[GoLUG] Termux: Real GNU/Linux container on Android

[Kyle Terrien]

On Sat, Dec 14, 2024 at 05:45:26PM -0500, Steve Litt wrote:
> Kyle Terrien said on Sat, 14 Dec 2024 10:28:31 -0800
> 
> >The downside: tiny screen and touch keyboard make for an interesting
> >adventure.  
> 
> At home, can you plug in a USB3 hub and connect a full sized screen and
> keyboard? Also, if you do work of this importance on your phone, you'd
> better have a good backup system. My backup system is several
> shellscripts based on rsync and cp -al

I suppose I can plug in a USB3 hub.  I have done it before with this
phone to test a USBC hub with 4xUSB3 Type A ports.  😆 I don’t know if
it will do DisplayPort time-slicing over USBC, however.  It might...

My phone is a Pixel 6a, so it has a single USB port.  I was able to
plug in a Logitech Unifying receiver via a USBC to type A converter,
and it works!  (And my phone somewhat precariously stands up on the
whole contraption with the kickstand unfolded, as long as I don’t bump
it, and as long as there is no earthquake.)

That said, if I want a real keyboard at home, I usually just ssh in to
my phone.  Emacs server-mode kinda doubles as a terminal multiplexer
like tmux.

I pulled out my old cheapo Bluetooth keyboard, so I will play around
with that, but the battery compartment needs some cleaning.  One of
the batteries leaked.

As far as backup goes, I synchronize most of my config files via git.
All my org-mode stuff is also synchronized with git.  There is also a
backup procedure on the Termux wiki which backs up the whole thing
onto /sdcard [1].  I’m still playing around, so I’ll get settled into
a solution soon.

My opinion is that a phone is not meant for serious work (unless the
work is communicating).  This stuff just works in a pinch better than
I expected it to.

[1]: https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/Backing_up_Termux

-- 
[*] Kyle Terrien
    Run GNU/Linux, avoid orgs who hate you,
    Love justice, and hate iniquity.
    https://terren.us/