Question about Ubuntu and other Linux distributions as cellphone OS

[Chris Green]

On Wed, Oct 30, 2024 at 11:37:07PM +0000, Peter Flynn wrote:
> On 30 October 2024 09:11:04 Bret Busby <bret at busby.net> wrote:
> 
> > On 30/10/24 07:15, Colin Watson wrote:
> >> On Wed, Oct 30, 2024 at 04:53:27AM +0800, Bret Busby wrote:
> >>> […] I am wondering as to what degree, Linux, as Ubuntu or otherwise, is 
> >>> available as an OS for cellphones […]
> >>
> >> Canonical tried this with Ubuntu Phone for several years up to 2017 or
> >> so, and then it wasn't working commercially […]
> 
> Quite apart from the very genuine small-p-political reasons for having an 
> Ubuntu phone, there used to be an old argument that you'd be able to run 
> desktop (X Window) applications on your phone.
> 
> However, right now I have a Google Pixel 8a running Termux, inside which I 
> just installed both Emacs and TeX Live, which with Java and Saxon provide a 
> complete XML—XSLT—LaTeX—PDF workflow identical to my desktop and laptop.
> 
Yes, I run Termux too, it does an amazing job of being a proper Linux
system.  I even run syncthing on mine so I can synchronise files with
my desktop Linux system at home.  I only log into my (very rarely
used) Google account on my phone to use the Play Store.  It's log in,
update the app I need and then log out again.

-- 
Chris Green