Suggestion for a smartphone running natively LINUX? :)

[Kent Borg]

johhny_at_poland77 wrote:
> not android!

You *might* want Android... 

Android is the Linux kernel (okay, a fork with some power management 
changes inside), and some very sensible and cool things outside the kernel.

If you are going to hack up a phone, then hacking an Android and 
installing an alternate Android distribution (that you then control) 
shouldn't be a show-stopper.  Once you do that, the userland is 
certainly not the same as that of a desktop, but it is quote 
recognizably "Linux".

As for things running in a chroot, yes, Android apps will run in a 
chroot.  So if you are tempted to install some of them, you will get the 
extra security that offers.  Things you do at your own hacked command 
line are not limited to a chroot.  By running an unofficial distribution 
you won't always get all the features of running a stock distribution, 
but you get a lot of them. Certainly more than if you pretended you were 
running a desktop and figured out how to install something like Debian. 

The biggest problem in running Android is you might be tempted to 
install something that turns out to be malware.  Okay, have strength!  
Don't install just anything with a shiny feature or two.  Be a geek, and 
look at the app permissions.  Say no to those that want permission to 
send SMSs that donate your money to mobsters.  Be willing to do without 
some alternate keyboard that also wants full internet access.  There 
will be nasty software for Android, but that doesn't mean you can't be 
both disciplined and smart enough to avoid it.

I am running the stock US distribution on my Nexus One, in the past when 
I have gotten a soft root I could do what I wanted (until a I said "yes" 
to an update that turned off my suids).  Including running an sshd on 
port 22 and messing with iptables if I wanted to.  

Unlike Apple, Google is not hostile to hackers in the outside world.  
Certainly, they have to work to keep DRMed stuff locked up--but what do 
you expect?  If you are interested in hacking non-standard Linux things 
in a phone, finding an Android phone (that can be unlocked) is a great 
starting point.  You will have to learn some new stuff...but you will 
get to learn some new stuff!


-kb, the Kent who was interested in Openmoko...but it never seemed to 
reach a reasonably usable state.