So, without rooting or plugging your phone into a real computer you can:
Run a database ? (good luck running postgres with the OS killing processes all the time)
Run docker ?
Taking screen captures anywhere ? (this one actually got me yesterday while trying to screen capture netflix on my one plus 3)
Run f.lux ?
Run one virtual machine with windows on it ?
Capture 3G traffic with wireshark ?
Install a driver to read a USB key in another partition format not allowed by the OS ?
Bypass DRM ?
Resize partitions to get a dual boot ?
Run Wine ? (and they tried hard. Since fosdem 2014 at least)
Install patches as soon as a vulnerability is discovered, and not waiting on your phone seller to wake up ?
And if you just consider iOS, it's way, way worse. At least on android you have access to part of the filesystem.
The thing is, in computing, nothing works exactly right. And with my laptop, I have always a way to work around problems. With phones, I'm just stuck with it. Multitasking sucks. Automation is terrible. You may install a GNU env, but it has access to so little you can't script your way out of anything.
Run a database ? (good luck running postgres with the OS killing processes all the time)
Run docker ?
Taking screen captures anywhere ? (this one actually got me yesterday while trying to screen capture netflix on my one plus 3)
Run f.lux ?
Run one virtual machine with windows on it ?
Capture 3G traffic with wireshark ?
Install a driver to read a USB key in another partition format not allowed by the OS ?
Bypass DRM ?
Resize partitions to get a dual boot ?
Run Wine ? (and they tried hard. Since fosdem 2014 at least)
Install patches as soon as a vulnerability is discovered, and not waiting on your phone seller to wake up ?
And if you just consider iOS, it's way, way worse. At least on android you have access to part of the filesystem.
The thing is, in computing, nothing works exactly right. And with my laptop, I have always a way to work around problems. With phones, I'm just stuck with it. Multitasking sucks. Automation is terrible. You may install a GNU env, but it has access to so little you can't script your way out of anything.