Re: Handhelds that conviently run Debian

[Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>]

> If you want a smartphone but don't want a smartphone, it sounds to me
> as if you want a smartphone with no SIM card. It's possible that this

Indeed.  I was looking for a "modern walkman" and the best and cheapest
option nowadays is to get a smartphone for that (and simply not use the
phone part).

Clearly, you'll want to have some control over this device, which is the
tricky part, since most vendors want to keep the control to themselves.

There are several options:
- Install some "unpriviledged" Debian subsystem.
  There are several packages doing that in the Google Play store, such
  as GNURoot.
  I only use F-Droid rather than Google's store and they don't seem to
  be in there, and when I tried GNURoot "by hand" I wasn't able to make
  it work on my device.
- Get root access and install a more normal Debian subsystem, such as
  Lil'Debi.  Beware: in my experience with current versions of Android
  it's common that even root access doesn't give you enough rights to
  make those packages work.
- Install LineageOS.
- Install Replicant.

For the last 2 options, you can check what are the supported devices
(they tend to be fairly old, but you might be able to find them on ebay
for a good price).


        Stefan