Linux Phones

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Community about running GNU/Linux on phones. Projects like Ubuntu Touch, Plasma Mobile, PostmarketOS, Mobian etc. Either on former Android phones or hardware like the PinePhone.

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Recommendations for mobile Linux desktop environments that run well on an x86 tablet? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I have an unused Windows tablet from 2021 running some Core M processor or other that I want to put Linux on and start using again. It doesn't have a keyboard so I would have to actually use it as a tablet and not a laptop. Is there a distro built around one of the mobile desktop environments that also runs well on x86? (Last time I tried Linux mobile it was pretty much only for ARM and I never got it to work well on even an x86 virtual machine.) Or is regular GNOME deskrop still my best bet for a tablet?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (3 children)

both Gnome and Plasma support touch, so try em out and see which you'll like more. go for the freshest distros so you have the newest versions of either as touch is being worked on constantly.

not sure if you'll be able to actually use the thing without an external keyboard/mouse; case in point, Gnome for the longest time didn't allow touch to initiate dropdowns in the UI, kinda big deal.

be sure to not use greeter logins and disk encryption as the on-screen keyboards (OSK) don't work outside the DE. also, issues with non-US keyboard layouts.

just a warning, if you've used an Android or iOS tablet, the support is pretty basic and the experience and performance is nowhere near that level.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

@dingdongitsabear @HiddenLayer555 take a look at pmOS osk-sdl for LUKS unlock: https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Osk-sdl

Heck- just try @postmarketOS on the thing 😄

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

@pak0st @dingdongitsabear @HiddenLayer555 @postmarketOS I think osk-sdl is deprecated. I woul'd go with unl0kr. But I woul'd also choose #postmarketos and probably #sxmo if I wan't to have more of a productiv desktop setup or gnome-mobile for a phone/tablet setup.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

@usia @dingdongitsabear @HiddenLayer555 @postmarketOS I completely missed the deprecation notice. Thanks!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

be sure to not use greeter logins and disk encryption as the on-screen keyboards (OSK) don’t work outside the DE. also, issues with non-US keyboard layouts.

Just set up unl0kr and keep safe, no need to use an installation without encryption. It's not even difficult, mainly just requires installing the package and adding the unlock script path to crypttab.

It's nice to have a device with FDE and Secure Boot, gives peace of mind in case that thing ends up in the wrong hands.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

be sure to not use greeter logins and disk encryption as the on-screen keyboards (OSK) don’t work outside the DE. also, issues with non-US keyboard layouts.

Greeters like phog or phrog are designed to work with touch and packaged in distributions.

not sure if you’ll be able to actually use the thing without an external keyboard/mouse; case in point, Gnome for the longest time didn’t allow touch to initiate dropdowns in the UI, kinda big deal.

No need for a keyboard nowadays (can say so at least for the DE I'm using). You can attach a keyboard though (and often a 2nd (external) display) if you want to turn it (temporarily) into a "desktop".

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

KDE

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

@HiddenLayer555 sxmo

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

I don't know how well it would work on a tablet, but I've got a laptop with a touchscreen and it functions very well with Ubuntu-Mate.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Try Phosh. That one works well.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You could also try the experimental GNOME Mobile or phosh, but those seem mostly aimed at phones instead of tablets.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Phosh is used quiet a bit on tablets. E.g. Purism ships it e.g. for their Librem 11 and also Juno uses it. We have a phosh-tablet for that use case in Debian.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

@HiddenLayer555 I am running Manjaro with Gnome on my x86 Starlite tablet. I think it works quite well.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

@tomasoqvist indeed basic Gnome works quite well on tablets (tested Nobara Gnome on an old windows surface) @HiddenLayer555