
gnulinux-environment-on-any-android-device/) and the Moto Z family has a
landscape keyboard upcoming [https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/physical-
keyboard-mod-for...](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/physical-keyboard-mod-
for-moto-z/x/5633299) so that should be a contender too, I feel.

~~~
ekianjo
It's not optimal because your have to go thru Android anyway and since Android
phone end up having a very limited lifetime of updates you will have to run a
chroot on top of an unsecure/obsolete Android version over the long run.

~~~
lostmsu
There's Lineage OS

~~~
ekianjo
Do you still have to download their builds on shady servers?

~~~
drdaeman
Build yourself, using your own signing keys and your own patches (if you need
any - I do).

There are various Docker images with everything necessary in the Dockerfile
and user needs to only specify the device's model name (and any extra options,
like build type).

Takes some time but the only thing one needs to trust is the source code
(which is nearly impossible to fully audit, though)

------
qengho
Check out Noodle Pi – [http://noodlepi.com](http://noodlepi.com)

It’s the world’s smallest and lightest handheld computer. And unlike most of
these devices with tiny built-in keyboards, it features a modular docking
system so you can dock it with a range of different keyboards, from a tiny
thumb keyboard to a full-sized one, or a gamepad.

Noodle Pi can be assembled, disassembled, repaired and upgraded by users, with
no soldering or tools required. Being powered by a Raspberry Pi Zero, it also
runs entirely off a MicroSD card, which greatly facilitates physical security
for your system. You can just remove the MicroSD card and keep it physically
secure, rather than having to secure the whole device.

There are also a number of wearable configurations possible with Noodle Pi,
including a wrist dock that enables wearing it as a wrist-watch, a belt
holster, and a clip holster. Lanyard holes in all the docks facilitate even
more wearable configurations.

Review of Noodle Pi by Bryan Lunduke:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82_bPWyrPFc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82_bPWyrPFc)

~~~
yjftsjthsd-h
> It’s the world’s smallest and lightest handheld computer.

Only for very specific definitions. Some phones are smaller than that, and
there are GNU+Linux wrist watches.

~~~
qengho
Phones aren't PCs. They are crippled and locked-down devices. Of the ones that
are capable of running a full Linux distro, I don't believe any are even close
to the size of Noodle Pi.

I'm not aware of any Linux wristwatch or any other computer that's in
production and available to buy that is smaller than Noodle Pi. If you know of
a Linux wristwatch that's for sale commercially I'd love to know about it.

The only Linux wristwatches I see in a quick online search are two prototype
devices, one made by Steve Mann and the other by IBM. Neither of those devices
were actually usable as a PC, or available commercially. Mann's actually
relied on a second hidden wearable computer to provide the actual processing
power.

~~~
yjftsjthsd-h
> Phones aren't PCs. They are crippled and locked-down devices.

We have differing definitions. I might concede phones as separate from "PCs",
but the original phrase was "handheld computer", which most phones are. Yes,
many are locked down at the bootloader level, but they're still general-
purpose computing devices. With Termux or a chroot, you can even get GNU
goodness on them. Even without that, Android/iOS are as much computers as
Windows S devices; they can run programs compiled for that OS, and have normal
full-function CPUs, GPUs, and network stacks. The _default_ use-cases are
restricted, but worst case you can flip on the switch for sideloading APKs and
run any code you want.

> Linux wristwatch

Prepare to be amazed(1) :) [https://asteroidos.org/](https://asteroidos.org/)
is a proper GNU/Linux system for hardware that shipped with Android Wear. It's
running a tiny QT GUI on the touchscreen, but you can SSH in
([https://asteroidos.org/wiki/ssh/](https://asteroidos.org/wiki/ssh/)) and get
a normal system, systemd and all.

(1) I mean this sincerely; it still amazes me every time I look at what
they've built.

~~~
qengho
Yes, for the sake of precision I should probably have used the term “PC”
rather than “computer”. I thought the meaning was pretty clear from the phrase
“handheld computer”.

AsteroidOS looks very cool, thanks for the link. But a watch "running a tiny
QT GUI on the touchscreen”, and which you can only really use as a computer by
SSHing in via another computer, is not a PC, by any reasonable definition.

I'm aware of many little devices that can run Linux, but they're not full-
fledged PCs unless they have reasonably sized screens and enough processing
power to run regular PC apps in a usable manner.

Neither is a phone, which is neither marketed as a PC (or a “computer”), nor
able to run any apps that aren't written specifically for Android / iOS,
without all sorts of complicated shenanigans to jailbreak its lock-down, which
is designed precisely to prevent it from being used as a general purpose
computer.

Some people can “skate” on a bicycle while standing up on the seat and
handlebar. That doesn’t mean a bicycle is a skateboard. Especially if they had
to first break built-in protections in the bicycle specifically designed to
prevent them from doing that.

Also sideloading APKs is a far cry from “run any code you want”. Can I run a
GTK app written in Perl on an Android phone by sideloading an APK?

------
Joeboy
I really like the idea of having the Gemini or Pocket for occasionally writing
on the move, but I don't think I can justify them at that price. Is there any
cheaper option for somebody who's not too bothered about Linux or
powerfulness? I note the cool but ancient Psion 5mx still seems to go for £200
or so on ebay. Is there any kind of pocketable writing workhorse in production
at a sensible price?

~~~
f_allwein
How about keyboard + storage + minimal display?
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaSmart](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaSmart)

~~~
ytjohn
I actually picked up a couple of these with the idea of putting a PiZero in
them. There's a good bit of space in the area on both sides of the screen. If
we could make the keyboard recognizable by the pi in some capacity (perhaps
with an arduino translator), definitely some possibilities.

------
FullyFunctional
Sloppy article. The Gemini _is_ shipping now and a, eh, handful, have landed
in early backers hands. The question of future support have come up repeatedly
and Planet Computers understands this and have promised to "open source what
they can". While this leaves a lot of question, the specifically mentioned
boot loaders. Thus, bleeding-edge Linux support might depend on community
support, but it's not impossible.

~~~
ekianjo
> Gemini is shipping now and a, eh, handful, have landed in early backers
> hands

the same can be said for the GPD2, but that does not make it "officially
released" until you can purchase it anywhere, anytime.

~~~
mycall
If you consider indiegogo 24/7 online, accessible through a browser, you can
purchase the GPD2 anywhere, anytime. Delivery is a bit delayed while they
still build them though.

------
vram22
Interesting thread, going to check out it and the OP. I've entertained
thoughts of getting a handheld pocket Linux-based device. Would want a way to
type on it to do light programming though, without it being too awkward or
slow. A while ago, had almost decided to buy a Nokia N900 based on a glowing
description of it by an acquaintance who had one, then did not buy it due to a
couple of issues - read a negative review of one component of it (a USB
connector, IIRC), and it was also discontinued, IIRC.

Apropos of the OP, anyone know what happened to LinuxDevices.com? It used to
be a decent news site about the topic. Maybe it got acquired or closed down.

~~~
jkepler
I don't know about LinuxDevices.com, but have you looked at the Neo900
project? They're updating the internals of the Nokia N900, and their plans
include fixing the USB connector. Even though their specs won't be brand new,
I think its a quite interesting project as it will be libre software from the
bootloader up, and they're designing the circuits to be able to definitely
power off the GSM chip from the CPU, so that you can control it, not vice
verse (since there's no libre GSM chips available).

~~~
vram22
Just saw your comment now ...

Thanks for the info. Interesting generally, and also that they plan to fix the
USB connector. Will check out Neo900.

------
mncharity
Hmm... with standalone HMDs coming out this year, I wonder what might be the
VR equivalent of linux handhelds?

HMDs based on qualcomm's snapdragon 835 vr chipset are android, so perhaps
someday linux on android on HMD.

But you can also think of HMDs as merely fancy monitors. And use a bluetooth
keyboard (for flexibility). Leaving you with simply a portable headless linux
box. Acting as a wifi hub.[1] Serving say a WebVR RDP client to the HMD.

So imagine a standalone android HMD (like [2]), decorated with a linux single-
board computer. Or several. Maybe with power from the HMD battery (~4k mAh)
via USB. So power-on all, run chromium in the HMD, browse to the linux board,
run Xpra RDP in stereo. For passthrough AR, one often wants more cameras and
associated computes than an HMD provides out of the box (for dynamic range,
and high-res narrow-FoV to see lecture slides, and fisheye for better
situational awareness (eg on public transport), and optical tracking of hands
and keyboard and such). So imagine a Pi-based ecosystem of linux HMD-mounted
symbiotes. And any boards with their own battery, and not doing camera, can
stay in a backpack or pocket, simply connected by wifi. Thoughts?

Linux _head_ helds.

[1] [https://learn.adafruit.com/setting-up-a-raspberry-pi-as-a-
wi...](https://learn.adafruit.com/setting-up-a-raspberry-pi-as-a-wifi-access-
point/overview) [2] [https://www.anandtech.com/show/12297/lenovo-details-its-
stan...](https://www.anandtech.com/show/12297/lenovo-details-its-standalone-
daydream-vr-hmd-the-mirage-solo-at-ces-2018)

~~~
geoffpado
The Pockulus C.H.I.P.
([http://pockulus.getchip.com](http://pockulus.getchip.com)) is a Linux-based
headset. It's meant to be a bit silly, but it's real, it's Linux-based, and
it's a headset.

------
quigonjinn7
Can any of those run GNU/Linux without any blobs? That is, with the linux-
libre kernel and no proprietary graphics drivers?

~~~
jkepler
Not that I'm aware of. The only phone project I know that's trying to run
libre software from the bootloader up is the Neo900 (new internals in a Nokia
N900 case). And in the case of the GSM module, if I understand correctly,
they're designing a circuit that guarantees you can power it off from the CPU.
So basically, their architecture is to not trust the modem, since its running
proprietary software.

------
jokoon
For years I was reluctant to type with a tactile screen, but after trying the
"swype" mode to type, I found that I'm actually faster with it than with a
classic keyboard. So a keyboard now seems obsolete for me. I admit that there
are still issues with it, like for example this annoying bug when it does 2
words suggestions

However, I still have to find an adequate solution to efficiently type code
(offline or online, but both should be possible) using an android, as gboard
is definitely not designed for it.

There are apps available that can run python or other interpreted languages,
so you can connect a real keyboard on an android, but even small keyboards are
rarely high quality.

I guess a solution would be some tactile keyboard app that is designed for
programming.

~~~
stuaxo
Now Swype is going, can you recommend anything in it's place?

~~~
tough_luck
Google keyboard or Gboard has swype like feature for a while now. Other
options are SwiftKey and choorma keyboard

------
stuaxo
I've got the GPD pocket, haven't had much time to use it because of a baby
being around (she's pretty interested in it though). i wish the keyboard was
better, I would probably use it more if it was.

~~~
slantyyz
I have the GPD Win 1 (Windows only) and while it's a pretty good pocket
computer, I'm reluctant to ever buy another product from them because the
support is lacking at best.

Several users have had batteries swell, and GPD has not provided any avenue
for these users to get replacements. Some members of the community have
stepped up, but the batteries are subject to shipping rules, so people in some
countries are still out of luck.

~~~
mycall
Isn't a battery a battery? Anything that fits, with the right pin outs, works?

~~~
slantyyz
No. Without getting into too much detail (the /r/gpdwin subreddit can provide
more info), the battery has to be a specific voltage, high drain and a
specific size because the chassis has very little room in it. There are
knockoffs of the battery on AliExpress, but people who have bought them have
reported having all sorts of problem with them.

The unit also won't work without a battery on AC power only, because it looks
like it was made with pre-existing tablet guts in that it only gets power from
the battery irrespective of whether it's charging or not.

And given that the OEM batteries are subject to expansion, there's no reason
to think that an OEM replacements wouldn't either.

FWIW, the GPD Win 2 doesn't have these issues, because it has a different
design.

------
chunsj
What I hope to see (and would like to buy) is the one with form factor of VAIO
UX or OQO. I think current technology of ARM can make this happen again with
longer battery time.

I've used VAIO UX with arch linux and the keyboard is sufficiently comfortable
enough to run emacs for "mobile coding" :)

------
Spastche
I had high hopes for the pocket C.H.I.P last year but it kinda fizzled out and
ripped off a bunch of people.

~~~
askvictor
I have one and it's neat in a retro kind of way; sorry to hear it's gone
badly.

------
greggarious
Android phones and tablets don't count as handhelds? ;)

~~~
tjoff
From a users perspective android doesn't really count as Linux.

------
emodendroket
These all seem like weird compromises satisfying neither to people who want to
do serious computing nor people to just want to play some games on the go.

------
frabbit
The Pyra's PowerVR GPU is disappointing. I wonder how good power control will
be without a free driver.

------
z3t4
Skip the keyboard and add another screen with stylus support.

------
lolikoisuru
None of these work without binary blobs.

------
platz
rip Ubuntu Edge...

