Most of them, honestly. Lubuntu is probably the easy choice, or Alpine if you're really resource constrained and don't mind configuring it all yourself.
Now this is sad, but a decade old system would be Sandy/Ivy bridge era hardware, which isn't that bad for non-graphic intensive stuff.
I would hazard that most consumers wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference with current hardware, especially as an e-reader. They don't tell us what they have or how much memory is installed, but if it is a convertable laptop with a touchscreen or similar then I would try Gnome. You will have a much better time for a simple e-reader.
If it is memory contrained, or ends up being an Atom processor then perhaps a lighter desktop might be better.
It's an i3 with AMD Radeon 6470M, I was thinking of using https://babluboy.github.io/bookworm/ as a library for PDFs but I think I'd rather stick with hackintosh on it(older macOS version/Mountain Lion) & simply use iBooks as a library for on device PDFs, since Preview is decent enough for my needs
First of all, Android is Linux based, and not an unpleasant userland if you install Termux and use LineageOS or some other custom fork.
Second, even if you don't count Android, there's still Ubuntu Mobile, and PostmarketOS, and Sailfish, and Mobian, and others, all of which existed before this as far as I can tell.
Third, this website is drowning in rough marketing speak, with little substance.
I came in with high hopes, but am unimpressed. Maybe this is overly harsh, it's definitely a hard market.
Edit: The closer I look, the more unconvinced I get. I wish you luck, but maybe get something to show first next time.
> First of all, Android is Linux based, and not an unpleasant userland if you install Termux and use LineageOS or some other custom fork.
Android can be hacked into a passable system, but notice that termux is no longer in the Play store because of locked down permissions and expects further breakage from upcoming OS changes.
On the other hand, completely agreed that there are good options available and inbound, so until they actually ship this warrants some skepticism.
> First of all, Android is Linux based, and not an unpleasant userland if you install Termux and use LineageOS or some other custom fork.
Meh, and the integrated Google spyware baked in? (because most Android is not LineageOS out there anyway), so there's a dire need for alternatives anyway.
There is also no way for end users to update their Android devices, so you end up with something disposable the day you purchase them.
> Ubuntu Mobile
They changed their name btw, and its still shipping with a terrible browser, and based on outdated sources (did they even move to 18.04 yet?)
My issue is they acted like this is something groundbreaking and unheard of, while what they've shown is either something that's comparable to other options in the space (Their software looks like branded Plasma Mobile), or vaporware (I won't trust them to deliver hardware, until they actually do.)
Edit: My other issues are located at the bottom of this page. This company has lost any hope I had for it.
Well, you can download and install right now[1][2] (see "Download" in the nav bar), although the download link is currently gated by an email collection form which is somewhat unfortunate. (They do send you an .iso download link, yes I verified.) So saying they don't have something to show is inaccurate and misleading. Maybe you meant something groundbreaking to show?
I was talking about hardware, their software looks fine enough, though I honestly don't see a reason to use it over something else running Plasma mobile, a custom configured Plasma install, or LineageOS/similar.
Unless they've got access to more closed source drivers, the number of devices targetable with this is going to be comparable anyways.
As an app developer I tried for so long to get my hands on a Jolla Tablet, or an alternative tablet that could run Sailfish, so I could update my apps to run properly in tablet mode. I've finally given up on that with the realization that if the tablets are this hard to get, then there aren't enough users with them to bother fixing my apps for them.
By diagonal screen measurement, yes. The Nexus 7's aspect ratio makes it much wider than phones though (120mm vs ~70-80mm). A 7" smartphone is likely to have almost no bezel too.
Considering how many people on the Pine64 forums and messaging groups are claiming to use their pinephones for their main phone, I suspect the Pinetab could be. The number isn't high, but it's higher than I would have guessed before (and after) I bought and started playing with mine.
I'm not saying it's a good experience, but some people have lots of patience and very few (phone-requiring) responsibilities.
> MeeGo, MaeMo, and the associated tablet OSes from that era shipped over a decade ago.
To be fair there was no touch OS then - it was mostly stylus driven at the time. I don't think any of them had implemented multi-touch gestures for example, but please correct me if I am wrong.
I think this speak to market demand? There's just not a lot of use of this thing.
I've thought about using an iPad as dev machine (obviously it's not linux, but ssh+termux is basically the same) because of the form factor and battery life. But M1 chip solved that problem to me.
I just don't see why you want to run linux on a tablet, what else other than the command line draw you to linux? It's certainly not windows X. Tablets are just not very friendly to interact when the subject is a terminal.
I worked on this [1] Linux tablet 20 years ago, and we had working versions, but it doesn't really count as they weren't put into mass production. I don't know how many were built in the end (I left to co-found a webmail service). Sometimes it's depressing how long it takes for something to actually come to fruition. The screenshots in [1] are our custom UI based on NanoX [2], and an Opera port for the web browser screenshot (it worked). I wanted a production version for years after I left...
Even though it was a failure the Jolla tablet exists in the wild in very low numbers. It's running Sailfish OS which is a fully linux mobile OS that can be used as a daily driver. I was a backer of that kickstarter, and I'm sad they didn't work it out to do a full release.
It's a lot more than a fancy book reader - it's open to modification, so you can SSH and run anything on it. It has a fast enough processor and wifi, so your only limitation is anything that doesn't work well with a slow refresh rate. I wouldn't say that the display technology (the only real difference) is the defining factor for whether something is a Linux tablet or not.
They advertise it as "the world's thinnest tablet" in the callout circle of text on the picture, the biggest main feature on the front page of https://remarkable.com/
> Linux is not as tuned for battery life as android,
On devices that run both that I have (had), Linux always wins (by a very large margin). It does take tweaking and running i3wm, but Android is a hog compared in my experience. As is Windows.
Especially on devices which are meant to converse battery life like laptops, tablets & phones. I still have to tweak them myself usually; auto-cpufreq + tpl is really no work and the difference is quite significant.
I am getting old, but I fail to see what the usage of RAM/ROM means in advertising devices; I see many devices, including this one, stating '6G RAM, 128G ROM' => I assume 128GB is not Read-Only Memory. So why is it stated like that? I see it all over the place; phones, laptops, tablets. I understand if it's just a retailer selling, but these guys are supposed to know something about the hardware? Or am I missing something?
Hard drives are named that way because they are devices that spin (drive) solid disks. Similarly a floppy drive is the device spinning the floppy.
You could argue that the solid state drive "drives" things in the sense of "control", or analogous to how a microcontroller drives its pins. But more likely it's named that way because "drive" has become synonymous with storage, as in "C-Drive".
In OS terminology they are all referred to more abstractly as block devices, i.e everything that is not system memory. But I agree with the OP that calling it ROM makes no sense, it's an SSD, call it what it is.
At least in Linux kernel terminology "block device" and "disk" seem to be used almost interchangably, for example the gendisk structure with the accompanying add_disk, alloc_disk, etc methods for creating block devices [1].
Meanwhile on a API level Windows talks about "disk drives" that abstract over "physical media" [2], but when talking to end users uses "hard drive" as the generic term, like in the sentence "You can install Windows to a hard drive, such as a hard disk drive or a solid-state drive" [3]
The transitions aren't as fast and smooth as they claim but the work has merit no doubt. The test tablet resembles the earlier ipad with large bezels but if they can deliver even half of what they claim and they'd opensource their code. I'll buy one
As a Linux loving hacker, this sounds fun to play with.
But pragmatically, how does something like this stack up against an iPad/iPadOS? If I'm to believe the press, Apple's chips are quite a ways ahead of the competition. And as much as I love developing on Linux running lxqt, I get the impression that display stacks and application development kits are also way behind in terms of efficiency, power use, and just general programmability/accessibility. Am I a victim of bad press. I'm honestly curious whether they're even in the same realm.
If anything, something old school like Enlightenment or Sawfish would be fun to play with on one of these, just for the sheer "trick it out" ethos.
Apple's chips are definitely faster and as an iPad user of since the first ones available, Apple UI stacks are really good. Especially now, since they're being aligned across the platforms. There's definitely stuff to complain about but I don't think this is meant to be an iPad competitor. There's been a shortage of proper tablets and alternatives in general.
Yes, I believe so. It doesn't have to be in the same league from the very beginning. iPads are very powerful, not every average user needs that and considering the fragmented market of android tablets, there really isn't a real alternative to iOS or Android. If they create something based on KDE, that works properly on ARM and opensource it, maybe other manufactures would get in the game too
It's not completed yet, but it's already looking awesome. Timon (a.k.a. Professor Fartsparkle, or just "professor") even managed to source a beautiful 2560x1600 10" screen.
Definitely would wait for Ubuntu or Arch or whatever to function well on this. Absolutely no interest in running this Chinese flavor of Linux (JingOS).
120 comments
[ 0.18 ms ] story [ 180 ms ] threadI would hazard that most consumers wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference with current hardware, especially as an e-reader. They don't tell us what they have or how much memory is installed, but if it is a convertable laptop with a touchscreen or similar then I would try Gnome. You will have a much better time for a simple e-reader.
If it is memory contrained, or ends up being an Atom processor then perhaps a lighter desktop might be better.
Works nicely. Screen can be rotated not problem.
Q4OS is a Debian derivative (Buster I think): https://q4os.org/
First of all, Android is Linux based, and not an unpleasant userland if you install Termux and use LineageOS or some other custom fork.
Second, even if you don't count Android, there's still Ubuntu Mobile, and PostmarketOS, and Sailfish, and Mobian, and others, all of which existed before this as far as I can tell.
Third, this website is drowning in rough marketing speak, with little substance.
I came in with high hopes, but am unimpressed. Maybe this is overly harsh, it's definitely a hard market.
Edit: The closer I look, the more unconvinced I get. I wish you luck, but maybe get something to show first next time.
Android can be hacked into a passable system, but notice that termux is no longer in the Play store because of locked down permissions and expects further breakage from upcoming OS changes.
On the other hand, completely agreed that there are good options available and inbound, so until they actually ship this warrants some skepticism.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.termux&hl=...
More precisely, no new versions go to the Play store.
I want more options, I'm just unconvinced this is it.
Meh, and the integrated Google spyware baked in? (because most Android is not LineageOS out there anyway), so there's a dire need for alternatives anyway.
There is also no way for end users to update their Android devices, so you end up with something disposable the day you purchase them.
> Ubuntu Mobile
They changed their name btw, and its still shipping with a terrible browser, and based on outdated sources (did they even move to 18.04 yet?)
> PostmarketOS
Not usable in touch mode
My issue is they acted like this is something groundbreaking and unheard of, while what they've shown is either something that's comparable to other options in the space (Their software looks like branded Plasma Mobile), or vaporware (I won't trust them to deliver hardware, until they actually do.)
Edit: My other issues are located at the bottom of this page. This company has lost any hope I had for it.
> Not usable in touch mode
Are you thinking of a specific user interface? Phosh is quite usable, among others. https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/User-Interfaces
Well, you can download and install right now[1][2] (see "Download" in the nav bar), although the download link is currently gated by an email collection form which is somewhat unfortunate. (They do send you an .iso download link, yes I verified.) So saying they don't have something to show is inaccurate and misleading. Maybe you meant something groundbreaking to show?
Edit: Oh you're probably talking about hardware.
[1] https://forum.jingos.com/t/jingos-v0-6-release-download/514
[2] https://hk.mikecrm.com/Qzliv4B
Unless they've got access to more closed source drivers, the number of devices targetable with this is going to be comparable anyways.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jolla_Tablet
Heck, some phones reaching the size of my Nexus 7!
My Nexus 7 total size was more like 9" diagonal due to bezel.
>It is the World’s FIRST Consumer-level Linux Tablet.
ExoPC 2.0 came out in 2010, running MeeGo, which was a linux tablet that shipped with an OS maintained and hosted by the Linux Foundation.
>It is the FIRST Tablet powered by JingOS – the World’s FIRST Linux Tablet OS.
MeeGo, MaeMo, and the associated tablet OSes from that era shipped over a decade ago.
>It is the FIRST Time you can use a Linux-based Tablet as your daily driver.
To be fair, the ExoPC was a huge piece of crap.
I'm not saying it's a good experience, but some people have lots of patience and very few (phone-requiring) responsibilities.
It's a cool thing to play with but it is nowhere near to being a main driver.
People on the Pinephone forum. Simple survivorship bias.
Judging from the videos I've seen, the Pinephone is for tinkerers for now.
To be fair there was no touch OS then - it was mostly stylus driven at the time. I don't think any of them had implemented multi-touch gestures for example, but please correct me if I am wrong.
Meego had multi-touch support, though it was only used at an application level (e.g. pinch to zoom in browser, maps, gallery etc).
Meego did use edge swipes in the OS which felt advanced at the time.
I've thought about using an iPad as dev machine (obviously it's not linux, but ssh+termux is basically the same) because of the form factor and battery life. But M1 chip solved that problem to me.
I just don't see why you want to run linux on a tablet, what else other than the command line draw you to linux? It's certainly not windows X. Tablets are just not very friendly to interact when the subject is a terminal.
They sound pretty much like they are Linux systems that beginning to let down the facade.
> yes, I am willing to call these Linux tablets
They run the Linux kernel out of the box and can run standard Linux applications.
[1] https://linuxdevices.org/freepad-norways-alternative-to-swed...
[2] https://github.com/ghaerr/microwindows
> JingPad A1 will be available for a crowdfunding campaign on indiegogo before June.
I'll believe it when I see it.
Linux is not as tuned for battery life as android, but they claim 10 hours from their 8Ah. Believable.
11", 6.7mm, 500g, 8 core ARM (model not specified; should be the 7x line).
Bet it will cost far more than a comparable Android tablet (which can run termux).
On devices that run both that I have (had), Linux always wins (by a very large margin). It does take tweaking and running i3wm, but Android is a hog compared in my experience. As is Windows.
Even just adding auto-cpufreq helps, but I'm not sure why TLP isn't.
About push notifications, UnifiedPush is quickly becoming an interesting alternative: https://unifiedpush.org/
Linux... epoll, and peace.
It’s probably an understandable misnomer for NAND/flash storage.
Apple labels this as "Capacity" (iOS) and "Storage" (Mac) which are maybe better terms.
You could argue that the solid state drive "drives" things in the sense of "control", or analogous to how a microcontroller drives its pins. But more likely it's named that way because "drive" has become synonymous with storage, as in "C-Drive".
Meanwhile on a API level Windows talks about "disk drives" that abstract over "physical media" [2], but when talking to end users uses "hard drive" as the generic term, like in the sentence "You can install Windows to a hard drive, such as a hard disk drive or a solid-state drive" [3]
1: https://linux-kernel-labs.github.io/refs/heads/master/labs/b...
2: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/d...
3: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufactur...
The transitions aren't as fast and smooth as they claim but the work has merit no doubt. The test tablet resembles the earlier ipad with large bezels but if they can deliver even half of what they claim and they'd opensource their code. I'll buy one
But pragmatically, how does something like this stack up against an iPad/iPadOS? If I'm to believe the press, Apple's chips are quite a ways ahead of the competition. And as much as I love developing on Linux running lxqt, I get the impression that display stacks and application development kits are also way behind in terms of efficiency, power use, and just general programmability/accessibility. Am I a victim of bad press. I'm honestly curious whether they're even in the same realm.
If anything, something old school like Enlightenment or Sawfish would be fun to play with on one of these, just for the sheer "trick it out" ethos.
It's not completed yet, but it's already looking awesome. Timon (a.k.a. Professor Fartsparkle, or just "professor") even managed to source a beautiful 2560x1600 10" screen.