
Ask HN: Do you use Android's capability to connect devices via OTG? - plugnburn
My laptop&#x27;s hard drive died irrecoverably and it may take a while to get a replacement. Meanwhile, I managed to connect some USB peripherals (a 4-port hub and a keyboard + mouse through it) to my Alcatel OT-5065D smartphone via an OTG adapter and find the experience pretty revolutionizing.<p>Why? Because when combined with Termux (since the smartphone runs Android 5.1) it gives me the ability to install pretty much all working environment I got used to (NodeJS, gcc, git, SSH, Nano, Python, wget etc) and use all screen space wisely without virtual keyboard. In fact, I&#x27;m typing this way right now.<p>If only I had a Miracast dongle... that would convert the smartphone into a full-featured Linux box with a nice screen resolution.<p>Do you use this Android functionality to convert your own OTG-enabled devices from content consumption to content production?
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onion2k
I wasn't aware of Termux. That is a _really_ handy app. Thanks!

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plugnburn
Think of it like a Cygwin for Android. It provides a compatible environment,
not the emulation. But it's really enough in 95% of the cases.

Btw, I can post my nanorc just in case anyone wonders how to get more editor
space on such a screen on a smartphone.

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plugnburn
Posted:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11327207](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11327207)

