Re: [orca-list] Did anyone try to run Linux on Android with Orca?



Hello,

I think the article you are linking to is somewhat rough but still it perfectly shows the idea.

It's possible to run many cli based linux apps on termux. Imagine termux is the same thing for Android what 
WSL is for Windows. What is so cool is that pulseaudio is working on termux using audio sles backend so it's 
native to the platform.

The main problem is that most of the android kernels are limited as compared to their linux counter parts 
thus many features such as threads, semaphores and similar are missing.
In fact this is why speech-dispatcher won't run on linux.
While it's possible to build and run a lot of graphical X.org apps on termux accessing these is not very 
confortable, at least I don't like it at all.
Rendering graphic to the android device screen is not implemented so you have to either use X server for 
android, or use VNC to access graphical UI running on your Android device.
If there is no native video display, it's much slower in terms of performance than it might theoretically 
become one day.

There is another part of the puzzle and it's called PRoot. That is kind of emulation layer running on termux.
It's possible to run user space of many linux distros in proot on termux.
Those linux distros are getting emulated root environment and it's working very well.

I'm actually using this to run Arch linux on my Nokia 6.

So to better describe my setup.
On my Android device I have installed termux from f-droid, feel free to install from google play if you like.
Then I have started Ssh server on termux, so I can do the rest of the initial setup using my computer via 
local network.
I've installed and configured pulseaudio on termux.
Installed proot.
Installed arch linux into proot and used proot to bind mount pulseaudio socket into the arch linux install 
inside.
This way I can run fenrir, speech-dispatcher and espeak with speech on android.I'm not yet ready a lot of my 
stuff to the CLI exclusivelly e.g. email client, web browsing and similar.
however for server administration, networking, file management and a lot of other small task this setup is 
great.

I am very very slowly learning emacs witch speechd-el, hopefully that will allow me to do more stuf with arch 
linux running on my android phone.

Perhaps with more powerfull android devices it might become comfortable to also run some desktop apps this 
way, for example instead of archlinux it might be possible to run stormux this way. That might allow moving 
more tasks to the pure CLI and enable minimalist desktop or window manager usage for those graphical apps 
that are much needed e.g. firefox and others.

I like to assemble such a setup on my own, so I know how it all works, but there is an app called anlinux 
that can make setting something like this much simpler.
Here is anlinux: https://github.com/EXALAB/AnLinux-App

Unfortunately there is no real out of box experience but if you like to experiment, you might be able to 
accomplish what you are looking for with some trade offs if you can make some compromises along the way.

Another way that I haven't yet explored further but that is perhaps for the future discussion is running 
postmarket OS instead of android.
There is an initiative to build postmarket OS as a treble rom which can run on various android devices.
Again no touch screen access are making this rather suboptimal experience as you will not be able to use your 
smartphone for what you are using it today and you will repurpose it to a small computer.

Sorry for long message.

greetings

Peter

31. 8. 2020 22:35:27 Rastislav Kish via orca-list <orca-list gnome org>:

Hi folks,

no, I'm not drunk. :) A new schoolyear is just about to start, and I had to think about how I'm dragging a 
whole school bag with me every day just because of my laptop, and especially, how I will drag my beloved 
computer in school from place to place, as we no longer work as one class, but everyone has to follow his 
subjects into particular rooms.

So, I was thinking, whether it would be possible to decrease the size a bit and thus increase portability.

My first thought was about devices such as Raspberry pi, but soon I got an idea. Why to the heck should I 
be building my own minicomputer, with all the stuff needed, when I already have one with storage, a good 
ram and decent battery? Yes, technically, my smartphone meets all requirements for a minicomputer, which 
would be small and thus very portable. Plus, carying a $200 machine on public seems... kind of safer than 
walking around with more expensive laptop plus that $200 phone, which I need anyway, even though I always 
forget it at home.

I've found an article briefly describing running a full installation of Ubuntu alongside Android with Linux 
Deploy:

https://www.androidauthority.com/install-ubuntu-on-your-android-smartphone-765408/

It requires root, but that shouldn't be a big issue. My goal would probably be to setup LXDe with either 
Ubuntu or Debian. I'm not expecting it to run machine learning experiments, if it manages taking simple 
text notes from classes, it will cover most of my requirements. If it will be able to run Rust compiler, 
mono compiler and Python, I would be really happy, and if it manages to run Sagemath, what will be most 
likely rather a question of space than computing resources, I could say, that i can't wish more.

A small foldable bluetooth keyboard in combination with a superpowerbank and the phone with running Linux 
in a small, practical shoulder bag should create a cheap, portable, but still powerful device.

But while some people seem to really use similar concepts for their work, the question is, whether this 
would work from accessibility point of view. Did anyone try something similar? Was it usable?

I don't see a reason why it shouldn't work, if the keyboard and sound is properly handled. But there could 
be some hidden issues, so I'm rather asking first. :)

Best regards

Rastislav

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