Smartphones as Mint "carriers"

theeyan · Post by **theeyan** » Wed Jan 07, 2015 4:39 am

Hi to all,

I know that a Mint OS won't be made for smartphones/tablets in the near future, but I was wondering whether it will be possible to use such devices as "Mint carriers"? Connecting a phone to a monitor, keyboard, mouse obviously isn't difficult. Modern devices have the capability to run Mint. Say somebody has a Chinese "no name" tablet with okay specs. He then breaks the screen and is unable to fix it. Instead of throwing away the unit, he could use it as a desktop computer. Just connect it to a monitor and install Linux on it.

Will something like that be achievable in the future?

jimallyn · Post by **jimallyn** » Wed Jan 07, 2015 4:53 am

I believe most tablets use an ARM processor, and Mint only runs on x86/AMD64 processors, so running Mint on a tablet isn't likely anytime soon. Ubuntu has a version for ARM, as does Debian, and probably others.

theeyan · Post by **theeyan** » Wed Jan 07, 2015 5:37 am

Okay, but is it then possible to run Desktop Ubuntu/Debian on a tablet? That is connect a tablet/smartphone to an external monitor/peripheries and use it as a desktop?

If yes, how could this be done? How could one install such an OS on a tablet/smartphone?

WinterTroubles · Post by **WinterTroubles** » Wed Jan 07, 2015 6:34 am

I have no idea if what you are asking is possible, it does appear that it may be possible to run an Ubuntu OS on top of android using an emulator / virtual machine. As I've never done anything with android beyond simply turning it on an using it I can't say I fully grasp what's involved, but here are a couple of old links suggesting it's possible http://askubuntu.com/questions/256540/c ... 4-0-tablet / http://androlinux.com/android-ubuntu-de ... n-android/, given the age of the links it's entirely possible that these suggestions are no longer possible or that or that important details have changed, so I post them as 'food for thought' only and not to be followed without further research.

Ubuntu are currently developing an OS specifically for smart phones / tablets http://www.ubuntu.com/tablet and although it is currently only available to manufacturers what you ask about may be possible in the future if it ever sees public release and has such features availble.. yeah, I know, that's several if's

Hope this is of interest.
WT

theeyan · Post by **theeyan** » Wed Jan 07, 2015 10:03 am

Sure is of interest. Thanks for the links. I remember Canonical doing a fundraising campaign for 32 million dollars so they could make a dual boot smartphone (android and Ubuntu) which could be placed on a docking station and used as a desktop, but the campaign failed with "only" 14 million dollars gathered.

It would definitely be nice if people could re-purpose android devices into desktops, and also use them in the "dual mode". Makes a lot of sense to me. Hopefully it will happen in the future.

WinterTroubles · Post by **WinterTroubles** » Wed Jan 07, 2015 11:52 am

Here's something else that may interest you.. At the moment it's still a project seeking funding (crowdfunding) so who knows how far it will get. It's goal is to bring to market an app and docking station that will allow users to connect external screen and keyboard to an android device so as to run your phone apps on a full size monitor with a regular keyboard.. I'll let you read for further details

article here / project site here.

theeyan · Post by **theeyan** » Wed Jan 07, 2015 11:55 am

Thanks mate! Fill be following it to see how it goes! Cheers!

WinterTroubles · Post by **WinterTroubles** » Wed Jan 07, 2015 12:00 pm

You're most welcome

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Smartphones as Mint "carriers"

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