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Ask HN: Do you use Android's capability to connect devices via OTG?

4 points by plugnburn ↗ HN
My laptop's hard drive died irrecoverably and it may take a while to get a replacement. Meanwhile, I managed to connect some USB peripherals (a 4-port hub and a keyboard + mouse through it) to my Alcatel OT-5065D smartphone via an OTG adapter and find the experience pretty revolutionizing.

Why? Because when combined with Termux (since the smartphone runs Android 5.1) it gives me the ability to install pretty much all working environment I got used to (NodeJS, gcc, git, SSH, Nano, Python, wget etc) and use all screen space wisely without virtual keyboard. In fact, I'm typing this way right now.

If only I had a Miracast dongle... that would convert the smartphone into a full-featured Linux box with a nice screen resolution.

Do you use this Android functionality to convert your own OTG-enabled devices from content consumption to content production?

3 comments

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onion2k
I wasn't aware of Termux. That is a really handy app. Thanks!
plugnburn
Think of it like a Cygwin for Android. It provides a compatible environment, not the emulation. But it's really enough in 95% of the cases.

Btw, I can post my nanorc just in case anyone wonders how to get more editor space on such a screen on a smartphone.