The linux phone travel experience
No new features today, just wanted to make a short post.
It is completely possible to do linux development on the go!
Is it convenient? Probably not.
Is a laptop better? Most likely.
Is it funny? Yes.
Also a double table is definitely better:
While we are mostly focused on Linux mobile development, it is easy to overlook that all you need is a bluetooth keyboard and mouse and it becomes an (albeit tiny) linux desktop!
44 replies
I can confirm that indeed was the experience
External monitor, when?
Sadly never, the FP6 doesn't have the hardware for DP alt mode
I have this! Well, a stupid version, where there’s two big foldout speakers, the magnifier has lights under it, and it turns the buttons huge and the D-pad into a joystick. It’s a bit of a nightmare to play with, but it’s quite silly.
EXCUSE ME, SIR? SIR!!! I'M AFRAID HACKING IS NOT PERMITTED ON THIS TRAIN!
Careful, don't piss him off. He might be the anonymous hacker known as 4chan. If he is, he can hack right into the brains of SWAT teams and send them right to your house without the due diligence they normally use to be sure they aren't targeting an innocent and causing more harm by being there!
This is what smartphones should’ve been this entire time. I’m okay with it having a user friendly shell for the regular person, but we should have free access to the OS.
Now you just need to switch to a terminal based editor, maximise that screen real-estate.
That was my initial thought, this is tmux and vim territory
I'd probably go with a laptop too and just use the phone as a modem for it --- I am typing this at a restaurant on a Linux laptop --- but if you have a backpack, which you probably do if you're carrying a non-foldable keyboard --- you can throw a USB-C monitor with a folding cover in it. This sort of thing:
https://www.amazon.com/MNN-Portable-15-6inch-Ultra-Slim-Speakers/dp/B0B9NNWXVP
I have a 200 Wh power bank (without an inverter, to help keep the size and weight down down). Similar to this:
https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Portable-Generator-Traveling-Emergencies/dp/B0D62P85ZR
That won't work if you're on an airplane (which it looks like is the case from the image), though you are allowed to carry up to two 100 Wh power banks under FAA regs.
If you use those, you should be able to set up a hub --- this sort of thing --- that permits pass-through charging, power everything off the hub and use wired gear, and thinking about individual charge on a bunch of disconnected battery-powered devices goes away. I don't do that myself, just use a laptop as a hub, but for a phone-as-a-laptop configuration, that might make a lot of sense.
Another benefit of going wired is eliminating the Bluetooth privacy concerns --- Google or Apple aren't plugging your location into a database just because someone with an Android or iOS phone using location services happens to be in your general vicinity.
Though if you're on an airplane, they may provide power at the seat, and you might not even need the power bank.
EDIT: The phone does need to support USB-C DisplayPort Alt-Mode if it's going to use an external monitor. searches Here's a list of models.
EDIT2: Important caveat, as this is ![email protected] --- external displays using Alt Mode work on iOS and Android. I haven't tried to look up what the state of affairs is for GNU/Linux, don't know what the hardware support is like there.
Hardware support for display out is absmal in the Linux phone world
I don't have it yet, but
https://furilabs.com/shop/flh1/
Its gonna look nerdy as shit but Id love the steam frame for a portable dev station
I'm holding off on monitor upgrades in the hopes that the steam frame could be used as a super monitor.
I used my quest like this for work for a while when my monitor was broken. I couldn’t recommend it less. Supremely uncomfortable, and I’ve spent way too much money improving the ergonomics on that piece of spyware garbage.
Setting ergonomics aside, how was the use ability? Text reading, window positioning etc. Worthwhile as a concept with current hardware if the ergo issues could be solved?
Nope, it’s quite blurry. Good for watching video but not for reading.
I think that we're going to be multiple generations of HMDs away from enough resolution to do text as well as today's monitors, unless someone gives up on having it projected into 3D space.
There was an article from someone critiquing it a while back, talking about some of the issues with the Apple Vision Pro (a rather expensive, high-resolution HMD) as a monitor replacement.
https://kguttag.com/2023/08/05/apple-vision-pro-part-5a-why-monitor-replacement-is-ridiculous/
https://kguttag.com/2023/08/09/apple-vision-pro-part-5b-more-on-monitor-replacement-is-ridiculous/
Bruh you're coding in public just embrace the nerdiness at that point hehe
need something to hold it to your face :) ala augmented reality
Hoping for steam frame to come out soon
For college I had to use my phone to program while at work but I used temux and vim.
this setup screams for foldable keyboard with touchpad
Imma pass my back hurts from the picture.
I've done this from time to time. It makes me wish I had magnifying glass-glasses. Very nice for emergencies.
Have you considered being very near-sighted and just having the screen 15 cm from your face?
This reminds me of when I was using my old Nexus phone connected through a chain of adapters to my IBM Model M. People were acting like I was committing heresy by using it out in the open. I was just impressed that it worked without issue and thought it was funny.
Which phone is this and which linux version?
Fairphone 6 on Linux 7.0.8
i did not know that FP6 had a working linux version. what linux are you running? pmOS?
Yes https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Fairphone_(Gen._6)_(fairphone-fp6)
Fyi you link is broken
Strange, works for me?
Looks like on Voyager the . is treated as the end of the link tappable link.
that page is empty for me
You should really be using a logitech k780..... the inbuilt phone stand just makes it fundamentally superior to any other keyboard that doesn't have it for this usecase.
I have a K480, and while it's more-compact than a full-height keyboard, my guess is that he's got a mechanical keyboard there. The rubber-dome keyswitches on the K480 aren't as nice (at least in my opinion; people have different views on what they like in a keyboard). It sounds like the K780 is a rubber-dome as well.
I do agree that having some kind of stand is handy, but if you have anything that you can lean a phone against --- doesn't take much --- that'll also work, at least on a desk or table.
I am not saying the keyboard on the K780 is better, just that the natural advantage both sitting in front of a desktop and using the K780 for both the computer and phone or just using it for your phone on the go... it makes any difference in keyboard quality kind of irrelevant. I hope people start making mechanical keyboards with this form factor but I am not holding my breath.
If you are reading this, love mechanical keyboards, and have the capacity to build a mechanical keyboard with an inbuilt simple stand like the Logitech K780, DO IT.
I wonder if it makes more sense to just have a hat/jig that holds the phone 8 inches in front of your face? Like a poor-man's VR headset? If nothing else, it would let you take more advantage of every pixel on that display.
The literally any phone experience. Congrats on pairing peripherals?
Well the cool part is less the pairing peripherals and more the having a full native linux system on the go