I’ve been using MaruOS - on and off - since I first heard about it in 2016…
Basically - if you’ve got a Nexus 5 (and later on Nexus 7 tablet) - you could run a Debian Jessie XFCE desktop in a chroot - and display the XFCE desktop over SlimPort -> HDMI adaptor… pair up bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and you have a pocket-sized battery powered portable Linux desktop… and you could even SSH to your phone!
I stopped using the Nexus 5 as my daily phone handset a tad over 12 months ago (the battery just doesn’t cut it - and they don’t have expandable storage - i.e. no SDCard) - but it still sits on my desk at home and I can SSH to it… I did try out Ubuntu touch on it - by the time I got to the end - it seemed pointless, a barely functioning phone operating system? So switched it back to MaruOS.
Anyway - Maru 0.6 Okinawa now runs on Android 8.1.0 (from LineageOS) - and does Debian Stretch now - and - you can cast the XFCE desktop to a ChromeCast! And given it’s Debian Stretch on ARM, many binaries for Raspbian should probably work on it (i.e. only an apt-get away).
I’m still tempted to go for a Note 9 with Linux on Dex… but I’ll keep an eye on this in the interim… Knowing Samsung - they’ll probably drop (maybe even disable) the Linux on Dex feature (and they limit it to Note9 and Tab S4 ) anyway…
Anyway - I know what I’ll be doing next couple of days - upgrading my Nexus5 to MaruOS 0.6 Okinawa
done it three or four times - it’s never “fun” - it’s a bit of a PITA…
and “lot of fun” reminds me of the greeter you still get in Suse, “Have a lot of fun!” I remember seeing that - first time I ever tried Suse (7.x in the early 2000s?)… I’m part German myself (both my grossmutters spoke it at home before they started school in Australia) - but I still find it wry, and a tad ironic, when a German tries to sound “funny”…
du wirst Spaß haben!
Spaß zu haben ist verboten!
Sie werden es genießen
and also makes me think of the “blinkenlights” meme…
Did the install - re-instated g-apps for Play Store access…
Took the phone to work - wired it up to a HDMI 24" display on my desk - paired a BT keyboard and connected to work’s wifi - and I’ve got Maru’s XFCE debian stretch desktop running! - But there-in lies the problem - the link between my desktop gigabit ethernet, and the “corporate” wifi is practically unusable - it’s probably worse ( or seems so ) than dial up!
Unusable in this “use case” scenario… Tried using Synergy (Symless) KVM to share mouse and keyboard to my Ubuntu laptop and Win10 laptop - over wifi - it was a “no go”…
It’s a noble idea - “convergence” - one portable device to do everything (I still remember walking around with a Palm Pilot, an MP3 player and a mobile phone!)… but it’s a non-goer for me…
Especially as the only device I have that will run Maru - is my Nexus 5 - a great handset 6 years ago… but the battery (already replaced it once) is woeful, and it’s only got 32 GB storage, and NO expandable storage via SD-Card… anyway - it’s on charge on my home wifi - so I can SSH to it if I ever wanna take another look at it :
- it’s a bit of a PITA…